Customer Reviews

Loup Garou

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you asked to specify exactly what about this book had me saying "WOW" and placing it on the keeper shelf, I couldn't tell you. Certainly it was predictable and some of the plot twists were obvious. I agree that the female lead not making the connection between her childhood friend and Exavier sooner is stretching it. But SOMETHING about this book had me so entertained and so engrossed I practically read it in one sitting. Would have, but, unfortunately, employers tend to frown on reading when you're supposed to be working.

Simply put, it was a guilty pleasure, escapism at its best. True, the writing isn't the best but it doesn't always have to be. Sometimes the characters just speak to you. Sometimes I don't need or want 150 extra pages of back story or constant character ruminating. I know what authors I like who write that way and when I am in the mood for it, I grab one of theirs. This story moves right along, with an engaging cast of characters and lots of paranormal fun.

What I do like about the books by Mandy M Roth that I have read is that her female leads have friends. Too often these romances have female leads that either have no close friends or if they do, the friend betrays them. I like that her leads have a circle of friends who are strong, supportive and actively part of the story line. I like that the males also have close friends who are equally as supportive and loyal. I also like flawed characters and just enough angst that not everything comes too easy. Oh and that paranormal stuff. Gotta love that too. I found Loup Garou to be that kind of story.

Literary masterpiece? Nope. But its staying on the keeper shelf, because I am sure I will read it again.

I had heard so much about this book. Heavens it got 5 angels (no pun intended) but I was sorely disappointed. Lindsay Williams is a witch. The daughter of a vampire and a fey. Early in life she suffered a brutal blow. The death of a loved one (don't want to spoil it) in a horrific manner. She's been disappointed with men all her life and has kept them at a distance. The love of her life at 5 years old was Exavier, but he moved away and his family kept them apart. That being said... when she meets another Exavier years later it doesn't dawn on her until almost half way through the book that it's him! If the author had changed his name (for some reason) when he rentered her life I could understand it. In this case it was just totally unbelievable. Lindsay has powers. Her friends know who and what she is. They all contrive to keep Exavier discovering/noticing those powers. They do so in the most idiotic ways. Example: dark spirits are after Lindsay. Only she can see them. She runs, dodges and in one scene does a split (she's a dancer) to the floor to get away from them. Her friends tell Exavier she hates rats and is running away from them. If she hates rats why is she doing splits and getting closer to the ground. The attempts made to supposedly keep Exavier in the dark are if not inane just out and out comical. I was told this was one of the best erotic books ever. No way. It is a tease. Three quarters of the book through Lindsay and Exavier finally have a full blown sexual encounter and they're being controlled at that. Ms. Roth writes her sexual scenes well and the emotion of Lindsay and her former lover Eion at the end is well written. The characters use of the "F" word in situations was not so much shocking but out of place and the opening scenes in a dance class with women talking openly of sex was over the top. If you can get this book used for very little money, buy it. It's interesting though I would have liked more plot. It is definitely not 5 star or 5 angel material. I really wanted to love this book...

I really liked this story. The dynamics between Lindsay and Exavier were great. However, like a lot of Mandy Roth stories, I think it would benefit greatly from a good editor.
Some of the imparting of the back story by people rambling in front of complete strangers is very clumsy and after using the same mechanism a few times, gets a bit annoying.
The biggest downer was not getting a confrontation between the main characters and the person/ people responsible for their estrangement.
I repeat, I DID like this story. I just didn't think it was quite the finished product

The good.
I read this book in three hours, and didn't put it down despite constantly thinking, "Was this character dropped on her head or what?" The dialog and the story zips along, and I enjoyed the personalities and the relationship that develops between the protagonist and her "mate," the dark prince. The story was effective enough I did not put the book down despite finding many problems with it.

The problems.
Flaws were numerous. Lack of background info, little scene setting, incomprehensible descriptions of dancing scenes, and a zillion "as you know, Bob" dialog instances where info dumps were placed to give readers some background info. In fact, I'd say a significant percentage of dialog was like this. However, it moved well enough it didn't generally bug me much.

But, worst of all, there was how the author used the main character like a robot, having her completely ignore the obvious: that her new guy was her old friend from twenty years ago. I mean, come on; this is too much of a manipulation to make the book feel real! The guy's got the same first name, nearly the same last name, keeps seeming familiar, etc. She never even considers it! The gal is as observant as a bag of rocks.

Yet, as I keep saying, I still rather liked it. Too flawed to recommend buying new; but if you can check it out of the library, you might like it.

I admit that this book is one of my guilty pleasures. I bought it at Ellora's Cave soon after it's initial publication. I've read it maybe seven or eight times now. It's not that I wasn't aware of the sophmore-ish antics of the main character, Lindsey. It's not that I overlooked the contrived Mary-Sueism mystique of said character. If I'm honest with myself, I'd have to say that this book speaks to every ridiculous scenario I ever harbored in my pubescent little pea-brain. The fact that it had an early urban fantasy flavor just added to its appeal to me.

I have never taken the book seriously. I don't think it's intended that the reader do so. The main character flounders through her relationships and conversations, just like any teenager--despite being older plot-wise. It brings back the ridiculous things kids do and say in high school. It's ridiculous to the point of being cute to me.

I don't regret having made this purchase. I still enjoy visiting with it, remembering fondly how stupid AND fun it is to be young and delusional.

Loved the story, would like to see stories for the others in the book. Putting that aside, I would look back at the last page I had just read to see if I missed a page. I don't know if it was the editing or if it was just me thinking there should have been more of the story. I also found it hard to believe she didn't know who her childhood friend was. I'll still buy one of Mandy M. Roth's books, if she writes about any of the other characters that were part of this story just to see how they all pan out.

I can't be specific about what I loved. This was a fun read, I laughed out loud a few times. It wasn't the best written book ever, but it didn't bother me with this one. I do wish there had been more to it, or a follow up book with the same characters. I recommend this one for fans of pnr or just if you want a guilty pleasure.

Loup Garou is an awesome read all the way through. You will find yourself laughing and crying as you see the characters interact with each other. An awesome read to the very end. I plan on keeping this one around where I can re-read it often.

Lindsay Williams is the daughter of a vampire and a fay. She is also supposed to be the mate of the dark fay prince. It doesn't help that all kinds of dark demons are out to stop her from mating with him. They also want to challenge him. Lindsay is being attacked more and more and her friends are doing their best to keep her alive. It also doesn't help that she has never met the man who is causing her so much trouble.

Exavier Kedmen is the sexy front man in a world famous band. He shows up wanting Lindsay to go back to her old job. He seems very familiar to her, but she can't think where she could have met him before. There is a strong attraction and she feels so safe around him. But he is human, isn't he? When the demons attack, she finds out that they are afraid of someone, someone called the dark prince.

Mandy M. Roth shows with this book her range of imagination, and the ability to bring that imagination to the readers in a believable way. This is a wonderful story that is full of emotion. Lindsay has to face past demons, present demons and finally look to the future for her happy end. Both hero and heroine have a lot of emotion. The love scenes are hot and sizzling, sensual and romantic. The action will hold the reader captivated and keep her turning the pages. This reviewer especially enjoyed the dialogue between the characters. Ms. Roth writes sassy, witty dialogue that will have the reader smiling, even though this is a dark story. There were, however a few places where this reviewer had a question mark, hence not quite full marks for this review, but Ms. Roth's fans will not be disappointed and it is sure to be a big success. Here's hoping for more stories about some of the other characters.