Agent Cooper Dayton works for the Bureau of Special Investigations, a branch of the FBI focused on wolf crimes. The wolf population has come out to the government via a group known as The Trust, and so while most of the world has no idea shifters exist, the BSI is in charge of protecting people from their crimes. Cooper used to work for the FBI, but after he was attacked by a wolf while on a case, he came over to the BSI where he learned about a world he never knew existed.

When Cooper is asked to be part of a new initiative to partner BSI agents with The Trust to investigate crimes, he is very wary. Despite coming out, not much is known about wolves and Cooper has learned to distrust them given how dangerous they can be. But Cooper’s boss makes it clear he needs to go along, so Cooper is assigned a case working with wolf Oliver Park. There seems to be a serial killer in tiny Florence, Maine, and the men are sent to figure out who is behind the slaughtered hikers and the missing resident.

It takes Cooper a while to trust Park, especially since he keeps so much to himself. Cooper wonders whether Park has ulterior motives in the investigation, but as the two work together, Cooper begins to realize that the wolves are not nearly as bad as he was led to believe. The men become tentative friends, and the attraction Cooper has felt for Park since the beginning continues to flare. But the case continues to be complicated as more suspects and more victims pile up. Cooper and Park don’t know who to trust, and worse, it becomes clear that they are in the killer’s sights as well. Now Cooper and Park must figure out who is behind the killings in Florence before it is too late.

The Wolf at the Door is author Charlie Adhara’s debut book and I think she really hits it out of the park with this story. I found the mystery incredibly engaging and really liked the characters and the world the author has built.

Mystery can be a tricky genre as the plot needs to be complex enough to keep the reader engaged and guessing, but simple enough that everyone can follow along. Adhara really walks that line perfectly here as I found the mystery side of things incredibly well done and I was kept guessing about who was behind it all until almost the very end. What Adhara does so well here is slowly introduce the crime and the potential victims and suspects. There are a lot of characters in this small town and it would be easy for things to have become a jumbled mess. But instead, we are introduced to all the players a little at a time, giving us a nice cast of characters but never losing us along the way. I loved how the story plays with who is a victim and who is a suspect, and in many cases we don’t really know until it all shakes out at the end. Even as I was starting to figure out who was behind it all, the why and the bigger picture remained a mystery. But the best part is that once it was all revealed, I could totally follow all the clues that had been given to us along the way.

The relationship between Cooper and Park is really interesting as well. It is clear, almost from the start, that Cooper’s view of wolves has been very influenced by the BSI in general, and his partner in particular. Wolves are seen as the enemy, and Cooper is very slow to trust Park as a result. Even more, it is clear that Cooper has some major issues with showing any vulnerability or weakness. In the face of Park’s strength and confidence, Cooper has a tendency to lash out to sort of stake his ground. We know the attraction is there from the start, but it take a while before the guys come to a good place as friends and as lovers. What I liked, however, is that despite his occasional posturing, it is clear that Cooper trusts Park and depends on him, so we can see their bond forming from early in the book.

The story is told in single POV from Cooper’s viewpoint and I think that works particularly well here. We don’t get to know Park as well as Cooper, nor do we always know what he is thinking, but that is the point. He is very unknowable to Cooper, as are wolves in general, so he needs to be a little unknowable to us too. It allows us as readers to follow from where Cooper starts the story, wary of wolves and with some prejudice, to the place where he ends up as Cooper slowly learns more about them. Despite the fact that the romance is secondary to the mystery here, I really enjoyed these guys together and the story leaves them in a really good place. As this is the first in a series, I am excited to see how things continue between the men.

From a world building standpoint, I think things are interesting as well. As I said, this is a world where some people are aware of wolves and others have no idea they exist. While we do learn the basics about the shifters, a lot of it is rolled out so we learn along with Cooper. Again, I think this makes sense in that Cooper thinks he knows all about wolves, but soon realizes just how minimal his education has been.

