Wolf at the Door

Wolf at the Door
4 Stars

Synopsis: Werewolf Sullivan Quinn travels to New York City to warn the members of the council of Others that the secret of their existence is about to be revealed to humanity. He never suspects that he will meet his mate and his match in Cassidy Poe, a Foxwoman and an anthropologist. Soon Quinn and Cassidy must work together against a foe that seeks to destroy everything they know and love.

Review: A steamy romance with witty banter and laugh-out-loud moments.

This is a well-written and light-hearted read with detailed characterization. Quinn is simply gorgeous and has the cutest Irish mannerisms. Cassidy is intelligent and spunky, and their chemistry sizzles.

The focus of the book is mainly on the romance and it is show more a pity that most of the author’s efforts were put into developing the main characters backgrounds and motivations rather than investing in the world building. The secondary cast includes a variety of supernatural characters from various mythologies, and while they are intriguing in their own right, they are not sufficiently developed. I can only assume that some of them will make appearances in later installments of the series.

The conspiracy plot is the weakest point as, despite its potential, it never manages to get off the ground and the final confrontation is rushed. While the ending is not exactly a cliffhanger, it is a little up-in-the-air and lackluster. In my opinion, the book lacks an epilogue in which Quinn takes Cassidy home to “meet the parents”.

On the whole, Wolf at the Door is thoroughly entertaining and I look forward to continuing with the series. show less

Wolf at the Door was a decent read. It started out slowly, but picked up the pace half-way through. It's basically about a group of fanatics who call themselves the Light of Truth, threatening to unveil the paranormal world of The Others. The Others are trying to find them before it's too late. I thought that the romance between Quinn (a lupine) and Cassidy (a foxwoman) was pretty bland. They were fine as characters, though they could have been a little more developed. I felt that there was no spark between them and I was told they feel in love, rather than shown. The plot was decent enough and I'll read the next one in the series. 3.5 stars

I just discovered this series/author, and I love it! Irish werewolf diplomat comes to NYC with an agenda to put to the Council of Others. But his nose sends him on a chase and he can't give up. Turns out the one attached to the scent is a foxwoman with a formidable grandmother, and he soon finds out that fate has decreed that she is his mate. Add in some intrigue, other shifters, vampires, et al, a kidnapping or five, and you have a punny snarktastic fun read.

First book in the Others series. I like the world better than the stories - the sex is very explicit which I find less interesting, and the obstacles (some of them, the immovable ones) are either ignored or deus-ex-machina dealt with. A human marrying an immortal, especially when the immortal is explicitly said to mate 'for life' - there are problems there that can't be easily solved, but the author just skates over them (either the human's life is automatically extended, or the immortal says (to himself, not his mate) that he'll die along with her (gender distribution correct for these two books (first and third)). Fluffy.). But the world is great - urban fantasy with hidden Others, the first book they decide to unveil, in the second show more they're in negotiations, in the third book they've just unveiled and humans are dealing (badly) with these facts. I'd really like to see some non-romance books set in this universe - honestly, there's some good stories in here somewhat obscured by two peoples' sudden obsession with each other. Oh yeah, and they definitely illustrate the First Law of Romance: if the sex is fantastic, it's true love which will overcome all obstacles. If it's not so good, it's with the wrong partner. Pffff. show less

As the first book in a new paranormal series, Warren is off to a running start. A Novel of the Others, Wolf at the Door is the “tail” of Sullivan Quinn and Cassidy Berry. Quinn, coming from a long line of Irishman werewolf ambassadors, comes to the States as a delegate from the European Council of Others to the American Council to advocate that it is time for the Others to announce themselves to the humans of the world and try to coexist peacefully and truthfully. Cassidy is a Foxwoman, an anthropologist who - although being from a long and illustrious line of diplomats herself - has no interest in politics, but - based on her expertise - is vehemently against the idea of unveiling themselves to the world. Throw in a religious show more fanatical group bent on the complete exposition and destruction of all Others, several kidnappings, a domineering and opinionated old fox (literally) of a grandmother, and some steamy love scenes to make this a good start to, what looks to be, a great new series.

I enjoyed this romance for it’s very witty quips and dialogue, the interesting characters, and because it opens up a world that Warren could write about for some time. The romance was pretty easy with few obstacles - but lots of sex, as Warren spent more time on the overall plot than on the two getting together. Which is often nice, because even I get bored from time to time with a romance novel just being the constant misunderstandings between the couple keeping them apart and the easy resolution at the end that could have been found in the beginning. Not to mention, that this was an introduction novel, and she had to spend some time establishing the new world

That is not to say that I haven’t read better paranormal romance, but you can’t only read the “best book ever” or you would shortly run out of things to read. I think Warren has a lot of potential and I look fowarding to reading her next one, She’s No Faerie Princess. I hope at some point she’ll write a backstory about how werejaguar Felix (that’s like a werewolf Alpha) Rafael de Santos met his witchy (again, literally) wife Tess!

Oh, and I have to share my favorite line from this book you - well, at least my favorite PG one.
Quinn to Cassidy - “I need you to understand what you do to me. You go to my head like whiskey, and I’m asking you nicely to please let me have another sip.” Boy, would I have liked to hear that in his sweet Irish brogue. *sigh* show less

Wolf at the Door by Christine Warren is a steamy paranormal romance with fun dialogue and characters that quickly won me over as they struggle to discover who is behind the attacks, creating a sense of danger and suspense, and making this a novel you want on your reading list.

Best thing about this book was that the heroine was a kitsune. It was refreshing to see a different kind of shifter in a paranormal romance. Usually its just werewolves and large cats. Unfortunately the hero wasn't all that thrilling. There was some interesting build up about his character in the beginning with him being essentially the oral story teller for his werewolf pack but that's where that ended. Other than that he was pretty dull, but I enjoyed his relationship with Cassidy. My only other problem was that the ending was a bit anti-climatic. It felt like all the action was happening while the heroine was looking the other way. Then when she turned her attention back to the fight people where either knocked out or dead.