Fictional Candy: Review: Big Bad Bite by Jessie Lane

Title: Big Bad Bite
Series: Big Bad Bite #1
Author: Jessie Lane
Published: January 2013, Jessie Lane
Format: Ebook received for review

What would it be like to live in a world where you are considered abnormal to those who are above the norm?

Jenna O’ Conner has been taught her whole life to hide from everyone. Never to let anyone to close enough to know that she would prefer a shotgun for her birthday over of a bouquet of roses. She’s been smothered by her over protective family so that no one learns what she truly is. Which is not human. Nor, is she considered the norm for the supernatural Other community that is benevolent enough to share this world with the humans.

In a desperate attempt to live her own life away from the small town she was raised in, Jenna obtains her dream job as the newest member on the Wilmington Police Department’s SWAT Team. What she didn’t predict was that she would run into trouble her first day on the job, in the form of a deadly, mouthwatering man named Adam McPhee. Who is also not human, but more like a wolf walking around in human skin. He’s determined to figure out exactly what Jenna is, which unbeknownst to him, could very well put her life in danger. He’s also determined to have her all to himself.

As if that wasn’t enough for Jenna to deal with, bad news blows into town. A group of extremist Shifters who think humans are cattle and factions of Others worldwide should stay within their own species - never to intermingle. Chaos ensues. Jenna has to find a way to shut them down, but in the process of trying to do that, discovers things about herself that even she never thought was possible.

Who said the wolf was what you had to worry about?

Welcome to the real world

I make no secret of the fact that I love Jessie Lane. Big Bad Bite is a good example why. This is a book about a wolf-demon hybrid woman; she is badass in every sense of the word. She’s paranormal, she’s not some whiney “oh save me you big strong man” type of girl, and she’s on SWAT. Yeah, I have a girl-crush on Jenna.

So the thing with Jenna is that she’s been very sheltered in the world of Others, and this is by her family’s design. In this Others society, hybrids are a big no-no and are often slaughtered. So it stands to reason that not only do they not know about her, she knows almost nothing about them. This naivety was kind of endearing to me; a fresh change from the all-knowing type of shifter I usually read about. So when she happens upon Adam, who is a red haired Alpha to the core, she doesn’t back down. Ladies and gentleman, that is badass. If you can face down an Alpha, one you recognize as such, and refuse to cower, you have some big ol lady balls.

So let me tell you about Adam. Adam is a beast of a man, with red hair. I don’t know if its natural red or dyed red, but I suspect natural. It’s spiky and out of control, quite the opposite of the man, himself. He is a study in control, he has to be, since his wolf lives so damn close to the edge. It wouldn’t take much for the wolf to take control and turn Adam feral, so he is strong in every sense of the word: mind, body, and spirit. I like that about him. I mean, I love that he is Alpha and all the sorts of sexiness that usual entails, but I love that keeping control of himself isn’t always an easy feat.

His lips slammed down on hers and she was lost. He wasn’t just kissing her, he was drawing the breath from her body with his intensity. There would be no gentle touches this time. No slow build up. No careful handling. No second questions on whether he was going too far, too fast for his poor inexperienced woman to handle. His hunger was only magnified by her own and, since Jenna was damn near desperate to get a hold of his cock so that she could guide it inside of her, making him slam it home, you could say that Adam was frantic to give her what she wanted. It was needless to say that they were barely keeping the other from shredding their clothes beyond repair.

As for the story, there are a couple of plotlines. One of them includes a storyline that looks like it might be carried throughout the series. That involves some shifters that have kind of gone rogue and are up to some very malicious dealings. The other plotline is that of Jenna and Adam, and the struggle of romance and lust between them. I found both lines to be very interesting, and I loved the contrast between them. On the one hand we get to see action with fighting and a bit of mystery. Then on the other hand, there is the battle of hearts, the winning of one against another. Jenna is so new to being around other Others that she’s not quite accustomed to how things work, so there is definitely a bit of give and take. The sexy times are definitely sexy, and it was just the right amount of heat to satisfy my own inner beast!

All in all, I think if you love shifter romances – and I know you do – that you should give Big Bad Bite a go. It’s been out just over a year, and the next is coming up real soon, like within the next few weeks. Walk On The Striped Side is about Gage, a tiger shifter we meet in Big Bad Bite.

And yes, there is a large array of other paranormals in this book. You get to meet some awesome-as-hell tigers, some demons, and a bunch of wolves. And I’m positive there will be even more as the series goes on. So yeah, to sum it up – Big Bad Bite is Big Bad Awesome.

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Jessie Lane is the writing team of Crystal Leo and Melissa Pahl. The two sisters-in-law share a passionate love of naughty romance, cliff hanging suspense, and out-of-this-world characters that demand your attention, or threaten to slap you around until you do pay attention to them. Because really, it is ALL about the characters. (They're kind of megalomaniacs - but don't tell them that we said that.)

Their first YA novel, The Burning Star, was released in May 2012. Big Bad Bite is their second novel, but their first adult paranormal romance, and was released in January 2013. Their third book, Secret Maneuvers, releases on June 15, 2013, and will be the start of a new adult contemporary romance series (Ex Ops Series). They are now working on their next three novels, Walk On The Striped Side (Big Bad Bite Series #2), Stripping Her Defenses (Ex Ops Series #2), and The Frozen Star (YA Star Series #2).

With these projects underway, they are looking forward to showing the rest of the world their crazy stories, heroes and heroines that often plague their minds until written, and hope you will join them on their journey!