Customer Reviews

Tempting Danger (The World of the Lupi, Book 1)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ms. Wilks has penned a very entertaining book that combines suspense, romance, and the sub genre of the paranormal into a fast paced read that many fans of this genre will enjoy.

Lily Yu is a cop that has taken on the task of finding who is murdering local citizens in a most gruesome fashion, and why. This would not be such an unusual thing for a homicide detective except for the fact that it looks as though werewolves may be the problem. Especially when the killer looks as though he is the prince of the clan Nokolai, Rule Turner. If that is not enough, Lily now finds herself drawn to the dark good-looking Rule, this cannot be a good thing. Little does she know she has been the chosen mate for Rule and there is nothing she can do about it...unless she wants to turn her back on her heart.

Together Rule and Lily investigate the killings and through investigating, finds that the killer may just be a cop and one that Lily is working with. Why is the killer trying to make the murders look as if a werewolf committed them and why? Now it's a race against time and a killer who may just be magical in it's own way.

This was a fast paced read. There were at times moments when the read was not totally fluid and I felt as if I had missed something in a previous paragraph but for the most part this was few and far between. Ms. Wilks make believe world was highly entertaining and Rule and Lily are not your normal hero and heroine. As a result the reader of this book is in for a treat.

Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com

Lily Yu is a Detective in the SanDiego PD Homicide Bureau. She is assigned a case in which the victim has been killed by a lupus or werewolf. One of the main suspects is the heir to the leader of the local clan, Rule Turner. Lily finds herself strangely attracted to Rule, even though she finds him in a sleazy club with women hanging all over him, including one from a bad period in her past. Lily is also a sensitive, meaning that she can sense and identify different kinds of magic. The killings are more than just a werewolf gone mad, the problem is much much bigger.

This book was inspired by a short story in the Lover Beware anthology, but the story line is completely different. The characters are very real and the descriptions of the settings very good, very much needed in these alternate reality type books. I waited a long time for this book and was not disappointed. This is the start of a very good series and I can't wait for the next one.

Lily Yu is a twenty-eight year old homicide detective, and she has a secret--she's a Sensitive. When she touches people, she can feel magic. In the beginning of the book, Lily is called to the scene of a murder, and she immediately realizes this is not your ordinary crime scene. The victim appears to have been attacked and killed--by a werewolf, or lupus.

During the course of her investigation, she is introduced to the handsome and charismatic lupi prince, Rule Turner. Despite her unwillingness to be drawn in by his charm, she finds she can't help herself. Rule is likewise drawn to Lily and quickly realizes there is much more between them than just passion. But Lily has secrets of her own which prevent her from opening up to just anyone (not to mention the fact that Rule is a lupus), and Rule, too, is not exactly an open book. Readers will quickly realize their relationship is going to be complicated.

Rule and Lily begin to investigate the murders together, and their blossoming relationship is put to the test when Rule becomes the prime suspect by one of Lily's fellow officers.

There is much more to the plot than just murder--there's the lupi world, Lily's own past, federal agents, sorcerers, Lily's wise grandmother, gnomes, and dark magic.

I enjoyed this book very much. I did become rather frustrated at times, because much was insinuated and hinted at about Lily's past, but nothing was truly revealed until much later in the book. This kept me from feeling as though I knew and understood her. I found it frustrating to be held at a distance from the main character I assumedly should like. Therefore, it was difficult for me to determine whether or not I actually LIKED Lily. However, her actions were enough to demonstrate she is an honest, complicated, tough, independent, and stubborn woman who will never be content to sit at home while the boyfriend goes out and takes care of the bad guys. I liked that about her, and I imagine a lot of readers will, too.

I will be looking forward to reading more about Lily and Rule. The next book, MORTAL DANGER, is out now. Eileen Wilks also has a third book, BLOODLINES, due out in January 2007. All in all, this was a good book, and I recommend it to fans of the paranormal genre.

I am a fan of urban fantasy novels, particularly Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series, and I am not generally a fan of detective stories or romances. So perhaps my criticism isn't fair, since I would put this novel only incidentally in the urban fantasy genre and more in the detective/romance genres. That said, I really didn't think it was a very good story. I did finish it, but wasn't terribly compelled to do so.

