Sue Reviews: Prince of Wolves by Quinn Loftis

Title: Prince of Wolves Series: The Grey Wolves #1 Author: Quinn Loftis Publisher: Quinn Loftis Format: eBook, 256 pages Published: June 29, 2011 ASIN #: B005983WCQ Genre: Young Adult My Copy: Bewitching Book Tours Rating: Buy: Jaque Pierce was just an ordinary 17 year old girl getting ready to start her senior year in high school in Coldspring, Texas. When a mysterious foreign exchange student from Romania moves in across the street, Jacque and her two best friends, Sally and Jen, don’t realize the last two weeks of their summer was going to get a lot more interesting. From the moment Jacque sets eyes on Fane she feels an instant connection, a pull like a moth to a flame. Little does she know that the flame she is drawn to is actually a Canis lupis, werewolf, and she just happens to be his mate; the other half of his soul. The problem is Fane is not the only wolf in Coldspring, Texas. Just as Fane and Jacque are getting to know each other, another wolf steps out to try and claim Jacque as his mate. Fane will now have to fight for the right to complete the mating bond, something that is his right by birth but is being denied him by a crazed Alpha. Will the love Fane has for Jacque be enough to give him the strength to defeat his enemy, will Jacque accept that she is Fane’s mate and complete the bond between them?

This book synopsis and the pretty cover to Prince of Wolves (The Grey Wolves #1) had me intrigued. There isn’t much that hasn’t been done in terms of werewolf story lines, nonetheless, for me all it takes are some interesting characters to take a novel to another level. The first chapter in the book set the tone for what became a rather disappointing read.

I enjoy YA books. They usually have a teenaged girl that is wise beyond her years, if not at the beginning of the book then definitely by the end. I love deep and (sometimes) dark books, that allow a main character to manifest and reveal who they are going to become by the end of the journey. Prince of Wolves fell very short in this department for me.

I found the plotting to be erratic. The book dives right into the action. I do appreciate jumping into the story but this quick introduction to the main characters and then proclamation of soul mates and love, had me wondering what had just happened in the first few chapters. I don’t mind instant attraction but there have to be at least a couple of angst ridden scenes to back it up. There weren’t any of substance. The end has a quasi climactic scene but it came too late. I had already checked out of this story.

The pace was too slow at first. It was frustrating for me to read many of the same scenes twice only from different perspectives. Chapter one was written from Jacque’s point of view and then chapter two was written from Fane’s, just recounting what had happened in chapter two. This happened quite a few times. I understand what the author was trying to do but from a story telling stand point it wasn’t engrossing enough.The story was very predictable which often doesn’t matter if it’s told correctly. There was no build up to the relationship between these two. It just was, because that is what Alphas do, they find their Lunas and proclaim their mates and they fall in love. In the last quarter of the book, things happen so abruptly that I had to go back and reread to make sure I didn’t miss anything. The culmination between wolf packs for territory was rushed but did follow lupine lore.

Fane’s character, besides him speaking in Romanian and being uber formal in the way he addresses everyone, was a decent character. There was a bit (and I mean a tiny bit) of back story that intrigued me a tad. The author did a good job at describing him and the werewolf lore. It was consistent with no new twists. I didn’t mind that at all and there was enough of an explanation for a first time werewolf reader. Loftis provides family history including his feelings about Jacque which made sense to me and were believable. The problem lays in Jacque going along with everything so easily without any feelings of trepidation.

The biggest blunder for me, in this book was Jacque herself. She was not as multifaceted as I would have liked my main character to be. She was so sarcastic and annoying. She dished out so many snarky dog comments to Fane and it came off as disrespectful and too repetitive to be funny. I believe the banter between her and her friends was meant to be comedic, but instead it came off flat and stupid. I found myself skipping over some of it. It was silly, with so many colloquiums like “true dat”, “stink y’all” and “my bad” to name a few. Jacque and her friends sat around insulting each other and trying to beat each other to the punch line.The author tried too hard to make jokes out of everything. Unfortunately the many punch lines were filled with cliches, The girls had immature gushing rant sessions repeatedly throughout the book.There was an enormous amount of long drawn out dialogue between all of the characters. Because there is no depth or character development, the conversations felt very long winded and contrived.

I will not be reading the rest in the series, but I would recommend this to 13-16 year olds who want a light read and an introduction to a young teen urban fantasy type of book.

Books in this series:

Recommendation:	For Young Adults looking for a light read and an introduction to a young teen urban fantasy type of book.
Like this, like that:	The Seasons of the Moon series by S.M.Reine and the Claire de Lune series by Christine Johnson.

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