Kate Bloomfield

No stars. Horrendous, so badly written and if I was Sarah Waters, I'd be ringing a solicitor. This was another book for research and to hone my editing skills. So far this book needs a lot of editing skills! The style seems forced and does not read smoothly at all. Dialogue is stilted. There are large chunks of information dumped on the page to fill in the back story of the characters and I've only read 14 pages so far. This book is teetering towards my abandoned shelf but I'm forcing my way show more through in order to learn more about what NOT to do!

Update: I've figured out one of the main things wrong with this text. The author is trying to write with 19th century expression, but it is way off. It feels as if they have grabbed a few words such as UPON instead of on, FOR instead of because, SHALL instead of will, MAYHAP instead of maybe and then flooded the otherwise modern text in the hope that it sounds olde worlde. It doesn't, it sounds stupid and trite. Only problem, if you are going to write expressively in an older style, your entire text needs to reflect this, not just a few choice words. There is also a healthy splattering of typos which really distracts and looks unprofessional. I don't think this book has seen a spellcheck let alone an editor or even a friend of the author to give it a read before someone hit the 'publish' button. It is clear that the author needs to do a lot more research into the time period. Not sure how they figured you'd need a sovereign (20 shillings or 1 pound) to pay for a glass of mead in the 1800s, that would be like paying £400 for pint in the pub today, and I'm not sure what the two silver pieces someone was using to pay for drugs was supposed to be.

Update: As I have continued this book i have become increasingly convinced that the author is trying to emulate Sarah Waters and doing a terrible job. Then when I got to page 83 I spotted "me, she thought amusingly, in love with another woman," and alarm bells went off. Then on page 90 and read, "You are a man, Mr Searson, and may do as you please. I am a woman and may do as I am told." That's not like Sarah Waters, that just about IS Sarah Waters, aside from the name, pretty much straight out of Fingersmith! Now I am disgusted, not only is this book badly written with poor editing, and terrible research into the time period, the author could not even think up their own sentences and resorted to plagiarism. show less

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

I was strangely drawn to this book; I love werewolves and have yet to read anything shelved under New Adult but the taboo Student / Teacher relationship was definitely a concern. Curiosity eventually got the best of me and I just couldn’t resist anymore. And then, I simply could not look away. This novel did a train wreck number on my emotions; the logical side of me kept shaking her head saying no-no-no while as my wicked side was screaming YES-YES-YES! Alpha Girl show more blew my freaking mind!

The werewolf aspects of this story were awesome. I loved that Rose and Tom are drawn to each other because of how they smell. Their attraction is on such a primal level that it wasn’t as shocking when it eventually trumps everything. At first, I didn’t think of Rose as an alpha because she’s shy and quiet but as the story progresses her dominance really comes out, especially around Stone. Goldman also has to shift on every full moon and it’s not the typical type of transformation found in most werewolf books which I found refreshing. The ending promised even more furry goodness is to come in Lone Girl.

I liked the running countdown that Bloomfield has at the beginning of each chapter. It didn’t take me long to puzzle it out but once I did, it made me love this book even more. Kate’s writing flows nicely which makes Alpha Girl‘s 212 pages fly by way too fast. I’m typically not a fan of authors who throw a young main character’s parents under the bus but in this case I think it suited the story. I definitely had no qualms about hating them. Rose’s parents brainwashed her into believing that the W-word is a disease and also the cause of their divorce, not to mention that they lock her up in the basement during her “time of the month”.

Rose and Stone’s relationship made me hate myself for wanting to turn the page. I loved that she pursued him aggressively and that he put up a valiant effort to dissuade her. At times I thought that Tom was a real creep but at others I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. There are also glimpses of Fifty in their student / teacher relationship. Stone gives Goldman detention to re-claim his alpha role at school and she kowtows by calling him sir. Like I said, a train-wreck.

There’s way more to this book than either the blurb or my review can, in good conscience, share. The main plot revolves around so much more than just Kate and Stone’s forbidden love; the whole comes together in a beautiful yet utterly shocking way. Once you start reading Alpha Girl you will not be able to look away. show less

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads.

