Customer Reviews

Destiny of the Wolf

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved this book! It's one of the absolute best shapeshifter romances I've read in a long time. Terry Spear's take on the werewolf world is incredibly unique and interesting. I love the way she links the behavior and pack dynamics of her lupus garou to that of real wolves in the wild. It's obvious she does a lot of in-depth research.

I fell in love with her characters. Lelandi is wonderful and likable. She's tough and goes after what she wants with determination. Darien is the definition of hot, sexy and alpha, plus he has a heart of gold. He's protective of Lelandi and his pack.

This is a fast-paced, entertaining read with twists and turns I would've never expected. I highly recommend Destiny of the Wolf!!

Terry Spear's wolves are neither wild not tame. They live in small towns, keeping their identity secret from their human friends, running hospitals, schools, police stations, bars... There's a human girl who wants to be a nurse, but sick werewolves aren't quite the same as sick humans. And there's a girl who's pretending to be human, but wolves can tell the difference straight away.

Terry Spear's wolves are sensual, sweet, dangerous and delightful, and her stories are full of intriguing details about a life so different from our own. From the family dynamics of multiple births to the curious etiquette of clothes-shedding and shape-shifting, the background to this tale rings so true I find myself listening in the night--are there wolves in Oregon?

One of Terry's packs is in Oregon, though not the one the story centers on. Scenery and weather are as beautifully described as the animals, people and stories. Darien's dream wife has committed suicide. Her twin sister infiltrates the pack in search of more information, and rumors immediately fly that she wants to take her sister's place as the pack leader's wife. But Darien and Lelandi are already falling in love, and someone is not above committing murder to keep them apart.

As the story progresses, the reader learns of silver bullets, rapid healing, frozen winters, Victorian underwear, and the essence of lovemaking coupled with the senses of the wolf. It all makes for a passionate, enjoyable read, full of action, mystery and romance, with love and betrayal lending spice and intrigue to the mix.

With the homicides of her parents and her sister Larissa allegedly committing suicide, Lelandi Wildwood no longer feels safe amongst the red werewolf pack in spite of her brother being a member. He in fact wants nothing to do with her though she is not sure why. She wants to learn why Larissa who loved life would kill herself, but hesitates until she learns the abusive alpha pack leader plans to wed her to his brother. Lelandi leaves the pack in search of understanding why her sibling took her life. She travels to Silver Town, run by the gray werewolves who detest the red.

The greywolf leader widow Darien Silver is trying to understand why his wife committed suicide. He also needs to catch the thief stealing from the economic soul of his pack's existence the silver mine. He enters the Silver Town's Tavern only to be shocked out of his fur when he sees his wife sitting inside. Lelandi and Darien have in common learning why their beloved Larissa killed herself.

DESTINY OF THE WOLF is an enjoyable satirical werewolf romantic suspense that takes a delightful bite at the mythology of moon howling shapeshifters while also ridicules racism. The support cast serves mostly to enhance understanding of the lifestyle of the packs especially that of the grey or the lead couple who risk their lives with a need to know why. Fans will relish this wonderful lampooning of the lycan legend inside an exhilarating thriller that enables the audience to get beyond the myths into the HEART OF THE WOLF.

Harriet Klausner

"Destiny of the Wolf" is Terry Spear's second 'Wolf' novel published by Sourcebooks Casablanca. In this story, she pens a tale of love, greed, lust, and betrayal. At 416 'story' pages, it's certainly not a small book and the author took the opportunity to include a murder mystery and some foreshadowing for what I assume will be her next novel in this series.

Lelandi's parents are dead. Her triplet brother took off several years ago and now she's just learned that her other triplet sister who ran away from an abusive marriage is dead too. But Lelandi has proof that her sister was murdered and she isn't about to let her killer get away with it. So she disguises herself as best she can and heads for the heart of enemy territory...or at least another pack's territory. You see Lelandi is a werewolf and of the royal line at that.

Darien is the Alpha of his pack and runs Silver Town--the only werewolf-controlled town in the States. He's also a man who's grieving over the loss of his wife and soulmate. Even though their marriage wasn't what he thought it would be, as soon as he caught sight of the woman from his dreams, he knew she was his destiny. So when another woman who looks just like his dead wife hits town, it doesn't take long for Darien to realize just how little he knew about his wife...and that she was the 'wrong' sister.

