The Heat

Big Bad Wolf Series, Book 1

By: Heather Killough-Walden

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

In the debut to Heather Killough-Walden's Big Bad Wolf series, Lily St. Claire is in for a surprise when she moves back to her Louisiana hometown and finds two alpha werewolves fighting to claim her as their mate. Contains mature themes.

©2010 Heather Killough-Walden, Inc. (P)2011 Tantor

I Would Like to Thank That Reviewer!!!!

While browsing through books I came across the review written by another listener and I'm sorry to say I do not remember who it was. But she mentioned this series in the review that she had written for another book and am I glad she did!!! I wasn't to interested in the original book, but I decided to check out this series and again I have to thank you for mentioning it. This is the story of Lily St. James a dormant and Daniel (who happens to be the police chief of New Orleans) a werewolf. This is the first time I have heard of the term "dormant" in relationship to werewolves, a term that means more then just mate. Lily is caught between 2 powerful alpha werewolves, Daniel and Cole. As the story moves along, you come to find out Cole is not the sinister werewolf that he seems to be despite what he does to Lily.

Ms. Walden writes a fast paced book with may twist and turns and Gildart Jackson does a great job of narrating all though he could use a little work on his female voices.

Lots of Heat, Very Little Fire

I didn't hate this book. It was an ok read, but the story itself was lacking in several areas. While there is plenty of sexual tension (and I mean plenty) between our heroine and no fewer than 3 different men, and while this sexual tension is described in explicit detail, there's very little actual sex in this book, even between the hero and heroine. Also, there seems to be MORE sexual tension between the heroine and the first "villain" than there is between her and the hero. Indeed, it seems most of the first half of the book is dedicated to this guy. The heroine herself, well, she was a bit too pretty, too nice, too caring, too perfect for my taste. Then, in the epilogue, the author makes a feeble and unsuccessful attempt to make Lily look tougher, but the attempt fell flat. By that time, you're a bit over the girl.

Aside from all that, the book just didn't seem paced right. Because of the way the book was set up, it seemed I barely got to know the hero.

I will give one warning. Some of the situations in the book border closely on rape. If those sort of situations are upsetting to you, I wouldn't get this book.

On the other hand, I thought the narrator did a fine job with his southern accents, and I loved his clipped British accent when he was reading the narration. This contrast seemed to help me to better keep track of conversation.

The world and the premise behind the book aren't bad either, and I will read at least one more book in this series because I'm hoping with a different heroine and more exposure to reoccurring characters, things will smooth out.

Expected better...ugh

Narrator ruined audio. Cringed through female dialogue. Heroine new level of dumb. Hope better

Bad Narrator

What made the experience of listening to The Heat the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed the story but had a hard time getting used to the narrator. He has an accent to begin with and couldn't really do a decent cajun accent. I found his narration very distracting. For this reason, I doubt I will purchase the second book in the series.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Heat?

The story was actually enjoyable but the narration took away from the story. I cannot remember a memorable moment in story.

What aspect of Gildart Jackson’s performance would you have changed?

I would have changed to another narrator. His narration ruined the story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I wouldn't make this book into a film.

"CLIFHANGER"!!!! "Can't get enough"!!!!

Can I just say Wow! What an amazing book. The way Heather tells this story. I was on my tippy toes and clutching my hands tight. And the way Gildart Jackson reads! I felt as if I was right there in there room with the characters. As soon as the book ended, I purchased the next 3 books in the series. The heroin Lilly, well lets just say every girl next door wants to be in her shoes.

book 1

tough to finish this storyline. I will give next book a chance to speak to me.

Didn’t like Lily

The book wasn’t bad, but the longer I listened, the less I liked Lily. She’s just too perfect, perfectly nice, perfectly beautiful, perfectly kind and, well, everyone (!) thinks so (I think there were even 2 characters that thought the exact same thing about her, don’t remember what it was, but something along the lines of “she’s the nicest person I’ve ever met”). That’s a Mary Sue right there. Not my type of female lead.

The romance is... meh. It’s a lot more show than tell, imo. And we’re supposed to emphasize with the villain, but he does want to force her to be his just so he feels better; the hero also forces his mark on her without explaining- apparently there’s no time, but hey, you could’ve taken at least 5 minutes to explain the basics, like the serious drawbacks of being freshly marked. Or his sister could have, she did have time.

All in all, it wasn’t for me and I didn’t even finish it. But (!) if you like the possessive male lead archetype and you like the female not having much of a say (in the end she does have a say, she does not get forced! But if she didn’t want to be with him, her choices wouldn’t exactly be great), then you might very well like this book.

The narration was fine, but maybe try to get someone from Louisiana to read a book set in Louisiana next time. He just didn’t get the accent right (which is difficult, let’s be honest here). It might not have been so distracting if the characters with a southern accent had only been minor characters, but since almost everyone is from there, it was a bit jarring. Wouldn’t mind listening to his narration again though, if the setting was right (British).

The author really gets you involved.

I realy enjoyed it. It's my faverate type of novel, it hooks you from the very begining and keeps you wanting more even at the end.

Fantastic Wolf Series

If you could sum up The Heat in three words, what would they be?

Suspenseful, Adventurous, and Interesting

What did you like best about this story?

The way the story was written with the PACK like a family.

What about Gildart Jackson’s performance did you like?

Easily understood

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Don't get too close!!!!

Interesting

The Heat was interesting and kept my interest. It's what I call a light plot book. Not real intense, story line as okay. It get's a little funny when she get's kidnapped so many times but that is part of the plot. It doesn't use alot of my brain cells to listen to the book. I would use this book as what I call a filler. Like when I have a book such as The Outlander which is 40 hours of audio and I need a break because the book is intense - this book is a quick light fill in book.