Behind the Heroine: Zoe Bennett

Zoe Bennett is a woman with a problem. An accident turned her into a werewolf a year and a half ago. Introduced to the realities of the supernatural by the co-worker who turned out to be a werewolf, Zoe got romantically entangled with him before she realized he was far more interested in hiding his new girlfriend from the stronger wolves in the pack than he was in teaching her what her new life entailed. Their rocky relationship didn’t long survive the first time she went into heat, and Zoe ended up a lone wolf in the big city.

And that made going into heat the second time pretty much the definition of torture.

Zoe was a fun heroine, and possibly one of my favorites. She’s a sweet, smart girl without a lot of baggage, even though by rights she has her share of things to be emo and broody about. Zoe’s a little shy, a lot tough, and will kick your ass at any first person shooter game you can name. She also makes good money in her day job as a network specialist and systems administrator, and is a Grade A Geek.

I may not be Zoe’s flavor of Geek (Systems administration? Kill me now…) but Donna and I both have a healthy strain of Geek Pride, so it’s no surprise that we had fun with Zoe and Connor’s tale of geek love. From the first minute he lays eyes on her (or more important, on her PEBKAC T-shirt) Zoe has Connor’s undivided attention. And she keeps it by being herself: smart, a little awkward, a little shy but a sweet, funny girl nonetheless.

I don’t know who the woman in this photo is. I came across it on a stock-photo site and all I could say was, “Hello, Zoe.” Everything about the picture is perfect, from the sort of sloppy hair to the anything-but-revealing sweater right down to the look in her eyes. I love this picture because the emotion and expression and everything is exactly how I imagined her.

Though I won’t lie–if I had to pick a second best picture, I would pick the picture on the cover. A brunette in jeans and a black T-shirt wrapped around a mysterious but muscular man… well, that’s Kamikaze.

	Zoe Bennett is an inexperienced werewolf in the grip of her mating cycle. With no pack and no mate, Zoe must brave the supernatural crowds of Last Call, the bar where your drink order tells everyone what you need. Kamikaze: Werewolf in heat, looking for a temporary mate. The chase is on, and security specialist Connor O’Malley intends to win, if only because the sweet young woman at the bar looks unprepared for what the night might bring, in and out of the bedroom. Little does he know that, when he catches her, he may not be satisfied being just a temporary mate.
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