Mike’s Reviews > Laura's Wolf > Status Update

That might just be the biggest anti-climax I have ever read. You can't just resolve the conflict two thirds of the way in! I literally have no idea what the rest of this book is even going to be about, as far as I can tell, the story is 100% over.

God, the pacing in this novel is terrible. Character development should go along with the story - I'm not saying you should never have to choose between furthering the romance and advancing the plot, but it shouldn't be a zero sum game between the two.

I was planning on writing an update that said that this book was improving, that the romance was starting to mesh better with the plot, and that at least Brown can write decent characters. But then the plot came to a dead stop for another extended sex scene, and we're right back where we started. This book just doesn't know what it wants to be.

I didn't realize this book would be erotic. I mean, that sex scene did sort of serve a purpose, but it went on long after the point had been made. So now this book has three conflicting genres: problem novel about PTSD, supernatural werewolf story, and erotic romance. Oh, joy.

I do like the idea of a romance between two people with PTSD alongside a werewolf story, but the two elements detract from each other. The werewolf story makes the romance rushed and awkward, and the romance makes the werewolf story badly-paced and bland.

This isn't insta-love exactly, but it's still weird that Roy and Laura are telling each other deep, personal things without even much small talk first. Maybe this would come off better if the dialogue wasn't terrible, but it's all forced and unbelievable.

I'm trying to put my finger on why this book feels kinda amateurish, and the only thing I can think of is that Brown (Lia Silver is a pseudonym) doesn't have a great sense of how to construct scenes. The scenes don't feel defined enough - they flow into each other without proper resolution, in an awkward mix of action and narrative summary. It's like a chapter-long run-on sentence.