I have two small issues here. One is that Cooper works for the BSI, an organization that no humans outside of the FBI really knows exist. Yet, he walks into situations identifying himself as “BSI” and no one ever questions him, asks for a badge, or seems bothered that he is investigating under the authority of an organization that doesn’t exist as far as they know. Also, and here is where I am going to sound SUPER nitpicky I know, but the first pages of the story take place while Cooper and his partner wrap a case in Bethesda, Maryland. Which happens to be about 30 minutes from my house, a place I worked for years, and someplace I go all the time (including dinner last night). So as any local will likely find with any book, there were a few things here that threw me out of the start of the story. For example, Cooper talks about sending the case to the Bethesda PD, which is something that doesn’t exist (we have County police around here). He rides the Metro (which the book spells “metro”) and is eating a sandwich on the train, which is against the rules of Metro and eating is incredibly rare and certainly not something a rule follower like Cooper would do. These are teeny tiny things I know and you all are probably rolling your eyes at me, but it threw me out of the story a few times early on, particularly given that these are easily google-able bits of information.

Ok, so that aside, I was really captured by this story, particularly given that it is Adhara’s debut book. The mystery was just incredibly well done and I found myself eager to continue this story, excited to figure out what was going on and who was behind it all. I really liked Cooper and Park together, and found that Cooper’s personal growth was really well done and gives great grounding to the story. The world Adhara has created has me really intrigued and I am very excited for more from this series.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
The hunt for a werewolf serial killer sees human BSI agent Cooper paired with werewolf Trust agent Park in a creepy small town.

Cooper’s paranormal branch of the FBI feels a little bit X-Files and the shifter/human partnership feels a little bit THIRDS. The whole mix of murder mystery/paranormal horror/police procedural feels fresh and had me thoroughly invested from the start.

There isn’t as much world-building or character development in this first book as I’d have liked. I think we’re half-way through the story before Cooper and Park trade first names. Park’s life is never properly explored, and we don’t ever learn much about the origins of werewolves in this book. I’m hoping subsequent books give us more information. This is an action story and we don’t learn enough about Cooper or Park to fully care for them.

This story focuses mostly on the agents’ murder investigation. There are a few clues that point readers in the right direction, but I had a little WTF? moment at the baddy reveal. Even going back through the book, I wasn’t sure there was enough for me to solve the story alongside Cooper and Park.

I liked the relationship between Cooper and Park – the mistrust between them is slowly replaced by grudging respect and later by something more complicated. There are a few steamy moments here, but the sex is between partners who can’t quite let their suspicions go. This isn’t a romance – though I suspect the series may become more romantic.

This book is very promising. So far, I like the premise and I like the characters in this series. I enjoyed the investigation. I’m hoping for more world building and character development in the next book. I’m also hoping that I’m going to end up loving this series.

Just finished The Wolf at the Door by debut author Charlie Adhara and it was freaking awesome! So suspenseful and exciting, this was a hard book to put down. Let me tell you why this is a must-read book.

Cooper started with the FBI but after a werewolf attack, he finds himself working the BSI. Park is with a werewolf oversight organization called The Trust. Their purpose is to ease tensions with the BSI. There’s been a series of mysterious deaths and the PTB have decided to pair up Cooper and Park to investigate. A human with issues with werewolves partnered up with a werewolf – this is going to be interesting!

Who is the killer and why? ACK! This is another one of the stories that I thought I was going to figure it all out before the big reveal. Dead bodies, missing people, curious characters are all there, I just needed to puzzle it out. Instead, I found myself drawn in and just let it happen. When the ‘And the killer is…and why they did it’ reveal is done, I was just floored. It wasn’t what or who I expected. Frankly, every reveal was an epic surprised. Okay, well, I did have a list of suspects running through my head and may have guessed some of it right. However, their motives and reasons why I was completely off base on those guesses.

In as much this The Wolf at the Door was a suspenseful mystery, it also had a romance side to it. No insta-love here, which I find sometimes can ruin a story. Instead, we are given a story where wariness, turns to trust as we watch what builds between Cooper and Park: a solid partnership as a working team and a something more. I’m still having a hard time believing this is Ms. Adhara’s debut book. Her world building, characters, and attention to building the right amount of intensity to the plot was spot on and I usually find in seasoned authors. I see good things coming from this author and look forward to reading them.

reviewed by Jac

Charlie Adhara has written a fantastic debut novel. Although I would classify it more as a mystery/police procedural than a paranormal romance. The character of Park was particularly appealing. I had a preliminary misgiving that I wouldn't enjoy the male/male romance aspect but found it to be no problem at all. All in all, this is a very engaging book that held my interest throughout.

