The Big Bad Wolf by Jus Accardo
Published: March 5th 2018
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Kensey Deaton comes from an elite werewolf lineage, but just
because her family is royalty, doesn't mean she'll fall in line like some
perfect little princess. She has plans and they don't include an arranged
marriage!
Slade McAlister has his own family drama. His Alpha father happens to be the most reviled wolf on the eastern seaboard, and it's a stigma he can't escape. So when his neighbor Kensey--the girl of his dreams and his nightmares--proposes a solution to solve *both* of their problems, he sees an opportunity he can’t ignore.
Kensey and Slade aren't only from opposite sides of the tracks, they're from opposite sides of the war. But if they can sell their 'relationship', they might just make it out of this with their freedom.
You know, as long as all that fake PDA doesn't turn into more...
Slade McAlister has his own family drama. His Alpha father happens to be the most reviled wolf on the eastern seaboard, and it's a stigma he can't escape. So when his neighbor Kensey--the girl of his dreams and his nightmares--proposes a solution to solve *both* of their problems, he sees an opportunity he can’t ignore.
Kensey and Slade aren't only from opposite sides of the tracks, they're from opposite sides of the war. But if they can sell their 'relationship', they might just make it out of this with their freedom.
You know, as long as all that fake PDA doesn't turn into more...
Ok, so I'm a huge Jus Accardo fan and The Big Bad Wolf was everything I love about her writing!
Kensey is wolf royaly, and the time has come for her to chose a mate. Problem? She doesn't want one.
Slade, her neighbour / old friend / bad boy, has the same problem
The solution? Pretend they are dating until their parents stop pushing them
The Big Bad Wolf introduces us into a shifter community in desperate need of updating their costumes. The Wolf are ruled by men and women are nothing but a comodity. And Jus made great work of showing the oppresing signs, the twisted logic behind it and the dark dangerous side for the women, but still make it a light read.
The combinatin of human nature, mostly the bad parts of us that make for vicious characters, and wolf instincts are great ingredients for explosive chemestry and some crazy tempers.
Kensey is determined fight society. She is wild and free and refuses to comform. Slade is surviving a day at the time, knowing that one day his father or his wolf ill get him.
So what makes this one so good? The characters, the easy banter, the dialogue that felt true to teenagers.
The female lead who needs no one, who's caring and giving, and so real with her weird shirts (that I need a few of). Kensey isn't afraid to go for what she wants, which is ironic considering Slade keeps telling her that McAllisters take whatever they want but he can't. Jus writes broken, vulnerable yet tough heroes like no other. And I love cheering for the damaged boy.
The Big Bad Wolf is a love story, is a coming of age story and is about a girl who's fighting tradition to be free. The dinamic of wolf community is one of my favorite elements in this book and I think the little parts here and there made the whole thing a living part of the story.
I hope we get to see more of this world in the future and get a glimpse of Kensey and Slade again!
Excerpt
He
took a sip of water and nodded. He eyed the new plate as the girl set it down
in front of him. “Raw fish? You’re buying me a burger as soon as we’re done
here.”
“It’s Japanese,” I whispered. “Odori don. When you pour—”
“It’s Japanese,” I whispered. “Odori don. When you pour—”
The maid leaned across him and poured soy
sauce over his plate. The squid in the center twitched once, then started to
squirm with spastic enthusiasm.
“What the—” Slade flinched and jumped back, falling
out of his chair and taking the maid—and the soy sauce—with him. She let out a
squeak as the gravy bowl flew from her hands and hit the wall behind us. The
ceramic shattered, splintering into a thousand tiny pieces as salty brown
liquid splattered in all directions.
I managed to extract myself from my chair as
Slade was helping the maid to her feet. Once she was up, she scurried into the
kitchen, mumbling something about towels, and he turned back to the table. “My
apologies,” he said with a bow toward our out
of town guests. “I wasn’t expecting my dinner to dance.”
My father stood, the look on his face anything
but forgiving, but I didn’t stick around. I grabbed Slade by the wrist and led
him up the stairs to my bathroom to clean up.
“Haven’t been in here in years,” he said as we
passed through my room. “Your décor hasn’t gotten any better.”
I rolled my eyes and shoved him through the
bathroom door. Once inside, I clasped his shoulder and pushed him on to the
edge of the tub. “Neither have your manners.”
“How was I supposed to know the damn thing was
still alive?”
“It wasn’t.” I ran a towel under the water,
then rang it out. “It was dead.”
“Beg to differ. It moved. It fucking started
moshing on my plate.”
I knelt in front of him then paused. This wasn’t
going to work while he was still wearing the shirt. “It was the salt in the soy
sauce. The muscles in the squid were reacting to it. Take your shirt off.”
He waggled his brows. “Finally.”
I sighed and grabbed the back of his
collar then gave a hard yank. The material caught on his chin for a second
before coming over his head. “Says the guy who insisted I was a horrible
kisser.”
He snorted. “That was years ago.Like
I said, you’ve gotten a little bit better.”
He leaned back and I didn’t miss the way he
flexed, the hard planes of his chest moving in an almost mesmerizing way. I
also didn’t—couldn’t—miss the scattered assortment of marks and scars.
“They’re not pretty, are they?” His voice was
low calm, but the look in his eyes was anything but.
“Gavin?” The scars were a variety of shapes,
sizes, and colors, and left very little skin unmarred.
“For the most part.” He shifted, almost like
he was uncomfortable with my scrutiny.
I cleared my throat and turned away. “Ya know,
scars are a sign of honor in the wolf community.”
“Yeah?” There was a twinge of amusement in his
voice and I was glad. “Then pick one. I’ll let you honor it with a kiss.”
Enter the Giveaway
About Jus Accardo
JUS ACCARDO spent
her childhood reading and learning to cook. Determined to follow in her
grandfather’s footsteps as a chef, she applied and was accepted to the Culinary
Institute of America. At the last minute, she realized her true path lay with
fiction, not food. A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with
her husband, three dogs, and twelve angry chickens.
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