Wolf Gone Wild
- Mar 22
- 4 min read
Stay a Spell, Book One
by Juliette Cross
What's the worst thing that can happen to a werewolf? Unable to shift for three months, Mateo Cruz knows all too well. His wolf has taken up residence in his head, taunting him night and day with vividly violent and carnal thoughts. Convinced he's cursed, he needs the help of a powerful witch before he literally goes insane. Evie Savoie has always obeyed the house rules of her coven — no werewolves. They're known for being moody and volatile. So, when a distempered, dangerous werewolf strolls into the bar and almost strangles one of her late-night customers, she's ready to bounce him through the door. But the desperation in his eyes when he begs her to help him softens her heart and convinces her to bend the rules. What Evie doesn't know is that Mateo's wolf has a mind of his own. And now that she's in his sights, he wants only one thing. Her.
Nothing says chaos like a cursed werewolf, a witch trying to break the spell, and an inner wolf with absolutely no filter.
Werewolf Mateo has been hexed. He can no longer shift, and his wolf — “Alpha” — is driving him crazy. In order to lift the curse and get back to normal, he seeks help from witch Evie and her sisters.
I enjoyed the story — a fun and well-thought-out paranormal romance.
One highlight was Mateo and Alpha’s inner dialogue, which was very funny — though often a bit over the top.
To start with the end, I did find the climax a bit… not disappointing exactly, just a little… boring? Predictable. To me, there was never really anyone else who could have been the bad guy. It had to be someone in Mateo’s circle, so no one we met through Evie. Obviously not his cousin, and his assistant was halfway in love with him… who else was there?
I also struggled a bit with Evie’s characterization. She had some confidence issues — très relatable — but they were initially explained to us as being about her art and comics — then apparently also about her magic / witch skills, though they said several times that she’d never failed to break a hex before her first attempt with Mateo.
I kind of wish Cross hadn’t done that. We’ve seen no reason Evie would have insecurities other than about her art, which is explained with a sucky ex. Besides that, she seems really comfortable in herself. I do think it’s perfectly normal to be confident in some abilities but not in others. It just didn’t mesh with the character that was built up from the start.
I would have liked the book to address the aging/immortality aspect a bit more. Mateo is said to be 100+ years old, and Evie about 40, I think (though both 20/30-something looking, of course). Yet they both came off equally modern, though Mateo wasn’t as attuned to modern pop culture as Evie. I don’t mind that in itself, but if a hundred-year-old isn’t a bit more formal, or “backwards thinking” in certain aspects, I’d like it to be addressed somehow. Even just a throwaway “because immortals adapt easily” or a “he wasn’t as stuffy as expected” or “isolation from human civilization” — or something.
To compare with my fav. paranormals, IAD, all of the males, start out some shade of misogynistic asshole until taught better by their partners — and even then they often struggle to let go of centuries (or millennia) of worldview. It’s just to be expected from someone who grew up in that kind of time and environment — and then had centuries for those attitudes to settle in.
Speaking of growing up, they did mention a bit about his parents and their relationships — but no real mention of how he grew up, or where (I think) — just that he’s lost control and attacked his father, and therefore left when he was eighteen. But I can recall no other details about the 100+ years before he came to live in New Orleans.
I mean, why would you make a character that old without a story to tell? Especially since it, as mentioned, didn’t even affect his personality. He could just as well have been 30. It just annoys me when there’s no thought behind a detail like that. Are we just riding the immortal hype train?
The audiobook narrators were good overall, though it was a bit jarring that the male and female narrators still voiced their characters in the other person’s POV. That’s very unusual to me, and I reacted every time, I think. All other characters were voiced by the current POV-holder, just the mains were inserted this way.
This was obviously a series set-up, even if I hadn’t known beforehand that this was “book one”. Several other couplings were introduced. My guess is a book per sister? Of course, all of them were single.
I’m not sure if I’ll continue the series — but at least not for now. None of the sisters really called to me, and while the vampire seemed the most interesting, the vibes weren’t strong enough motivation.
All in all: a fun read, but nothing remarkable.
PS: A total nerdfest — comics and movie references galore.
⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️.5
~🖤~ FAVOURITE QUOTE ~🖤~ |
“No one can tell you your artwork is worthless but you. And no one can tell you it has value but you.” |
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