CIA agent Luanne Price was hunting her target Ryan Thomas. So when he finally came into the bar and sat next to her, it seemed a real stroke of luck. It was not a stroke of luck that she drugged his beer (that particular incident was an intentional directive from headquarters), but his consequent incapacitation did give her an excuse to "help" the sexy Mr. Thomas to his room. Her directive was to find out if he was a courier or a spy working against the United States Government. She might have been planning on using sex-if necessary-to get her information, but until she had a taste of their extremely volatile chemistry, she had no idea how much she was going to get out of their relations. Little did she know that she had been set up.

Ryan Thomas did have a secret, but not the one that Luanne thought he had. No, he was actually a spy whose guise was even deeper undercover than she, though at least he was on the same side. But that was not all he kept hidden. His serious secret was that he was a werewolf. And when his inhibitions were loosened up by that mickey Luanne slipped him, he went a little wild, and he got a little crazy and-oops-a little love-bite of his made this spy-woman his mate for life. Just a little bit of karmic payback for secret agents who happen to try to drug werewolves and sleep with them.

There is no bondage or serious violence nor are there additional members of the initial menage a deux. PASSION PREY will appeal to generic Erotica readers as well as Werewolf/Vampire fans. This will appeal to people who like the predator turned victim turned predator motif, though we really don't get a chance to see Luanne change into her next incarnation. EXtacy's Tarot line has short stories; this one is fifty-seven pages and is a quick read. There's one seriously erotic scene that initiates our heroine into the Lupine world. So is this story hot? Yes it is. It's a spy-werewolf-forced-courtship-between-werewolves story, driven by a who's-the-rat-spy drama and the sexual chemistry between Luanne and Ryan. And a little birdie tells me that if you want to see these characters again, look for an upcoming eXtasy full length release Blood on the Moon.

Reviewed By: Maitresse

(c) August 2004