Review: Push Pull by Joely Skye

Push Pull is the sequel to the very enjoyable Wolf Town (reviewed at Wave's site here). The last book told us of how Rory, a werewolf, met Scott, a minder, and started a relationship, even though minders and werewolves are usually enemies. Scott was being hunted by minders who wanted him to join their pod, and Rory took Scott to Wolf Town to protect him. This story picks up shortly after the action packed end to the previous book. Scott and Rory have settled into life together, but Scott knows that there's still danger out there. When Scott receives threatening emails from another minder, he knows he has to leave in order to protect Rory. What he hadn't realised is that the wolves of Wolf Town are not prepared for Scott to sacrifice himself for their benefit.

What I liked about this book is the relationship between Rory and Scott and in particular how they are so different and yet so right for each other. Rory is such a sweetheart and although he's a bit clueless at times, he still does his best for Scott. The scenes where they are together, either in bed or just as a couple were sweet and gave me the warm fuzzies. It was in the small things such as the loving looks, the tender touches and sex scenes, that made the romance shine through the book. Scott is more reserved and often uses actions rather than words to show his love. This was a bit of a theme for the story and I liked seeing how Rory slowly worked out why Scott did so much for him.

Another part I enjoyed was the gentle humour used in the book. This centred mostly on werewolve habits and society. The very reserved Scott often finds himself overwhelmed by werewolves who can't help but stick their noses into what he sees as his privacy. The way that the pack system is shown, with everyone involved in each other, looking out for one another and perfectly happy with everyone knowing your business grates on Scott's nerves, but it's done with a twist of humour so it becomes a fond exasperation, rather than a cause for conflict. One particular episode, where Scott gets ill, sending Rory and his family into a confused panic had me chuckling away to myself.

The part of the book which worked less well was in the slight suspense plot leading to the confrontation at the end of the story. I liked that it was used to highlight how much Scott has been adopted into the pack in Wolf Town, but the sketchiness of the motivations of the bad guy left me scratching my head. I didn't understand why Garrett wanted to meet Scott, why he was threatening him. There wasn't a satisfactory reason given for Garrett's behaviour. In the end it was a weak ending to what had been a fun and enjoyable read.

Apart from that weak ending to the suspense plot, this book was still worth reading because I got the see the conclusion of Scott and Rory's story. For me that was the most satisfying part of the book and I recommend it to those who have already read and enjoyed Wolf Town. It looks like there might be a spin off story between two of the other wolves and I shall look forward to reading that when it's released. Grade: Very Good.