James Hunter (9)

2.5 stars. I received a copy for review and was interested to read this short story. Sara learns that something is different about her after she goes through puberty. It takes a while, but her grandmother eventually tells her a bit about her family's past, and hints at additional troubles to come. It turns out that she must be rather promiscuous in order to control some of the negative aspects of her condition. However, she learns to be strategic and has self-control. So, she isn't willing to do just anything. While there is sex, it is not graphic.

This was a very short story, so there wasn't much time to develop Sara's personality or the world in which she lives. Of course, she knows little other than what her grandmother told her. There were some small spelling/grammatical errors that shifted my attention from the story at times. I thought there seemed to be good chemistry between Sara and Mike, but there wasn't much development of the relationship. And that is my real issue with the story.

Overall, there was promise in the story--Sara is likable, yet alone due to her unique situation. We know virtually nothing about Mike, so the bit in the blurb about the billionaire alpha werebear is misleading. By the end of the book I knew he was the head of some successful business, but almost nothing else.

So, while I liked the underlying premise, I felt that much was missed in terms of character development and world building. Overall, the story was a bit too simplistic, and was not nearly as spicy as I expected (though I didn't mind that).… (meer)