5 Wine Glass #Review of Cowboy in Wolf's Clothing by Kait Ballenger

Title:  Cowboy in Wolf’s Clothing
Series: Seven Range Shifters #2
Author: Kait Ballenger
Format: Kindle Edition, 352 pages
Published: June 25th 2019 by Sourcebooks Casablanca
ISBN: ASIN B07MZGW47Z
Links:  Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Reviewer: Linda
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 5 out of 5 Wine Glasses

Born a cowboy and bred a warrior...

High Commander Colt Cavanaugh has spent his life defending his pack and its sprawling ranchlands. But the hardened Grey Wolf soldier has a dark secret that could destroy his life forever.

Belle Beaumont is a wanted woman, on the run from the wolf pack that kidnapped her. When fate brings her face-to-face with the Grey Wolf High Commander himself, rivalry becomes passion, and suddenly more than just her freedom is at stake.

Colt will fight to the death for the healing Belle brings to his battle—worn heart—and for this cowboy wolf, all's fair in love and war...

Linda's Thoughts:
Cowboy in Wolf’s Clothing is the riveting second installment in Kait Ballenger’s Seven Range Shifters’ series. This series revolves around the seven shifter clans that call the Montana Mountains their home. Both of the books in this series have featured an eye-catching set of awesome male abs on the cover. I can’t wait to see how Kait’s going to top these with book 3!

I confess that I’ve been a fan of Kait’s since I first discovered her in After Dark, a release she shared with Gena Showalter. Her well-written contribution to the anthology was Shadow Hunter - a page-turner that introduced her fabulous Execution Underground series. This new series is set in that same complex world populated with a variety of supernaturals. That said, if you are a newbie to Kait’s books, you are in for a treat! You’ll be happy to know that Cowboy in Wolf’s Clothing works perfectly well as a stand alone read.

As the story opens, Dr. Belle Beaumont, who had been imprisoned by the Seven Range Shifters, makes a run for freedom. As luck would have it, she encounters dark and broody High Commander Colt Cavanaugh as she escapes. She attempts to steal his quirky horse which, duh, garners Colt’s attention. When Colt is left struggling for life from injuries sustained in the ensuing fight with the rival Wild Eight’s pack, Belle puts her surgical skills to task and saves his life.

Belle knows Colt is a danger to her but she can’t walk away from the cowboy who has stolen her heart. Colt knows Belle is trouble with a capital T, but he can’t help being constantly drawn to her. On the outside, Belle and Colt seem as different as night-is-to-day. But, they actually have more in common than they know. I couldn’t get enough of the flirty and fun sass between Belle and Colt and their sex scenes were intensely hot. However, will they learn to trust each other enough to open up and share the secrets they both harbor?

Belle and Colt are great characters with a sizzling chemistry from the moment they meet. This tale is told from Colt’s and Belle’s alternating third-person perspectives – with the advantage of allowing the reader to be privy to what’s in each of their heads.

This book highlights the social stratification of wolves that are naturally a pack animal within this world. Belle was born a rogue wolf. She has always yearned for a pack with the protection and camaraderie that a well-run pack offers. Belle tried at one time to join a pack, but things didn’t work out at all as she’d planned. The rogues are never given a choice to join a pack even when they had no choice by being born that way. On the other hand, Colt lives, eats and breathes his pack.  It’s everything to him. It will be interesting to see how Kait works through this conflict in future installments.

Wes Calhoun and Naomi Evans from the first book play supporting roles. It was great catching up with them and a few other characters from Cowboy Wolf Trouble.

Following please find a few of my favorite quotes from Cowboy in Wolf’s Clothing:

“We didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

“Usually women are angry because I said goodbye, not crying because I didn’t.”
--- 

“Who wants to be a princess when she can be a cowgirl?”

Cowboy in Wolf’s Clothing is passionate and well-paced tale with great characters. Kait hit this one out of the ballpark as all its parts added up to an engaging, sometimes humorous, highly entertaining read with plenty of unexpected twists. If you enjoy well-plotted, suspenseful paranormal romances with a simmering heat throughout, I’d highly recommend that you check out Cowboy in Wolf’s Clothing! Now, I’m drooling waiting on the next book which is coming January 2020!



Suggested Reading Order: 
Cowboy Wolf Trouble (Book #1)
Cowboy in Wolf’s Clothing (Book #2)
Wicked Cowboy Wolf (Book #3) – coming January 2020!