Full Blooded by Amanda Carlson & Muskoka Roastery Coffee Co. Howling Wolf

Title: Full Blooded
Series: Jessica McClain, #1
Author: Amanda Carlson
Publisher: Orbit/Hachette Book Group
Publication date: September 11, 2012
Page Count: 346 pages
Age Rating: Adult (explicit sexual scene)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received a free copy to review

In the vein of Kelley Armstrong and Patricia Briggs, Amanda Carlson’s debut is a new urban fantasy that rewrites the werewolf myth…

It’s not easy being a girl. It’s even harder when you’re the only girl in a family of werewolves. But it’s next to impossible when your very existence spells out the doom of your race… Meet Jessica McClain — she just became part of the pack.

My Review

In Full Blooded, Jessica McClain becomes the first female werewolf –ever – and it seem like everyone wants a piece of her, in one way or another.

The first few chapters felt kind of busy to me. Action, world-building, character introductions – my head kind of spun they were thrown at me so fast. At odds with the fast-paced nature of this book, the dialogue tended to be a bit long-winded. There was a lot of talking in this book, huge paragraphs of it in fact.

I liked the characters in this book, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like I would have liked them better if they weren’t so gosh darn perfect. Sexy females and muscular men abounded. The main character, Jessica, is just so so special that it started to get on my nerves a bit. Her love interest is also so so special (and muscular, which we are told again and again). Jessica and her guy both seem to be the only of their respective kinds and better, faster, stronger than most everyone around them.

Despite my love-hate relationship with some of the characters, the story is fantastic. I loved all the different “supes” and the author’s take on their hierarchy and special abilities. The writing is great and, while the middle dragged a bit, once the action takes off it really takes off – by the end of the book I was clamoring for more. The book also ends with what just might be one of the best closing lines I’ve ever read.

Full Blooded is the first of the Jessica McClain series, followed by Hot Blooded (already in stores and on my to-read list) and Cold Blooded (out October 8^th, also on my to-read list). I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who calls themselves an Urban Fantasy fan, it’s a great start to what looks like an amazing series and I can’t wait to read the next one in line.

Jessica McClain is a strong woman. A former cop and the first female in a previously male-only werewolf society, she’s a straight shooter who doesn’t pull her punches. As a compliment to her nature, I’ve chosen Howling Wolf by Muskoka Roastery Coffee Co., a full bodied, medium blend coffee with a clean and straight forward taste that doesn’t mess around.