Dreaming of the Wolf by Terry Spear (Heart of the Wolf #8)
December 1, 2011
Paranormal Romance
Sourcebooks

Reviewed by Helyce

Jake Silver is a werewolf from Silvertown. He has traveled from his home to Breckenridge, Colorado to deliver some of his wildlife photographs to a gallery there. When he arrives to find the gallery closed, he looks around trying to decide what to do until the owner returns. He notices a woman across the way as she photographs the license plate of a black Mercedes. He becomes intrigued as he watches her. She’s dressed in a business suit and he assumes she’s working undercover. When she enters the restaurant the Mercedes is parked in front of, he decides to follow, his curiosity piqued.

Alicia Greiston is a bounty hunter, though you’d never believe it by looking at her. Until now, most of her jobs have involved bringing in women. That is until her mother was killed by Danny Massaro. She begged her boss to let her take on the job of bringing him in along with Mario Constantino who ordered the hit. That is how Alicia finds herself in Breckenridge, following a lead that Mario and possibly Danny, are in town.

When Jake enters the restaurant, he doesn’t see the woman, but sits down anyway to order some food. Shortly thereafter, she appears and sits in a booth across the way. He notices that she’s observing two men who are at another table. When a rather large, thug-like man approaches her and tries to manhandle her out of the restaurant, all Jake’s predatory and protective instincts flare to life and he immediately walks over to her, striking up a conversation like they know each other well, in effect, coming to her rescue. They continue to talk, each of them drawn to the other physically and emotionally. They agree to meet up later for lunch.

Jake had no idea what he was getting into when he followed Alicia into that restaurant. When he pieces together Alicia’s story and learns that Alicia’s mother was murdered by the mob he knows that she’s in over her head and he’s not exactly sure what to do about it. All he knows is that he’s never felt this way about any woman, especially a human one. Their connection is more than just a physical one and he’s even more convinced of it after they make love the first time. They agree to meet up again later and Jake heads out to take care of business at the gallery.

Unfortunately, when Jake returns to Alicia’s hotel he finds that she’s left without a word. When he checks out her room, he finds a note that threatens him if Alicia doesn’t back off. With no way of getting in touch with Alicia, Jake reluctantly returns to Silvertown.

Weeks pass before Jake receives a call from the gallery owner. It seems that Alicia had been in the gallery, claiming that she was pregnant and needed to contact him. Jake is floored when he hears this as it’s impossible for a werewolf to impregnate a human. Knowing that Alicia is probably in trouble, he heads out with his brother Tom and the local sheriff to try and find her.

When they finally do, Jake is shocked to find Alicia in wolf form. He’s sure that she was human when he first met her. What happened in the weeks they were apart? Regardless, Jake’s protective instincts take over and all he knows is that he needs to take care of Alicia, who he now believes is his mate. But the mob is still after her and soon she’ll realize that there is more to the murder of her mother than she first thought. Lifelong secrets will be revealed, some very unexpected.

I have followed this series and have been impatiently waiting to return to Silvertown since Ms. Spear first introduced the Silver brothers in book two, Destiny of the Wolf.

I thoroughly enjoyed how Ms. Spear presented the pack dynamics in the town run by wolves and was so looking forward to more; specifically Jake and Tom’s stories. It is clear that this author does a lot of research as she incorporates true wolf facts into her stories. So, I had high expectations for Jake’s story.

Unfortunately, there were things that just didn’t work for me. When Jake and Alicia first meet it’s clear that their attraction is more than just physical. Jake is drawn to Alicia, even though he knows she is human and he can’t take her for a mate. He doesn’t understand his need to protect her, but he doesn’t fight it, in fact he gives into it. When he realizes the danger she is in, he wants to drop everything to help her, and he would have, but she skips out on him and he has no way of finding her.

I was fine with the direction the story seemed to be going until the following happened:

When Jake and Alicia finally find their way back to each other, she gets some answers but also finds herself in trouble. A witness can place her at the scene of a murder and she has a lot of explaining to do-difficult now that she has a secret that she must keep. When Mario decides to come for Alicia himself, he has no clue what he’s walking into when he goes to Silvertown. Jake and his pack make quick work of Mario and his partners. Everything seems to get wrapped up nice and tidy and much too easily.

I did enjoy visiting Silvertown and revisiting Darien and Lelandi and the other townsfolk there. I enjoyed getting to know Jake a little better, though I truly do not think his character was fully explored herein. I even liked Alicia for the most part; I just couldn’t buy certain parts of this story even though in the end I had a better understanding of why the author had chosen to handle certain things that way. I’m not ready to quit this series, as I’m still interested in seeing who Miss Spear has chosen for Tom Silver, but in comparison to previous books in this series, this one didn’t do it for me.

Rating: C-

Recent Reviews:
Romancing the Darkside – 4/5
Goodreads

Author’s Website l Series Listing

Amazon l Nook l Sony