Review: Drive Me Wild

Drive Me Wild (The Others #7)

by Christine Warren

Blurb:

Tess Menzies can work a spell with a few blinks of her baby blue eyes. But this dedicated witch can’t summon up a single good reason she’s been made an envoy between her kind and Manhattan’s fiercest were-creatures. The two sides haven’t spoken in four hundred years, and she’ll need every miracle in the book to broker any kind of truce. And that means outwitting Council of Others leader Rafael De Santos whose tantalizing moves and fierce hungry kisses are magic even a formidable sorceress can’t resist . . .

It doesn’t take a cat’s supernatural senses for Rafael to suspect that there’s something strange about this unexpected peace offering. And finding the truth is just as tempting as uncovering the secrets Tess is trying to conceal. Why, she’s tantalizing enough to make this wandering were-jaguar think he’s found the perfect mate—one he’s only dreamed of. But his stealth and her spells can’t guarantee they have a chance at survival, much less a future together…

Review:

Drive Me Wild is a wonderful read, and as I have been reading the series since the beginning I have been longing to read Tess and Rafe’s story for ages.  This series was a frustrating one from me from the time One Bite with a Stranger was published.  Until that book was released the series had been moving chronologically and the world was captivating, but there were many couples that we didn't have a story for.   And then Ms. Warren started publishing the stories of the couples we'd been longing for.  So while this is the 7^th book in the series technically, it was the 14^th book I’ve read in this series.   But baring that annoyance with the series as a whole, Tess and Rafe’s story was sexy and compelling from start to finish.

From the beginning we see a side of Rafe we have only seen hinted at in past (or future I guess) books in the series—complete and total arrogance.  After leaving Vircolac, the club run by the local wolf alpha, Rafe realizes he has a tail (pun intended) and though he can’t believe someone is dumb enough to try to sneak up on him, he is intrigued by his mysterious stalker.  Deciding to turn the tables on them Rafe slows his pace and lets his stalker get close enough to him that Rafe can catch their scent. He is pleasantly and greatly surprised to realize his stalker is a female; one that smells sexy enough to eat and vaguely of magic.

Tess knows she has lost her mind as she stalks Rafe, following him in an attempt to deliver a message from the witches’ council to Rafe, who is the leader of the council of others. She like any woman is taken by his sexy arrogance and his cat grace, but she’s not interested in taking him on personally. But when the stalker becomes the stalkee and Rafe catches her in his web of lust, they are both instantly and enormously attracted. The two begin to work together to form a truce between the witches and the rest of the Other population. But then things get a bit more complicated.

There was a lot of heat between Tess and Rafe from the minute that Rafe catches her scent.  He begins to descend into and become controlled by his inner beast.  The sex scenes in this story steam right off the page and we get many of them.  Tess gives in to their lust only hours after their first meeting and she is unable to resist him from then on.  It was wonderful to see Tess deal with the truth of Rafe’s character as she learns that he’s not the playboy he’s been made out to be.    He treats her like a precious gem from the beginning, making her uncomfortable on so many levels as she comes to terms with his true nature.

I will say this was a VERY fast read, even compared to some of the others in the series.  As usual there was an intense amount of hilarity, especially with Missy and her girls, and Ms. Warren’s sarcasm and wit shine through once again.  I would have loved a longer story with more time for their relationship to develop and deepen before they mate.   The connections into the overall plot of the series was interesting, though of course some parts we already know about as this was written on a time scale that was several years before other books that were already read.  I think if you read the series in chronological order instead of the publication order like I have you’d enjoy these stories even more, but some of the suspense is just gone this way.   

I can’t wait to read the next book which is 8^th in the chronological order and will have all the holes filled in.  I’m curious to see what will happen after that, but I’m hoping she moves on with the series with a book sixteen. Christine Warren’s work is definitely worth any anxiety of waiting and confusion of the strange order of this series.  There‘s just nothing like the sex appeal of these alpha and deliciously sweet men and the fiery and hilarious women they fall in love with.

Rating:  3.25 stars

Rose Rating: