Walk on the Wild Side [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

It's been an interesting week for Kitty. She's nearly died in a car accident, discovered that she gets fanged and furry when she's terrified, and Kitty's found out that her dead father is wasn't really killed in a car crash on prom night. Not only is daddy alive, he is the "Felix" (alpha) to a were-Lion pride in Las Vegas. While Kitty's in no hurry to forgive her dad for abandoning her-- in fact slapping him and giving him a great big piece of her mind is on the agenda -Kitty's practical side realizes that he has answers to all the questions about her new found powers. Kitty really needs to bring her inner "lioness" under control so it's off to "Sin City". But little does Kitty realize that with the lionshifting "Leos" she's going to end up with way more family than she ever imagined including half-siblings from hell and her father's "catty" ex-wife. Fortunately there is an upside in sexy powerful lionshifter Max who is her father's heir apparent. Kitty's freckles, forthrightness, innocence and spirit has Max realizing that while Kitty is nothing like the type of women/lionesses he normally dates, she is exactly the type of women he wants for his mate.

Walk on the Wild Side is a standalone book set in Warren's world of the Others but since we are out of Rafe and Graham's realm none of the running cast from the previous books appear. While there were parts of the book that I enjoyed, there was just something `missing' with the story and the romance. Kitty and Max's relationship was so straight forward - even their animal forms were`compatible' -- that even with some peril for Kitty in the background plot there just wasn't enough tension built between the leads. Max, was your typical gorgeous pushy alpha male so part of that might have been due to Kitty. Her practicality and the folksy wisdom which appeals to Max also result in kind of a leveling of her emotional reactions - her 'mad' with her dad fizzles pretty quickly and all of her near death experiences don't phase her much. If you are a fan of Warren's "Others" you will probably find this pleasant enough but Walk on the Wild Side just doesn't have Warren's usual sizzle. If this is your first foray into the world of the Others, don't stop here. The "Others" series is one of my favorite paranormal romance series with many flavors of shapeshifters, vampires, fae and demons all finding their soul-mates, so do yourself a favor and check out the previous books.

Warren's Others
Wolf at the Door (The Others, Book 1)
She's No Faerie Princess (The Others, Book 2)
The Demon You Know (The Others, Book 3)
Howl at the Moon (The Others, Book 4)
No Rest for the Witches (has a connected short)

I prefer to read a series in order, and I didn't realize that I wasn't until the "Big Bad Wolf"
According to her web site, there are 4 books that in this series that haven't been published (they were written through Ellora's Cave and could have been downloaded, but they are no longer available).
The actual reading order of these books are:
1. One Bite with a Stranger (Regina & Dmitri... the first of the Fantasy Fix's)
2. Big Bad Wolf (Missy & Graham)
3. not yet published (Danice & Mac)
4. not yet published (Corinne & Luc)
5. not yet published (Tess & Rafe)
6. not yet published (Logan & Honor)
7. Wolf at the Door (Sullivan & Cassidy)
8. She's No Faerie Princess (Fiona & Tobias)
9. The Demon you Know (Abby & Rule)
10. Howl at the Moon (Noah & Samantha)
11. Walk on the Wild Side (Kitty & Marcus)
12. You're So Vein (Ava & Vladimir)
13. Born to be Wild (Eli & Josie)
According to the web site, these books can be read alone or in order, but after reading You're So Vein, where Missy & Graham are already together and then starting Big Bad Wolf, where Missy & Graham get together, was a little confusing at first.
I think I would have given this series a 5 star if it wasn't for that confusion.

I agree with those less star reviews but I am compelled to add just one major thing that I cannot overlooked on this book: the constant explaining.
We are told the heroine is a librarian yet every member of the pride that she came across with has to explain to her - in elementary language - the how, what, when, and where of the facts concerning the pride. I repeat, she is a librarian. Granted she is in the Special Collection or something but... Gah, I can forgive all the pet peeves of my fellow one star reviewer but, sigh, the explaining just emphasized the bumpkiness of the heroine. At least to me it sounds like that.
The humor and the wits are still there and I tried hard to ignore the explaining every chapter, unfortunately since it happens that often, it got tiring. I guess every good series has it's end, or maybe just an odd turn.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 36 reviews  4.1 out of 5 stars