Friday, September 6, 2013

Of Women and Wolves : Lydia Dare Book Review

When you get tired of the straight laced romance, checking out supposed romances  featuring non humans in the form of vampires, werewolves, witches and other supernatural presences seem to be a good way of  adding variety to the usual book reads.
Of all these other worldly creatures, there is something so very wild and exotic about romances between humans and werewolves.Maybe that's why there is a lot of  stuff written featuring maidens and werewolves.I have just read two books by the author Lydia Dare and must honestly admit that I have been hooked.I  have been searching high and low to get my hands on other books by the author.
Here, I add my book review of  Lydia Dare's Regency series The Wolf Next Door and Tall, Dark and Wolfish.I hope that you would enjoy Lydia Dare as I have.

Tall, Dark and Wolfish : This is the second of the Regency Westfield Trilogy.However, its the first book that I read.This book can be read by itself, though the previous book could have given a short insight into the Westfield Family.The characters introduced in this book, however can be related in Dare's other werewolf series as well.
Now to the exciting part, what I found rather surprising about the series is the novel way in which Ben's plight is presented.While I've seen some films and even some other books where accepting the werewolf side is part of the struggle.This is one series where Ben, the third of the Lycan Westfield brothers suffers because of his inability to turn into a werewolf  on full moon.Its a part of him, which he has fully embraced and the pain of losing it, even though its the wild side he needs to constantly rein in, is so beautifully portrayed by the author.
 Ben actually goes to a healer - Elspeth Campbell, who is actually part of a coven of witches to help him find his lost werewolf side.Now the various characters portrayed in the coven have different powers and some of them actually even feature in the future series as a main character themselves.There is a seer, who has visions of the future and the coven members operate to make sure that the coven is intact.

There is love of course - because a paranormal romance would hardly be complete without it.But its love set in times where love itself is not the first priority.Its something which slowly develops among  various other things, and in the midst of the characters finding themselves.One of the other brother Will is portrayed in this book and there is also mention of the neighbor Prisca - both of whom feature in the third of the series.
Overall, it was a good book, with equal footing given to events as well as emotions.It made me want to know what happened to the other characters and thats how I got to reading the other book.


The Wolf Next Door  
: When its a story featuring the friendly neighborhood wolf Will and Prisca Hawthorne pointing daggers at each others' throat, its sure to be loads of fun following all the bickering and yelling.There is so much love between these two that they can hardly be in a room without baiting each other and putting everyone else through hell.However, bring in scheming brothers who have supposedly hatched up a plan bent on sending their sister straight to the one man, she's always had a soft spot on, you have all the ingredients for a hilarious romance right under your nose.That it features a certain charming werewolf  who has tried everything within his reach  from women, wine and  game to forget the love of his life, certainly does not hurt in the least.

Now to the workings of the plot, though you get the urge to tell Prisca and Will  to " Get On With It, Guys", the way the workings of Prisca's family is portrayed, is sure to make you laugh out loud.Amidst all this, it is vital, that I also mention Dashiel Thorpe, who features for a short time as a house guest and plays an important role nevertheless.Its all because of this dangerous gentleman that the ball finally gets moving in the right direction.
The other two brothers Simon and Ben are featured here as well, with their lovely wives even.if you've not read any of the other books in the series, this book will surely turn out as a standalone, even on its on.

Since reading these two books, I've been searching high and low for other books of this author.I would surely love to know Dashiel's story as well.It's interesting because by the end of this story, Dashiel seems to be smitten by a certain witch who featured predominantly in Ben's story, as part of the coven.

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