Review: Under My Skin by Judith Graves

All her parents wanted was for Eryn to live a normal life... Redgrave had its share of monsters before Eryn moved to town. Mauled pets, missing children. The Delacroix family is taking the blame, but Eryn knows the truth. Something stalks the night.
 Wade, the police chief's son and Redgrave High's resident hottie, warns her the Delacroix are dangerous. But then so is Eryn--in fact, she's lethal. But she can't help falling for one of the Delacroix boys, dark, brooding--human Alec. And then her world falls apart.

A normal life? Now that's the real fairytale. YA, Paranormal

Review:
Under My Skin has all the elements of a good paranormal YA – werewolves, vampires, shamans and sprites. It has secrets, danger and of course a love triangle.
I really liked Grave’s spin on werewolves. There are Wolven who are born and werewolves which are made. Eryn is a half breed Wolven who has had her wolf kept in check by a drug her father has been giving her. When her parents go missing Eryn has to deal not only with their loss but also with her primal wolf impulses – impulses that may put her and those she loves in danger.
Eryn also works as a Hunter for The Council - a group that keeps paranormal creatures in check. The council has moved Eryn to Redgrave to keep her safe while they look for her missing parents. Despite her secrets she manages to make a friend in Brit the resident goth chick who warns her against taking up with Alec Delecroix whom she has encounter while running in the woods.
OK – I didn’t really get pulled into this book right away but once Alec entered the picture (it’s always about a boy…isn’t it??) I was hooked.

Brit: “He’s hot alright, but……..You don’t want to go there.”
 Eryn: “I don’t?” But the image of his long dark hair, broad shoulders, and powerful thighs had already registered on my but – I - really - think - I – do – want – to – go - there interest meter”

Alec and his brother Matt are also Hunter’s and Eryn joins with them to help fight the paranorms all while trying to keep her secret fearing Alec will reject her if he finds out.
Wade also enters the picture as the sexy son of the local police chief and this sets up a pretty good love triangle. I usually get stressed out over these, but I loved both guys and could see it going either way. I think Alec gets a little short changed once Wade enters the picture but Alec’s mom has a pretty ominous prediction about Alec and Eryn so this storyline is guaranteed to get more time in the next book.
There is quite a bit more going on in Under My Skin but I don’t want to reveal spoilers so I hope I’ve peaked your interest enough for you to check it out.
I did have a few issues. One was the aforementioned love triangle. As I said I loved both guys and Eryn is drawn to both for different reasons and it makes complete sense. But her response to both boys is pretty intense and gave me a case of whiplash at how fast she could go from guy to guy.
It seems that the book walked the line of YA and adult. The themes and romantic interactions bordered on more of an adult paranormal but then it would slip into more of a breezy high school vibe – lowering the intensity for me.
Under My Skin leaves a few things up in the air: Can the council be trusted? Is Wade evil? Is there more to Alec than meets the eye? How far will Eryn have to go to save the ones she loves? And what the heck does that vision mean??? I have my own thoughts on that last one but I will just have to wait and see…arghh – I’m not the most patient person!
Liked: The boys! Nice love triangle. Lays the foundation for a really good series.
Nitpick: There were illustrations throughout the book. They were very nice but took me out of the story and I prefer to have my own vision for what a character looks like. Not too distracting though. As with most first books in a series, it had a lot going on to lay the foundation for the future storylines.

Rating: 3 out of 4. I did wish it delved a little deeper into the Council or was a little (consistently) darker but it was still a fun read and I’ll be keeping my eye out for book two when it comes out next year.

Author's Website: http://judithgraves.com/
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