Customer Reviews

Wolf at the Door (The Others, Book 1)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Quinn is a werewolf that has traveled from his home in Ireland to the United States to meet with the Council, the governing body of the Others. The Others are non-human races; vampires, werewolves, witches etc. Before the important meeting takes place, the tantalizing scent of honeysuckle has Quinn distracted and searching for its source. He can't fight his desire for the sweet scent and he abruptly leaves to find it.

Cassidy, a werefox, is taking a break from the meeting when she hears growling. She turns to find Quinn hiding in the shadows staring at her. Cassidy runs and Quinn chases, each shifting in to their Other forms. She manages to get away but she ends up coming face to face with Quinn again soon after, when she is brought unwillingly to the Council's emergency meeting.

The mistress of a very powerful vampire has been kidnapped and the group thought to have taken her, The Light of Truth, could expose the Others to the humans now. The Council decides that, because Cassidy is an anthropologist, her extensive knowledge of human culture will be useful in finding more information about The Light Of Truth. She will be working closely along side Quinn as well. Right away Quinn and Cassidy's relationship becomes intimate.

It's a race against time for Cassidy and Quinn to find the ones responsible for the kidnapping and to stop their evil plans before the Others are exposed and Cassidy's loved ones are harmed as well.

Wolf At The Door is jam-packed with mystery, thrills and it's full of fascinating characters. Quinn is incredibly sexy and Cassidy is strong and intelligent. Their passion is scorching! This story draws you in with a familiar time and setting and then it's blended with an edge of the supernatural. Christine Warren does paranormal stories so well, and Wolf At The Door is no exception. This new series is proving to be a very entertaining and exciting one!


Nannette
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

While this novel can be read as a stand-alone book, much of the background and characters are not well fleshed out as they have their own stories in the authors "Fixed" series of eBooks published by Ellora's Cave.

If you prefer not to start in the middle of a series, I highly recommend you download the other stories first. Book 5 of the Fixed series - Fur For All - is Rafeael De Santos and Tess' story.

As a whole, I like this book. The characters could have used some more development to bring about more depth. They were what I would call sufficient, but they would have been stunning had they been better developed. The plot was predictable. The theme of supernatural beings on the verge of being discovered by humans is quite popular in this genre at the moment. If you're looking for a book with some intense "romantic moments" between total strangers who are in touch with their inner beasts this may be the book for you. There is a rush and lack of details about this book that make it seem more like an expanded short story than an actual novel. I pre-ordered the next novel in the series.

I thought this book started off great. Quinn and Cassidy were both interesting characters and their romance was sweet. Quinn is a werewolf visiting from overseas. Cassidy is a foxwoman with magical abilities that allows her to turn into a fox. There are a strange group of people that are trying to expose/capture the Others (werewolves, vampires, fae, etc.) and Quinn and Cassidy have to work together to prevent them.

Okay, here's my problem. Yes, the romance part of the story was fine, but everything else BIT, royally! The problem, regardless of the severity of the situation, was given a backburnner (I'm not talking--simply moved over, I'm talking it was moved like an entire state over) The zealots were hardly mentioned. The work Cassidy and Quinn were suppose to be working on was allowed one chapter and then other work was mentioned in passing but never discussed. Then the end was tide up neat and tidy like a bow with no climax. Of course, everything simply fell into place with no effort from the characters. A huge let down for a reader that perfers suspense and action.

I really enjoyed Christine's book. It ranks quite high in the slew of paranormals out there. The one thing I thought that made it stand out for me was the hero, Sullivan Quinn. I'm not usually a sucker for a paranormal hero, but prefer to read about kick-ass heroines, but Quinn did it for me. Sexy and Irish, need I say more. He was just alpha enough to stir my loins and sensitive man to stir my heart. Great characterization Ms. Warren! Bravo!

I was looking forward to reading this. I was told it presented a completely unique and compelling view of lycanthropy and werewolves. That much was true. However, there is very little real story here. Most of the book is eroticism, but it's not even provocative eroticism. Granted, there are none of the tired cliches found in the more pornographic adult books, there is also none of the raw power and pure understanding of the human psyche found in D. H. Lawrence or Emmanuelle Arsan. The erotic scenes are long, drawn-out, and completely unnecessary. They take up nearly a third of the book and add nothing to the reader's understanding of either the characters or the current crisis they find themselves in.