My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

So, first off 3.5 stars.

I'm not quite sure what to say about this. I loved Park. His silent broodiness was really hot. What I didn't love was Drayton (Cooper). He suffered an attack by a werewolf in the past, thus being exposed to the secret existence of the species and subsequently was commandeered by the BSI. In order for relations between the werewolves and humans, Drayton is partnered with Park to solve a case in the town of Florence.

The story was decent and engaging at sometimes, but this was more of a mystery/thriller because the relationship development between Park and Drayton was dinosaur slow. I can deal with slow burn (cause duh Cut & Run), but that only works if the story is good and the characters have a dynamic and engaging personality, which they didn't. At least not together. There was not much fanning the flames between the two. Drayton was annoying a good 50% of the time because he's not so subtly prejudice against werewolves. It was painful watching him figure out if he was attracted to Park or not. There were times where they were sweet together and just other times I was so bored with their dynamic.

The overall mystery bit wasn't too bad. It was a bit predictable, but I will say that overall I wouldn't mind reading another book in this series if it was to be that way and not get dropped.

Thank you Netgalley/Carina Press for a copy of this book.

Shifter book: 1 Mare: 0

I don't tend to read shifter books. I'm really not sure why. I mean I've been known to fall in love with a few but it is def not my go to read.

But then I saw a review and pretty much it sealed the deal.

A book that was kinda like JL. Sign me the fuck up!

Am I the only one who knows whether a book is a hit or miss or meh within like the 1st 5 pages?
Charlie Adhara's writing hooked me from Page 1 and I really didnt want to stop reading once I started. You don't understand how much that means to me!

The chemistry, the UST, the UST, wait.... did I say the UST???? That shit was off the hook delicously good. I haven't read a book that churned that feeling in me in soooo soooo soooo sooo long.
Also, the mystery was good.

Actually just everything was just good.

So do yourself a favour, get this book, read it and enjoy mmmk.

Mare~Slitsread

A solid 5 stars. My initial thought when I first finished this book: I love it when a new author blows me away with the first book in what promises to be an amazing series. <3 That pretty much sums it up! So, yeah... you probably want more, right?

It's already been established that this book blew me away - I hate to repeat myself, but this is a new author and Charlie Adhara's first book. I find that simply amazing because this book was so much more than I expected. Especially since the plot took readers places that I never expected and the twists and turns were intricate, but never slipped. Not every revelation was a surprise, but some of them were. Even though the plot was at times complex, this author never lost me, not once.

I loved both Cooper and Park. Even though I'm a huge fan of getting both characters' POV, this story wouldn't have been nearly as good if readers would have been in Park's head as well. Cooper had a lot of reasons not to trust Park. It was no surprise that Park gained my trust a lot sooner than he gained Coopers, but... well, you'll have to read the book and experience it for yourself. Trust me, it is so worth it.

I have to admit that what initially drew me to this book was the PNR aspect - especially since it included werewolves. The Wolf at the Door was so much more than a PNR book though. There was intrigue, mystery, danger, suspense woven right along with the romantic tension between Park and Cooper.

One thing's for certain, I'm extremely happy that this book is part of a series. I for one can't wait for the Big Bad Wolf to continue. ;)

Wolf at the Door.
4 Stars


This story definitely has some great bones. It’s very entertaining and for the most part the plot was quite intriguing. However, as entertaining as it was, this book seriously frustrated me. I mean to the point that I had to put it down a few times to take a break from wanting to strangle Cooper.

I truly struggled with my feelings for Special Agent Dayton Cooper. I liked him but at the same time he not only frustrated me but also thoroughly pissed me off. His prejudice towards Shifters was annoying and at times rather despicable. I understood where the root of his problem stemmed from but as the story progressed I just found him a judgmental asshole speciest. Even when he seemed to be turning a new leaf and coming around he still seemed to always suspect the worst or act like he was justified in thinking Werewolves were inherently violent and bad.

