The Wolf Who Loved Me by Lydia Dare

The Wolf Who Loved Me
by Lydia Dare
Pseudonym for Tammy Falkner and Jodie Pearson

Genre: Paranormal Romance | Historic

Lady Madeline Hayburn Has Money Problems...

Specifically, she has so much of it that she's dogged by fortune hunters, including her bewilderingly attractive, penniless neighbor, with his wild nature and uncouth manners...

Weston Hadley Has An Identity Crisis...

Specifically, he's just turned into a wolf while Madeline was watching. Now it's up to the regal lady to tame the wild beast...if she can...

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It Happend One Bite by Lydia Dare

It Happened One Bite
by Lydia Dare

Genre: Paranormal Romance | Historic

He's lost, trapped, doomed for all eternity...

Rich, titled, and undead, gentleman vampyre James Maitland, Lord Kettering, fears himself doomed to a cold and lonely existence-trapped for decades in an abandoned castle. Then, beautiful Scottish witch Blaire Lindsay arrives, and things begin to heat up considerably...

Unless he can persuade her to set him free...

Feisty Blaire Lindsay laughs off the local gossip surrounding her mother's ancestral home-stories of haunting cannot scare off this battle-born witch. But when she discovers the handsome prisoner in the bowels of the castle, Blaire has no idea that she has unleashed anything more than a man who sets her heart on fire...

With a mouth like a sailor and a stubborn personality as well, Blaire's brother Aiden doesn't think she'll be able to grab a husband unless she becomes more of a 'lady'. Upon accompanying her brothers to a newly inherited Scotland castle and temporarily leaving her witch coven behind, Blaire discovers some hidden secrets that changes her perceptive on her Mother's past and love. Spooky castles, dark vampires, and historical flashbacks makes Dare's new book a real treat.

It Happened One Bite was a refreshing read since Dare's characters are oddly realistic and yet charmingly headstrong. Since her characters are easy to like, the reader can quickly become absorbed in the mystery, adventure, and romance going on between Blaire and James. Lots of enjoyable side characters enhance the stories depth and the love scenes are just the right amount of steam/heat without overdoing it. For me, James may not be the most dashing male lead out of Dare's supernatural series, but he does have his charms and is very jovial. Blaire begins the story with a bang since she's very out-going and isn't afraid to speak her mind. No matter how much her brother's reprimand her for her daring behavior, it's very apparent they depend on her a lot; but near the end of the book, Blaire's fire-cracker personality fizzles down somewhat, which was nice since she can come off as a little too-much at times. All in all, this was a fun read and I cannot wait to check out In the Heat of the Bite next, followed by Never Been Bit in September.

Likes: The younger brother Brannock wasn't really needed to complete the tale, but his personality added some comical entertainment.

Dislikes: The big bad villains in the story were kind of wimps overall.

Rating:

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Tall, Dark and Wolfish by Lydia Dare

Tall, Dark and Wolfish
(The Westfield Wolves Book #2)
by Lydia Dare

Genre: Historic | Paranormal Romance

He's lost the most important part of himself...

Lord Benjamin Westfield is a powerful werewolf-until one full moon when he doesn't change. His life now shattered, he rushes off to Scotland in search of the healer who can restore his inner beast, only to find she's not at all what he expected...

She would make him whole, if she could...

Young, beautiful witch Elspeth Campbell will do anything to help anyone who calls upon her healing arts. Then Lord Benjamin shows up, and she suddenly discovers she may need him even more than he needs her...

Ben has lost his wolf, literally . . . he cannot change when the moon is full anymore and he seeks out the only help he can find - a Scotland healer (aka witch). Elspeth's coven is having visions of her being hurt and torn away from Edinburgh by a wolf and on that very night meets a British Lord (aka werewolf). Instant chemistry between the two sparks a sweet love story that reveals discoveries for Ben's future (how to change back into a wolf before the next full moon) and hidden secrets from Elspeth's past (who exactly her Father was/is).

Elspeth was very enjoyable. She's emotionally strong, stubbornly loyal, confident in her powers, and adorably loves Ben. Her friends want to protect her at all costs and her town deeply depends on her healing powers, thus when she falls for the outsider - things begin to drastically change. She keeps a smart head on her shoulder throughout the story and doesn't let Ben boss her around. Oddly enough - Elspeth's coven detests Ben, even to the point of using their [witch] powers to distract him from her charms. Overall, the witches add much needed drama and humor to the tale, plus they open up the possibilities of future couples/matches for later in the series.

Ben was very demanding, but quite cute. He is desperate to change back into his old self - werewolf self that is. He panics when the moon no longer affects him as it did and seeks advice as to what to do; which leads him to Scotland. Expecting to find an old healer, Ben instead locates Elspeth, a much younger and attractive witch who claims to know of his kind - including being half werewolf herself. Being instantly smitten, Ben quickly warms to the idea of marriage between the two and soon finds himself living in her cottage eating blueberries in everything (since they're "ruled by the moon") and taking soaked baths in Magnolia flowers (since they're also "ruled by the moon") but happily enjoying their shared nights together while avoiding fireballs and rouge vines caused by her coven.