It's not science fiction. It's not modern gothic fiction. It's not even erotic fiction. So what is it? It is nearly a hundred thousand words in search of a story to tell. The great tragedy is that Christine Warren has created some truly unique, multi-dimensional characters in her two leads (Sullivan Quinn and Cassidy Poe), so much so that if these two had a real story to move through, I could easily forgive the shallow, plastic feel of everyone else in the book. Unfortunately, at the end of the day there are only these two characters still in search of a story to tell.

I am a big fan of Paranormal & Erotic Romance, I love authors like Lora Leigh, Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, J.R. Ward, Rebecca York, Lynsay Sands, and Karen Marie Moning. With my taste in mind I will say that this was a very good book. I enjoyed the world the author created, the H/H were fun characters, and I look forward to reading the next book in "The Others" series. We were introduced to a lot of secondary characters that I had a bit of trouble keeping straight being as though they all had different talents. We meet Vampires, shifters (fox, jaguar, bear, werewolf, ect.) demons, witches, voodoo priestesses and on, and on. There was also a lot of politics, council meetings and a major disagreement on whether or not the "Others" should "go public" and reveal themselves to Humans. I would have enjoyed this book more if the author spent more time developing the story between the H/H instead of introducing so many characters and filling the story with so much political hoopla. But, really, it was a good book. I'm intrigued but not panting in wait for the next installment. Hope this helps.

Cassidy Poe simply wants to live her life; and that means, for her, teaching anthropology, not displeasing her grandmother any more than she has to in order to remain sane, and once in a while turning into a fox. Romance would be nice, but it's not a top priority, especially since Grandma Adele would never approve of most interesting men. All it takes is one night to turn Cassidy's world on its ear. First, she has a close encounter with a lupine ambassador, then, is called before the High Council of Others' Inner Circle and pressed into service. Moreover, her werewolf "friend" is as well. It seems that a group called the Light of Truth wants to expose the Others, the fairies, the shifters, witches, vampires, etc, and is willing to resort to violence to see that it happens, thus sparking witch hunts and other killing sprees aimed at anyone more than human. To preserve the way their lives have been for centuries, Cassidy and the werewolf guth, Sullivan Quinn, have to work together. That part is not difficult, since they are falling in love. The hard part might be staying alive and keeping their families that way, too.

Fascinating characters populate Ms. Warren's new world. Exploring it in upcoming books should be a treat, judging by this initial volume.

Amanda Killgore

I am so disappointed! I have never not finished a book if I have paid money for it, but I just could not make myself finsih this book. I did not care what happened to the characters. I did not care if they solved the mystery. After starting and stopping several times, I finally decided to leave it alone. If you like a plot driven mostly by sex, then you might like this book more than I did. I am assuming that the series must get better since there are so many of them, but I am not willing to take the chance.

Another race exists outside of humans- the Others, populated by a variety of supernatural beings....

Sullivan Quinn is determined to get the Council of Others to listen to him. Little does he expect a scent to derail him... but the honeysuckle smell is irresistible to his werewolf nose. He follows the scent and finds Cassidy Poe, a Foxwoman and granddaughter of the most formidable Council member. There's no way Cassidy's grandmother will approve a mating between a werewolf and her Cassidy but bigger problems have come up. A group is stalking the Others and is willing to do anything to expose them... anything, including murder. Can Cassidy and Quinn work together to save the Others?

Christine Warren combines romance, suspense, and the paranormal together in the prefect blend. The mystery of this story was an added bonus. The relationship between Cassidy and Quinn happens almost instantaneously and then over the course of the book develops into something lasting as these two realize the power of a true mating.

I really like the idea of a society of Others with their own governing body. It will be interesting to see how this concept develops in the future books but Christine Warren is certainly off to a good start with WOLF AT THE DOOR. The villains found in the Light of Truth (aka as the Lightheads) aren't as well developed as the Council itself, but the storyline still seems fresh even upon a second reading two years after the initial publishing date of WOLF AT THE DOOR.

Christine Warren shows a true flair for world building in WOLF AT THE DOOR. The power of this story isn't necessarily in the individual characters but rather in the overall creation of a hidden society of Others. I look forward to more tales featuring the Others as WOLF AT THE DOOR is an excellent start to the series!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES