DESTINY OF THE WOLF by Terry Spear

DESTINY OF THE WOLF
by
Terry Spear

Sourcebooks Casablanca
Paperback
2009

Lady Mischief was waiting in a friend's car and wonder upon wonder her eyes fell upon a pile of new books. Oh, the joy that filled the Lady's heart!

She immediately slid her own book back into her shoulder bag and started to peruse the treasure awaiting her. One of the books was a werewolf book by Terry Spear and Lady enjoyed the small bit she was able to ingest before her friend came back to the vehicle and cruelly ripped the book from the Lady's hands.

The friend was adamant about not giving the new book back to the Lady until after she, herself had read it, but she did give Lady Mischief a prior werewolf book by the same author.

Lady was overjoyed because until this time she had not read anything by Terry Spear and what she had read in the car had whetted her appetite.

Terry Spear has a wonderful voice and DESTINY OF THE WOLF had a lot of potential. However, it did not live up to its potential.

Lady Mischief is going to break one of her cardinal rules and actually use some points from the book, which may prove to be spoilers, to explain the problems this story has.

1.) There is too much going on.
a.) It is confusing.
b.) There are too many villains.
c.) None of the many story threads receive the attention they deserve.

2.) The Heroine is a flip-flopper
a.) She says she is alpha but acts like a dumb (really DUMB) beta.

3.) Point of View
a.) Head jumping. It changes multiple times per scene.
b.) Confusing.

4.) Brother of Heroine
a.) Abandoned the family, especially the sisters to abusive men
b.) Then he rolls into town and is pissed that she didn't ask his permission to
mate with her love.
c.) He didn't even know where she was.
d.) He rescued his parents and not her. Leaving her alone and vulnerable.

5.) Sister of Heroine
a.) Had two mates plus a lover. (Makes it difficult to care about her.)
b.) Knew the Hero was really the one meant as her sister's true mate and she
stole him for herself anyway, and then cheated on him.
c.) She was weak and STUPID!
d.) She ran away from her abuser knowing her sister who had tried to save her
had been knocked unconscious. She left her to be beaten and possibly

raped, definitely abused.
e.) When she found a good man, she lied to him, stole from him, kept him

from his true mate, and left him for another abusive male.
f.) She even stole her sister's name.

And yet her sister and the hero still remember her kindly.

The bitch (since she was a female werewolf the term is appropriate) was willing to keep her sister from ever having any happiness. She does not deserve any forgiveness. At least not immediately. Maybe someday, but not right away. She almost cost too many people their lives, and she was not worth it.

This book is reluctantly rated:

Two (2)

Yours forever between the covers of a book,
Lady Mischief

The Vampire's Quest by Vivi Anna

THE VAMPIRE'S QUEST

(The Valorian Chronicles)

by
Vivi Anna
Harlequin Nocturne
April 2009

Vampire criminologist Kellen Falcon has left his job and traveled to Europe with the hope of meeting a doctor who can cure the strange disease that is killing him.

Before he can meet with the doctor a bomb blows the doctor to bits.

Sophie St. Clair is a beautiful werewolf working on tracking down evidence of the bomber. Kellen insists on working with her since it is his specialty. Not to mention he is hot for her.

This book is part of an ongoing series. Lady Mischief has not yet read any other books in the series, but this book stood very nicely on its own. Lady Mischief does plan to dig through the piles in the book room and find the other books. Vivi Anna's world is too enticing not to visit again.

This book is the perfect balance between emotions, suspense, and sensuality.

This book rates a solid:

Yours forever between the covers of a book,
Lady Mischief

The Vampire's Bride by Gena Showalter

The Vampire's Bride

by Gena Showalter
Publisher: Harlequin
Release: March 2009
Contemporary Paranormal Romance

Layel, the King of the Vampires, has been a tortured soul with a heavy revenge-on for the Dragons which has lasted for centuries.

