Masked by M. Greenhill

Once again, I let a book sit too long before reviewing. However, my reasons on waiting on this were more valid. I simply didn’t know how to feel about the book.

It was a recommendation by a friend, who simply adored it. I did enjoy the book, once I got into the meat of the book I thought it had a good pace and hit several good strides. However, it took my a while to get there because I could not get hooked, but I’ll get to my reasons why in a minute.

What I did love about the book was that the main protagonist, who wasn’t paranormal, was there to save the day because she’s in STEM. A hacker/ computer-junkie if we are to be precise. This to me was such a wonderful break into real of urban fantasy. Many urban fantasy’s seem to have the old school werewolves or other preternatural creatures with extremely long life that don’t seem to always break into the modern world. M. Greenhill gets in and underlines that fact in red. We need books with more kickbutt girls who have a hand in STEM, and Parker joins that team, and she comes with an abundance of spunk.

Alright, so what was most off-putting to me, was the hate-to-love element. Which breaks my heart to say, because I am always down for a good hate-to-love relationship. And I can definitely say that the romantic tension in the middle was well done, Parker and Daniel can steam up a room. In the beginning, the ‘grudge’ they hold against one another just felt too forced. It was as if the characters themselves weren’t fully sure of why they hated one another, which didn’t help because the “magical” reason they hated each other was played up and to me fell flat.

Their relationship was rescued by the fact that the characters within the novel are funny, human, and in many wonderful ways unique in this genre. I especially loved the women, they made me laugh and had such a bond going that it was a joy to read. Also, the reality of the awkwardness of forced interactions. Finally, the magic was slightly unique and I liked learning that there were ‘true-born’ werewolves, and created werewolves, as this added to the depth of the novel.

These characters were definitely made the book shine, a good thing as the plot near the end seemed to fall flat. Partially because it felt rushed, partially because I didn’t feel like there was enough resolution. The romantic tension, and moments when the readers get to know the characters in the middle have everything you’re looking for, but it almost felt too long with what was packed in at the end. Additionally sometimes information felt like it was coming out of left field.

In the end I was left slightly chagrined. I enjoyed the book even if at times I was frustrated with it. All in all I was confused on my feelings. I felt like I needed time to give in a decent review. For M’s first published novel I think it was well done. It doesn’t help that I had the tendency to measure this book against my favorite urban fantasy werewolf series, and I think if I had refrained from that I may have enjoyed it more. I look forward to seeing her next novel.

Thank you to NetGalley, M. Greenhill, and 2 Little Monkeys Limited for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. 

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