Review: How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf, by Molly Harper

• Title:  How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf
• Author:  Molly Harper
• Series:  Naked Werewolf #1
• Genre:  Adult, Paranormal Romance
• Category:  Weres
• Website:  www.mollyharper.com
• Purchase:  Amazon, BetterWorldBooks.com

Summary:  Mo Wenstein has had enough of her hippy parents and their constant interference in her life.  Given courage by the thought of being as far away from them as possible, she moves from Mississippi to Alaska without telling them where she is going.

Alaska proves to be a good fit for Mo.  She makes new friends and finds a job quickly.  She even meets a nice young police officer, named Alan, who is instantly smitten with her.  However, Mo’s attention is constantly drawn to Cooper – the only man in Grundy who seems determined to make her feel unwanted.

Cooper may treat her with hostility much of the time, but Mo begins to see some similarities between him and the giant wolf who has saved her life and continues to watch over her.  Her suspicions that Cooper is a werewolf are eventually proven true.  In spite of the tension between them, they eventually fall in love.

Unfortunately, this love story is complicated by several area murders and attacks.  People are being killed by a rogue wolf, and no one has been able to catch the animal.  Cooper doesn’t remember his actions while he is in wolf form, so he considers himself a suspect in the attacks.  Is Cooper a killer?  And if it isn’t Cooper, then who is responsible?

Review:  This book started out as a cute story with plenty of witty comic relief.  I enjoyed Mo’s character, as well as her frequent stories about her crazy parents.  Those stories about her childhood were the best parts of the book.  I was a little less enthralled with the male characters in the book, and that was mostly due to the fact that we don’t know much about them.  I never felt much of a connection to Cooper, nor did I understand Mo’s connection to him.

As far as the storyline, I thought it felt very familiar.  It had an extraordinary number of parallels to The Twilight Saga.  If you ever wondered what Bella Swan’s life would have been like if she had only met Jacob and the wolf pack when she moved to Forks (no vamps), then this would be that alternate universe.  Here are some examples of the similarities between the books: the main character being more adult than her mother, moving North into the wilderness, cooking every day, falling for someone who acted like he hated her at first, suspicious animal attacks, not choosing the “easy” relationship when given the choice, being left behind by the man she loves because he is trying to save her life, Cooper being the true alpha of his pack even though he is not taking on the responsibility, and there is even a half-breed baby involved at the end. 

The further I read into this book, the less I enjoyed it.  As soon as I started recognizing the parallels between this story and Twilight, this book became predictable and much less engaging.  I found myself thinking “that was just like Jacob Black” or “that happened in New Moon“, etc.  I should have been focusing on the characters in THIS book, but instead I was thinking about characters from a different series.  That shouldn’t happen.

Harper does a great job writing witty, sarcastic dialog and funny situations.  She clearly has talent in that regard.  If her story elements had been more unique, I would have given this book a higher rating.  I’m willing to give this author another chance because she does have strengths.  Hopefully this was an anomaly.