Audiobook narrated by Abby Craden

It was October. I wanted a paranormal read. I wanted one with a wolf. And boy did I hit the jackpot with Hungry Like the Wolf! It’s been a long time since I’ve picked up a Paranormal Romance, and I forgot how much I love them. I especially love ones where the creatures aren’t known to the human world, because the stakes always feel like they’re so much higher. Even better, this book introduces us to a whole pack of wolves, and it seems they’ll all get their own books in the SWAT series. Warning: BINGE READ AHEAD!

Mackenzie Stone is convinced that the Dallas SWAT team is hiding something, but the fact that they could be werewolves is something that never crosses her mind. As team leader and alpha of his pack, it’s Gage Dixon’s job to be sure that Mackenzie doesn’t sniff out the truth. And he’ll pull out all the stops to keep the wool pulled over her eyes. But Gage is caught by surprise when he starts having feelings for her.

At best, I have a love hate relationship with journalist heroines. Most of the time, they rub me the wrong way taking stupid chances and stopping at nothing to get a story. Mackenzie wasn’t like that. She’s probably my favorite journalist I’ve read in romance. That doesn’t mean she’s not persistent and willing to go to extreme lengths to get her story; it means that lives are more important than making her career, and I loved that about her. When Gage asks her what she’s willing to chance to get her story, she’s very adamant that it’s not lives, and she keeps her word. I love how Mackenze took Gage by surprise, both with his feelings for her and with who she was. She was kind and compassionate, and he ate it right up. Gage actually took me by surprise; I’m used to alpha wolves who are growly and domineering, so when Gage started charming Mackenzie to lead her away from the truth, I thought it was all an act. But Gage genuinely was charming, and I found I loved that about him. It was something that felt new and fresh from an alpha wolf hero, and I was always left wanting more of him. But make no mistake, this man is the alpha of his pack all the way, and they know it.

Mackenzie and Gage had chemistry from the get-go, and if you’re a Paranormal Romance reader like I am, you expect you’re going to get some hot sex, and boy did this book deliver!  This book was so steamy, and I loved every second of it. I thought the villain was a bit obvious and over-exaggerated, but I think if you’re going to offset a team of wolves with a human villain, you kind of have to write them that way to even the playing field a bit. So even with that, I enjoyed the story.

Hungry Like the Wolf was exactly the story I was looking for when I picked it up, and I am thrilled to know that I have the whole SWAT series of books in front of me. This may have been my first read from Paige Tyler, but I can guarantee it won’t be my last!

Audio: Abby Craden did a fantastic job with this story. I loved her narration for Mack and Gage, and she was able to make it clear who was who with her voice; that’s not always easy to pull off when you’re narrating an entire pack. She also did a fantastic job with the sex scenes, which is absolutely what I want with a Paranormal Romance narrator. She reminds me a lot of one of my other favorite narrators, Jill Redfield, so if you like her, you should definitely check Abby Craden out. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more books she narrated in the future.