[Book Review] Hot Blooded by Amanda Carlson & Kicking Horse Coffee Kick Ass Dark

Title: Hot Blooded
Series: Jessica McClain, #2
Author: Amanda Carlson
Publisher: Orbit/Hachette Book Group
Publication date: April 23, 2013
Page Count: 326 pages
Age Rating: Adult (violence and gore)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received a free copy to review

It hasn’t been the best week for Jessica McClain.

Her mate has been kidnapped by a Goddess hell-bent on revenge — but Jessica is playing for keeps.

Because she’s the only female werewolf in town…it comes with its own set of rules…and powers.

Aided by two vamps, two loyal Pack members, and one very reluctant human, Jessica must rescue her man while coming to terms with what being a wolf really means.

All in a day’s work for a girl.

The second novel in the Jessica McClain series is a full on action adventure featuring one angry Goddess and plenty of monsters, demons, and a few newly risen beasties…

My Review

In Full Blooded, Jessica McClain became the first female werewolf to ever exist. She also gained a mate, Rourke, a sexy, muscled, tattooed mercenary werecat – only to have him ripped away by his evil ex, Selene, the powerful Lunar Goddess. Hot Blooded, the second book in the Jessica McClain series, finds Jessica and her assembled motley crew battling a series of supernatural creatures as she tries to save her mate from the sadistic goddess.

Hot Blooded is action packed from beginning to end. Butt-kickings and magic are thrown around about every other page and each member of the crew – wolves, vamps, and human alike, are all able to get in on the action at some point along the journey. A bunch of new supernatural creatures are introduced and we learn about the Underworld and the Demon Sect, as well as some additional details about the Vampire and Shifter Sects (which were introduced in the previous book).

With Full Blooded I had kind of a love/hate relationship with Jessica’s character due to her glaring specialness (I love me some kickass female leads, but she’s not only the only female werewolf in existence, she’s also some super powerful Lycan form of werewolf that hasn’t existed for thousands of years and her mate is this super hot mercenary who’s not only strong and powerful, but the last of his kind and so sexy women fight over him – but don’t worry, he only wants Jessica). Thankfully, Hot Blooded had me leaning more towards the love side. Jessica’s still so terribly special and powerful, even more special and powerful than previously thought actually, but this is tapered by her not really knowing what to do with it most of the time. It also helped that I was cheering for her to beat that man-stealing ex down. I loved the whole battling the evil ex thing. For anyone who’s ever had to deal with their significant other’s sexy, successful ex whom you just wanted to punch in the face, this is total wish fulfillment. It also was great to watch a bit of gender role reversal with Jessica as the hero and Rourke as the “damsel in distress” as it were.

Hot Blooded can be read as a stand alone if you wish (I would recommend reading Full Blooded first, but you won’t be lost if you don’t). I’m finding this series to be super addictive (I’ve already started reading the next one) and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Kicking Horse Coffee Kick Ass Dark – full body, full flavor, full out dark and a bit high on the acidic scale, this is a roast that holds nothing back – just like Jessica McClain in her crusade to save her man.