Confessions of a Werewolf Supermodel - Ronda Thompson

I avoided picking up this book for ages because the cover and title imply some fluffy chick-lit type affair, where the heroine may as well not be a werewolf at all for all the attention it's given. (Like Succubus in the City. Seriously, what was the point? Do I care how many types of shoes a succubus can fit in her wardrobe? No. I want to see demonic action, not shopping). Luckily, Confessions of a Werewolf Supermodel is nowhere near as fluffy as it first appears.

Yes, it's about a supermodel and yes, she does talk about shoes. But she also talks about killing her prom date and leaving town forever to cover it up, so it's cool. And Lou isn't your average supermodel. She's funny, self-deprecating and clever. And a werewolf, which rules any averageness right out. Just as her career is blooming, Lou finds herself having werewolf "outbreaks" - clumps of fur and elongating fangs, seemingly for no reason. As the book progresses and the mystery unfolds, we learn that the close proximity of another werewolf is triggering these attacks, which is a nice twist on the lore that I appreciated.

(It has to be said though, that these outbreaks were never more of a problem for Lou than say, covering up a bad zit. She waxes the hair off and heals almost instantly, which almost takes the book into "why bother" territory. In a less well-written book, I would have found it hard to forgive. If you going to write a book about werewolves, for God's sake, let them have werewolfy problems, not regular woman problems! And also, why could she heal from waxing herself in minutes, but took days to heal from a small vampire bite?)

Lou is also having dreams that lead her to believe the other wolf is a serial killer who's worked his way across the country, seemingly in search for her. No prizes for guessing who the killer is - I had it figured out by the end of chapter one. But that's not really the point. Although the murders are a big part of the book, they're paralleled by Lou's personal and emotional journeys. Adopted at birth and out of touch with the people who raised her, Lou leans heavily on best friend Cindy. The dynamic between the two shifts as the book progresses and how Lou handles these changes is refreshingly normal. As is her approach to sex - she's got a lot of self-respect and dignity, and it was nice to read an urban fantasy where the heroine isn't throwing herself at every man who looks her way.

This book, I think, was written as the first of a series. The second half opens up a whole new world of natural and "synthetic" (laboratory-made) werewolves and (yawn) vampires which Thompson clearly planned to explore. Sadly she passed away last summer, so this will be the first and last of Lou's adventures. It's a shame because there's so much scope for more. Further explanations of how she became a werewolf would definitely have been addressed, and I expect the conflict between natural and synthetic would have been too.

This is a sweet book, not too fluffy but not too angsty. Could have done with less shoe talk, but what do I know?