Title: ⟫ A Hellhound Called Derek
Author: ⟫ Michelle Frost
Rating: ⟫ 3/5
Blurb: ⟫
Touch his mate and you’ll wish for the fires of hell.
Alpha of the Hellhound enforcers, Derek doesn’t think he has time for a mate until the Paranormal Council of the city gives him one.
Hollis is smart, funny, vulnerable…human, and his police commissioner uncle has designs to use Hollis’s new mating for his own ends.
He’ll learn quickly not to mess with a hellhound’s mate.
Review: ⟫ Okay, I can’t imagine that I’ll be the only person who jumps on this book simply because the title sounds entertaining, right? This is quite obviously setting up a new series and for me, that kinda ruins it. The romance between Derek and Hollis felt a bit perfunctory to the story – it was very sweet, and despite being a sort of insta-love thing, they took things relatively slowly. It felt for me like what was going on between them was in the background – instead, we learned about other characters who were being set up for the future, the politics behind the whole arranged marriage thing, and that was pretty much it.
Derek was an absolute sweetheart up until he wasn’t, when he went all grr argh to save his mate which was nice. And Hollis was written as a sweet, lacking in self-esteem, and in need of someone to bolster his confidence to make him realise what he was capable. Ultimately, I felt like I was being set up for the stories of the other candidates more than anything and I was a bit disappointed.
I was looking forward to any of the Hellhound lore and reveal which was set up to be a huge thing, but again, that was rather disappointing. Saying that, I will keep an eye out for more in the series because it was set up very well and the writing was confident and assured. Overall, I wish there had been more concentration on this story rather than setting up the next.
