Sheryl R. Hayes

Werewolves are apex predators. So why does she feel like prey?

Territory, honor, the trust of her peers - Jordan Abbey has earned none of these from the supernatural residents of Rancho Robles. The werewolves shun Jordan as a creature without honor for siding with the vampires. The vampires dismiss Jordan as an unruly pet who needs to be kept on a much shorter leash. Chased out of the wilderness and not allowed to shift within the city, she is without any place for her inner wolf to run show more free.

Someone is killing the servants of vampires. Soon vampires themselves fall victim. Each attack is linked directly to Jordan, fueling rumors that she is working to undermine the vampires’ grip on the city. The werewolves dog her steps, harassing her whenever and wherever they can.

Then, in the heart of vampire territory, the corpse of a werewolf who bullied Jordan is discovered. The children of the Wolf and the Bat are ready to go to war, and Jordan is caught squarely in the crossfire. Can one woman prevent the annihilation of the only place she calls home?
304 pages, ebook

First published June 21, 2022

Jordan Abbey #2 show less

In the town of Rancho Robles, can one werewolf protect the Children of the Wolf and the Bat?

Chaos Wolf Jordan Abbey has made friends among the Black Oak Pack even though she refuses to join it. The same can’t be said of the vampires, but her life has taken a turn for the better.

That is until Enya Blevins, sister to the werewolf who turned Jordan, arrives in Rancho Robles. She wants to know who killed her baby brother and is less than impressed by the Chaos Wolf. Enya wants revenge, show more starting with Jordan and ending with the vampires infesting the area.

Jordan is prepared to flee, but a technicality makes her an Alpha Werewolf. Now she must stand her ground to protect her nascent Pack and those she loves.

The past has come back to bite her. Does she have the fangs to bite back?
307 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 14, 2025
Jordan Abbey #3 show less

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

Jordan Abbey is very much the lead of this story, despite sharing the point of view with several people and technically falling under the command of more. She is neither arrogant nor aggressive, and yet, Jordan maintains a surprising amount of agency. She’s bitten by a werewolf, saved by a vampire, and inducted into a world she didn’t know existed, but is rarely cowed. Jordan is a forthright (what some call “smart mouthed”) woman with show more well-developed protectiveness over her chosen people, whether roommates or vampires. This clashes with two cultures built on centuries-old traditions, creating both tense and funny moments.

Jordan is also young and questing. She doesn’t lose that part of her, even as everything she’s known changes. This newly made werewolf doesn’t become all powerful either, though there are hints of more on that to come in later books if I’m reading it right.

The novel takes advantage of Jordan’s innocence to introduce us to the details of this paranormal world, but not in a heavy-handed way. I enjoyed her discoveries such as when she learns the werewolf lore through stories considered myth or fact depending on the speaker. Her ignorance might offer opportunities to share the cultures, but her questions break up sections with humor before they can become too dense.

Nor is she innocent in all things. Jordan may not be able to take her wolf form from the start, but she has had self-defense training (using keys through her knuckles). She even figures out how to lose a tail on her own before accepting Montgomery’s offer of protection. He has knowledge and abilities she does not, but don’t think her helpless or sheltered.

Montgomery and Thorn, the vampires helping Jordan, are cast as leads but act more like sidekicks much of the time. Thorn’s story remains a mystery, and backstory drives Mac more than anything else. Well, that and his subconscious. He refuses to see the parallels everyone else can. His instincts might be driving him towards something he believed lost forever, but he’s not ready to accept that. The threads involving these two largely resolve by the end, but there’s room for exploration if more books in this world follow.

I enjoyed the portrayal of the chaos wolf Rhys as well. What starts as a horror movie tradition turns out to be much more complex. Rhys is clearly the villain from how he attacks Jordan and others. However, as we learn about the werewolves, his circumstances became more nuanced. The way the chaos wolf fits in their structure, and how he thinks versus how they expect him to when he takes over the narrative, is lovely. It doesn’t make his actions any more acceptable but offers a further example of the world-building surrounding this story.

The writing has rough spots that snagged my attention, but the story kept pulling me back in. Beautiful details, like how the vampire servitors (not a new concept) interact within the vampire and human realms, made up for any stumbles. The mix of cultures (with both traditional and new-to-me lore), multi-layered characters, and a developing relationship between Jordan, Montgomery, and Thorn made me happy to stick around. I was sad to see them go. This world feels cohesive and strong enough to support many more stories, both within this group and greater than it.

Chaos Wolf has elements of urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and some horror, though light on the last. These three genres come together into a compelling story with characters you learn to care about. At the same time, the novel doesn’t quite match any of the specific genres’ expectations. There is a detailed intimate scene with all three main characters that is supported by the romance build-up and important to the story. The villain is a window into werewolf psychology rather than there solely to create tension between the main characters. The cultural and political elements are more what I’d expect from an urban fantasy and introduce world-building elements I haven’t seen before.

I guess what I’m saying is walk into this story with an open mind (and I’m not talking about the LGBTQ characters). The story has a lot of meat in it to entertain and fascinate if you only let go of expectations and enjoy the ride.

P.S. I encountered this author at BayCon, the science fiction convention I have been to as a member and panelist many times. show less

Bitten by a werewolf. Taught by a vampire. At this rate, she’s going to start a war.

Literature major Jordan Abbey ordered a double mocha latte, but it wasn't supposed to come with a side order bite by a love-sick werewolf. When a vampire comes to her rescue, gut instinct tells her he has questionable motives. But he’s the only one she can trust to help get in touch with her inner animal.

Within a week, her smart mouth lands her in trouble with the hostile Alpha of the local pack and the show more stiff-necked vampire Elder. She now has less than a moon cycle to master shape changing... or else. And the besotted werewolf who started this whole mess is stalking Jordan and killing her friends. He won't take no for an answer.

In the Northern California town of Rancho Robles where the children of the Wolf and the Bat share an uneasy coexistence, one woman makes an epic mess of the status quo.
324 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 15, 2018
Jordan Abbey #1 show less