cover image Smolder

Smolder

Melina Morel. Signet Book, $6.99 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-451-22880-2

Skilled werewolf hunters, vicious werewolves, friendly vampires, stealthy werecats, and morally ambiguous clones fill the world of this lackluster paranormal romance. For French Countess Catherine Marais, hunting werewolves isn't just a job-it's her inherited duty. But the family vocation doesn't arouse as much passion in her as vampire Ian Morgan. When Catherine is identified by werewolves across France, Ian arrives to help her on the hunt, determined to keep her from harm and hoping that she will join him in vampiric eternity. Catherine isn't sure she's ready for eternal night-and is also reconsidering whether the family profession is actually what she wants from life. While the plot seems to revolve around the werewolves' hunt for Catherine, she never seems challenged by them; Catherine and her team are so efficient that they rarely seem in danger. Despite the European setting, these hunters and vampires are utterly forgettable.