I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review + I worked together with her to promote her book. While I did get paid for promotion + got a book, these are all my honest opinions. Thank you for sending me a copy to read!

It took me a bit longer, this one was planned for a week or even earlier, but it took me a bit to get into the book. But once it really picked up, BOY, I just couldn’t stop reading.

For real though, I struggled with the first 50-70 pages, probably also due to being quite overwhelmed by ARCs and the likes + my life is getting a bit busier as we are preparing for a little puppy. But after that? I just couldn’t stop. I read on and on on and on. Well, OK, I had to sleep at one point, but after that I immediately continued and finished the book. Funny how the first part took me more than a week, and then the rest of the 230-250 pages just flew by in 2 days.

In this book we meet Blair and Theo. Well, at first we just follow Theo as he is a detective (not entirely functional, he mostly works with the police dogs) and see the first murders. After that Blair comes in the picture more and more. I loved Theo from the start. Yes, he is a grump. Yes, he is a bit stand-offish. But he does a good job at his work. Is dedicated to solve things. Is not afraid. Kicks some major butt at times (I mean, with that ending, not many people would do that). I loved that he had so many dogs and that we learned about them (that Flump). And I loved seeing him open up to Blair. Because he isn’t really the guy to open up to people. And Blair was also a fab character to read about. About him being a werewolf and how he cannot control it. About his past. About his family. I loved his sunny disposition. Both characters were fantastic and I loved how they were written.

The banter between Blair and Theo was just GOLD. I loved these two instantly. And I loved how they bantered back and forth. How Theo, despite knowing what Blair is, stayed with Blair and even roped Blair in to make him a specialist and let him help out. I loved seeing the two of them get closer and closer, and I am sorry, but I do kind of hope for some romance. Maybe these guys are just friends, but I feel some tension (not to mention that first time they met and there was undeniably a lot of heat and such going on). For now I was happy with them just getting closer, helping each other out, bantering (mutt and grumpy detective).

I also love the grumpy/sunshine trope and we get that a lot in here. Theo is a very grumpy detective, which to be fair I could understand when we learn about his backstory and what happened to his sister. And Blair is a happy-go-lucky barista, though we also get to see a different side to him. But from the outside, these two couldn’t be more different. I was definitely happy that we got to read more about these two characters, got some backstory, got some growth, learned about their families.

And DANG, really, when things go south, they do go south indeed. The murders were one thing, btw thanks for the nightmares, haha, but as the story goes on we see things escalate further and further, and we even meet someone I wouldn’t want to meet ever. NOPE. BYE. I don’t want to spoil, but dang, that is a person I hadn’t expected. I was like Theo and Blair, definitely being sus about THAT person, but then suddenly the cards got flipped and we got a new surprise. I definitely love that this person was the big bad wolf??? I guess that is what I call it. And no I don’t see it is a spoiler, it is clear from the start (well, as soon as Theo learns of the wolves) that it is a werewolf doing that.

The end battle and how everything went dangerous? LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Holy crap, I was already flying through the book and then it got even more gruesome and exciting.

And I love the lore that we get in this book. Plus, reading about the packs + the Volsung. About the ones that decided that this life wasn’t for them. It was really interesting to read and I loved that we kept getting details + even near the end learned some new things about the wolves.

However, there were a few things that I feel could be edited a bit better. I struggled a lot with the first 50 pages because of these sentences: “..the colour standing out with the flashing glow of the man’s head torch.” Just say Theo. Or this one: “The blond man tilted his head in confusion, “You cold?” he asked. “No” the darker-haired man answered.” Just say Theo and Blair. Or this one: “”Are all these dogs really yours?” he questioned. The other human in the room let out a low, affirming grunt…” Um? And there were other instances that they were called older man, blond man, younger man, taller man, barista. Or they were described by their eye colours. At times I just had to re-read things. Sometimes sentences just didn’t flow right because of this. Also, while I get that shades of yellow may seem the same, reading how one’s eyes go from honey to amber to fire just is not how that works. XD

All in all, I am very happy that I got the chance to read this book + worked together with the author to promote this book! I definitely hope that this isn’t the end for Blair and Theo, because I would love them to solve more werewolf mysteries and also to see them do THAT. Which I cannot mention because spoilers, but haha, you will get it when you read it. I would recommend this book, and once again, that is not because I got the book + payment to promote the book. That is all my own opinions. This book was really fun and exciting.