Sadly, this book didn't have as much intrigue (for me!) as the last books I read in the series did, but these characters definitely were the kinkiest by far. I enjoyed how confident the two were in their love for each other, but there was something else missing for me that I couldn't quite put my finger on. All in all, another great read that makes me want to re-read Book #3 to catch up with Ben and Elspeth again. I'll be taking a break from this series for a bit before reading Book #4 - The Taming of the Wolf

Likes: Yummy bedroom scenes that even had me blushing! Plus, the matching half-moon marks was really hot!

Dislikes: I think I was expecting a little bit more from the story coming off of Book #1 and felt the story could have had a little bit more plot intrigue since they both knew about each others secrets (ie. werewolf/witch) from the beginning and the discovery of the father at the end was almost too easy with really not much more conflict in between.

Rating:

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A Certain Wolfish Charm by Lydia Dare

A Certain Wolfish Charm

(The Westfield Wolves Book #1)

By Lydia Dare

Genre: Paranormal Romance | Historic

He gets crankier and crankier as the moon gets full . . . The rules of society can be beastly -- especially when you're a werewolf and it's that irritating time of the month. Simon Westfield, the Duke of Blackmoore, is rich, powerful, and sinfully handsome, and has spent his entire life creating scandal and mayhem. It doesn't help his wolfish temper at all that Miss Lily Rutledge seems not the least bit afraid of him, and in fact, may be as untameable as he is . . .

A women whose charms are stronger than the moon . . . When Lily Rutledge's beloved nephew's behavior becomes inexplicably wild, she turns to Simon, the boy's cousin and guardian, for help. But Simon's idea of assistance is far different from hers, and Lily finds herself ensconced in his house and engaged to the rouge. They both may have bitten off more than they can chew which each begins to discover the other's darkest secret . . .

Lily doesn't know where to turn when her nephew, 12-year old Oliver, becomes a different boy in just over one month. His growth is startlingly, his manners are astoundingly rude, and he is no longer the young sweet boy she raised after his parents passing at the age of 5; thus, she seeks aid from Simon - Oliver's legal guardian. Simon, on the other hand, doesn't have a care in the world; he's a notorious rake whose sexy scandals are in the weekly gossip rages and because of that, Lily is able to track him down and force his hand in assisting with Oliver.

Life for Lily becomes a bit mingled quite quickly though when her reputation becomes ruined by staying alone in the Westfield home without a chaperon and any available men begin to greedily seek out her hand solely for her false dowry. Surprisingly enough, a marriage proposal is placed before her by none other than the Duke himself and there quick marriage causes even more of an uproar for the ton. Yet, Lily knows not all is as it seems within her marriage and some dark family secrets are being kept from her. She desperately wants to discover once and for all the truth behind Simon's (and she even suspects Oliver's) wild mannerisms during the full moon and their shared family birthmark.

I've been on a historic reading fix lately, but YUM, I forgot how much I enjoyed Book # 3 by Ms. Dare; so I'm happy I got back into the series with Book # 1. I'm notorious for reading series all out of order! Lily was a great female character lead and I liked her immensely. Simon grew on me throughout the book, but I felt he became unrealistically enamored with Lily too early on which did keep the story flowing well throughout. The overall "secret wolf" plot was intriguing and kept me turning the pages late into the night and the romance between the two was just right (steamy, but not over the top!). I cannot wait to start Book # 2 soon and even more excited that this series seems to keep growing and growing. More books to come out soon . . . yayy!

Likes: Lily was very down to earth and realistic in her actions, which made it easy to become absorbed in her dealings with the Westfield family and young Oliver.

Dislikes: Oliver's instant infatuation with Lily was hard to fully accept at times, but he was a very dotting and loving husband.

Rating:

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The Wolf Next Door by Lydia Dare

The Wolf Next Door
(The Westfield Wolves Book #3)
by Lydia Dare

Genre: Paranormal Romance

They can't even be in the same room together...Ever since their failed elopement years ago, Prisca Hawthorne has taunted, insulted, and in every way tried to push him away. If only her heart didn't break every time Lord William Westfield left her...But staying apart is even worse...Lord William throws himself into drinking, gambling, and debauchery and pretends not to care about Prisca at all. But when he returns to find a rival werewolf vying for her hand, he'll stop at nothing to claim the woman who should have been his all along. Can Prisca forgive the unforgivable, or are the moon-crossed lovers going to be forced into a battle of wills that could be fatal?

Will and Prissy have always been at each others throats. Neither are willing to admit that they have romantic feelings for the other; so instead they bicker, they quarrel, they infuriate their friends and family by keeping up a silly facade of hatred, and in like most Regency romances . . . they end up forced into marriage. Yet, the story has a twist with Will and his brothers actually being werewolves. Can the couple's loath for each other be turned into love when Will's wild side becomes known?

I haven't read a good historical romance for a while, so this was fun + it has werewolves (yummy!). I found I read half the book in one sitting and devoured the last half shortly after and considering this was book three in a series, it held strong as a stand alone read. Definitely a sizzling Regency England tale that has gone to the wolves! Of course, I'll be checking out the two previous books in the series since I'd love to see how the other brothers (Simon and Benjamin) fared.

Likes: Will & Prisca's bickering was enjoyable throughout and her brothers were great characters as well.

Dislikes: Not much to dislike: romance - check, humor - check, historical - check. Good!

Rating:

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