Wolver’s Gold by Jacqueline Rhoades
Paranormal – Western Romance
Released July 2014
Self Published
Review by Sheena
It’s sort of like that car accident you see in traffic…you cringe but you can’t manage to avert your eyes so you wind up rubber necking as the wreckage shifts to the side of the road and you drive on and shake your head like “man that sure was a shame.” Wolver’s Gold crashed and burned for me. And what grinds my gears is that it should have been charming and fun and interesting and sexy and it just…well….nah. Not at all.
Rachel Kincaid is a would-be spinster little spitfire who decides that she is not interested in taking a mate. For her backwards thinking pack, this is unheard of and a sore spot for Rachel. Challenger McCall is a long wolf special investigator who arrives in Rachel’s olden town, Gold Glutch, to set things to right so to speak as Sheriff. Gold Glutch is a touristy trappy kind of town, where the wolf pack lives hidden in plain sight. Though set in modern times, Rachel’s wolf pack opts to live like they are still in the Victorian 19th century. This was weird. And I didn’t like it. I didn’t like this pseudo time traveling, genre bending, mash up. Think old timey, western paranormal shifter romance. Are you doing the *squinty eyes* too??
Rachel’s character was rather flat. She delivered a pretty good “standing atop a soap box” kind of speech, but I didn’t really feel her come to life. McCall was supposed to be hot- but he kind of turned me off as I am pretty sure he all but called Rachel a whore of sorts, alleging he needed a copybook to keep up with her gentleman advances/encounters. I don’t like my hero to insinuate my heroine is a hoe bag- I mean even if she is, I feel like my hero needs to just roll with it without the judgey little quips.
“What the fuck?” Challenger McCall stood in the kitchen doorway. “I stop by to fetch Dog and help hang a few tablecloths and what do I find? Another goddamned guy makin’ whoopee in the kitchen. Just how many of these they’re-not-boyfriends do you have? ‘Cause right now it looks like I’m gonna need another damned copybook to keep track?”
At the sound of his voice, Rachel pulled away from John’s comforting embrace and turned her back to the new arrival.
“Language, Mr. McCall…what you saw wasn’t…it wasn’t like that.”
Mr. McCall, grow a pair and throw your hat in the ring or STFU already! I became just as annoyed with Rachel, because damn near everything McCall said-practically scandalized her to death. *eye roll* Despite her wishy-washy manner when it came to McCall, there are some serious women’s rights issues going on in this story. While I like my heroines to be a little pliant, I do not like to feel like they are wimpy, fragile little daffodils falling into this mans arms or the next in the most frightful fits and constantly needing comfort from the big strong, logical man. At times the flimsy, damsel in utter despair antics undermined her “feisty” character. To her credit, for much of the story, Rachel was defiant and determined to shape her own destiny, even if it was one she did not desire, at least it would be the life of her choosing. I found this admirable because she boldly laid claim to her sense of self. Women’s equality and rights were a strong point of view. The wolver- woman’s suffrage fight may have been my favorite confrontation of the story.
“Are we pack?” Rachel asked in return. “Can we sit in Alpha’s Court without hanging our heads in shame? Do we have the same rights of ownership as other pack members? Do we receive the same pay? This isn’t bout votes…it’s about being recognized!”
While sweet, Wolver’s Gold was quite low on the steam and some parts dragged on. For most of the novel, I was on the precipice of abject boredom. The luke warm sensuality, was actually fine because given the pace (slow and boring), any addition of heavy sexual interludes would have felt too obviously gratuitous. Meh, there was a murder mystery, spoiler alert- it gets solved. There is a HEA, but since I did not find myself endeared to the hero- at all…or the least bit invested in their mating…I kind of didn’t care. *shrugs*
I don’t believe I will venture out into the world of paranormal-historical-western romance again. Ever.
Grade: D+
Leave a Reply