Review: How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper

How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf
By: Molly Harper
Published by: Pocket
Publication date: February 22, 2011
Adult Paranormal Romance, 384 pages
Won from Escape Between the Pages
Favorite Quote: “Well, that cinched it. He was an asshole. I was definitely going to end up sleeping with him.”

From Amazon....

Even in Grundy, Alaska, it’s unusual to find a naked guy with a bear trap clamped to his ankle on your porch. But when said guy turns into a wolf, recent southern transplant Mo Wenstein has no difficulty identifying the problem. Her surly neighbor Cooper Graham—who has been openly critical of Mo’s ability to adapt to life in Alaska—has trouble of his own. Werewolf trouble.

For Cooper, an Alpha in self-imposed exile from his dysfunctional pack, it’s love at first sniff when it comes to Mo. But Cooper has an even more pressing concern on his mind. Several people around Grundy have been the victims of wolf attacks, and since Cooper has no memory of what he gets up to while in werewolf form, he’s worried that he might be the violent canine in question.

If a wolf cries wolf, it makes sense to listen, yet Mo is convinced that Cooper is not the culprit. Except if he’s not responsible, then who is? And when a werewolf falls head over haunches in love with you, what are you supposed to do anyway? The rules of dating just got a whole lot more complicated. . . .

I'm pretty hard to please when it comes to adult paranormal romance. I won't even pick up a book that has a shirtless, headless man or a midriff baring leather clad chick on the cover. Either the heroine is TOO snarky or too much of a horndog or both. I like to be able to relate a little bit to the main character and I like to think I'm a pretty nice non-slut. (Although if Johnny Depp should arrive at my doorstep one night, all bets are off.) Molly Harper has done a fine job of creating a heroine who's likeable and a story that's laugh out loud funny (and sexy too!)

Mo Wenstein is fresh out of a broken engagement and decides it is time to wipe the slate clean, break away from her mega involved hippie parents and make a fresh start of it somewhere far from home. I happen to LOVE this kind of story...think Under the Tuscan Sun, Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts, Chocolat. I think I must harbor a secret fantasy of chucking it all and running away to somewhere new and exotic. Of course in all these stories, the heroine has some incredible cooking skills and so I fear I must stay put. Unless there is a great demand somewhere for a woman who has mastered the skills of vegetarian microwave cookery. Mo is no exception to this rule, but I'm getting ahead of myself here. She decides to migrate to the small town of Grundy, Alaska....which in my head looks something like this...


After settling in to the cabin she has rented, she heads into town and the local saloon, where she soon finds herself being offered a job as a short order cook (there's the cooking) and making friends with a colorful cast of locals. Among those locals is the gorgeous, yet snarly Cooper. He regards Mo as an outsider and is constantly giving her a hard time, convinced she will high tail it out of there once the really cold weather hits. Also among the locals is dear, sweet handsome Alan who is so into her, but we know the drill ladies. It's the challenge and the a**hole that gets our heroines every time!

Mo finds Cooper on her porch one night. Naked. With his leg caught in a bear trap. And then he shifts into a wolf. She had her suspicions, but this confirms it. Hot and heavy smexiness ensues and Mo and Cooper find themselves head over paws with each other. But of course something always has to stand in the way of true love and it's a series of brutal wolf attacks that throws a wrench in the cogs of romance. Cooper can't always remember what he does in wolf form and is afraid he might be responsible and doesn't want to put Mo in danger. Meanwhile the townsfolk are gearing up for a wolf hunt to keep the town safe. Now, throw in some conflict with the wolf pack Cooper walked away from and you have enough tension to keep you reading into the wee hours of the morning.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It was lighthearted and fun and best of all it had characters I really liked. Mo was a great heroine...smart, funny, vulnerable yet tough at the same time. Cooper, despite his initial snarliness was sexy and oh so alpha. Grundy, Alaska was a fun place to visit and I am definitely looking forward to reading the next installment...The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf.