A Rebel Without Claws

With this relatively low-conflict, high-heat paranormal tale, Cross (The Wraith King) returns to the setting of her Stay a Spell series, focusing on the next generation of characters. Wolf shifter Ronan Reed hasn’t turned into a wolf since his mother’s death in a car crash 15 years prior. To make a fresh start while pursuing his dream of becoming a professional werewolf cage fighter, he moves in with his uncle in New Orleans, where cage fighting is legal. There, he intends to put together a team and make a play for the state championships, assuming he can beat the undefeated locals. He soon meets witch Celine Cruz, a children’s art therapist with an overprotective extended family including werewolves and vampires, and the two almost instantaneously experience a mutual attraction. The duo must balance their quickly intensifying relationship with their professional lives, especially as Ronan’s fighting career takes off and he risks making powerful enemies. While accessible and satisfying on its own merits, a familiarity with previous installments will help readers make sense of both the worldbuilding and the existing character dynamics. Ronan and Celine possess considerable chemistry and emotional vulnerability as they overcome past traumas and look to the future. Thoroughly blurring the line between urban fantasy and romance, this series launch promises good things to come. (Feb.)