Nina West's WOLF PREY, the highly anticipated next book in her Wolf Cove Series is now available! Check out all of the stops and excerpts on the review & excerpt tour for WOLF PREY and be sure to grab your copy today!

Author: Nina West

Publication Date: 15 September, 2016

Publisher: Self-Published

Series: Wolf Cove, book 3

Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance

Age Recommendation: 18 and Up

Rating: 3 Stars

~ I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ~

Book Description:

Wolf Prey is Book 3 in the Wolf Cove series and should be read after finishing Wolf Bait (Book 1) and Wolf Bite (Book 2).

Forced to leave Alaska to run the family farm while her father recovers from a tragic accident, Abbi heads home knowing she has the one thing she wants most again –Henry’s affections. She’s determined to not let anyone get in the way of that again.

But love for Abbi has never been easy.

With an overbearing mother who believes she has the right to approve who her daughter loves, a childhood ex-boyfriend who will do anything to win her back, and a wealthy, handsome boyfriend who always gets what he wants, Abbi soon realizes she may have to make some impossible choices.

** The Wolf Cove Series will only be available for sale at Amazon. You can download a free Kindle reading app for any smartphone or tablet here: http://amzn.to/1MIyrHi

**WOLF PREY can be read from free in Kindle Unlimited!

My Review:

I find myself torn with another book and I am starting to wonder if it is just me. I loved book one of this series, Wolf Bait and I was a big fan of book 2 Wolf Bite, but there is just something that doesn't do it for me here with Wolf Prey. It may be that for some reason I believed that this was the end of the story for Abbi and Henry only to discover it most certainly is not. I walked away from this one feeling a bit let down because I don't feel as strong about Henry and Abbi's relationship as I once did.

Abbi is back home on the farm helping while her father is recovering from a terrible accident, Henry has set up her dad with one of the best Drs available, he's been nothing but kind to Abbi and her family and Abbi's mother is simply an ungrateful shrew. I get that she wants something in particular for her daughter, but to act as though the 'boy' who cheated on Abbi, left her, and caused her to run from home to begin with is somehow a better man than Henry, I can't seem to wrap my head and heart around. She treats everyone with contempt and disrespect, except the Reverend and his family, and I don't understand why NO ONE puts her in her place. I get that Abbi is young, she's 21...but she's not so young she can't tell her mother that's enough. Everyone keeps saying that her mother loves her, Abbi says she knows her mother loves her, but this is just her way...uhhhhh, no! That's akin to the whole 'Boys will be Boys' line that somehow allows men to treat women poorly. Between her mother, her ex, the Reverend, and several town members Abbi is repeatedly slut-shamed, ridiculed, treated like a child and as if she is incompetent. It isn't as if Abbi has no other options. Yes, her family has a farm to run, but she's given choices. It is clear that the town would not let the farm fall, it is clear that Henry would step in and help (and who cares if her mother doesn't like it), Abbi's excuses for putting up with that behavior hold no ground for me and that really turned me off this book.

I think Henry really stepped up in this one. He's still the brash, sexual, high-powered guy he was in past books but we get to see a sweet and vulnerable side to him that we haven't seen as clearly in the past. He and Ronan will always be the shinning stars for me in this series. Yes, Henry can be that alpha male jerk that we have come to expect of him but he's really beginning to temper it as he falls deeper in love with Abbi, although he of course would never admit to that. ;-)

There is a side story with another woman that I am not a huge fan of. I don't think that it needed to happen, I don't know why the 'wrench' was thrown into the story, there was certainly enough angst and growth opportunities going on with just Abbi's family/town situation that the whole storyline with the French woman just felt like a chance to get some 'different' sexual encounters happening. I know that it was a moment for Abbi to grow, it was a moment for Abbi to show her trust in Henry, it was a moment for Abbi to step further away from that wholesome good church girl her family pushed her to be and become the woman she is going to end up as but it felt unnecessary to me. I would have liked for that to come about without the involvement of another person. Yes, it's a hot moment, Yes, it shows Henry that Abbi is willing to be everything he wants, proves that she puts her faith and trust in his hands something that he clearly needs...but it just kinda made my skin crawl and not because of the act....I've read plenty of books with similar acts and they've never bothered me, but for some reason this one just didn't sit right.

I don't know if maybe because I thought this was the last book for Henry and Abbi and that they would have an HEA my feelings are skewed because that is not the outcome. I don't know if it was all the angst and self-doubt from Abbi, I don't know if it is my downright frustration and disgust at her mother and ex's behavior...but Wolf Prey just didn't hit the right spot for me and I find that really sad. I loved the first two books, I think I need to just get back to Wolf Cove but I am not sure that is going to happen considering the cliffhanger we are left with. I need Abbi and Henry to get back to being Abbi and Henry without all the outside nonsense. I need Abbi to grow up a bit, her naivety, while understandable due to her upbringing, is getting old. She needs a 'come to Jesus' moment (no pun intended) where she sees the world and Henry for what they are. And while I love that Henry is bringing her out of her sheltered existence I need Abbi to grow up for herself, not for her family, not for her town, and even though I LOVE Henry, not for her man.

I am not giving up on the series, because I have throughly enjoyed this couple and I enjoy the way Nina West brings them to life...but I have hopes that book 4 (there has to be one) will come back to what I love most about this story and that is just Abbi and Henry learning together how to love, how to be strong together, and how to live happily.

~ Happy Reading ~

Excerpt:

“So…I guess I’ll see you when I see you?” I reach up to graze his handsome hard jawline, admiring the feel of his soft, freshly shaven skin.

“Something like that.” Henry turns his face to kiss my fingertips, and then he leans in to capture my lips with his, his tongue finding its way in to brush against mine in a slow, erotic dance that’s not outright scandalous but is probably inappropriate right in front of the hospital. “I love this mouth of yours,” he murmurs, taking the back of my head in his hand to deepen the kiss.

And I love you.

I’ve felt those words sitting on the tip of my tongue, threatening to tumble out, since he stepped onto the plane yesterday morning. I’ve somehow managed to hold on to them though. It’s too soon for me to tell him. We’ve only just reconciled.

Henry breaks away with a groan. “Okay, you really need to go or I’ll be unzipping my pants right here.”

My blood rushes with the thought, my fingers digging into his forearm. I didn’t get nearly enough of him this morning. “Maybe I want you to,” I tease, catching his earlobe between my teeth.

“I don’t think fuckface and his parents would enjoy the show so much though.”

“What?” I spin around to find Jed, Reverend Enderbey, and Celeste Enderbey standing on the sidewalk.

Staring.

The Reverend and Celeste have the decency to look away when we make eye contact, but Jed continues starting at me, a mixture of shock and hurt filling his face.

They saw me come in with Henry yesterday. Sure, I told them he was my boss when they asked. If they were wondering what was going on… I guess they have their answer. “I guess I’m going.”

I reach for the door.

Henry’s hand seizes my thigh, holding me in place. “Just so we’re crystal clear…”

I turn to find a hard gaze on me. “When I say ‘let’s see where things go’ that means make sure he keeps his fucking hands off you. And that goes for every other asshole out there, too.”

Maybe it’s odd that my heart swells with his words, but I smile anyway. It’s his way of telling me he cares. “I only want you, Henry. Always.”

He opens his mouth, and I hold my breath, wanting him to tell me that he only wants me, too. That he misses me already.

That he loves me.

“I’ll call you later.”

My cue to leave.