Review: Rogue Wolf Hunter (Rogue Brotherhood #1)

Rogue Wolf Hunter (Rogue Brotherhood #1)

Kait Ballenger

Blurb:

Jace McCannon has one loyalty: the Rogue Brotherhood. Despite his mixed blood, his hatred for the werewolves he hunts is legendary. But in his search for a sadistic killer, Jace finds himself face-to-face with a stunningly seductive packmaster...and longing for a night with his mortal enemy.

Nothing can stop Frankie Amato from defending her kind - or from catching the rogue responsible for killing women in her territory. For that, this alpha female needs Jace's skills more than she wants to admit. But as their investigation exposes evil truths, need burns into a passion that dare not be fulfilled. For to do so will have deadly consequences for them both....

Themes:  Paranormal, Wolf-shifters

Rating:  3 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

I had really high hopes for this series as it was a precursor series, previously published under another set of titles, to the Seven Shifter Range series which I really enjoyed from Kait, but I didn’t really connect with this book.  I can’t say I hated it or anything like that, but I didn’t love it either, it was just sort of good.  Jace McCannon is a half wolf that hates his own people, and on the hunt for a serial killing wolf. When he finds himself confronted with a she-wolf he’s not really sure how to handle her, but he takes her into custody and then decides to work with her to find the killer.   Frankie Amato is an alpha female that is trying to catch who is killing other female wolves, but she never thought to be working with the enemy, until she meets Jace. As they work together, their passion flares and soon they discover that their feelings are a lot more intense than either of them are really prepared for.  But if they can’t trust one another and their people, the enemy is going to all too easily kill them all and then continue on his murdering rampage.  Jace was an ok guy, for someone that hated half of himself, but I never really connected with him, probably for that very reason.  I have enough issues disliking myself, I don’t want to read about characters that intrinsically hate half of their DNA, though thankfully he did seem to get over that in the end with Frankie’s help.  He was also an ass through most of the story to Frankie, despite or maybe because of their intense attraction, but in my opinion when you find your true mate, you should never treat them the way he was treating her.  Other than that, he was a pretty good fighter, and all in all not a bad guy.  Frankie was a pretty cool heroine, a badass alpha female that I found I could like, but I wish she had stood up more for herself when Jace was treating her badly.  I liked seeing her in action leading and investigating, but other than that I never really connected to her.  The chemistry between them was there for sure as they dealt with their instant connection, but the love one would expect to develop never really happened for me.  I imagine when the republications of the rest of the series come out, I will give them a look, but I don’t hold out much hope I will love them as much as I did the last series, maybe the magic is gone.

*eARC provided by publisher (via NetGalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.