Roz Wells is a public defender who is tired of her career and looking for a change. Her friend Merry just got married to a man who claims to be a shape-shifter, and Roz moves into Merry’s old apartment to keep an eye on her. The apartment building turns out to be populated by a strange menagerie of tenants who have a wide variety of quirks: witches who are phone-sex actresses, a vampire living in the basement, a ghost with a private detective roommate, an assortment of shape-shifters, and an excessively nosy landlady. None of these tenants capture Roz’s attention as much as Konrad Wolfensen. The man is gorgeous and set on pursuing Roz romantically. To Roz, a woman who is a few pounds over her ideal weight and with the low self-image to go with it, Konrad’s attention is the most surreal experience of all.

Or so she thinks. It turns out Konrad is really an alpha werewolf who lost his pack to a dishonest rival who cheated his way into the alpha position. Now Konrad makes a living breaking into people’s homes in order to boost the security business he has set up with his twin brother. Meeting Roz, who he quickly finds out is his mate, is a welcome experience but unexpected. He has no idea how to tell her what he is, or what he has been doing for a living. Their situation becomes complicated when Konrad is accused of a high profile heist on an art museum that happened 20 years before. He is innocent and must rely on Roz to prove it. The problem is that for Roz to do that Konrad must confess all of his secrets and risk losing her.

The Werewolf Upstairs by Ashlyn Chase is full of colorful characters. Ms. Chase is very good at creating characters who are strong, interesting and full of potential. That is an asset to a novel, but it creates problems as well. She tries to weave so many characters into the story that sometimes their actual contribution to the plot is superficial or non-existent. The plot gets lost repeatedly in the midst of character interactions. The interactions themselves are always entertaining and often funny, but they can’t make up for the weak storyline. The characters are also not developed as they should be due to the number of characters and the short length of time they appear.

Konrad and Roz have a lot of chemistry. Roz is a relatable heroine: average looks, strong, some difficult experiences in her past, not perfect but definitely likeable. The dichotomy between her confidence in her abilities and her insecurity over her appearance made her more real. Konrad is a handsome alpha male with a lot of insecurities as well. He comes off a little too passive compared to the typical alpha male. In fact, for a few pages in the beginning of the book, the heroine thought it was a shame he might be gay. Her misconception is cleared up quickly, but it gives the reader the impression that Konrad is not as strong as he should be. Still, he manages to win over the readers with his dedication to Roz even when he only has a vague idea as to how to court her properly. His awkward behavior can be quite adorable.

This series has a lot of potential. The world is interesting and the characters are superb. On the other hand, the plot is somewhat predictable and the pace is slow. The novel was entertaining and sweet, but it could have been much better.

Reviewed by: Denise