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Review: Wolf Gone Wild by Juliette Cross (Stay a Spell #1)

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Wolf Gone Wild by Juliette Cross // VBC Review

Wolf Gone Wild (Stay a Spell #1)
Juliette Cross
Published: Jan. 14, 2020
Purchase: Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Margaret

Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars

Mateo is a werewolf who’s been unable for shift to several months. His wolf side, who calls himself Alpha, is getting increasingly frustrated and vocal about it. Matteo is convinced that he’s been cursed and seeks out a witch who can help.

Evie is the second oldest of the Savoie sisters, an influential witch family in New Orleans. The sisters each have a different magical specialty and Evie’s is hex-breaking. I loved the bond between the sisters, as well as how different they each are. I’m hoping that each sister will get her own book in the series so we get to know them better. Those big, loud, nosy paranormal families are always so much fun!

The chemistry between Evie and Mateo is immediately evident, though they both try to ignore it. But Alpha is happy to tell us exactly what he’s really thinking. At times his voice provides some comedy, but I don’t think that’s always the case. I’ve read a few reviews commenting on how light and fluffy this story is but I found all the magical, curse-related elements surprisingly dark. I think the levity comes from Evie’s geeky personality, her Deadpool t-shirts, and the way the couple bonds over Star Wars. Those scenes are my favorites!

I enjoyed the interesting spin Cross puts on her werewolf mythology. They’re all descended from the same original werewolf who was cursed by a witch. She also ties in historical references like the Spanish Inquisition and the Beast of Gevaudan. I loved how much detail she managed to work in. What we don’t get is the pack politics that you often find in paranormal romance because Mateo is a lone wolf. That void is filled by the witch covens who have their own political machinations. In addition to the werewolves and witches, the world features vampires and grims who I’m hoping to learn more about in a later book.

My only issue is that there’s a thing that happens in the second half that should have made both characters uncomfortable based on how they felt the first time it happened. They weren’t and they didn’t explain why they weren’t uncomfortable anymore, which made me uncomfortable.

But overall Cross has created a rich world with a large supporting cast of interesting and diverse characters, which means theres lots of potential for the series to continue. At least two other future couple seem to be set up already. Im excited to see where it goes.

Sexual content: graphic sex

5 Responses to “Review: Wolf Gone Wild by Juliette Cross (Stay a Spell #1)”

  1. AmyM says:

    I really enjoyed this book. I loved, like you mention, the mythologies and not just the werewolves, but the witches, vampires, etc. it all felt fresh.

    I’m racking my brain trying to this of the issue you had in the second half of the book and I’m coming up blank. Now I feel like I have the need to go back and figure it out. See if I missed something or if it wasn’t as much of an issue for me? 🙂

    My issue stems from the fact that I wanted to see more of Evie’s Hex breaking ability. I didn’t think we got to spend enough time seeing the inner workings of Evie’s innate magic. It’s something I hope will be different for the other sisters. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series and felt the couple set-ups were done really well.

    Great review!

  2. Margaret says:

    Yes, I’m especially interested in the sister that sees auras. More detail on that would be great.

    And it’s at the beginning of asexual scene, if that helps.

  3. Tais S says:

    I went to read the book because of this review, and I loved it! Thank you so much for putting it on my radar!

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