REVIEW: Sex Symbol | Tracy H. Kitts | Ellora’s Cave | Reviewed by Elizabeth Coldwell

Sex Symbol

Author: Tracy H. Kitts

Publisher: Ellora’s Cave

ISBN: 978-1-41992-992-2

Genre: Paranormal, horror, erotica, shifters

Format: ebook

Length: 202 pages

Life in the small town of Peace, Mississipi is pretty ordinary as far as Lucy Harper’s concerned. She’s trying to manage the decorating business she co-owns with her best friend, Justina, while getting over her break-up with her long-term boyfriend, James. So when a hunky guy moves in next door and starts digging in his garden, shirtless, it’s a more than welcome distraction – until Lucy learns that her new neighbour, Erasmus Creed, used to be a bounty hunter, chasing down werewolves. If that’s not bizarre enough, he had to retire from the profession when he was bitten and turned. Still recovering from the news that the most gorgeous man she’s ever met is actually a werewolf, Lucy finds more of the creatures turning up. It seems she’s suddenly irresistible to the beasts, and drastic action is going to have to be taken if she’s to escape their clutches so she can surrender herself to Erasmus, the wolf of her dreams…

I wanted to like this novel a lot more than I actually did. The central premise – that Lucy’s new tattoo is actually a symbol designed to make her a potential mate for an alpha werewolf – is smart and original, and Tracy Kitts’ chatty, conversational style draws you in, helping you to believe in Lucy’s dilemma even as events unfolding around her become ever more monstrous. There are also a couple of scorching hot sex scenes, most notably one involving sex on a car in the pouring rain. The problem is, those sex scenes only make up a tiny percentage of the book’s two hundred plus pages. Sex Symbol comes across as a horror novel spiced up with some erotic content, rather than a full-on erotic romance – which is fine if that’s what you’re looking for, but personally I prefer a little more sausage with my sizzle. And when Lucy’s first coupling in the book – the aforementioned car scene – is fuelled by having had her drink spiked by a friend, it raises issues of dubious consent that some people won’t be comfortable with. But if you like Punk’d-style humour and a hefty dollop of gore with your romance, Sex Symbol should appeal to you – and it’ll make you think twice about booking that appointment at the tattooist’s…