Delileh is a feisty Amazon. Unlike her sisters who kidnap men and hold them as sex slaves in order to procreate, Delileh wants True Love.

They are both battling the Dragons when suddenly they are pulled away to another place. Without their friends and without their weapons.

What could have happened?

The Greek Gods, after thousands of years of neglect, have finally remembered the creatures they left on Atlantis. They had had their fun toying with the humans, but now The Gods are bored and each one wants exclusive rights to these new toys. But what God or Goddess will be the lucky one? Who is to decide?

They decide to hold a contest! A way to decide and be amused. What more could a God ask for?

They take two of each creature living on Atlantis (vampire, amazon, dragon, etc.) and place them on an island where they must compete Survivor style. The last creature still living will be the one whose God will win.

Or will they?

There are strong secondary characters and subplots. They are strong, but never overshadow the Hero, Heroine, or the love story.

Uh-huh! I'm not telling. You have to read it to find out. This is a great book to take to the beach or the lake.

Good book. Fun read. Some really deep issues are alluded to that are sure to crop up in future books.

This book rates a solid:

Yours forever between the covers of a book,

Lady Mischief

Fury Calls by Caridad Pineiro

Fury Calls

The Calling
by Caridad Pineiro

Silhouette Nocturne
March 2009
Contemporary Paranormal Romance

Blake Richards led a hard life as a poor Welsh coal miner. Existence as a vampire wasn't much easier and it was a lot lonelier.

Former all American College Girl, Meghan Thomas really hated Blake for what he had done to her. First he turned her on and then he turned her.

Blake couldn't stay away from her. Her warmth drew him. She was the answer to his soul's question and she may not want to admit it, but she needed him as much as he needed her.

These are two of the most likable characters to have appeared in a Nocturne, yet. But, they have to travel through hell before they can even think about sharing time together.

Lady Mischief is going to issue a warning here. I try very hard not to throw any spoilers into my reviews, but sometimes there are things that readers need to be prepared for. If it is something they will not be comfortable with they must be made aware, then they will be able to make an informed decision. They can either skip over the offensive part or just not read the book at all. Otherwise it could cause a perfectly good book to become a wallbanger and an excellent author to be placed on the do-not-read list.

Anyway, that's my rationalization for revealing this "oh, oh". There are a few scenes where Blake is remembering his childhood and how he had to go to the nasty old wealthy man's house and do vile things with him in order to obtain money for food for his family. That is until he was old enough to go down in the mines and do a man's work even though he was still a child. This is horrible, but real. Children have been forced to endure treatment like this throughout the history of the world, and unfortunately they still are. It's not pretty and not what we are use to finding in a romance book, but since Sherrilyn Kenyon tortured the young "Acheron" it is appearing in more books.

The second "oh, oh" is about male-on-male rape. I know this has become a rather popular plot devise used in books such as Angela Knight's "Jane's Warlord". But in "Jane's Warlord" we are told that it happened and we do not have to live through the experience. The way it is used in "Fury Calls" makes it a crucial part of the story, not just added for prurient interest or for shock value, neither is it done to a main character. But it is done and we get to read all about it. More than once.

In a Silhouette book.

I buy all the Nocturnes (all two of them) when they are on my local store shelves every month. I don't bother to see who the author is or what the book is about until I get home. I like Nocturnes and I want to make sure they do not go the way of the Dodo, Silhouette Shadows, or Silhouette Bombshells. I would have bought this book even if I had read the back of it. The story is wonderful and part of a series with continuing characters.

Caridad Pineiro is a delightful writer. She wrote a story with bold material. She pushed the envelope that Harlequin/Silhouette usually doesn't want to soil it's lily white gloves on. She created a book which the reader will not soon forget.

In spite of any potential controversy over the man-on-man action there are two very vulnerable, very likable characters that have a need to either find a way to be together or to vacate one another's life. Permanently.

This is an emotionally appealing story and rates:

Four (4) ice treats,

Yours forever between the covers of a book,

Lady Mischief