Add to that his blind trust in his partner that obviously hates werewolves more than he does drove me nuts. His partners prejudice and bigotry jump off the page every time he opens his mouth. He’s rude, antagonistic and frankly, a complete and utter prick. Sure he seems to care about Cooper but sometimes that just isn’t enough. The fact that Cooper acts as if it’s all normal and okay, acts as if Jefferson’s experience makes him infallible makes me sick and angry.

I’m not sure if we are supposed to think Cooper is an exceptional investigator but in my honest opinion, he’s pretty blind. There are twists and turns sure but his suspect pool was much larger than he was looking. There were so many clues that he just overlooked and it made me want to shake him. He needed to follow the principle “trust no one, suspect everyone”.

As for Park, I loved him. I honestly think Park deserved better. He may not have been the big badass I’ve come to expect in books like this but he was more real. Park had a great personality, charming and intelligent, a little mysterious with an underlying dangerous vibe. He was dominant but knew when to let Cooper take the reigns. I think he’s really the reason I enjoyed this story as much as I did.

The mystery surrounding the people disappearing and being found murdered was good (I figured out the killer right away but the how, why, where of it all was still entertaining to discover). I only wish we could have gotten more of a look at Werewolves. I wanted to really get to know how the Weres in this story were portrayed. That’s one of the things I love about Shifter stories yet that was kind of missing here.

The romance aspect was complicated in my eyes. The men had great chemistry and the sexual tension was palpable throughout the book. However At 70% I felt like the absolute lack of communication between Park and Cooper when it came to their personal lives was too much. It was no longer the suspense or anticipation that I loved but now it was more a feeling of unfinished business or plot holes. I would’ve liked to have all these things wrapping up by mid point so we got to see the real Park and Cooper together. I wanted them to talk about themselves and their pasts. It seemed like it was meant to be important but we never get the answers to many of the questions.

Overall I enjoyed it, I really did. I’d recommend this story but I would first say this. If you are looking for a romance driven story, this really isn’t it. The relationship between Park and Cooper takes a backseat to the mystery. There is not a ton of sex although there’s enough for the story. There are some unfinished and or unanswered questions at the end so be prepared. And lastly if you want to see lots of Shifters and love the whole paranormal part of werewolf books this one isn’t really focused on that. Of course knowing that this is the first book by Charlie Adhara I have to say well done! I can’t wait to see where this series goes.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this debut novel, but what I got was a great read!

Although this book is technically a paranormal romance, it also works as a mystery novel. The story centers on Cooper Dayton, an agent with the Bureau of Special Investigations, which is an FBI offshoot tasked with investigating crimes committed by werewolves. After several bodies showing evidence of a werewolf attack are found in a small town in Maine, Cooper is teamed up with werewolf Oliver Park to hunt down the killer—the first time a BSI agent and a werewolf have worked together to solve a crime. Cooper was attacked and severely injured by a werewolf in the past, so he’s not sure what to think about his new partner (although he certainly finds him attractive). As the two investigate, though, Cooper grows to trust Oliver, and eventually their attraction to each other cannot be denied. At the same time, their case becomes more and more confusing, before finally culminating in a confrontation that puts them both in danger.

I loved the development of the romance between Cooper and Oliver in this book. I liked Cooper a lot, particularly the fact that he’s somewhat bumbling and unsure when it comes to handling his feelings about Oliver, which added some humor to the story. While Oliver can play the role of the big bad werewolf, he’s actually quite sweet and a bit uncertain underneath. Cooper has some baggage that makes him unwilling to risk his heart, and the way Oliver gets under his skin to the point that Cooper can no longer deny how he feels was pretty satisfying to my inner romantic.

Adhara does a very good job with the mystery at the heart of the novel, too. She doesn’t ignore the procedural elements of the story, and she manages to make the identity of the killer and the circumstances of the deaths a surprise. I had my suspicions about who the person at the heart of the murders was (Adhara does give alert readers one really significant clue), but she managed to throw in a twist I did not see coming at all. Honestly, I’ve read mystery novels that were not plotted as well as this book.

