genre: paranormal romance
length: 82,000 words, 35 chapters
main characters:
Isobel 'Izzy' Konnig, 32, assistant federal prosecutor, short hair, blue eyes, tall, huge male black wolf with piercing blue eyes
Emma Douglas, 33, trauma surgeon, chestnut or blond hair - two different information in the book, hazel eyes, small white wolf with golden eyes
setting: Dallas, Texas
my opinion:
- a great paranormal romance with lots of action and some violence
- this is the first book in the series and I'm totally hooked and so looking forward to the next book
- highly recommended to all paranormal romance fans
cover: nice but why with the back of a man?
book rating: 5 stars
eARC by Less Than Three Press via NetGalley

3 1/2 Stars. I love a good paranormal book, so I was excited to snap this one up. It was fast-paced, exciting, and well written. I feel like I can be a little picky when it comes to paranormal. It's my second favorite genre of lesfic. I absolutely enjoyed this book, I just didn't love it.

The story is about Izzy and her girlfriend of six months, Emma. After a night of passionate sex, Emma realizes she has bitten Izzy by accident, turning her into a werewolf. Izzy, does not take the news too well, and runs out to get some air. She bumps into two other weres, from a rival pack. They can smell she is not one of them, so they taser her and force her into captivity. Izzy is caged and forced to battle gladiator style. Can Emma find her in time, or will Izzy loose her life in the ring?

I thought Owen did most of the paranormal aspects of this book very well. This world was explained without pushing a bunch of facts onto a reader. Everything unfolded well, and I appreciated it. My biggest issue was I didn't like the whole Izzy in a cage fight for her life part. And that was a big part of the book. I just felt it dragged on too long and I desperately wanted to see what happened next. The last half of the book, I liked much better. We started seeing more supernaturals, and the book became more fun for me. I do have to mention a slight trigger warning [(view spoiler) There is an attempted rape. I was so happy it was just attempted, as this would have been the 5th lesfic book I read in 10 days to have a rape scene. I'm sick of it, so thank you Owen for not going there. (hide spoiler)]

As I said before, I thought the writing was well done. The main characters were both quite developed and stood on their own. Emma being a doctor and Izzy a prosecutor. They were both very likeable and I thought they made a great couple.

I enjoyed this book, and I think paranormal fans will also. If you are not a big paranormal reader, this book explains things pretty well for you to catch on. This looks to be book one in a series. I will be reading the next, and will keep an eye out for other Owen books, in the future.

An ARC was given to me by LT3P, for a honest review.

*I received this book from NetGalley and Less than Three in return for a fair review.*

The book had an interesting beginning, quite readable, quite fun then things turned on me. At one point I was vaguely on edge of wondering if this one would end up being a book I'd like to DNF (put on my did not finish shelf for lack of being able to finish the book). That's the reason the book took somewhat longer than normal for me to read - I paused it grumbling.

Then I resumed reading after days of ignoring it and . . . well - I'd say that this book is somewhere within range of being one of the best werewolf books I've read. So, that happened.

The book stars Izzy Konning, lawyer - Federal Prosecutor, and Dr. Emma Douglas, medical doctor. They both have their point of views presented in this book, and are in a committed relationship with each other (to a certain extent). Though one has a secret that accidentally gets revealed at the start of the book.

You see, during a moment of sexual frenzy, it appears that Emma accidentally bit Izzy. Oh, you know, it happens. Izzy kind of laughed about it the next morning when Emma was all sad about the matter. Then Emma showed what was going on. By, you know, turning into a wolf. Strong, sane, mentally well-balanced - upon learning that she has accidentally been turned into a werewolf, freaked out and ran screaming out onto the Dallas streets (well, not literally screaming, more like she went for an unplanned, unorganized jog).

Naturally Izzy immediately ran into two fine young men who looked like 'hoodlums'. They got into an altercation. And things went differently than you might expect (no, not in the 'Izzy turned into a wolf and ate them' way). The two men forced her into a car and abducted her - because they knew she was a wolf - they could smell her - and she was in their territory without permission. But then, that is where she lived (Emma, who belonged to a different 'gang', or pack, had permission).

Strangely, Izzy ends up face to face with one of her targets as a federal prosecutor. A really evil man who was involved in such nice things as human trafficing and the like.

Turns out Julio is also a wolf - the head wolf, for that matter, for one of the two packs in Dallas. He plans to take advantage until he realizes that, by smell, Izzy was deeply connected to the daughter of the head of the other wolf pack in Dallas - and he is going to use this leverage - having the daughter's mate - to his advantage.

Meanwhile, he'll make some money off Izzy by including her in his 'wolf fight club'.

Things proceed from here, both in a manner expected, and in certain ways, unexpected.

As I noted above, this is one of those books that, unexpectedly, turned out better - much better - than I initially thought it would be. Exciting, thrilling, action packed. Wolves, vampires, witches, fae, demons, all represented in the book.

Despite the above, there were a few issues I had here and there - like a few 'scares' that the book was heading in particular directions I didn't want to go (but then didn't, so not an issue). But there were real serious 'problems' I ran across that almost kept me from enjoying the book (and one almost caused me to not finish the book). That one? - The part wherein the dominant wolves 'obviously' are male because . . . . um . . . no clue (females are submissives or omegas). That was a somewhat rage moment for me to move past. Glad I moved past it. By the way, it turns out Izzy is quite dominat so . . . naturally that means her wolf has massive balls . . . and penis (she's a 'morph' - female human, male wolf).

Right, so, I enjoyed the book.

Rating: 4.97

<b>NOTE</b>: the book will be available for purchase February 8th.

February 1 2017

Once Bitten is fantastic! Kate Owen delivers!

A terrific book! Sweet, funny, romantic & a wonderful paranormal read! I enjoyed this book and I am really hoping for a sequel! I don't want to give anything away, as it was just wonderful from the first few pages. I believe readers will truly enjoy this action packed book. It has so many levels of emotional layers mixed with lots of terrific action! Amazing!

Izzy Konnig has everything: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a house in the trendy part of town, and Emma, a beautiful girlfriend who requires no commitment.

Then one night Emma accidentally bites her, and Izzy Konnig finds herself turning into a werewolf. Panicked, Izzy bolts, only to be grabbed by a gang of rival wolves and forced into an underground fighting ring. If she wants to return to the life she loves, it's going to take everything she's got—and more.