Customer Reviews

A Certain Wolfish Charm

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This was a great book for a first in the series. I really enjoyed each of the characters and their personalities. Lily was strong and determined, which she needed to be when dealing with Simon. He was stubborn and a spit fire with everything rubbing him the wrong way. You can't even help laughing when all the characters are fighting with each other.

The writing was great and the dialogue flowed nicely. I devoured this book from beginning to end, and I was still hungry for more of the series! A great book to sink your teeth into!

Originally posted at

Get ready for a fun and entertaining historical paranormal romance sure to lure even readers who, as a rule, do not read historical romances. This book is so much fun and the hero so surly that I couldn't wait to find out how he's brought to heel.

Simon, the Duke of Blackmoor has a complicated personality. He is the oldest so he has the pressure to be firm, strong and lead. He has this irritating emotional itch to scratch but he interprets it in the wrong way and ends up creating quite a rakish name for himself amongst the ton. He's loved by his brothers and just as fiercely he loves them back. It's that passion that is his undoing because he applies it to just about every decision he makes that truly matters to him. His stance on official Lycan marriages is that it's great and works for others but he just knows it's not for him - he's too afraid. Something happened in the past which colored his view of mating. Something that should have been so beautiful and a reason to rejoice has turned into something to fear, to steer clear of. Since guys are notorious at avoidance, this just adds spice to the internal conflict poor Simon must wade through. My favorite part of his dialogue and what I found sort of sexy and endearing was his assertion that the heroine never pull away from him. As you read you get the feeling that his instinct to love and connect with her is there but Simon is wearing blinders and wants to keep wearing them, again because he's afraid. But some things like love and a healthy dose of lust will undermine the best laid intentions, leading to him doing wonderfully sensual and wild things with the heroine. I really liked Simon, found him adorable, kissable and I wanted to go on a carriage ride with him too.

The lucky lady who did get to go in his carriage is Lily. Lily is well-situated on the proverbial shelf and is perfectly happy being there. You see, she has her nephew and he's her world. But something is going on with him; he's making that change from boy to man - and it's a trifle puzzling. Actually, a lot more is going on than Lily can possibly imagine and I truly felt for her. You see, she knows without a doubt that she's missing a piece of the puzzle and it is driving her nuts. By that point, a reader already knows what is what and cheers the heroine on in her search for the truth. There are times where I really wish she did find out sooner but the angst that guilt produces in Simon is worth her not knowing for awhile. What I mean is, Lily gets a chance to really know the man - his humor, his gruffness, his bumbling attempts at communication and his sense of silly humor. I like how she reacts to him and stands up to him and basically is alpha female to his alpha male. She's a good fit for him.

Secondary characters are there for a purpose. There are no throwaway personalities. Prisca is conniving and I think what she's angling for is what will eventually be her own story. William is the fun brother of Simon and he's great at needling the dickens out of his brother. The pastor's wife and her family play a role in forwarding the scheme and Simon's mother is a surprise. I really thought I'd have to read about another mean mother-in-law but Alice has some great lines of dialogue that were simply so like a mom. She's easy to like. Even the tart produces scenes which test the mettle of the heroine and hero.

The dialogue was specific to the characters, meaning Simon sounded like a guy, Lily sounded like a woman of her time albeit independent and everything made sense. There were silly moments, passionate moments, and the internal dialogues were insightful. I felt the pace of the story was a steady flow, easy to read and the descriptives Ms. Dare used brought her characters alive.

A Certain Wolfish Charm completely and totally charmed my socks off and I could not put this book down until I'd read it from front to back. I connected with Lily, swooned over Simon and enjoyed the rocky path they journeyed on as they found their happily ever after. Ms. Dare has created a fun world where werewolves inhabit the Ton's high society and the word `rake' takes on a whole new connotation. This is a place where a man being called a `beast' isn't a slur but high praise indeed and a woman really does get to enjoy a wild man. What could be better? Personally, I'd say another story about a Westfield man, please. This book was incredibly fun to read and I can't wait to tell my friends all about it.

A Certain Wolfish Charm is a charmer from first page to last. The hero is the best kind of alpha--one with an actual excuse for treating his lady to displays of possessiveness both hilarious and heartwarming. Lydia Dare offers a light touch of angst amidst a wealth of fun, all couched in a satisfying Regency setting. A deliciously sexy, truly enjoyable read!

I was unable to read this book until the end. The heroine's constant mental refrain of "what is he hiding from me" became very tiresome. The plotting was predictable and the characters' behavior, in light of the time in which the book is set, is too outrageous to be believed. Given the formality of the era, what would be considered bad behavior is not particularly shocking now. The author has the characters behaving in a way that will shock modern readers. The author also makes several mistakes regarding period details (for example, theaters did not dim the house lights until the late 19th century).

There are much better period romances out there than this one. Don't waste your time.

Werewolves in Regency England? It may sound a curious premise, but the author, Lydia Dare, makes it work beautifully in A Certain Wolfish Charm. Young Oliver, orphaned Earl of Maberly, has suddenly grown from innocent child to wild teenager driving his dear unmarried aunt to distraction. Said aunt, the enterprising and beautiful Lily Rutledge, turns to Oliver's fellow guardian for help, but Simon Westfield has his own well-thought-out reasons for hiding in the background all these years. The trouble is, he maybe hasn't thought them out well enough.