The characters in this story are wooden, and I never actually found myself rooting for any of them. Even when Lily reveals her painful secret, I didn't feel that any real dimension had been added to her character. Her dialogue is cliched; even her thoughts are cliched. We are told that she's tough and smart before we're actually shown evidence of that, and it comes off as lecture instead of entertainment. And Rule, don't even get me started. Rule is a cliche in and of himself. He has a "crooked and charming smile" (give me a break) and is every bit the Tall Dark and Handsome you would expect to find in any dime store romance novel. Nothing he does rings true, even the loving relationship he's supposed to have with his eight year old son seems choreographed; the author might as well have just skipped over it entirely and said "hey readers, Rule loves his son." It would have seemed a lot less trite.

The werewolves themselves are ridiculous; they are all male, which I suppose is part of what makes them so super-sexy, at least that's what the author seems to want us to think. Add to that the fact that they all wear cutoff Levis and nothing else, and we get the point. Werewolves are way, way sexy. Bare-chestedly, naked-leggedly sexy.

Most annoyingly of all though is the universe where the story takes place. It isn't very well constructed, and the author just invents all of the magical and mystical laws as she goes along, where ever they are convenient. Cullen uses "sorceri" to cause an explosion, but we never really understand what the hell a "sorceri" actually is. The super-sexy "mate bond" that holds Lily and Rule together seems totally fabricated, and no one really explains what its purpose is, or why it's so rare. Along the way we discover that the bad guys worship a goddess who dislikes the goddess that the werewolves worship, and apparently the werewolves were created to fight this super bad goddess, but there's no history behind that supposed relationship, we're just told "Oh yeah, by the way, we were created to fight this goddess."

And the sex scenes, god, if I'd had to read the words "his need for her" or "her need for him" or any other incarnation of that phrase one more time I'd have puked. Oh and then there's the part where Rule is challenged for dominance by Lily's cat, and there is an actual dominance fight between cat and person. This might actually be the stupidest thing I've ever read. In fact, maybe just buy this novel so you can read that scene, because I couldn't possibly do justice to how stupid it actually is.

A lot of really boring stuff happens too. They make coffee. They sit around and read through files (boring enough in real life, extra boring in a novel). They talk to each other about how they are going to attack the bad guys (the author spends more time talking about their plans then she actually spends on the execution of their plans). The climax is too fast and is utterly lacking in suspense.

Finally, the loose ends never get tied up. Things never get explained (a werewolf committed the first murder under the compulsion of the Aza, but which werewolf?). We never even find out how a person becomes a werewolf ... we assume it's genetic, but what about all the old stories about werewolf bites? Don't we need to know how that fits in to the werewolf society in the novel? And at one point they seem to be alluding to the idea that Rule can no longer change into a wolf, but by the middle of the story it becomes clear that that's not true, but the author never explains where the hell she was going with that idea.

This is just not a very satisfying book. If you're looking for really good urban fantasy, look elsewhere.

"Tempting Danger" is the first book I've read by Eileen Wilks and although interesting it didn't entirely hit the spot for me.

Lily Yu is a detective investigating a murder that appears to have been committed by a werewolf. Werewolves (lupi) have only recently been accorded some rights; previously they were hunted and killed by the police. However they are still regarded with suspicion and this death doesn't help. It looks like the prime suspect is Rule Turner, the prince of the local werewolf clan, and Lily goes to interview him. However she soon realises that the murder didn't happen as it seems on the surface and that there is some kind of connection between her and Rule. The more they investigate together the more is uncovered - someone in the police department working against them, suspicions amongst the lupi, mistrust of Lily as she seems close to a lupus, an evil female deity trying to take over the world, that kind of thing.

Although billed as a romance in some ways this book wasn't too romantic - the lead characters don't exactly choose to have their relationship and much more attention is paid to the murder and sorcery plot. It's written fairly well and I liked the characters, particularly Lily's grandmother, and the differences between the lupus and human social mores were interesting, but the overall story wasn't enough to completely carry me away into the plot. The big fight at the end was over surprisingly quickly and that was the only real taste of action in the story - the novel was more focused on investigation and plotting. The magical world it was set in had that slight drawback that too many other urban fantasies seem to have these days - peopling the world with every possible type of non-human creature like werewolves, gnomes, sorcerers, banshees, witches, goddesses and the like; the only thing missing in this story seemed to be vampires. It was a pleasant enough read but not exciting enough to entice me to buy another book by this author.

