This one is rather hard to review not because I can't get my thoughts in order but because I'm really of two minds when it comes to the story and it's end.

On the one hand, it reads like a good modern romance with tragic tones with our MC Rett as a depressed werewolf who meets and falls in love with a rather interesting woman with an interesting name. Brixton. As in the Clash's Guns of Brixton. Heck, I sympathized with these folks merely because of their taste in music, but it went much farther than that. The devil is in the details, and the romance felt real and sticky and hot after its many simmering pages. I mean, what punker pierced girl wouldn't like a strapping brooding werewolf in her life, especially one that can beat the shit out of her abusive ex-boyfriend, right?

The tragedy was bad, of course, but it was bad in the sense that I fell into it and felt the pain of it. That's called good writing. The aftermath was a real treat, too, and the whole plot, while not very complex, made up for it in good immersion.

So what stops this from being a five for me?

It's about suicide, folks. This isn't just a retelling of some goofy Shakespeare shit, either, yo. It's solid and serious and while it may all surround the conflict between wolf and man and how he couldn't cope, it's not like we readers can't transfer the conflicts of instinct versus duty to ourselves, so it can perhaps be a bit too much for some.

It might be too much for me. After all, He successfully kills himself.

If you want a hot and sexy paranormal romance that touches upon some hard issues, I wouldn't pass this one by. It's a real solid read. :)
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The Geri Rouge both begins and ends powerfully; This paranormal romance is filled with drama, violence, tragedy, and other dark (very dark) themes. It's everything a dark and twisted werewolf story should be. D.R. Hedge's novel is not for the faint of heart, but if you think you can stomach it, then I highly recommend this read.

I love D.R. Hedge's attention to detail, but there were a few times I wished there were less details on how one of his characters searched for something online, or how they readied their stereo to play music. Instead, I wish the author put his beautiful descriptions to the story's setting and added more background to his characters and the pack's ancestry.

The music D.R Hedge included in his story is great. Depeche Mode, Alice in Chains, and Tool are some of my most favorite bands and while I don't know most of the punk bands he mentioned, I will definitely be looking into them.

The relationship between Retter (the MC) and Brixton was simple and believable (despite Retter being a werewolf of course, haha). I fell in love with both of these characters, especially Brixton, because she has such a fun and quirky personality. I did enjoy the secondary characters as well, all except for three, which I'm sure you'll understand when you read The Geri Rouge. They weren't poorly written; they just had terrible personalities, but contributed to the story in big ways.

D.R. Hedge includes a few chapters written in other charaters' POV, which I thought was interesting. Those chapters did feel a bit random, but I enjoyed getting to know those characters better.

Overall, I think this debute novle is great and I'm definitely looking forward to reading the prequel D.R. Hedge is currently working on. If you enjoy paranormal romances and you're ok with dark themes (severe depression, aggression, violence, etc) then I recommend this intense and twisted werewolf story to you.

I received a free PDF copy of this novel by D.R. Hedge in exchange for my honest review. ( )