I didn't read the first book in Terry Spear's series so I don't know if that would have made any difference in how I felt about this story. It could be that I'm overdosing on werewolves, but my supernatural/paranormal critters need to have something that makes them stand out...and these didn't do that for me. The dream-mate thing might have done it, but it wasn't integrated well into the story and was more of a small tidbit than a solid part of the plot. The dream sexual encounters were cool, but once again didn't positively identify either participant for the other and so I was kind of confused as to their purpose; other, of course, than to provide a means of seduction and a way to have sex happen quickly in a story.

I also found myself lost and pulled back and forth between locations and points-of-view often which sometimes exasperated me. Then there was a feeling of missing 'something' that would have made certain scenes more understandable and that bugged me too. The hero and heroine were well-matched though, and had plenty of passion for both justice and each other. The murder mystery portion was also well done with plenty of clues and suspects to consider.

All in all, I'm not sorry I read "Destiny of the Wolf", but I don't know that I would recommend it to anyone who isn't a very big fan of urban fantasy. The foreshadowing for the next book in this series was subtly done, but I just don't know if it was enough to put it high on my TBR list.

This book started out with a great premise. After the first two chapters, however, the prose got so uncomfortable and cheesy [e.g. God in heaven she was his soulmate!]
and the romance seemed mechanical and shallow. I had to stop reading it after the first third of the book, and I can count on one hand the number of books in my life I've never finished. Maybe her future books will fare better.

There seems to be a phase of strange names in books that I'm reading. The last book I read had the heroine named 'Stasi' which constantly made me think of East German secret police; in this book our heroine is apparently named after a particularly irritating conifer tree, Lelandi. I found it rather hard to take her seriously and had a mental image of a fast-going tree that causes rows between neighbours (at least in the UK it does).

Lelandi is a werewolf although in this book they aren't called werewolves but lupus garous (garoux?) She is visiting the Silver Pack to try to find out whether her sister's death by suicide was, in fact, murder. Lelandi has a letter from her sister which says that she is being blackmailed and so Lelandi goes to try to find out and also to avoid being forcibly mated to her sister's former mate, an abusive man.

When Lelandi comes across the Alpha of the Silver Pack, Darien, who mated to her sister without realising she already had a mate, she discovers he's the man that she has been dreaming about for some time. But Darien and the others seem to think that Lelandi is Larissa, her sister, and vice versa. When someone tries to kill Lelandi the Silver Pack guard her - but they may not be able to keep her safe from elements within the Pack. Who killed Larissa? Who was her secret lover? Can Lelandi be kept safe from her family? Can she really work something out with Darien?

This book had quite a developed plot which was interesting and went in several directions. The identity of the villain was clear to me before the end but it was interesting to see how he was unveiled. The world of the lupus garou is one of violence and summary justice and a surprising number of people died before the book was finished. The pacing was fairly good although I felt all the confrontations between villains and heroes seemed over unexpectedly quickly. What this book lacked was characterisation; there was a large cast of people in the story but I didn't feel I got to know any of them. The romance between Darien and Lelandi was perfunctory (they were fated mates so once they met, that was it) but Lelandi's interactions with her mate and the rest of the pack felt unexplored. The only truly interesting character was a human nurse who hung around and the opportunity for more interest in the character of the PI, as well as Lelandi's family, wasn't explored. This was a good read but the lack of characterisation meant that none of the characters were truly memorable.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

This is a great series. I can not wait until the next book. The book is entertaining as well as all of Terry Spears books. There is action, drama, humor, and a murderer just waiting to be caught. The story line is smooth and keeps you guessing. The mystery portion sends you in the wrong direction so you do not really get who it is until almost the end. This is the portrait of a true mystery novelist. Read the series and enjoy. You'll be glad you did!

This is a memerizing series this is my second book. I downloaded "Heart of the Wolf" for free and now i'm hooked can't wait to read each story!