My only niggle with the story was that I’m not sure I totally buy the world Adhara describes. Werewolves are “out” but only to the US government; their presence has largely been concealed from humans. It seems unlikely that the existence of werewolves could be hidden once it became known even to select people in Washington (particularly given how leaky our federal government seems to be). But I enjoyed the story so much that I was willing to suspend my disbelief and just go with it.

Readers of m/m romance, paranormals, and mysteries will all find a lot to like in this book. I’m really looking forward to reading the next in the series. Highly recommended!

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

I'm constantly on the lookout for new authors (or new to me) and new series. I'm so excited I tried this one by a debut author.

This book is part mystery and part romance. I probably shouldn't compare this to another author but this reminded me very much of a Lanyon book (which I love). The story starts with us meeting Cooper who works for an offshoot of the FBI. Werewolves are real and while the general public doesn't know this our government does. Cooper and his partner investigate werewolf related crimes. Cooper is new to this and is having second thoughts about being in the unit.

After a string of murders take place Cooper finds himself in the middle of an interagency partnership with the Trust. The Trust is werewolf ran and Cooper ends up partnered with Oliver. Cooper is a bit afraid and overwhelmed by his partner but as he gets to know Oliver Cooper realizes that most everything he's been taught about werewolves in wrong. As they build their partnership, Cooper finds himself falling for the other man/wolf.

The case they're working on is well done and super entertaining. The author did a great job with the setting and atmosphere. I really liked both MC's and I can't wait to see where their relationship is headed next. There was no insta-love and it looks like this will be a slow burn type of development.

This is not a stereotypical shifter book. There's not a lot of shifting or alpha type stuff. Oliver is mostly just a regular guy. There was just enough werewolf stuff to make this unique.

I can't rave enough about this one and I hope you guys will give this a try. Stellar beginning to a new series.

**ARC received though Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

In Charlie Adhara’s The Wolf at the Door, FBI agent Cooper Dayton (just barely) survived a werewolf attack, and what does he get in return? A transfer to the Bureau of Special Investigations (with an emphasis on Special). Teamed up with wolf-shifter Agent Park — no, he won’t tell you his first name — these two head to Maine to investigate suspicious murders that appear to be paranormal in nature.

The romance between these two takes a while to warm up because, besides keeping busy working the case, Cooper is completely, totally and adorably awkward when it comes to dating. While they aren’t fated or mated, the chemistry between these characters is downright palpable. Readers will find their slow, yet inevitable, slide into a relationship even more satisfying than solving the book’s mystery.

Supernatural cops tend to take all sorts of liberties that always pull me out of the story. THE WOLF AT THE DOOR is a by-the-book thrill ride that has everything you could want: small town mysteries, racial tension, secrets galore, and an explosive romance that doesn’t get in the way of the story.

Werewolves have come out to the government, but not to the population at large. An offshoot of the FBI, the Bureau of Special Investigations deals with crimes that involve werewolves and, like in any organisation, there are a lot of differing viewpoints. Some officers believe that the nearest werewolf to a crime is responsible, and that “animals” do not deserve a fair trial like humans do. These prejudices made all the characters seem real, as they had to deal with their own preconceived ideas, especially when they arrived in a small town that was full of werewolves.

The characters all had their own past and secrets. Park is no longer part of his pack, even though he claims there is no bad blood between them. Dayton was literally gutted by a werewolf a few years ago, leaving a chunk of his intestines and his naivete behind. When you add old partners, police chiefs with hidden agendas and a general distrust of outsiders, you get a fantastic story that keeps on giving.

THE WOLF AT THE DOOR tackles real issues like racism, police brutality and homosexual relationships without sacrificing the very unreal, supernatural aspects that keep the mystery strong and the fur flying. I couldn't put it down until it was done.

This was a stunningly impressive debut novel from Charlie Adhara, especially when it was juggling so many different genre types - paranormal, romantic suspense, police procedural, murder mystery, thriller - and doing it impeccably.

