Title: Check Mate
Subtitle: Wolf Sisters Series, Book 1
Author: Margy Millet
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 9781532018510
Pages: 172
Genre: Fiction / Erotica
Reviewed by: Dave Bishop
Pacific Book Review
There is a very good chance this book will be unlike any you may have read before. It’s a bit of a crime story, definitely a fantasy, certainly an adventure tale, plus it’s absolutely an erotic romance. Somehow all of these genres come together entertainingly in a tight package the author promises to continue in subsequent tales.
This initial volume introduces readers to three half-sisters. They run their own private investigations organization after having spent time in the military. The three focus their efforts on helping battered and abused women. The youngest is Pilar, who divides her time between their P I operation and the Miami Police Department where she serves as a DEA officer. Pilar and her sisters, aside from being extremely tough, combat-trained, lethal ladies, also happen to be shape-shifting werewolves. Fiercely independent and totally self-reliant, the sisters’ lifestyle is in for a rather dramatic change when Pilar meets Alton, a male shape-shifting werewolf who is convinced that Pilar is his one, true mate. When the sisters get involved in the kidnapping of one of Pilar’s old crushes, Alton insists on inserting himself into the case. All sorts of slam-bang action quickly follows.
Pilar winds up going under cover as a prostitute to rescue the kidnap victim. Alton and the sisters follow her to the bad guys’ lair and as you might expect, all hell breaks loose. What you might not expect is Pilar and Alton’s inability to keep their inner wolves’ lusty instincts at bay. Amid a multitude of gun battles, knife fights, plus murder and mayhem galore, passionate sexual couplings flourish. On the run for their very lives, their mutual animal magnetism actually increases in intensity.
There is more at play here than the typical flash and fury of adventure yarns. Author Margy Millet is also exploring the conflicting emotions of her major players. Alton’s primeval need to mate and be an integral part of a true pack is juxtaposed against Pilar’s hard-won independence and need to sustain her individuality. Each has emotional ties and personal needs which constantly conflict with their inescapable physical and sexual attraction to one another.
Millet is a skilled storyteller who maintains a rapid pace throughout. Her narrative unfolds sequentially except for a prologue which helps set the stage. Her dialogue has the ring of real conversation and her prose certainly pulls no punches when detailing violent death or fervent lovemaking—both human and animal. If you like your novels fast, furious, and full of drama, action, and sex, you should consider checking out Check Mate.