Lelandi shows up in Silver Town with one mission in mind: find the bastard who murdered her sister and avenge her death. What she doesn't anticipate is that her sister had been living under Lelandi's name and got herself in over her head so far she could have never got out on her own. Still grieving, Larissa's mate, Darien Silver, doesn't expect to find his mate's identical sister snooping around his pack's home. When someone tries to kill Lelandi to keep her from discovering the truth the hunt is on.

In spite of his grief, Darien can't help but be drawn to Lelandi. When Larissa came along he thought she was the female he had dream-mated with but now he knows that cannot be true. Lelandi is his true mate and he will protect her from both his gray lupus garou pack and the reds who claim she belongs to them. With enemies on all sides and a killer in their midst Darien and Lelandi have to solve the mystery of her sister's murder before they can have any future together.

Yay! I wasn't all that impressed with Heart of the Wolf, Spear's previous release about lupus garou. But Destiny of the Wolf definitely delivered a much stronger plot which kept me interested and guessing. The web of deceit and danger was a little overcomplicated but I felt that was excusable considering it entertained even when it felt a bit overdone.

The wolf pack dynamics introduced in her previous release are further explored in this one. While I do like that the author has attempted to make them like real wolves in most aspects, I feel a little bit disappointed that she works so hard against giving them any truly human sympathies and tendencies. It might work for some readers but I like a shapeshifter to be a little human and a little animal blended together. There's no struggle really presented between their natures and for me as a reader that's always an enjoyable part of the man/beast mythos.

The romance between Lelandi and Darien was... not my favorite coupling. As stand-alone characters I did like both. Darien felt a little under developed personality wise and I thought he could have been a bit more alpha where Lelandi was concerned but he was a likable hero none-the-less. Lelandi was almost more alpha than her mate and her spunky determination was quite infectious. I will comment that I personally don't really care for how Spear writes her love scenes after having read two of her books but I think any reader looking for something different (ie. making love on a table messy with pie fixings) will get a kick out of her location choices.

Overall, this was a really entertaining book with a lot packed into it. Fans of shapeshifter romances with a who-dun-it mystery to keep the plot going are sure to be pleased. Enjoy!

Book 2 of Terry Spear's werewolf series. Book 1 Heart of the Wolf. Followed by To Tempt the Wolf. Terry Spear's Wolf Bundle contains Books 1 to 3 (e-version available).

Plot:
Lelandi wants to find out what happened to her sister. She doesn't expect to find her Dream Mate amongst killers and blackmailers. Can Darien convince Lelandi he wants her by his side forever?

Comments:
- Contemporary paranormal spicy romance with a strong plot and some explicit sex scenes.
- Approx 7000 kindle locations, 106,500 words
- m/f - loving, generous. Reasonably frequent but fairly mild.
- My review is based on the e-version in "Terry Spears Wolf Bundle". (It was cheaper to buy all three *grin*).
- While each book happily stands alone, there are references to the stories and characters of other books. Characters we have met before, and who will get their stories told down the track, colour the story and give our World added depth.

Opinion:
There's a lot of paranormal fiction out there. Some excellent, some an excuse for erotica since wolves obviously do it *all* the time, and others simply tack on the paranormal aspects to sell within the genre. Spear gives us Good, Solid paranormal fiction. If we remove the shifting aspects, we are left with an interesting mystery plot of blackmailing his lover (her sister) and getting rid of the evidence/witnesses. And it's a well written, well developed, plot. But this is paranormal. Our characters wolfiness colours who they are, how they interact, how they live together. It is integral to the plot. The paranormal isn't just an addendum. It is who they are. And it takes an otherwise enjoyable mystery plot up a level to a recommended read. A Good Book and A Good Series.

Aside:
In "Destiny of the Wolf" Spear introduces quite a few characters who will get their stories told down the track.
- We meet Carol Wood, wannbe nurse. Carol's story is told in Book 6 Wolf Fever.
- Some references are made to "Julia Wildthorn", paranormal romance writer. Her story is told in Book 7 Heart of the Highland Wolf.
- We meet Chester McKinley PI. He reappears in Book 6.
- Jake's story is told in Book 8 Dreaming of the Wolf.
- Leidolf finally meets his mate in Book 5 Seduced by the Wolf.

-CR-