I Kissed a Dog
The Werewolves of the West Series Book One
Carol Van Atta
Genre: Paranormal
Romance/Urban Fantasy
Publisher:
Cambridge Press US under the umbrella of Charles River Press (CRP)
ISBN: 1936185725
ISBN13: 9781936185726
ASIN: B009SV179U
Number of pages:
446
Cover Artist: Ann
Falcone
Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeuDqevNSXM
Book Description:
Chloe Carpenter isn't like other women. She can communicate
with animals. A gift she unwrapped following one of her frequent dances with
death.
In her otherwise
wacky life, she's finally found a semblance of sanity working at the Plum Beach
Wildlife Park, where her unique talents can make life or death differences for
the animals in her care. That semblance is shattered when a new veterinarian
roars into the park in his spiffed up sports car and sets his golden gaze on
her. If she had her way, he'd roar right back out.
Problem: He's her new coworker and he's saved her life twice
- in the past twenty-four hours.
Zane Marshall, Enforcer for the Pacific Pack of purebred
werewolves, has a job to do - figure out who or what is mutilating the young
men of Plum Beach.
With orders to find the woman who talks to animals, he accepts
a position working alongside the fiery Chloe Carpenter, a female who ignites
his interest far more than he ever expected. Remarkably, she's the one elusive
female with potential to bring meaning and passion to his empty existence.
Problem: She despises him.
Together, they're forced to unravel a mystery of supernatural
proportions, a murderous mystery with eternal implications for everyone. In the
process, they discover opposites really do attract.
Major Problem: Zane is pledged to another woman, and she'll
do anything to keep him from Chloe.
Guest Blog:
Addicted to Love, Romance, and
Relationships?
Remember Reality!
Carol Van Atta
Like most
authors of paranormal romance, I like the idea of love and romance with a
paranormal twist or two that spices things up for the couple. I’m also a fan of
love that is intense, at times irrational, and often impulsive. It makes for
great reading. However, because of
the hot topics we write and/or read about, we might want to consider adding a
warning label to our special brand of sexy, supernatural shenanigans.
Warning: Hot and Heavy Romance leading to
heated hormones and hellacious heartbreak may result from attempting replicate
the relationships in this book.
What I’m
saying … we need to keep our feelings for steamy supernatural romances that
have the potential to shred our hearts and maybe even our hope, in check.
So, let me
ask you, have your friends ever pointed out your relationship failures? Ever
heard the word co-dependent and cringed? Do you excuse and tolerate behaviors
that are unacceptable and hurtful in your mate? For example: He makes me bleed because he can’t help himself. He
is, after all, a vampire. Or … he only bosses me around when the moon is full;
remember he’s a werewolf.
If you can
answer “yes” to any of the above questions, you just might be in an unhealthy
relationship and possibly addicted to love, romance, or the idea of participating
in a relationship despite the painful consequences and high emotional price tag.
I know the
scenario all too well. It’s easy to fall for those alpha males we inhale like a
breath of fresh air while devouring our favorite romances, paranormal or
otherwise. The stories make dysfunctional and dare I say, at times, borderline abusive
men appear so tantalizing. They also tempt us with the notion that can’t live
without a specific relationship/person … think Bella sitting in that darn chair
following Edward’s departure in the Breaking
Dawn, The Movie.
Why am I bringing up this depressing
topic on Valentine’s Day?
Because it’s
important to remember the books we read, featuring men who ultimately bring
danger and even disaster to our lives aren’t good for us in the real world. We don’t have super powers,
(unless you’re hiding something) to combat the villains and vicious characters
that seem to cling to these men like a pair of poured on leather pants. Nor are
we equipped to handle all the chaos that accompanies them, roaring down the
main street of our heart.
But the main
reason, friends, is because I care. I know what it’s like to search for love in
the darkness hoping it would light up my life. Unfortunately, I ended up with a
blood thirsty vampire latched onto my neck unwilling to release his relentless
and painful hold. What seemed so enticing and intoxicating in the beginning
became poison to my heart and life. When a vampire is attached to your throat,
it’s hard to live life, let alone experience love.
This special
post is just a reminder for us to enjoy the lethal love in the books we read,
without allowing our desire for love and romance to overpower our commonsense.
On the lighter side, this is what
makes reading paranormal romances the safe and better option. I took this from
my website.
Why write a
series of books about wolfy-men, who according to legend, howl at the moon,
shed fur, and shred their victims with their big teeth - oh my?
I think the
explanation can't ignore the psychology of women. Do I speak for all women? Of
course, not! But I do know (right or wrong) a wide range of women (myself
included) are, or have been at some point in the past, drawn to "bad
boys," men who for whatever reason live daringly adventurous lives, doing
things that often cause them to stand apart from other less intense guys, the
type of guys we might refer to as uber reliable or b-o-r-i-n-g. Bad boys are so
refreshingly far from boring, they're not even on the same map. They're
typically easy on the eyes, usually in a non-traditional way, and have strong,
possibly overbearing personalities; they are decidedly masculine in every sense
of the word. Dare we say they're
predatory? They take control, go after what they want, and are nowhere near
tame. Feral. Wild. Sexy. Dangerous. Yep. They're beastly. And what's more
beastly than a werewolf? See my point?
If you want
tame, werewolves are not for you. Danger isn't for everyone. Yet, I challenge
you to take a long look at the desires of your heart. Do you crave adventure?
Excitement? Passion? If you're
breathing, I suspect you've wished for those very things a time or two ... or
three hundred. Don't worry. And don't be ashamed. You're so not alone.