I loved Cooper and Oliver, their nervous and tentative relationship development, mired as it was within the police and mystery elements, worked perfectly as a slow burn. I loved the world building, the setting gave me Twilight vibes - as in there's a whole load of supernatural creatures living here that no-one's aware of, rather than Charlie had channelled any Stephenie Meyer specifically.

The narrative is tight, kept together well and while I saw the protagonists coming quite early on in the story, the tension was still kept high right up until the final confrontation which had all the heart-pounding adrenaline I'd want to read.

The whole book captured my attention and I had to force myself to go to sleep at 2am when I was at 66% otherwise I would have stayed up all night to finish it.
I can't wait for Book Two now and am really looking forward to seeing where the author takes this new investigative pairing as I think it has legs to run with.

Consider me blown away. I find the fact that Adhara is a debut author incredible because everything about this book is solid.

I loved the mix of mystery/police procedural, romance, and paranormal. The paranormal element comes in the form of werewolves, but Adhara's take on the way they shift and how they've been able to survive for so long before "coming out" to the world's governments is different from what I've seen before. Since coming out, the werewolves have had to contend with bigotry from some of those in the know, which reminded me of things happening right now, ahem. The mystery was much better than I expected, especially the police procedural scenes which seemed entirely accurate in my admittedly limited knowledge.

How was the romance? Wonderfully done and completely satisfying. I'm so impressed with this author's debut. I can't wait to read the next book in this series, or whatever their next book is.

This is the first time I am reading a book by this author and it is a really good story. It was a gripping read with a good pace and it held my attention from start to finish.

When FBI agent Cooper Dayton was attacked it changed his life. He left the FBI and joined the BSI (Bureau of Special Investigations) where he found out the truth about his attacker. Now the world is a very different place for him. Now he knows that werewolves exist, living under the radar and as a BSI agent he is responsible for facing this new world and investigating crimes with werewolf involvement.

Cooper hasn't fully come to terms with being attacked but he is determined to make sure that he does this job well and solves crimes. When he is partnered with Agent Oliver Park he realises this could make or break his career because Agent Park works for the Trust, a werewolf law enforcement agency. Werewolves are being killed in a small town and Cooper is sent there to work with Oliver and to help local law enforcers. Above all no one should find out that werewolves exist.

Cooper is determined to give this partnership his best shot but working closely with this werewolf brings out different kinds of emotions and responses from him. Fear, irritation, resentment are difficult enough for Cooper to handle but it is his attraction to Oliver that is the most puzzling thing.

The investigation is difficult one and everything is complex and convoluted. There are just so many red herrings and twists and turns and Cooper is quite confused by the evidence, but he is clear on one thing somebody is killing werewolves and they need to be stopped. This is a dangerous investigation in more ways than one. Cooper discovers that his life is in danger but not only his life, he is in danger of crossing the line with Oliver because that deep attraction is mutual.

As Cooper and Oliver do their best to hunt down the murderer they draw closer to each other. Both men have things that they are hiding from each other and Cooper doesn't know if he can fully trust Oliver but this doesn't prevent the attraction between them. As the investigation progresses Cooper is unable to resist the pull between them even though they are facing danger. Can Cooper keep himself and Oliver safe when the murderer is also hunting them?

This is a solid mystery with very interesting lead characters. The author has managed to find a good balance between a mystery and romance and I quite liked that because I enjoy a good murder mystery. I enjoyed the tension between Cooper and Oliver, and their struggle first to resist temptation and then falling headlong into it. It is quite a rich story to read and immensely satisfying.

Thankfully this is the first in the series and there will be more,

Copy provided by publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

THIS BOOK, guys! This is, without a doubt, my favorite book I’ve read so far this year. It’s a wonderful mix of police procedural mixed with paranormal romance, and it sucked me in so much I stayed up reading way, way past my bedtime. In some ways, it reminded me of Eileen Wilks’ World of the Lupi books (one of my all-time favorite series).

