From the blurb:
The only thing that frightens shapeshifter Selene Rhodes more than the full moon is the idea of falling in love.
Selene Rhodes has lived her whole life with a terrible secret: not only can she take the form of any animal at will, but once a month the full moon transforms her into a fierce wolf-creature without a human conscience. Managing her condition means living by a strict routine, and more importantly, abstaining from intimate relationships with human beings. Selene is convinced that love and friendship can only bring her pain.
Forensic pathologist Eve Thomas is well-acquainted with the pain of romantic love. Swearing off relationships after having her heart broken by a cheating ex, Eve throws herself into her work: catching murderers. When Selene comes to her aid after an attack by a masked man in Golden Gate Park, Eve is shocked by how powerfully she is drawn to her mysterious savior.
Shaken by her own feelings for Eve, Selene is even more terrified to realize she isn’t even close to being the scariest monster stalking San Francisco. There is someone out in the city who is killing for pleasure, and his next target is the one woman he thinks might be able to stop him: Eve.
Review:
HOT. Okay, there's way more to discuss, but that's the core message.
This urban fantasy meets lesbian romance is pretty damn scorching. The serial killer on the loose story-line, although hardly unique, is handled well and provided an excellent conceit for the meeting of and initiation of the relationship between Selene and Eve. They seem to have a mysterious and empathic connection which binds them.
The shifting viewpoints between Selene, Eve, and Kevin are also handled well. I'm usually not a fan of shifting points of view in a novel, but O'Brien does a really great job of making sure she spends enough time in each point of view and it doesn't feel at all jumpy. In fact, as the story lines of Selene and Eve converge, the more streamlined it becomes. The only times I felt it jumped a little was when we were pulled out of the Selene and Eve dynamic to find out what Kevin, the serial killer, was up to.
The plot and subplots are woven together skillfully. The romance, the secrets, the history of the two women are teased out throughout the book in such a way that made me really care about Selene and Eve. The dynamic between Selene and Eve is gripping and thrilling. It's made even more tense and awkward with Eve's ex-girlfriend, Jac, being around.
The stand out element for me is the explosively hot sex scenes. Wow. These are phenomenal expositions of both detail and emotive feeling. O'Brien does a most excellent job of writing sex scenes dripping with sexiness, passion, emotion, and character. Colour me super impressed.
A couple of loose ends bugged me throughout the book.
Selene and Eve's empathic connection is never explained. I understand that this fits in with the theme that not all things can be explained, but there seems to be little reason for a sudden instant emotive connection between the two, which starts precisely when Eve is in mortal danger. I would have like to have seen at least a couple of suggestions as to why that's the case. The empathic relationship is pretty key to the plot, so I'm left a little unsatisfied with the ambiguity.
The other thing that I found a little incredulous (no, not the shapeshifter!) was the fact that Eve never gets curious enough to look at Selene's second bedroom. The second bedroom sports a metal table and restraints to keep Selene from going on a rampage during the full moon. Eve's an inquisitive person and it seems really weird that she never opens that door. Convenient for the story, but a little out of character.
Other than that, I really LOVED this novel. Selene was particularly interesting. I kinda wish that O'Brien would write a sequel as I would love to spend more time with these characters.
Highly recommended if you like urban fantasy, serial killer stories and earth-shattering hot lesbian sex.
Title: Wild
Author: Meghan O'Brien
Publishing Date: June, 2011
Length: Novel (100k)
Genre: Urban fantasy/Romance
Type: f/f
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