When Anna Avery, the lead character of Taming the Wolf by Stephanie Nelson,  is attached by a wolf during a hiking trip in the mountains, her life goes from relatively normal to incredibly complicated practically overnight. If you’re thinking “that must not have been an ordinary wolf that attacked poor Anna!” you would be correct. It was a werewolf, and a particularly nasty one at that. Anna was left for dead, but her intense will to live and overall strength saved her from a horrible end as decaying bear food to be stumbled across by another unfortunate hiker.

Fortunately Anna is discovered by Adam, the Alpha wolf of a nearby pack. Unfortunately, Adam is mated with a royal rhymes with snitch, Eve. Also unfortunate, Anna can’t seem to get a handle on her new feelings, and she has a bit of a problem with authority, which earns her a few embarrassing episodes with the Alpha’s teeth around her throat.

Anna’s lack of ability to conform causes her more trouble when dead bodies start turning up and the werewolf bigwigs think she had something to do with it. To make matters more complicated, Anna develops feelings for her bossy Alpha, and he for her. Throw a third, really sweet werewolf guy into the mix and you have a bit of a love triangle. Just a bit though, as Nelson isn’t out to make us suffer through an entire series of “who will she choose?”

I love that the main character of Taming the Wolf is such a strong one. Anna doesn’t take crap from anyone. She doesn’t submit easily, even when her wolf side insists she should do so. She spends a lot of time fighting against the wolf inside and trying to retain the parts of herself that make her who she is. When her wolf is telling her to jump in the sack with Adam and enjoy a bit of fun, Anna holds out and refuses to just be another notch in his belt. Yes, there is a healthy dose of “adult situations” in this book, but they’re all very tastefully written.

Which brings me to my next point: this is a grown-up book. With so many YA books written on the paranormal (don’t get me wrong, I love those too), it is nice to have something that was written for someone in my general age group. Fine, Anna is much younger than me (she’s around 22, the age I jokingly tell people I am for the 15th time, or is it 16th time now?), but she’s still an adult and makes adult decisions.

I read Taming the Wolf in one night because it was captivating enough to keep me going. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series when it comes out. If you’re looking for a grown-up werewolf tale, I highly suggest checking this one out. It’s only $3.99 on Amazon for the Kindle, and well worth the price.

Important Links:

Buy it on Amazon

Buy it on Barnes & Noble

Stephanie Nelson’s Anna Avery page

Note- I received a free ebook copy of Taming the Wolf as part of the Promotional Book Tours Taming the Wolf Blog Tour. My opinions are my own.