Customer Reviews

One Eye Open (The Pack, No.1) (Sihouette Intimate Moments, No. 1301)

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

 

 

DEA Agent Carson Turner was hunting for Alex Lupe, also known as The Wolf. Carson's wife and daughter had been brutally murdered, and Carson had been shot in the back, once Carson's cover was blown, and he was sure Alex, his former DEA partner, was behind the shootings. Carson had seen Alex with the gun in his hand, and now all Carson wanted was to get justice for his family. Alex is a wily fellow, though, heavily involved in a biker gang known as Hade's Claws. So when Brenna Lupe claims to be Alex's sister, and potentially has information on her brother;s whereabouts, Carson has no choice but to take her with him.

Brenna Lupe is worried about her twin brother, Alex. She hasn;t heard from him in six months, and she knows that he;s in trouble. So she seeks out Carson Turner in an attempt to find her brother. It isn;t long before the bullets are whizzing by their heads, though, and Brenna realizes just how much trouble her brother, Carson, and she are in. While hunting for Alex, Brenna feels a growing attraction for Carson, but she knows that nothing permanent can ever come out of it. Carson is a hollow soul searching for vengeance, and Brenna carries with her a secret that she is sure will drive him away - Brenna and her brother Alex are shape shifters. They must guard their secret carefully, for if the outside world ever discovers that there are wolves among them, the results could be catastrophic for The Pack.

This book was one of the best books I have read all year. I loved the paranormal element to the story, and I do hope that Intimate Moments carries more paranormal stories in the future. Brenna is a tough, no-nonsense woman who can take care of herself, which I really liked. She definitely wasn't the weak heroine and she was more than capable of defending herself and those she loved. Carson, although a hollow shell of his former self because of the tragedy that befell his family, was still a tough, yet sensitive, hero who grew stronger emotionally as the book progressed. The plot itself was fast-paced and never lagged, and the reader was always left wondering if Alex had really been involved in the deaths of Carson's family, and also wondering who exactly were the bad guys trying to kill Carson and Brenna. The tension in the book was so thick you could feel it, and the story left you guessing until almost the very end. I really hope to read more from this author, and I hope for a sequel to this book using some of the characters introduced. Easily five-star material, this book is an incredible thrill ride that will leave you wanting more stories from this author!

The Silhouette Intimate Moments line has recently started to incorporate more paranormal elements into their stories. As a reader who has a penchant for the unexplained, I am very thrilled. In Karen Whiddon's debut book for the line, ONE EYE OPEN, we are introduced to Brenna Lupe, a shape-shifter who can turn into a wolf. The author captures the reader's attention from the very first sentence. This story will then invade your thoughts, making you wonder if there is the slightest possibility there really are those like Brenna living amongst us. When she hears that Carson Turner is looking for The Wolf, Brenna must devise a way to discover any information he has on this person. This man is really her brother, Alex, whom she lost contact with six months earlier. Carson is a DEA agent, who thinks Alex shot him and then murdered his wife and daughter. He says the killings were to prove Alex's loyalty to a biker gang known as Hades' Claws. With his quest for vengeance and justice being his only motivation to live, Carson will let nothing or no one get in the way of reaching his goal. When Brenna meets Carson in the biker's bar, he does not believe anything she says, especially that she is Alex's sister. But as long as she has some connection to Alex, then maybe his adversary will come out of hiding, so Carson tells Brenna that she is going to stay with him. At first Brenna refuses to stay with Carson, but she decides being with him and learning all that he knows might help her locate her brother quicker. After someone shoots at them outside the bar, she realizes just how much jeopardy Alex must be in. She knows that she can take care of herself with all her unique traits from being a shape-shifter. If she could only change into her wolf form, she could hunt for Alex much quicker. But those in the Pack never let a human see the change, so she must just use her exceptional senses to keep Carson and herself safe, while they continue to hunt for Alex. With Brenna's deep compassion for those who are hurting, she wants her brother safe, yet she wants Carson to find peace as he feels guilty to still be alive. As these two work toward finding Alex, there is an intense underlying sexual attraction between them. But neither wants to act upon those feelings, as they feel they have nothing to offer each other. With unrelenting, suspenseful action, ONE EYE OPEN, will not soon be forgotten. Ms. Whiddon mesmerizes the reader with her credible characters and their heart-wrenching, emotional beliefs. The tension will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering if and when Carson will discover Brenna's true self. And will the animalistic pull between them be too potent for them to withstand? The use of animal-like attributes throughout the book also added to the story's appeal. ONE EYE OPEN is a paranormal story that will capture your imagination and make Ms. Whiddon a favorite author to read.(...)