The author maintains a consistent picture of Regency manners and mores, while adding that curious twist of lycanthropy. So how does a sincere, sane gentleman cope with "the wrong time of the month?" And how does he hide the fact that his emotions will always spin out of control when the moon comes full? It's rather a nice way to turn our feminine trials on their head, and Lydia Dare does it delightfully.

The characters are fascinating and believable. The inevitable miscommunications of a romantic tale are kept under careful, and very appropriate, Regency control. And the scenes of love and seduction are nicely done with humorous conversation, pleasant timing, and plausible charm. A Certain Wolfish Charm has all the allure and bite of its title, and I'll be happily looking out for sequels in the stores.

Desperate because her young nephew's entry into puberty has turned him into a 'monster' and since her written pleas for assistance are being ignored by her nephew's 'official' guardian, Lily decides to travel to confront Simon, Duke of Blackmore, in person. Lily's meeting with Simon doesn't go at all as Lily had planned and quickly Lily finds her life spinning out of control, as she just can't seem to avoid succumbing to the beastly noble's seduction.

The stubborn and supposedly intellegent Lily puts her brain on hold for the first half of the book while she succumbs to her overwhelming animal attraction to the rakish Duke of Blackmore, so it's not surprising that Lily quickly finds herself 'ruined' and married to the moody, seductive, possessive, and secretive Simon. But even though it took Lily longer than it should have to question whether marriage to a man with a scandalous reputation was really a good idea, I found myself enjoying this meandering, light and sexy read. It probably helped that Simon is just as helpless to avoid his attraction to Lily -despite the fact that a man who'd had enough experience to gain his reputation, would have likely developed excellent skills at avoiding entanglements, but then again Simon wasn't using his brain either.

A Certain Wolfish Charm is the first in a trilogy, and with two more wolfish brothers to go, I'll be checking out brother Ben's book, Tall, Dark and Wolfish, (Ben's offscreen in this one) and waiting anxiously for the charming William to get his book, The Wolf Next Door, and to see how work things out between Will and the intriguing Prisca - Dare's already got the sparks flying between those two.

I wasn't sure about this book, but as soon as I started reading it, I was hooked. Very well written! It was written in the 1800's, which I was not expecting. Looking forward to book 2.

Good start to what is obviously going to be a new series in the combo weirdness of an Paranormal/Romance/Regency. But who cares as long as it's fun and well done? Within the first 75 pages or so we are introduced to a family of shapeshifter males, many new adventures and a couple of their potential mates. Well handled dealing with constraints of history, but still adds a fresh new turn to a crowded field. Recommended for this one and ones folloowing just to find out what happens to new friends.

Lily Rutledge has been put in charge of caring for Lord Oliver Maberley. Oliver is Simon Westfield, Duke of Blackmoor's nephew. Oliver is growing up and changes are starting to happen to him like his endless appetite. Lily has written Simon that now is the time for him to take an interest in his nephew but Lily's correspondences are answered with how much money does she need?

A full moon is fast approaching. The last thing Simon needs is a distraction like Lily. When Lily pushes Simon's buttons...just how long can he control the animal instincts within him?

A Certain Wolfish Charm has lots of charm. It is the start of a new trilogy by author, Lydia Dare. Lydia Dare will make you howl for more. Simon is one sexy werewolf. He is a big reason why I enjoyed this book so much. What I liked about Lily is that she was not afraid of Simon. In fact there were several times throughout this book where Lily put Simon in his place. A Certain Wolfish Charm had the best of both worlds...a good historical novel mixed with paranormal elements. Simon and Lily made the perfect mates for each other. I can't wait to meet the rest of the Westfield brothers...continuing with Benjamin in Tall, Dark and Wolfish.

I usually save the were stories for the back of the pack as I have so many other loves but this one really stood out. I started reading wondering in the first few chapters about how well an author could pull off a were story in Regency England. I must say I was quite delighted to be immediately caught up in a story that pulled me in with such force to keep me entirely entertained from the beginning to the end and still wanting more. To be honest I can's wait for the stories dealing with the Duke's two younger brothers.

The Duke of Blackmoor is a temperamental lout if you ask me. How Lily comes to love this man without wanting to bop him off the head is remarkable and quite cute. Thank goodness for Lily having the patience of a saint and a mighty good stiff back to deal with a man that has the temperament of a teenager.

Oh I know I shouldn't pick on our poor Duke so much as he does have a pre-existing condition that would make even the strongest of us crabby. But I do have to say I think it is divine justice that our hero has to go though some inconvenient painful monthly changes of his own. Hopefully this will make him more sympathetic to the delicate female cycles.

The author has done a wonderful job with giving our hero a personality that we can love and hate equally. She also gives him a guilty conscience so that when he is very bad he knows he is bad and tries like the Devil to make amends in the most lovable of ways.

Our heroine is a true lady of the time but with much courage and compassion. Lily knows something is not right and will not stop until she uncovers what is being kept from her by her charge, the man she loves and all those others around her that must obey or be destroyed.

A delightful story that is a quick read will most assuredly have you wanting the rest of the series in short order.