Hot, Hard & Howling by Mari Freeman

Nell has seen a lot of things: Vamp nest in Paris, Demon realms beyond Earth, Egyptian rituals at midnight… But a human attacking her in her shower is a first even for her. Defending her self leads to his death, and may get her in trouble. Enter her old friend and crush Trent, and you have the start of Hot, Hard & Howling.

Nell Ambercroft hasn’t done anything wrong. Lately. So why is someone trying to kill her? When a horde of moths lead her to a puzzle box in her basement, the Demon Hafling knows she’s found a clue. The box has some serious mojo working, powerful enough to kill for…and Nell’s at the top of the hit list.
Enter Werewolf Trent Nicholas. As Prime for the area, it’s Trent’s job to protect Nell and investigate the crime. Nell knows he’d rather investigate her body, which is fine by her; she’s loved the man for years. While the sex is sizzling, Trent continues to go cold every time he leaves the warmth of her body.
Trent’s always wanted the spunky half-Demon, but the men in his family have a nasty habit of murdering their mates. He refuses to give in to his wolf’s need to claim Nell. If he doesn’t, she might not have to worry about a killer on the loose. She could die by Trent’s hand first…

Trent Nicholas grew up with the knowledge that the men in his family were killers. Might be expected of werewolves, but even Alphas don’t kill their own mates. Except in his family, the men can’t control their jealousies (justified or imagined) and end up killing the women, their mates. He knew his grandfather did, and his own father ended up does so as well when he was seven. And no one would let him forget it, not that he ever would have.

Growing up with Nell didn’t help. His wolf wanted her for his mate as soon as he was old enough to know what girls were good for. But he refuses to repeat the mistakes of his father’s/family. He has been pushing Nell away since high school and fighting his attraction to her just as long. But that doesn’t stop him from loving her, checking up on her, or being jealous of everything and everyone in her life. Now that she is back after eight years of seeing the world, he doesn’t know how he is going to stay away from her.

Nell Ambercroft has returned home after spending the last eight years traveling the world. She is happy to return to the small cabin in the woods she inherited from her father last year. Everyone thinks she has been on a grand adventure because she is the wild sister of the half-demon family. In reality, she left after Trent’s last rejection of her hurt too much. She has always been drawn to him, attracted to him, and couldn’t help falling in love with him. As they grew up, she thought he felt the same pull toward her. That’s way she never understood him pushing her away.

Now, she has been attacked in her own shower and killed the human in self-defense. All harm to humans must be reported, to help keep the paranormal community a secret. Trent is the Prime (their version of a cop) for the area and shows up to deal with the situation. They discover that Nell has been targeted for some reason, but no one knows why.

Now they have a whole bunch of problems…Someone is out to get Nell, but they don’t know who or why. Trent is still fighting his attraction to Nell and is worried that he might hurt her in his Alpha jealousy over her. Nell just wants Trent (for herself) and doesn’t understand why he fights what is between them. When Nell finds the puzzle box in the basement, things get even more complicated.

Hot, Hard & Howling is listed as paranormal: werewolf, demon (Halfling), and voodoo as well. But this has a major mystery going on, with danger and suspense adding that nervous excitement to keep us on edge. And the mystery is half explained along the was and I felt like I was solving it along side the character, but it was not dragged out or given away too soon. Mari Freeman managed to find that delicate balance to keep me interested, let things be discovered, yet kept me from guessing stuff too soon. Very impressive.

Hot, Hard & Howling has a whole slue of unique characters. Nell and Trent are somewhat typical, though. Nell is a feisty, strong (half-demon) woman. When major-ly rejected, she went off and saw the world in stead of sitting at home crying about it. Now, she even admits to hoping that Trent would get over his issues while she was gone so they could be together when she got back. But I love the fact that she didn’t waste the in between years. And Trent is a typical wounded/tortured man. Haunted by his family history, holding himself away from the one he loves to keep from hurting her. I did get irritated by this after him all but whining about it over and over. But he is very good about protecting her from anyone else trying to hurt her. So have to give him credit there, he doesn’t hold back too much (where it would hurt her). But the support characters are great. Nell’s grandmother and sisters are funny and even a pain for her at times all while trying to ‘help’ her. And obviously Nell’s “demon” is not from Hell, because she is able to make friends anywhere she goes, with people even wanting to help her.

As I said, Hot, Hard & Howling is so much more than just a paranormal story. Adventure, danger, suspense, and an intriguing mystery make this great entertainment and one wonders why everything gets put under romance now-a-days. If you are looking for an escape, Hot, Hard & Howling is a great break from the real world.