Wolf N’ Mouse (Episode 1 of When, Were, and Howl) / Jeanette Raleigh

Reviewed by: SingleEyePhotos

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Approximate word count: 13,000 – 14,000 words

Availability  

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: NO Paper: NO

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Author:

Jeanette Raleigh has spent all her life enjoying one creative pursuit or another. Her When, Were, and Howl series of novelettes showcases her playful side. She is an artist in addition to being an author.

For more, visit the author’s website or blog.

Description:

A were is, almost by definition, a wolf. And if a were doesn’t meet that definition, then what?

Appraisal:

The metadata for this book indicates it is the first 3 episodes of this novella-series, but it actually only contained the first episode, Wolf ‘N Mouse. The first episode is novella-length, and serves as an adequate introduction to the main character, Jen, and her life. Jen has a crush on her boss, Rob. To impress him, she uses a stolen amulet in an attempt to change her were to wolf. Mayhem ensues…

This story introduces the main characters – Jen, Rob, Jen’s best friend Ali, and Jen’s extended family. None of the characters shows much depth, but that’s probably to be expected in a story of this length, and as far into the series as this is. Even without the character development, Jen, Rob, and Ali came across as quirky and fun – you wanted to keep on reading and see what they got up to.

It’s very difficult to adequately appraise this story because it’s like reviewing only the first chapter of a longer book – there just isn’t enough there to form a good judgment. The author was able to set the scene well, she had some promising characters, and the beginnings of what appeared to be an entertaining storyline. But there’s no way for me to tell if subsequent episodes lived up to the promise of this one.

FYI:

Adult situations and topics. They are not explicit, and most are dealt with very humorously. If this were a movie, it would probably have a PG-13 rating.

Format/Typo Issues:

Formatting is something the author could improve upon. There was a great deal of ‘white space’ in the story, and sentences that really should belong to the prior paragraph occasionally formed a separate paragraph – even when the break was in the middle of speech. Also, the first couple of paragraphs of the 6^th chapter were written in 3^rd person, instead of 1^st person like the rest of the story. Those paragraphs almost look as though they were the author’s summary notes for that chapter.

Rating: *** Three stars