Review of ‘Coyote Blues‘ by Karen F. Williams, audiobook narrated by Paige McKinney
This is lesbian second chance paranormal romance is my first book by Karen F. Williams. I heard very good things about this author but I normally don’t read this genre. I’m glad I gave this audiobook a try.
Riley Dawson is a psychotherapist with a secret: she’s a werecoyote. After her first transformation as a teenager, she is forced to separate from her parents and her girlfriend Fiona. Twenty years later, they meet again in very different circumstances. Riley is very reclusive and Fiona is in an abusive relationship. But their lives will intertwine again in a messy and complicated way…
As my co-reviewer Lex Kent says, Ms. Williams writes paranormal as it could be true. She’s right, if you omit the fact that Riley can transform into a werecoyote, the book could very well be considered a second chance contemporary romance. Luckily, the paranormal aspect gives the story originality and an action/intrigue edge that it wouldn’t have without it.
Both main characters are well fleshed out and believable. Their chemistry together is undeniable and transcend time. They are made for each other and it is absolutely believable.
Having said that, I have to admit I wasn’t a fan of certain story choices for both leads, however, I understand that extreme situations can call for messy and ethically grey solutions. It made sense in the context of the story plus it forced me to get down from my moral high horse and accept that sometimes there isn’t a clear way out of a situation. I like it when a book challenges my beliefs.
I have to warn that some readers will find some parts of the book too intellectual. There were a couple of scenes in the college classroom where Riley teaches that seem like attending a university seminar. I think the author wanted to clue the reader into certain psychological aspects of the characters and found this way to inform us. It reads like a lecture, even though Ms. Williams tried to make it as interesting as possible. I didn’t mind because I’m interested in those issues personally but it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. I think that if those scenes were deleted, they wouldn’t take away anything from the story and it would have kept the pace more even.
The audiobook was narrated by Paige McKinney. Despite that she reads a few lesfic books, I’ve just listened to a couple of them. Ms. McKinney did a great job of creating the voices of the different characters and keeping a good narrative pace. This is a poignant book and her performance of the myriad of emotions that the characters go through is spot on. She made the whole listening experience very enjoyable. 4.5 stars.
Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
Coyote Blues
This is lesbian second chance paranormal romance is my first book by Karen F. Williams. I heard very good things about this author but I normally don't read this genre. I'm glad I gave this audiobook a try.
URL: 4.5 stars, Werewolves
Author: Karen F. Williams
4.5
