Tess Damon is a tracker and assassin for a group known as PIE, Private Investigation and Elimination. As such, she hunts down and assassinates non-human "veilers," hence the title VEILED TARGET. After two jobs gone wrong, her employer gives Tess one more chance to get it right or she will be eliminated. She is to hunt down and take out Hugh Langston, leader of the local wolfen pack. Tess is more than willing to take on the job, as her fiancΓ© had been killed by a wolf- shifter years before, and she is gunning for vengeance.
Tess meets up with Hugh on a blind date, thinking he is Trey, a member of Hugh's Night Runner wolf pack. Trey is actually missing without a trace, being held by a human rights group. When the pair meet cute for their date, they experience instant lust; but for Hugh it is more. Hugh begins to exhibit signs of classic mating tendencies. When another member of his pack informs him as to information about the whereabouts of Trey, Hugh cuts the date short and leaves. Tess follows, and they get into all sorts of danger, including a skirmish with a Banoth, a poison spitting, crap ball throwing creature. Shortly after, Tess and Hugh discover the truth about each other; but by this time they have discovered the need to work together against the dangers that face both of them.
Tess is an unusual heroine, to say the least. Even though it is stated that she is the best PIE has to offer, she is far from being a competent private investigator and assassin. Actually, she comes off as woefully inept and hard-headed. Hugh is honest and intelligent; and is a better drawn character, despite his overlooking the obvious bad guy. The plotline of VEILED TARGET is goes from humorous to serious without pause. Hugh and Tess are constantly having long conversations and throwing witty one-liners at each other, even while in the midst of the most serious of danger.
VEILED TARGET is author Robin Bielman's first foray into the genre of Paranormal Romance. The grim summary for the book leads the reader to believe this is to be a serious paranormal romance with a tough and fearless, kick-ass heroine. It is not far into VEILED TARGET that it becomes apparent the story is being played for laughs, and reads like a romantic comedy of errors. After switching gears and going with the flow of the humor, the writing style begins to make much more sense; and I was able to enjoy the story to a greater degree. VEILED TARGET is a fun read, much more so when the reader goes into it expecting the one-liners, ineptness, and slapstick humor. The plotline of a female PI is interesting if not new, and the romance is very nice. VEILED TARGET is the first book of Robin Bielman's new Veilers series, which shows great promise once the new series kinks are worked out.