Brenna Lupe is the sister of Alex Lupe, who has gone missing. She has decided that she needs to find him so she goes looking. While looking she encounters Carson Turner, also hunting Alex, a DEA agent and a man with a mission. Alex was his partner and Carson believes that Alex killed his family and is now involved with a treacherous gang.

It's not a bad read but there were times where my usually flexible sense of disbelief failed to suspend sufficiently. I like werewolf stories, and the scenes with the dog and the scene where Carson found out that Brenna was a werewolf are some of the best I've seen but overall it seemed to lack a certain something to bring it out of average.

NO SPOILERS or plot summaries. Recommendations included.

HIGH LEVEL: Book 1 in a paranormal romance series "The Pack" that features werewolves. Quick, light read, but refreshingly different spin on the genre. This is different from your typical werewolf romance in that it doesn't take place inside pack politics.

CHARACTERS: Strong female lead, surprisingly well rounded. Male is hell bent for leather on revenge- so he's the sexy, but damaged type. No real supporting cast.

PLOT: Uncomplicated, but engaging. Runs you all over upstate New York and surrounding area, but remains relatively contained. Stakes are limited to family and local crime- not end of the world stuff. Pacing was consistent and it was well played out. Some really memorable scenes came out of this little story- heartwarming puppies, facing down a bad-ass biker bar, a sensual walk in the woods.

ROMANCE: The only real drawback here was how fast they supposedly fell for each other. Given the amount of stress they were under though, it still worked. This was more about the connections between the characters than pure lust- though there definitely are some lusty scenes, it doesn't go as far as erotic.

BOTTOM LINE: Fast, worthwhile read. I will continue to read the series, though this one didn't do too much to set it up.

RECOMMENDATIONS: more para-romance...
1. Moira Rogers' basic werewolf romance series: Cry Sanctuary: Book 1 of Red Rock Pass series and her more magically diverse romance series Crux: Southern Arcana, Book 1
2. Vivian Arend's Wolf Signs: Granite Lake Wolves, Book 1 fun, light were-romance series. She also has a couple other light, but lusty options, including Tidal Wave: Forces of Nature, Book 1
3. Kelley Armstrong's shifting main character series with witches, demons, vamps and weres Bitten: A Novel (The Otherworld)
4. Loribelle Hunt's more sexually daring werewolf romance Once Bitten [Spellbound Moon 1]
5. Renee Michaels' more sexually adventurous werewolf romance Her Chosen Wolf: The Were Chronicles, Book 1
6. Christine Feehan's Magic in the Wind (Drake Sisters, Book 1) - no werewolves or other odd creatures, sweet (but intense) stories of magically gifted sisters struggling to protect each other and find their true loves
7. Nalini Singh's Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changelings, Book 1) - romance series which features weres and psychics, but also carries plotlines with some substance
8. Christine Warren's somewhat inconsistent, but often awesome series featuring werewolves, demons and vamps Wolf at the Door (The Others, Book 1)- skip the one about werecats, it had a weak female lead

I love this book. Paranormal books are finally becoming more avaiable but our shape shifters are still rare. Karen
Whiddon is a great author and her books on the "wolfs" are fast moving and have a good plot. This book is the 1st
of her series and I would recommend to anyone to read the series.