Tuesday, June 8, 2010

ARC Review: The Wolf Next Door

The Wolf Next Door
Lydia Dare
Historical Paranormal Romance/1816

Werewolf series/Book 3
Sourcebooks/June 2010
ARC from publisher

From the author's website ~

They can't even be in the same room together...

Ever since a disastrous encounter on a full moon years ago, Prisca Hawthorne has taunted, insulted, and in every way tried to push him away. If only her heart didn't break every time Lord William Westfield left her...

But staying apart is even worse...

Lord William throws himself into drinking, gambling, and debauchery and pretends not to care about Prisca at all. But when he returns to find a rival werewolf threatening her, he just about goes berserk...

Can Prisca forgive the unforgivable, or are the mooncrossed lovers going to be forced into a battle of wills that could be fatal...?

Ah, William's book. I've been interested in William since he first showed up in A Certain Wolfish Charm (book 1). He's the rake of the family with a wicked, humorous side that I found so very appealing. He's also crazy in love with his next door neighbor. They have a rocky history full of immaturity and misunderstandings that has played a role in keeping them apart. With William trying to keep his distance and Prisca baiting him at every turn, you wouldn't think they would get a second chance at love.

But there's nothing like a rival to make a man sit up and take notice. That's what happens to Will when he finds another man sniffing around Prisca. He gets all alpha over the new guy on the block and lets it be known that if anyone is going to marry Prisca, it will be him. Unfortunately for William, the new guy doesn't back down which makes for lots of tension. Prisca's brothers also get involved since they have decided she needs to marry. They start scheming towards that end. Prisca decides to use all of this new attention to her advantage by, yep, making Will jealous.

Prisca might be considered spoiled by some readers and I can understand that perception. She's the youngest and only female in a family of men who are not always sure how to deal with Prisca and her antics. But they love her dearly and try to make her happy. She's not at all quiet or demure, but rather outspoken for a woman of her time. Her brothers are such a diverse group of men that I can certainly see some spin-off books down the road. I liked how they had similar viewpoints of their sister but different ideas of how to get Prisca to the alter.

There is also Will's family and they have their own ideas about Will and Prisca. Will's mother, who is ill, adores Prisca and treats her as the daughter she never had. Prisca gets along well with Ben, Will's youngest brother, but the duke is another story. Prisca enjoys irritating Simon, Will's eldest brother and Duke of Blackmoor, who is the pack alpha. We get to see Simon and Lily and Ben and Elspeth, the heroes and heroines from the first two books. I liked catching up with them and seeing how their relationships are progressing. They are skeptical when it come to Prisca but keep an open mind about her and Will, except for Simon. He doesn't like her.

The banter between Will and Prisca was wonderful. You could tell it had become a time honored tradition for them to dispense with politeness and get down to teasing and sometimes sharp remarks. Sometimes they said things that were hurtful towards the other which only showed the pain each of them felt because of their past history. I liked the way they had to work towards looking beyond their past and start to trust the each other with their secret desires and needs.

Once again, the writing team of Lydia Dare (Tammy Falkner and Jodie Pearson) have written a unique paranormal historical romance that left me wanting more. Luckily, they have another book coming out this fall. The Taming of the Wolf is the four book in the series and scheduled for release this November.

Rating: B+

Reviews for first two books ~

A Certain Wolfish Charm
Tall, Dark and Wolfish

8 comments:

  1. Loved your review!!! I have heard some great things about this book, and I really want to get to it and read it and see what all the fuss is about lol

    Happy Reading

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  2. Luckily I have this one!! I got this one and A Certain Wolfish Charm at the same time and even as I'm reading ACWC, I'm looking forward to reading about William and Prisca.

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  3. LoR ~ It's a fun series, originally a trilogy but it looks like there will be more. :)

    Kristie ~ Doesn't Will practically demand your attention? He's hard to resist!

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  4. I did like this one, but I wanted *more*. Especially since Will so intirgued me right from book #1.
    It felt like there was a lot of back-and-forth stalling between Prisca and Will. I think at least 6 times Will said to her "let's sit down and talk about my previous rakish behavior" and then something would come up and they'd have to put the convo on hold. Grrr. It happed repeatedly!

    I *liked* this book, I didn't love it like her others. Maybe my expectations for Will were too high?

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  5. Danielle ~ I was expecting Will & Prisca's story to be my favorite but I liked Ben & El's better. Like you, I liked Will & Prisca story but didn't love it. Ben & El's was my favorite of the three.

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  6. Sounds like you really enjoyed this book, Leslie, and that this trilogy has been a winner with you all around ;)

    Hmmm, I might need to go looking for it now LOL.

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  7. I keep seeing this series everywhere it seems. I actually really like historical paranormals, so I don't know why it didn't captured my immediate attention? Weird. I'll have to give the first book a go and see how I like it. I'm glad to see you're really enjoying it at book 3! :)

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  8. Nath ~ The trilogy was a solid read and I’m happy there’s more on the way. :)

    Christine ~ I hope you like it. :) Book 1 was was my least favorite of the three, but it did leave me wanting Ben and Will’s stories.

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