Cold Hearted

Tooth & Claw, Book 1

By: Heather Guerre

Narrated by: Natalie Duke

A woman on the run . . .

Grace came to Longtooth, Alaska, looking for a safe place to hide. All she wanted was to keep her head down, do her job, and enjoy the peace and quiet. But there's no peace to be found once she meets Longtooth's cantankerous bush pilot. Caleb Kinoyit is surly and rude and mean. He's also, unfortunately, the most attractive man Grace has ever met. And as the long, Alaskan winter nights stretch on, she finds herself warming to his rough charm just as much as she's falling for the beauty of her new home.

A town with a secret . . .

There's something different about Longtooth—something the locals won't talk about with outsiders. And Grace is definitely an outsider. But when her dangerous past finally tracks her down, Longtooth can't keep its secrets from her any longer, and the revelation upends the world as she knows it. The only truth she can be sure of are her feelings for Caleb. But will that be enough to save her, or will she have to sacrifice herself to save the ones she loves?

Contains mature themes.

©2020 Heather Guerre (P)2024 Tantor Media

Boring and not well written

I didn’t think the story was particularly well written. The narration was awful. The main male character sounded like a 12-year-old boy.

Angst and slow burn masterclass

This is a quiet, gorgeous story. The FMC’s angst felt genuine and based in reality (and if you’ve ever struggled with loneliness/belonging, you’ll get it). Her hyper-independence reflected her past and anxieties, and didn’t feel like a trope. The sense of community emulated through the characters was gorgeous. By the end of it I was jealous that I couldn’t live there too.

The spice is very fun but remember– slow burn! 4/5 🌶️ rating, as it is open door/explicit but not plentiful.

One of my favorite shifter romances!

I loved this book (this whole series really)! The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is I felt that the hero didn’t grovel enough and how he initially treated the heroine and his assumptions of her were not really addressed. Overall a great read, I really enjoyed the story and can’t wait for the rest of the series to come out!

Engaging storyline

I enjoenjoyed the storyline but wished that theremhad been more 🌶 and that it picked up earlier in the timeline but otherwise enjoyed!

More 'northern exposure' than romantic

This book is good. It's a sturdy story with a little bit of mystery/suspense. There are plenty of weird townspeople. Copious descriptions of snow. Good characterizations. Plus a stalker sub plot. The writing style honestly felt more like the required reading I did in school, than romance.

Plot: The h (Grace) doesn't know about the existence of wolf shifters when she basically moves right into a pack in Longtooth, Alaska 😁. She just wants a complete life change. And since the whole town keeps their supernatural secret for the bulk of the book, this isn't about shifters per se. Wolf and pack behaviour are on the periphery of the story until almost the end. There also isn't any pack hierarchy in this book so forget about Alphas, Betas and Omegas, everyone just lives in a normal human style. The h eventually falls for the local town pilot/secret wolf, H (Caleb).

Grace was really good at being both normal and depressing (never exceptional or happy). Sometimes I wanted to slap her. Because honestly, that refrain about how 'cold' she felt inside (emotionally/mystically) got old quick. Her adversarial relationship with Caleb was interesting. Until I wanted to slap him too for being so mean. His meanness wasn't vicious, it actually started off amusing because it was totally baseless: "let's hate the local stranger". But once they got to know each other, some of his bitchiness felt ott. In the end their conflicted feelings went on too long, and it made their chemistry a bit meh. I prefer couples with searing passion, obsession, and protectiveness above all. This book was not that.

Also, great descriptive writing, but I wish we'd gotten more Norwegian style hygge, you know, cozy homes, warm decor, soft clothing and nesting, to contrast the frigid Alaskan weather and the ever icy heroine.

It was okay.

I could not stand how the narrator Natalie made Caleb (actual all the male roles) sound like he had smoked a carton of smokes. There were times when I would just giggle because Caleb’s voice sounded so ridiculous. The story was okay it held my attention somewhat but I will admit while listening to it I was looking for my next book.