Liquid Silver Publishing, $4.50, ISBN 978-1-59578-738-5
Fantasy Romance, 2010
Haven Smith is a werewolf but she refuses to go all furry and howl at the moon, thanks to her mother’s dire warnings about the consequences of letting her inner beast free. Instead, she uses her switchblade to get medieval on scums who ill-treat women in her neighborhood. And it seems like her neighborhood is indeed a pretty happening one, as there is always some poor woman for Haven to rescue from abusive fiends. Meanwhile, Adam Lawrence is a werewolf sent by his pack boss to sniff around and keep an eye on her, finding out all he can about her until his alpha decides that the time is right for Haven to be brought back into the pack.
Haven believes that her father raped her mother, which was how she was conceived. This also explains her vigilante attitude toward men who beat up or rape women. Adam, however, wants her to know that her mother was actually a money-grubbing creature who tried to extort money from the man who impregnated her, the usual. Haven learns from him that her brother, the Alpha of Adam’s pack, wants her to join the pack as part of the family again.
There are unanswered questions galore, such as why Adam can track her down but the pack couldn’t in the past, or why those so-called good guys thought it was better not to pay Haven’s mother off if they loved those kids so much. Being underdeveloped is not the only problem with this story, however. The story also doesn’t portray women well. Haven is the only woman allowed to shine here – every other woman is a victim or a villain. As if Haven isn’t a Mary Sue name enough, Ms Summers seems determined to make sure that no woman will overshadow Haven in any way.
Still, the heroine is a pretty decent one. She can hold her own pretty well against the alpha boys in this story without being bullied by them into compliance. The hero is a familiar sort, but he also has a gentlemanly side to him that allows him to respect and give the heroine space when she needs some. They make a nice couple, so it’s quite unfortunate that A Taste of Haven ends up being underdeveloped with a tacked-on last minute conflict.