Okay, just finished "Tempting Danger" by Eileen Wilks -- I give it five stars as a very intense paranormal suspense novel. It's world is very reminiscent of the Anita Blake universe with the paranormal being known, and non-humans like the Lupi (werewolves) only recently gaining equal legal protections from murder... well unless they are in wolf form, because it's not illegal to kill a lupi who isn't in their human shape, not yet. The main character is a very strong and canny Chinese American police detective, Lily Yu.

A nicely original character that makes a very realistic homicide investigator, who is also a "sensitive". Since anything magical has been suspect for a long time, Lily is in a "don't ask, don't tell" situation and uses of her gift are under the radar and not mentioned in reports. Being officially "outed" would mean her badge, but when her gift tells her the latest murders she is investigating are the result of sorcery and not a rogue werewolf she has some hard choices to make. Rule Turner is the equivalent of a werewolf prince, and he's being framed by powerful forces that have hidden agents inside the police department itself. Lily who has always been the type to 'color inside the lines' is going to have to cross the lines to do the right thing. It doesn't help that there is an incredible attraction between Lily and Rule, one deeper than mere animal attraction.

The book maintains a high level of suspense all the way through. The story unfolds slowly, revealing not only secrets of Lily's past and the exotic culture of the lupi, but a dire threat of dark gods on the brink of finding a way from their own realm into our own.

309 pages, very jam packed. Excerpt at the end shows a sequel with the same main characters of Lily and Rule.

This book was a compelling read that I could not put down. Firstly, I loved the not-so-typical heroine who showed honest struggle not only being a female cop, but a minority who's a 'sensitive' to boot. I felt she was portrayed honestly and therefore easier to relate to. Secondly, instead of the Alpha finding his mate & claiming her as his own, Lily Yu doesn't go quietly & asks the right questions that could change her life forever. As for the World of the Lupi in this book, it's a very interesting take on an age-old society of Weres and how they handle their race with others. They're Out, so to speak, which makes things that much more interesting with race wars and prejudices. A male bonding is actually a rarity, and when it does happen, there are more choices for the female 'Chosen' than her bonded male which was an intriguing twist for me. In other words the Alpha is the more vulnerable in this situation and has that much more to lose. As for the plot, it kept me deeply involved as an investigator myself seeking for answers. And the side characters are abundant in wit, charm and mystery to keep me entertained for the next installments. Overall, fans of Briggs and Armstrong won't be disappointed with Wilks and her World of the Lupi series... I wasn't!

Don't be discouraged by my 3 star rating. I'd say it's more of a 3.75 star rating. I have mixed feelings with this book. But it won't stop me from reading the next book in the series. The murder mystery keeps the book flowing. But the relationship between Lily Yu and Rule is slow going. The fact that Lily never really accepts their relationship was frustrating and irritating. I really like Rule and his werewolf family/world. Lily's grandma was enjoyable. In the next book, I am hopeful that Lily will give Rule a chance and go with the flow when it comes to their relationship and P.S. the book could do with more sex....

When a murder victim is identified as being killed by one of the lupi, Lily Yu, a police detective, finds herself ordered to give primary focus to that case. To find what she needs, she must gain the wolf clan's acceptance, and Rule Turner is the key to doing that. Though it goes against police ethics regarding conflict of interest, Lily and Rule's relationship moves from business to beyond pleasure, making the case personal and doubly dangerous.

**** Suspense and passion will keep you flipping pages rapidly until the end comes too soon. Readers will be glad to know this is only the first in a series focusing on Lily and Rule. Ms Wilks has crafted a new world of urban fantasy that will appeal to Laurrell K Hamilton and Melanie Jackson fans. Combining Indian and Oriental culture with her own version of the werewolves has resulted in a series that has depth from the get go. ****

The book started out really, really slow. Until I got about 1/2 through the book. After that everything feel into place, and the plot took off like a racehorse.

I only slowed down enough to buy the other two books next day delivery. If your tired of your current favorite author give this lady a try. Theres more twists and turns than a rollercoaster.

The author knows how to string you along until you want to scream.

The only problem that I saw was a really slow beginning and when things really go going, it ended too soon..