| Title: Wolf Fever Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
Review Copy Source: Author |  |
Book Description
She may be his destiny, but she's not his first choice…
Hospital nurse and newly turned red werewolf Carol Woods is being pressured by her pack leader to find a mate, but he's the only guy in the pack who remotely attracts her.
Why is he playing so hard to get?
The fate of the pack rests on his shoulders…
Gray pack leader Ryan McKinley doesn't want anything to do with Carol unless she's willing to embrace her wolf nature—no matter how beautiful she is.
But when a virus infects the local lupus garou pack, Ryan realizes just how wrong he's been not to seize the moment with the woman he's come to love. And now, it may be too late…
Review
As if living with precognitive abilities in an unbelieving world wasn't hard enough, Carol Woods now has to adapt to being a newly-turned werewolf. Even worse, her new pack doesn't trust her ability to stay in control (and stay hidden), so Carol must choose a mate or remain under the pack-leaders’ supervision. Females are rare, and she quickly goes from feeling like a wallflower to having all the attention she can handle.
As an adult turned werewolf, Carol has a lot to learn about the wolves' customs and culture. This was both interesting and useful to read, as WOLF FEVER was the first book I read in the Heart of the Wolf series. Learning alongside Carol, I soon realized that this was no overwrought “forced to marry” situation. The pack was more like a huge family eager to match-make. Enthusiastic, sometimes embarrassing, but always with their heart in the right place. Spear was not afraid to take risks with her characters, and gave Carol the luxury of more than one attractive candidate to consider.
Of course, it does not take long for Carol to identify her hero. To me, Chester “I go by Ryan” McKinley wasn’t as interesting a character as Carol, but I appreciated the humor of a werewolf that doesn't believe in psychics. Also, in Spear's mythology, werewolves are bonded for life once they have sex with another wolf. This makes for great sexual tension (and a lot of heavy petting). It was refreshing to read a paranormal romance where the characters can’t fall into bed with each other right away.
There are many components that come together to make a good book, and WOLF FEVER made a strong showing in most of them. The closed world of the Silver Town wolves was of practical interest (how does an entire paranormal sub-culture survive unnoticed in the modern world), and the plot of this particular book was intriguing as well. However, the flow of the writing itself was hit or miss. I didn't want to stop reading, but it did detract from my overall enjoyment of the book in places. Spear did a great job drawing realistic wolf details and behaviors into the fabric her werewolf mythology, and that (combined with the good plot and characters), is enough to bring me back to the Heart of the Wolf series.
Sexual Content: Several scenes of sexuality and heavy petting (no wolf pun intended).
My Rating:
3/5
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.
Previous books in the series:
- Heart of the Wolf
- Destiny of the Wolf
- To Tempt the Wolf
- Legend of the White Wolf
- Seduced by the Wolf
Also reviewed by:
- Xeranthemum at Long and Short Reviews
- Vicky at Fresh Fiction
Considering the fresh ideas and in depth way you mention that Terry Spear goes into the wolves in this book really makes me want to read it even with the flaws in writing. I've never read any of this authors previous books but this one intrigues me to try them out. There aren't (in my opinion) that many well written AND original books on werewolves so if this one does happen to at least give some originality I think its worth trying out.
ReplyDeleteI have this book up for review on my blog next week. I have read other books in the series and really liked them, so I was really excited to get this one. I would have to say that Terry's ability to give details about wolves and wolf behavior is what really sets this series apart from others. I find her writing very intuitive and full of originality where wolves are concerned.
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