Judith’s review of Toxic (Truckee Wolves #1) by Belinda McBride
There are three things that Dr. Briony Theale loves. Her job as a veterinarian, a good bar of rich, dark chocolate, and Rico, the ranger in charge of the Wildlife Rescue center. When a casual dinner with Rico turns surprisingly intimate, Briony realizes that she might just have a chance with him after all, if only she could lose a few pounds. It’s the ultimate sacrifice, but Briony goes cold turkey, and swears off chocolate forever.
Rico Montgomery fell hard for Briony the first time he set eyes on the curvy little doctor. Her rich brown hair and cocoa skin trigger cravings that he can barely control, and her fragrance is like the sweetest, richest chocolate he’s ever scented in his life. That’s a bad thing for Rico, because to a werewolf like him, chocolate is literally a toxin. After his pack warns him off the very human doctor, Rico finds himself even more drawn to Briony.
Rico can’t live with it, and Briony can’t live without it. And when a certain wandering wolf finds a bag of chocolate in the trash near Briony’s clinic, these two will find out just how toxic love can be.
After reading Doms of Dark Haven and Doms of Dark Haven 2: Western Nights, I was a confirmed fan of Belinda McBride. The Truckee Wolves are a part of the stories in both those anthologies and she has put together a pack of misfits that need each other in desperate measure. Their Alpha is working very hard to teach many of these individuals how to live in community with others, how to relate to a “family” and how to relax and accept the safety and sense of security that being in a pack gives them. Yet there are still serious difficulties and one of them is the resistance to mating with humans. This story falls somewhere between the stories in each of the above anthologies.
When we first had a dog as a pet when my kids were really little, one of the first things we were warned against is EVER giving chocolate to her. It’s a rule we have abided by for many years and now, many dogs later, I am glad to say that none of our animals ever had to endure what the shifter wolf in this story endured. It’s a fun novella that is built on the attraction between a cute and personable veterinarian and a werewolf who is working as a Wildlife Rescue officer/ranger near Briony’s community. They are both aware of an almost irresistable attraction to one another but the pack Alpha has gotten involved and warned Rico to avoid taking a human as a mate. Yet he can’t resist her scent–she eats a lot of chocolate–and boy! does she smell good! So good, in fact, that he finds the stash she has discarded in her effort to avoid putting on anymore weight, and before he can help himself, he has devoured the entire stash. Needless to say, he gets really sick and ends up in one of Dr. Briony’s cages in his wolf form–she doesn’t know about those shifter types as yet.
It’s a fun story with lots of sexy and spicy running through it. It’s also a continuation of the saga of the Truckee Pack for those who read the other stories in the aforementioned anthologies. Ms McBride writes really good paranormal romance and she has taken a short story that was previous published and has re-worked and expanded it here. This piece was released in the Spring, 2013, but it is a delightful piece of paranormal romance fiction and will be enjoyable to all those who either have encountered Ms McBride’s writing previously or who just simply delight in a paranormal romance well written.
I think the best part of this tale along with the other two stories is that this pack is really about those shifters who have been abused, abandoned, taken prisoner by those who think they have the right to “experiment” on these individuals. It is heart-warming to read of the efforts by the Alpha and others to bring these individuals together, to deal with their wounds and their wounded spirits, to give them a chance at having family and friends again, to provide a safe haven for them as they heal and accept the love and care of others. Even though Briony and Rico are not two of those damaged souls, they are affected by the fall-out and the choices they make for the future are impacted by the Alpha’s careful protection. Ans as in all paranormal tales, bringing humans into the mix puts them all in jeopardy to being “outed” to the human population within which they exist quietly.
This is, quite simply, a really terrific read–not long or time-consuming, but one that will please the lovers of paranormal romance. I give it a rating of 4 out 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
This title is available from Loose ID LLC. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
