Werewolf in Las Vegas (Wild About You #6) by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Giselle Landry is in Las Vegas to haul her wayward brother back home. But casino owner Luke Dalton is also looking for her brother, who has run off with his little sister. The two should join forces, but Luke is unaware that Giselle’s brother is also fleeing his duties as the future alpha of the Landry werewolf pack—which includes his Were bride.

The Landrys don’t believe in Weres mating with humans, and Giselle is no exception. Though Luke is wealthy, gorgeous, and protective, Giselle can’t let herself get close to him, even to solve their shared dilemma. But the tension wears away her resistance, and after a wild night with Luke, she is shocked to find she’s fallen for him.

But Luke still doesn’t know Giselle’s true identity. And once their siblings are found, Giselle must return to San Francisco. Can they overcome the odds—or will what happened in Vegas stay in Vegas?

Type: Paranormal Romance, werewolves
Heat: 3 out of 5
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
Cover: Love it!

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Werewolf in Las Vegas was one of those books I really wanted to like. I was pretty excited about trying out the series--it's been on my list for a while--and I love light hearted wolfy tales. It had a great setting and cover and really looked good. But in the end it just rubbed me the wrong way and left me frustrated and sporting a headache.

So. The quick of it is that Luke's baby sister is revolting and leading him on a merry chase around Las Vegas in order to get her way. Teaming up with Giselle who is in town to drag her older brother home--he's helping Luke's sister--the two get ambushed over and over again until their wayward siblings finally come "home" to talk.

There were a few things I enjoyed about the book. Mainly...the hero Luke. I loved Luke. He's just a good guy that really cares about the people around him, takes all of the attacks on him in stride and is just a cutie with a lot on his shoulders and is trying to do his best. He's also very sweet and considerate in ways as well.

The problem for me was that entire focus of the book was on how wrong Luke is about every single thing he does. He shouldn't think this way. Or do that. And gah! what a man! wanting his baby sister to finish her last semester at Yale instead of dropping out to be a Vegas Show Girl. The nerve! He's such a throw back and really needs a good dose of humiliation (yes those were said) to get with the times and let her do whatever she wants and just hire to dance half naked in front of a crowd for the casino he runs. I mean, really, why would that possibly bother an older brother?

This just. It got old really fast. No one else has to change. Just Luke. And the whole while everyone is singing the praises of his baby sister who is 22 about how talented and mature she is. Eh. No, she's really not. She's manipulative and bratty and spends 250 some pages sending her brother clues so he can find her only to have set him up to be embarrassed (usually by some sort of water prank like a bucket over water balanced on a door frame or someone throwing water balloons at him). It was immature and while meant to be funny just didn't work for me.

The romance either for that matter. It fell flat for me and just lacked that...spark. Even the sex scenes left a lot to be desired. For the most part they fell into a chuckle and cringe category for me. Food gets involved but instead of being sexy it's just... incredibly unappealing and rather gross. Topping it off the L word was thrown around within days and from the start a huge emphasis was put on the fact that they were going bareback. Fine. Wolf and all that so clean and no chance of pregnancy but it was just over and over how AMAZING it was and how AWFUL condoms were. Which, again, fine. But it rubbed me wrong and near came across as a anti-condom campaign and while I know it's fiction I can't get behind that.

So in the end, while I expected to love this one--and really wanted to--it really didn't work for me in any department other than the hero and the locale of Las Vegas which was neat to see explored. Will I try more of the series? No, probably not. While they obviously work for others I just don't think Thompson's style or humor are for me unfortunately.

Have you read Thompson?

Is there one you'd recommend if I give her another try?
Have you ever had this happen? Totally expect to love something and it falls flat or the exact opposite and think you won't enjoy it but turn out loving it?

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