Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
SERIES: Big Bad Wolf #4
AUTHOR: Charlie Adhara
PUBLISHER: Carina Press
LENGTH: 268 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 2, 2020
BLURB:
Agent Cooper Dayton and his partner, Oliver Park, are going undercover—at a retreat for couples who need counselling. They do say the best cover story is one that’s close to the truth…
Agent Cooper Dayton is almost relieved to get a phone call from his former boss at the Bureau of Special Investigations. It means a temporary reprieve from tensions created by house hunting with Oliver Park, his partner both in work and in life. Living together in a forever home is exactly what Cooper wants. He’s just not keen on working out the details.
With a former alpha werewolf missing, Cooper and Park are loaned to the BSI to conduct the search at a secluded mountain retreat. The agents will travel to the resort undercover…as a couple in need of counseling.
The resort is picturesque, the grounds are stunning and the staff members are all suspicious as hell.
With a long list of suspects and danger lurking around every cabin, Cooper should be focusing on the case. But he’s always been anxious about the power dynamics in his relationship with Park, and participating in the couples’ activities at the retreat brings it all to the surface. A storm is brewing, though, and Cooper and Park must rush to solve the case before the weather turns. Or before any more guests—or the agents themselves—end up dead.
REVIEW:
I was so excited when I saw this book on Carina Press’s coming soon page! This is book number four in the Big Bad Wolf series, and it definitely needs to be read as such.
While book two dealt with introducing Cooper’s family, and book three introduced Oliver’s, this story brings us back to our two main characters doing what they do best, working a case together for the BSI. Although our men previously quit that job, a favour for their old boss sees them going undercover at a werewolf retreat.
I loved this addition to the series, the author delivering a perfect balance of relationship development and detective work. As much as we’ve learnt about Oliver, in some ways he’s still quite an enigma, and Cooper is struggling with letting go of his independence in regard to moving into a house with Oliver. This book allows the pair to strengthen the bond they already have, by having to rely on each other as the only people they can trust in the isolated setting of the retreat. As with the previous book in this series, the author makes these men really talk to each other. They both have to force themselves to do it, but these two have the most open, beautiful conversations, that make me fall in love with them a little more each time. During one scene in this book, Oliver declares that being with Cooper makes him feel free for the first time ever, and that’s something that the author really makes you feel. I loved the way that the author tied the issues at the retreat with the demons from Oliver’s past, but the scenario felt natural and unforced. His past as the Shepard once again takes the stage, while Cooper himself struggles with what it means to be an alpha. This theme, of privilege and domination of the ‘weak’ is a common thread through this series and I really enjoy reading about how this is viewed by others within the werewolf world.
The mystery of the missing wolves was also well done and kept me guessing. I appreciate it when an author can keep the secret of what is going on through until the end.
This story ends not with a cliffhanger, but with a solid lead into the next book which has left me desperate for more.
RATING: 
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