Wolf Trouble by Paige Tyler 

Wolf TroubleNarrated by Abby Craden

HalloweenIf you’re looking for a cross between a tough, alpha law enforcement type of romance and a wolf shifter novel, then Wolf Trouble (SWAT: Special Wolf Alpha Team #2) is sure to hit the right spot. The action in this fast-paced SWAT team based book reminded me a lot of some well liked romantic suspense series, like Laura Kaye’s Hard Ink series, while the focus on the enhancements and the particular life-changing effects of learning and coping with being a shifter reminded me of one of my favorite PNR series, the Seven series by Dannika Dark. Moreover, the timing couldn’t be better to read a PNR with Halloween just around the corner! However, don’t fret if you aren’t into overly scary listens, as Wolf Trouble is relatively light in the fear factor quotient and is instead much more focused on the suspense, action and unique romantic imprinting capabilities of wolf shifters.

I was also pleasantly surprised to find, that unlike many other PNR Series, Wolf Trouble can be read as a stand-alone. Not only was the romance between the hero and heroine fully contained within this book, but even the action/suspense was completely explained and resolved. From a world-building perspective, while I got the impression that some of the characters and the special capabilities of the wolf shifters had been explained in book 1 (Hungry Like the Wolf), I had no difficulty understanding this aspect of the listen either.

Strange things are happening to officer Khaki Blake. Caught in the middle of a gunfire battle, she was able to summon superhuman strength and agility and not only save herself, but also save others. Then, although she lives many states away, she gets recruited to join the Dallas SWAT team even though she has no special SWAT training. Strangest of all, her new boss, Senior Corporal Xander Riggs, who clearly must hate her given the way he acts around her, smells irresistibly good and she feels an unnatural attraction to him.

The Dallas SWAT team is in serious need of diversity as all of its members are male. When the team gets a directive to add a female or else one will be picked for them, their supernatural secret becomes seriously in jeopardy of being made public. So the team does the only thing they can and embraces hiring a female, provided they get to pick who she is. Given all the members of this SWAT team are werewolf shifters, and their superiors don’t even know werewolves exist, they search far and wide for women involved in law enforcement whose heroic rescues provide clues as to their paranormal real identity. That is how they find and recruit Khaki Blake to their team.

Senior Corporal Xander Riggs can’t understand his strangely protective feelings towards Khaki Blake, the newest member of his SWAT team. Even worse, her proximity is driving him crazy. Not wanting to get charged with sexual harassment, he is trying his best to keep his distance. But when she comes to him with a special request to help her learn how to fully shift for the first time, it only serves to unleash what has undeniably been building between them. However, the SWAT has a strict policy against on-the-job relationships. Forced to choose between the career he loves, and potentially “the one”, what will Riggs decide he can’t live without?

Abby Craden has become one of my favorite romantic suspense narrators. With her naturally husky voice, Ms. Craden always seems to lend an extra sense of sex appeal to the romances she narrates. Additionally, I’ve found that you can count on Ms. Craden to deliver equally genuinely believable male and female voices, a trait that I highly value in audiobook narrations as it is relatively rare for even some of the best narrators.

Ms. Craden’s rendition of Wolf Trouble was everything I was expecting. I was easily able to distinguish Khaki’s narratives from Xander’s and her delivery helped bring the whole story to life. From the fast-paced action scenes to the slower-paced revelation scenes where Khaki begins to learn what it means to be a shifter and how she can put her superhuman abilities to use in order to save others, Ms. Craden’s enactments were right on.

Perhaps what I liked the best about Ms. Craden’s narration was her portrayal of the tough-as-nails Khaki, whom her natural voice easily portrayed. The voice that Ms. Craden picked for Xander also matched his personality well. The only thing I had a little trouble with in this audiobook was distinguishing the numerous other male members of the SWAT team. However, this was a relatively minor part of the entire book, so it really didn’t detract much, if at all, from the performance.

All in all, if you are looking for an action-packed, slightly spooky/supernatural Halloween listen, with a romantic arc, then Wolf Trouble is a good pick.

BJ


Narration: B

Book Content: B

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence Rating: Fighting

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Wolf Trouble was provided to AudioGals by Tantor Audio for a review.

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