Baby, I'm Howling For You by Christine Warren

1/31/2018

PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Publication date: 01/30/2018
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No

Good Lord, this one had some issues. But first, I’ll start with the stuff that worked for me:

The story starts off with a bang. I enjoyed the action-y beginning. No boring backstory right up front. Nope. Instead, we start with the heroine on the run for her life. Very exciting.

It’s technically well-written. There aren’t typos or bad dialogue or grammar atrocities that pulled me out of the story.
I love the idea of Alphaville—a town where shifters can live in peace and mingle with their own kind.
Side characters were super interesting. I’d probably 1-click the crap out of Molly’s story. (She was totally badass)

Now for the stuff that made me roll my eyes and cringe:

The title is sooooooo cheesy. And it got Howlin’ For You by The Black Keys stuck in my head for 2 days. (Don’t get me wrong: Howlin’ For You is a great song. But I don’t want it stuck in my head for 2 days.) With a title like this, I would’ve expected a full-on romantic comedy, and this wasn’t really funny enough to qualify. I HATE misleading titles and false advertising.

If I wasn’t really familiar with shifter romances, I probably would’ve been lost by the lack of background and world-building in this one. I’ve read so many shifter romances that I was able to fill in all the blanks by myself just by context, but a reader who is a shifter virgin would be totally lost, I think.
If you’re a reader who hates instalove/instalust and the whole fated mates trope, this one’s not for you. It’s actually pretty cliche in its portrayal of fated mates. Nothing new to see here, folks.
There’s a point in the story (early on) when Mick just leans over and bites Renny to claim her as his mate. There was no discussion on the matter. These two had barely had a good conversation about ANYTHING, let alone a nice long talk about mating for life. I found this to be SUPER presumptuous on Mick’s part. (And kind of an asshat maneuver, frankly)
Renny is a little on the submissive side for my liking. I like my heroines extra sassy and snarky. Renny was a little meek and mild, in my opinion.
The bad guys were cartoonish villains without any real depth.
Renny was ambushed in Alphaville by the villains so many times that I started to wonder if she wasn’t better off on her own. What exactly WERE these people doing to protect her?
Early on the story, Mick is surprised by how strong his bond is with Renny. He’s sure to point out that it was much stronger than with his first mate (his dead wife). Why did we have to go there? Why did the bond Mick had with his first mate need to be downplayed just to explain how awesome everything is with Renny? Why tarnish the woman’s memory like that?
If I’d heard the word “mate” one more time, I would’ve thrown my Kindle against the wall. Everything was “his mate”, “her mate”...mate, mate, mate, mate, mate. It was excessive. If I’d been playing a drinking game and did a shot every time Mick or Renny referred to the other person as “his/her mate” instead of by name, I would’ve been dead of alcohol poisoning by the halfway point in the book.
Mick was an alphahole. He was a jealous, possessive Neanderthal of the highest order. That’s pretty common the world of shifter romance, but I hate reading about a dude who gets an instant hard-on after meeting an injured and terrified woman. How about giving her some space, huh?

Long-story-short: this one wasn’t for me. But if you’re a reader who likes instalove/instalust and doesn’t mind cliche shifter romance tropes (like, all of them), you might want to give this one a try. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Disclaimer: We received an ARC from NetGalley at no charge.

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
Contributes. A stint in romance rehab would do it some good.

Other reading suggestions
Check out our top 11 wolf shifters in romance today. If you can’t find something you like there...well, I’m not sure how to help you.

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