Quote-Tastic & Review: In the Company of Wolves by Paige Tyler

Series: SWAT #3
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: December 1, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series |  NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge |  What An Animal |
Buying Links: Amazon* | Are* | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Book Depository* | Chapters | iBooks* |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

He opened his mouth to order her to drop the MP5 she had aimed at him, but nothing would come out. It was like she’d robbed him of the ability to speak. Shooting her wasn’t an option, though. And the idea of arresting her didn’t make him feel any better.

There's a new gang of criminals in town who are organized and ruthless in the extreme. When Eric Becker, along with the rest of the Dallas SWAT team, ends up in the middle of a shootout, he immediately senses werewolves-a lot of them. Turns out, the new bad guys are a pack of wolf shifters.

In a spray of gunfire, Becker comes face-to-face with the most gorgeous woman he's ever seen. Becker does the logical thing. He hides her and leaves the scene with the rest of his team.

Jayna Winston has no idea why that SWAT guy helped her, but she's glad he did. Ever since she and her pack mates got mixed up with those Eastern European mobsters, everything had pretty much fallen apart.

So what's a street-savvy thief like Jayna going to do with a hot alpha-male wolf who's a police officer?

Bea's Thoughts:

This is my favorite story in the series so far. While not a great story, it kept me engaged, I cared about the characters, and the action was early non-stop.

One of my complaints about this series has been the slow world building. With each book, Tyler has stingily doled out information and finally, with this book, much of the fog is gone. The werewolves and their world are more fleshed out; while there's room to expand, it's no longer like looking through a muddy window to see what's happening. Tyler's take on werewolves is original and fresh, contrary to my thoughts about the previous books.

 Becker is young, cocky but level-headed, a newish werewolf, has an obsession for women in yoga pants, and a good SWAT officer if not as good at unercover work. Jayna is also young, has been a wold loner than Becker, intensely loyal and compassionate, and struggling to deal with pack politics.

The book opens with an intense scene leading up to Jayna's change and barely slows down. The SWAT team's opponents this time around are also werewolves, a pack that has moved into Dallas and is heavily involved in criminal activities. Liam, the pack leader, was a good guy who made poor choices and changed from a caring wolf to a greedy, violent wolf who no longer took care of his pack. The politics were fascinating and I enjoyed seeing the dynamics of a pack other than the SWAT team. The human villains were over the top at times but were grounded in reality and were good foils for the two packs of werewolves.

Becker and Jayna were good together and the most believable of the couples so far. Jayne was easily Becker's equal and in some respects outshone him and he had no problem with that whatsoever. He respected her, she respected him, and Tyler spared us stupid miscommunications and angst. The main conflict came from the fact that Jayna was working with criminals and Becker of course was police. Some of the SWAT team's actions, and Becker's, were unlikely but I was willing to suspend belief.

I still love the idea of a werewolf SWAT team and the series is getting better as it goes. This is definitely a series to read if you love strong werewolves who aren't alphaholes, sweet yet sexy romances, humor, and action. Also, I can't wait for Cooper to get a story. He's like, the Cupid of werewolves.

Excerpt and giveaway here.

My review of book 1, Hungry Like the Wolf
My review of book 2, Wolf Trouble

 

Join us every Monday and share a favorite quote that's grabbed you for one reason or another. Everyone's welcome to join in - authors, bloggers, readers. The more the merrier! Just grab the button and put up your post :) Don't have a blog? No worries, just leave your favorites in the comment section.  Quote-tastic is hosted by Herding Cats & Burning Soup.
 
Oh, I had trouble choosing quotes, there were so many good ones. Here are a few.

A male alpha werewolf who reads Cosmo? Yeah, that made me laugh.

"Oh yeah," Becker agreed. "If there was ever a woman made to wear yoga pants, it's her."
Cooper shook his head. "What is it with you and those damn yoga pants? I mean, she definitely looks good in them, but sometimes I think you have a psychological condition when it comes to your obsession with the things."   
"Maybe. But did you know that twenty percent of women can orgasm while doing yoga?"
"How the hell would I know that? More importantly, how the hell do you?"
"I read it in a Cosmo a while ago."
Cooper opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. Finally he just shook his head. "I'm not going to ask because I don't want to know."

Did I mention that Becker is cocky? :D

"Once I get a chance to talk with her face-to-face, I'll be able to convince her to leave her pack and run away with me."
Cooper looked dubious. "Has it ever occurred to you that this woman might not even find you attractive?"
"No."
Grinning, he punched his foot down, shifted the bike into first gear, and tore out of the warehouse parking lot.

And how can I resist a man, a werewolf no less, who's so conscientous about his pet fish? How can I resist a werewolf who even has pet fish? :D

"Almost forgot. Can you stop by and feed my fish every few days? And talk to them too. They get lonely when I'm not home."
Cooper made a face. "Who the hell talks to their fish?" (I did when I had fish! ~ Bea)
"Me. You'll feed them, right?"
"Yeah, I'll feed them. But I'm sure as hell not talking to them," Cooper said.