Review: Silver Kiss by Naomi Clark

Title: Silver Kiss
Author: Naomi Clark
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: 03/01/10
Summary:

Ayla Hammond has come home.

After years as a lone wolf in a self-imposed exile she's rejoining the pack and trying to mend fences with her parents. She's convinced them to accept her girlfriend, but can a lone wolf change her ways?

As if homecoming wasn't hard enough, Ayla also can't help getting involved in a missing person case. With pressure to solve the case mounting from the pack alphas, Ayla is starting to question where her loyalties lie -- and if a return to the pack she left behind is really what she wants.

Plot: 4 Stars
It's been a while since I read a book with just werewolves, and it was definitely refreshing. The author takes a new approach to werewolf packs and their alphas that I really liked. I also liked the central conflict within the novel. The way the new drug on the streets, Silver Kiss, was used to bring forth the conflict was very interesting. Not many Urban Fantasy novels bring something as dark as drugs to the center, and it was a very realistic problem.

Pace: 3.5 Stars
The beginning of the novel started out a bit slow and took a couple chapters to reel me in, but once it did I was hooked. It was a bit shorter than most books I read, but it didn't feel rushed; it felt like it was the exact length it needed to be in order for the events to play out.

Characters: 4.5 Stars
As a bisexual lover of Urban Fantasy, I loved that the GLBT characters were front and center in this book. Normally, if you get a GLBT characters in this genre, they're off to the side, so this was a fresh and welcome change. I also loved the way the author portrayed the relationship between Ayla and Shannon. You could tell they had chemistry and really loved one another, without being completely consumed by one another. And I'm pretty sure this is the only UF book I've come across with a drag queen!

Cover: 3.5 Stars
I really liked the abstract feel of this cover. It was abstract enough that I could picture the main character in my head without the cover interfering, but not too abstract to not get the werewolf message across. I could definitely see myself grabbing a book with a cover like this from the shelf. The hazy, gray feel also lends itself to a major plot element, and I like when covers are specific to the book.

Overall: 4 Stars

Disclosure: I received my eARC from the publisher, Queered Fiction.