In Ms. Adhara’s world, werewolves have come out to the government, but are still a secret to the general public. In its endless quest to control everything – as the government does – the Bureau of Special Investigations was formed, a subset of the FBI to deal with werewolf cases. Their agents are even armed with special werewolf-strength tasers and silver bullets. However, relations between the BSI and the werewolf community, represented by the Trust, are rocky at best, after a teen werewolf was shot by a BSI agent during a burglary. The solution that comes down from on high is for a Trust agent and a BSI agent to team up on what seems to be a werewolf serial killer case in rural Maine.

“’Your head’s so far up your ass you’re choking on your own brain’ was what his dad would say. Not that he’d ever know the specifics, but it held true just the same. Whatever issues Cooper had with getting partnered with a Trust member was getting in the way of being a good agent.”

Cooper is the BSI agent chosen to be on the team. A former FBI agent, he was attacked and practically disemboweled by a werewolf, losing six and a half feet of small intestine and gaining a bunch of scars and intermittent stomach pains. The only way he could get any sort of answers about the attack was to join the BSI. Luckily, he was partnered with an older agent who’s taught him everything he knows about taking down werewolves. At one point, another character calls Cooper a porcupine, and it’s the perfect description of him. He’s prickly, flawed, and operating on a lot of assumptions, but at the end of the day, he joined the FBI to protect the innocent, and he truly believes in his job. His prickliness has many sources. He’s been molded by trauma – both that of his werewolf attack and the death of his mom when he was a child. Also, his whole family is in law enforcement, though he’s the black sheep who’s become a government agent rather than staying with the local police force. He’s honest enough to realize, as the case progresses, that his issues with being partnered up with a werewolf are negatively affecting the way he’s doing his job, so he mans up, apologizes to Park, and does better. I wanted to kiss him at this point, and, frankly, I spent the book alternating between wanting to smack Cooper for being a distrustful bigot and hug him because, gosh darnit, he just means well.

Park is the Trust half of the team, and he’s a bit of a cipher. The book is told from Cooper’s third-person point of view, so everything is filtered through his lens of attraction, prejudice, and distrust. Despite Cooper’s prickliness and downright rudeness, he’s a consummate professional, though he has flashes of wicked humor, and seems to have had some experience with investigations before. Neither has any reason to trust the other – a werewolf investigating another werewolf? a trigger happy BSI agent who’s probably going to shoot the first werewolf he sees and ask questions later? – and watching them find a groove in their partnership was wonderful. It’s not just professional, though – Park and Cooper have an attraction between them from the first time they meet on the subway, but when they realize they’ll be working together, Cooper desperately tries to bury it.

This is, at heart, a thriller, with a paranormal romance subplot. The plot is deliciously twisty, with enough red herrings that I was guessing up until the very end. I was absolutely sucked in, and stayed up reading one night until I literally could not keep my eyes open any longer. The romantic tension is threaded through the rest of the story, especially every time Park and Cooper are on page together, and it works amazing well. Each element is well balanced, and I kept reading because I equally wanted to see Park and Cooper resolve the crime *and* resolve the sexual tension between them. Thrillers can sometimes go overboard on grittiness, but there’s enough humor mixed in to lighten it up.

“There was a difference between not distrusting someone anymore and trusting them to let yourself be totally vulnerable.”

Romance as a genre is sometimes dismissed as fluff, and paranormal romance even more so. The themes in this book, however, reflect current events, from police brutality and profiling (Cooper being advised to just arrest the nearest werewolf to a crime, as if he’s not guilty for that he’s probably guilty of something else) to immigration (a parallel Ms. Adhara specifically references in the book). There’s even a bit about being a gay werewolf, an other among others (though his sexual orientation doesn’t seem to be an issue for the werewolves in this book), and a gay cop.

“’Why wouldn’t I want to work with you?’
‘Why would you?’ Cooper asked bluntly. ‘Since we first met, I’ve done nothing but stick my foot in my mouth and my head up my ass.’
‘Very flexible of you. Good trait in a partner.’”

If you like thrillers and paranormal romances, I simply cannot recommend this book enough! At the end of the book, there are a lot of unresolved questions about Park’s family and how he relates to the Trust, so I was very pleased to see that this is the first in a series with another book planned for September 2018. I cannot wait to see where Ms. Adhara takes Park and Cooper next!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.