Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Review: Dreaming of the Wolf

DREAMING OF THE WOLF
Heart of the Wolf #8
Terry Spear
Adult Paranormal Romance
Sourcebooks
Available Now
Received from author for review

THE STORY (from Amazon)

A FIERCE HUNTER...

Alicia Greiston is a no-nonsense bounty hunter determined to bring a ring of mobsters to justice. Her dogged pursuit of the crime family has forced her to avoid relationships— any man would only become a target for retribution. Luckily, Jake Silver is more than a man, and his instincts are telling him to stop at nothing to protect her.

AN ANIMAL PASSION...

However, the mob isn't entirely human either, and soon Alicia must flee for her life. When Alicia and Jake's passion begins to spill over into their dreams, Jake learns he will have to do more than defend her— he'll have to show his mate the way of the wolf.

MY THOUGHTS
Though Dreaming of the Wolf is the eighth book in Terry Spear’s werewolf series, the romance between Jake and Alicia does stand on its own, introducing those of us who haven’t read the previous books to the world as Alicia finds herself drawn deeper in, and we are able to latch on to the comforting familiarity of sexual tension and desire to keep us grounded. The relationship between our hero and heroine progresses physically with surprising rapidity however, and despite our ability to recognize that instant physical attraction is more than possible, the speed with which the two of them moves denies us the chance to know them individually before we see them as a romantic pair. As a result, Jake and Alicia never quite fully take shape for us as readers, existing more in words and phrases than in crystal clear mental images and memorable emotional cords.

Alicia is a woman who creates a myriad of conflicting feelings, her determination to see the men who killed her mother behind bars admirable and her ability to take what’s thrown at her in stride a trait we can’t help but appreciate, but at the same time her nonchalance with regard to some fairly alarming situations is also a bit troublesome. At one point she is knocked unconscious and abducted, awaking to find herself naked in a strange bedroom knowing there was a man with whom she was vaguely familiar there at some point, and it takes her quite a long time to get to the place where she questions whether or not she could have been raped. Even when she recognizes the possibility of such an intimate violation, she really doesn’t seem all that bothered by it, instead moving on to the other, presumably bigger, problems in her life with what appears to be ease. Everyone of course reacts to traumatic events differently, but Alicia shows so little emotion throughout the entire story that it’s difficult to feel a connection to the problems and events taking place in her life.

Jake is much the same as Alicia in terms of exhibiting any sort of range of feeling outside possessiveness and lust/love, and so we read this story with a more superficial appreciation for a paranormal romance rather than a deep and meaningful reaction to our protagonists. Ms. Spear does create an intriguing family history for Alicia, and the cast of secondary characters–particularly Jake’s brother Tom–add a bit of personality that seems to be missing from both the hero and heroine, so while this particular romance may not have blown us away, there is plenty to indicate that some of the other installments may do just that. I look forward to going back and reading a few of the earlier stories, hoping all the while that maybe a story for Tom may be on it’s way at some point.

Rating: 3/5

16 comments:

  1. I just skimmed your review since I'm not familiar with the series, but I wanted to welcome you back to blogging! Nice to have a few days off, but it's always good to have your old familiar friends around.

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  2. Ok enough it seems, but I do want the couple to have personalities, I sure do not wanna feel like they are lacking something

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  3. Alison - I haven't read any of this series either, each book stands alone for the most part:) Thanks for the welcome back, it was nice to have a few days off but I missed talking to everyone:)

    Blodeuedd - I couldn't really connect to either of them, they didn't feel like I could reach out and touch them and that's always what I'm looking for when I read:)

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  4. Hmm..seems like a transitional/filler story for this series. I don't mind the usual insta-love in Adult PRN but I would like to actually know the characters as their relationship grows. Maybe the author thought the characters came their own in the previous books? Just wondering.

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  5. I have the first one in this series--some people love them others think they are bleh. I am just on the fence on whether to start it LOL

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  6. Thanks for taking the time to read the book!

    Hope you all have the best of New Years!

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  7. You know, I read the first two books in this series but then I gave up. I am glad I am not missing much since it seems like this is your average paranormal romance. I wish they weren't all so formulaic! Thanks for the review, Jenny! Also, glad to see you back from the holiday! Did Holly get adopted???

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  8. Hmmm... I've never even heard of this series! But sometimes a primal paranormal lust based relationship is totally what I want to read after so many deep, meaningful ones!!!! Lol

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  9. The eighth in the series, really? Huh--haven't heard of it until now. ('Course, I've been buried in YA until just recently!) And, while it sounds interesting, I like more of a connection with my characters, something more than just a surface one.

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  10. Rummanah - I'm not sure how much Jake was in previous books, I'm sure he was since his brother was a fairly big player and was already mated, so I'm assuming his story came earlier. I think Alicia was new though, and I just didn't quite get attached to her.

    Felicia - I'm curious about the earlier books, I think I'd like to try them to see what I think:)

    Terry - Of course! Thank you again for sending it to me:)

    Bailey - Interesting, I'm curious about the first books:) This one didn't blow me away, so I was hoping the others richer characters.

    Ashley - So true:) I don't mind a lusty relationship right off the bat as long as it develops into something more as we go, but this one didn't seem to do that, at least not for me:)

    Mary - I've been all YA all the time lately too, this was a nice break even it it didn't knock my socks off. I love that character connection too, it's my favorite part:)

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  11. Hmmm, I 'm loving the wolf idea, but not sure if I would read this. I do need an adult read soon, I'll keep this book in mind.

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  12. Oh, interesting! 8th book? Where have I've been to never have heard of it? *hangs head* I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope that a story about Tom will be published for you! ;) I might have to check this one out! :) Great review.

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  13. I haven't read this series, or heard much about it, but the cover doesn't really catch my eye. I like to get to know the characters a bit before a romance starts and some sexual tension thrown in for a bit before helps too. Sorry that it let you down a bit!

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  14. Savy - I liked the wolf aspect too, enough that I'm interested in reading the other books even if this hero/heroine combination didn't as well as I'd hoped:)

    Rebecca - This was a new series to me too! I like that I was able to start in the middle and not feel lost or out of the loop:) I'm hoping for Tom soon *fingers crossed*

    Candace - I like to know the characters a bit before the romance too, I'm all about sexual tension. It's a favorite element of mine:)

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  15. I like how you implied that this was basically a paranormal romance to read simply for pleasure and not deep characterization or story lines. I can appreciate that kind of book! Great review!

    Heather

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