Review: Looking for humor in the same vein as Darynda Jones or Molly Harper then pick this book up.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 25, 2014
New authors are given two things simultaneously when I read their work.  Firstly the opportunity to stumble or lose track of a world.  And more often than not this pass is readily applied to a first book.  The second and harder to achieve is the chance to just blow me away.  Well, Ms. Sparrow blew me away with this book.There is something truly charming, witty and knee slapping hilarious when a shifter is allergic to EVERYTHING!  Every time I thought I couldn't be more amused I was hit with another allergy that could not only take a wolf down but could kill it.  And the first thing is the cat.  I mean a house cat, not a tiger shifter or a cougar shifter but a run of the mill stay at home cat.  I was in stitches and literally had to put my Kindle down because I was laughing so hard I was crying.  And yes, I know how dangerous allergies are I have a weird one myself that causes me to get migraines.  Not to mention a parent that can go into anaphylaxis by just smelling cooking onions.  So I get the serious nature but this was handled in such a way that made it humorous and true delight to read rather than the horror of watching a loved one struggle for breathe because of onions being cooked on an open grill.But back to the story, the story was well told.  There was a true mystery that was solved.  And to be perfectly honest, I had no idea who did it until the great reveal.  So well played Ms. Sparrow.  But then again it might also be partly due to the fact that the other portions of the book were so engrossing I was not trying to figure out the "Whodunit" so much as being swept away by the story.Now our poor allergic heroine, Vanessa first meeting Dane Hansen, the new park ranger, after being attacked by a house cat and the cat winning.  I love the fact that when Vanessa finally comes to in human form she mutters, "Oh, hell no," after seeing the cat in the same room with her.  I'm still chuckling about that because I too am a cat magnet and I'm violently allergic to them as well.  The fact that she not only evaluates the situation, grabs medication to calm the attack down and crashes is something I can completely not only say is true but I've experienced it myself.  So for realism it is spot on.  Well done, Ms. Sparrow.Now our poor confused and curious hero, Dane, knows he caged a wolf and yet she never admits that this is the case.  However he acts as a gentleman removes the cat, finds medication for Vanessa and a clean room where she can crash to sleep the whole event away.However the stick in the situation is that Vanessa is "in heat" and not only does it impact Vanessa but Dane is also drawn to her as well.  And she wakes to not only finding her mate but discovering it is the man that rescued her the night before eg Dane.She should really open her eyes.This was momentous.She'd found her mate.Open your eyes, Vanessa.She opend her eyes and tipped her head back, and the memory of the cat and the cage and the man-sweet heaven on two legs-all rushed back in an awful, grim reel of a "he's a human" horror flick.  Dane.  The guy she'd been planning to convince that he was crazy today.  The guy with that cat."Oh, hell no."How can you not love an introduction that has everything wrong with it.  This is another reason this book just worked for me.  I just loved this sense of playfulness and willingness to say what we would be thinking if we were in that situation.  So thank you, Ms. Sparrow for keeping it real but Hilarious!But what you really want to know is what about Vanessa and Dane together.  Best word to describe these two is Flammable.  Neither of them want to give into the attraction or mating but they continue to pull towards each other through out the book.  It was a true delight and joy to watch these two dance around each other and the obstacles that they had to overcome in order to sort out the mystery and find the killer.Final Thoughts:  If you enjoy a great sense of humor and are looking for something in the same vein as Darynda Jones or Molly Harper books then I would say that this book will fit the bill.  And both of these authors are some of my personal favorites.  Ms. Sparrow has huge shoes to fill when it comes to writing another book in this series but I'm hopeful that will she be able to make another couple as interesting and unique as Dane and Vanessa.  This book is joining my Must Reads of 2014 list because it is a work that deserves to be seen by as many romance fans as possible.  Well done, Ms. Sparrow.  I greatly anticipate book 2.Entangled Publishing Ignite provided me with a gifted copy of Past My Defenses but nothing else was exchanged for my honest review.