Kate Bloomfield’s werewolves were an unexpected favourite of mine last year, and I was really hoping that this sequel would prove to be just as shockingly wonderful as ALPHA GIRL. Rose now finds herself on the run with Tom, a man who’s not only twice her age, but also a convicted sex offender, and a recent jail escapee. The first couple of chapters were a rush with police chases, car theft, shoot-outs, and helped to further reinforce the taboo-ness of the show more protagonists’ love story. The plot could have gone in so many directions after that what with Stone having possibly turned a prison guard, and the rumours surrounding an Alaskan pack. Instead, the author decided to split the duo up because of a rookie mistake that any eighteen year old with a smartphone should be aware of, and then a government conspiracy thread surfaced which has become so predictable in this genre that it’s practically a cliché.

Rose and Tom’s student / teacher relationship was disturbingly irresistible in book 1, and readers had to come to terms with its many prohibited facets; however in LONE GIRL Bloomfield pushed things too far in my opinion. I’ve reluctantly accepted the age difference and weird power dynamics, but in this installment Stone mentioned that they have yet to use a condom. I realize that this series isn’t intended for younger audiences, and that the author enjoys pushing all kinds of no-no buttons, but why go there? I was ok with all-of-the-above, yet the blatant disregard of practicing safe sex, especially given the circumstances, was just plain irresponsible and unnecessary. Not to mention both of the characters’ blasé attitude towards teenage pregnancy. It certainly didn’t add anything to the story, and only succeeded in pissing me off.

The cops uncover their whereabouts because Rose ignores Tom’s warning about the authorities being able to track them via her phone, and after the whole condom thing, this pushed the heroine into too stupid to live territory. I understand that’s she young and naive, but what teenager doesn’t know this? Then Stone gets pissed at Goldman for being a kid—newsflash she IS a kid—and then abandons her on the side of the road. Now we have not one, but two TSTL characters. Crappy parental figures is a personal hang-up of mine in the Young / New Adult genres, and Rose’s mom and dad were real winners in book 1, and continued to impress in 2. The poor girl gets into a car crash while hitchhiking home after her lover ditches her, ends up in a coma for sixteen days, and her mother refuses to take her back. So, Goldman moves to California with her father, things go horribly awry during the full moon; her dad buys a one-way plane ticket to Alaska, and wishes her good luck finding the pack. Wow.

I have yet to say anything positive about this novel, and you’re probably wondering why I gave it 2.5 stars. Well, it wasn’t all bad, we learn some interesting things about this universe’s werewolves including that they don’t all share the same abilities, and that heightened senses aren’t necessarily a guarantee. Also, born wolves can’t change others, and only 2% of those bitten actually survive their first shift. So yeah, the mythology’s original, the plot had no major holes, and the writing/editing was good. You’ve most likely already guessed at what awaited Rose in Alaska because as I mentioned, the government angle was foreseeable to a fault. There was however, a couple of curve balls thrown in towards the end, and the story concluded on a cliffhanger. URGH! I’m undecided as to whether I’ll be continuing this series, but if it’s slated to be a trilogy I just might because I’ve made it this far.

LONE GIRL fell victim to the dreaded sequel syndrome, so here’s hoping that WILD GIRL will be the cure. show less

Alpha Girl (Wolfling #1) by Kate Bloomfield

Alpha Girl is a well written novel; I really enjoyed Kate Bloomfield writing. The characters were developed well I ended up really liking Rose and couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. This story was medium length read, easy to read and it flowed smoothly. There were parts where I felt some of the story was a bit rushed, but I found I still really enjoyed the story and enjoyed reading about Rose as she came out of her shell.

Rose is show more quiet, very shy almost appears to be withdrawn, but as the story moves along we see Rose as a mature young woman, she has more confidence and even comes across bold when she is talking to Mr. Stone. Mr. Stone came across a bit odd and was hard for me to like him knowing he was Rose’s teacher. But the difference here is he doesn’t pursue Rose she goes after him.

Her attraction to Mr. Stone was different for me and I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this story because of the teacher/student relationship, but as I got to know Rose and remembered that she is an alpha wolf I put it all in perspective. At first they do feel the attraction but both keep the secret of what they are and it holds them back for a short time.

The romance and attraction between Rose and Mr. Stone happens fairly fast and Rose is the instigator in this, there is some sexual content between the two and will say it was written well. All and all the story kept my attention and I really enjoyed Kate’s writing and definitely will read the second book in this series.

I have rated Alpha Girl 3.5 stars. If you like romance, werewolves then this could be a book for you. Stop by and check it out. show less