Men with
supernatural tendencies tend to live outside the box we call normal.
Excitement, danger, and passion cling to them like peanut butter to jelly.
Yummy! And we just can't help but want a taste. Granted, we may live our safe,
predictable lives, but opening a book that rockets us into a world of romance,
intrigue, and danger, along with a good dose of humor, allows us to experience
those bad boys without the not-always-positive side effects. In other words, we
can safely enjoy danger and desire without breaking a nail or nursing a broken
heart.
That final
sentence says it all. We can enjoy
our wolfy guys from the safety of our favorite arm chair, without putting
ourselves in harm’s way.
However, if
you’ve found yourself dealing with an unwanted and toxic relationship, I’d like
to recommend a resource you might want to check out. The book, Biting Back, by Claudia Cunningham, is a
no-nonsense, no garlic guide to facing the personal vampires in your life.
Be safe. Love.
Live. And read. Happy Valentine’s Day.
My Thoughts:
This was an excellent start to a series and I was so happy to read this book!
Chloe isn't your average 24 year old. She's got some hidden talents that make life pretty interesting even before the Supernatural community starts to take notice of her. The last thing she needs is more trouble, or so she thinks! At the beginning of the book I had a little trouble connecting with Chloe. The writing was good, I just felt she was looking for any excuse to be mad at Zane. Her emotions were all over the place! Luckily as the book went on, and all the supernaturals came out to play I began to understand Chloe better and have more respect for her. Everyone around her has a secret, people are dying, there is a hot werewolf that would do anything to protect her, and one evil women that Zane has been pledged to since he was a child. It is enough to make anyone's head spin!
It was so easy to fall in love with Zane. So easy going while at the same time fiercely protective and loyal. Until he met Chloe he was beginning to feel trapped, but to him she is everything he was been waiting for. He is not immune to secret keeping in this book, but I honestly felt he had good reasons for the keeping the secrets he did. I felt so heartbroken for him when Chloe revealed her secrets. All this time she has pushed him away because of his lies while keeping huge ones of her own!
There is a lot of information to take in while reading! At times it was almost overwhelming trying to understand how all the other characters fit into the murders and betrayals. Who was a good guy and who was the bad guy? Until the end you really aren't sure, and even then I found myself wondering if I could still be wrong about some characters!
This book kept me on my toes and played with my emotions. I loved it! Some books are so predictable, but not this one. You never knew when you were going to get hit by a curve ball and I could not have even tried to predict half of the things that unfolded as the story progressed. I am so excited to see what Carol Van Atta does in the next book of the series! With everyone conspiring with their own hidden agendas, I'm worried about how my favorite characters will survive!
Chloe isn't your average 24 year old. She's got some hidden talents that make life pretty interesting even before the Supernatural community starts to take notice of her. The last thing she needs is more trouble, or so she thinks! At the beginning of the book I had a little trouble connecting with Chloe. The writing was good, I just felt she was looking for any excuse to be mad at Zane. Her emotions were all over the place! Luckily as the book went on, and all the supernaturals came out to play I began to understand Chloe better and have more respect for her. Everyone around her has a secret, people are dying, there is a hot werewolf that would do anything to protect her, and one evil women that Zane has been pledged to since he was a child. It is enough to make anyone's head spin!
It was so easy to fall in love with Zane. So easy going while at the same time fiercely protective and loyal. Until he met Chloe he was beginning to feel trapped, but to him she is everything he was been waiting for. He is not immune to secret keeping in this book, but I honestly felt he had good reasons for the keeping the secrets he did. I felt so heartbroken for him when Chloe revealed her secrets. All this time she has pushed him away because of his lies while keeping huge ones of her own!
There is a lot of information to take in while reading! At times it was almost overwhelming trying to understand how all the other characters fit into the murders and betrayals. Who was a good guy and who was the bad guy? Until the end you really aren't sure, and even then I found myself wondering if I could still be wrong about some characters!
This book kept me on my toes and played with my emotions. I loved it! Some books are so predictable, but not this one. You never knew when you were going to get hit by a curve ball and I could not have even tried to predict half of the things that unfolded as the story progressed. I am so excited to see what Carol Van Atta does in the next book of the series! With everyone conspiring with their own hidden agendas, I'm worried about how my favorite characters will survive!
My Rating: 4 Stars!
Giveaway!
About the Author:
Like most authors, Carol Van Atta is no stranger
to the written word. She penned a short novel at age 12 (somewhat frightening
illustrations included, and lots of bunnies were involved), and had a creative
writing piece published in her high school newspaper (about David Bowie's
Diamond Dogs LP). Yes, she's an ex-80's chick.
Devouring books from numerous genres, Carol
developed a deep thirst/hunger for more reading material, and could almost
always be found with her nose in a book.
She has contributed to several popular
inspirational anthologies and devotional books, and lives in the rainy wetland
of Oregon with a terrifying teen (another in college) and a small zoo of
animals. She is taking an undetermined hiatus away from inspirational writing
to delve into her darker side. (Though you can check out her latest spiritual
suspense novel, Soul Defenders). It is rumored that this genre-jumping occurred
after Carol discovered too suspicious red marks on her neck, and experienced an
unquenchable urge to howl at the moon.
Alyssa, thank you so much for hosting my book on your blog. I'm so pleased you enjoyed reading I Kissed a Dog. It makes me want to howl with happiness! I also appreciate your review, which was well thought out and offered potential readers a great summary of what to expect. Thank you! I'm enjoying my visit to your site, and will definitely be returning.
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