A Highland Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear Series: Heart of the Wolf #15
Published by Sourcebooks, Sourcebooks Casablanca on October 7, 2014
Genres: Highlander Romance, PNR, Romance
Pages: 320
Format: eBook
Source: Advance Reader Copy, NetGalley
Goodreads
Financial advisor Guthrie MacNeill isn’t a complete Scrooge—he just hates the enormous cost associated with the Christmas holiday season. Needless to say, when his pack hires a party planner to decorate the castle, he’s at his wit’s end. Until Calla Stewart arrives on the scene with her mistletoe in hand.
Calla has never had a client as difficult as Guthrie, but she’s determined to give the pack a Christmas season they will never forget—no matter how much it costs. But when her ex-fiancé begins stalking her and threatening her safety, Guthrie decides to loosen his grip on the purse strings and let out his inner Highland warrior wolf to protect her.
This started out promising, almost as a suspenseful stalker ex trope (which I love), but even though that was indeed used throughout, it was such a light story that I feel the stalker ex was just added here and there when it was convenient. I mean, he was always in the background, but he only showed up when the plot needed forwarding, and when he did show up, he was all bluster until the very end.
I liked the hero/heroine and their romance.
Apparently at least one of the characters has to drive off into a ditch at least once per storm.
Everyone ends in a ditch. Not saying I don’t believe Scotland weather is that treacherous, because it can be, but this is a bit much.
I hated the whole wolves don’t have sex with other wolves unless they’re mating, because wolves mate forever. So what, either we have centuries old virgins, or they’re allowed to have sex with all the humans, but if they’re courting each other, no sexytimes unless mated? Neither one of those seems realistic? (yes, I know it’s a fictional world where I’m accepting werewolves as real, but you’re telling me that they live hundreds of years with only dry humping like awkward teenagers to satisfy their needs? Really?).
I realize that this is a series, a long-standing series at that, seeing as this is book #15. In fact I have some of Ms. Spear’s earlier books, but I don’t think you need to have read all of them, which is really nice. You see many of the previous couples but it’s not confusing and there’s no re-hashing of their stories.
This is a lighter read, but it should have stayed light. Either make it a romantic suspense, or make it a lighter Christmas read. I didn’t like it trying to be both.
That being said, the story did have some things going for it that I enjoyed. I liked seeing the interaction with so many characters, not just the hero and heroine and side characters when convenient. I liked the author’s sense of humor and the way she writes her characters. I loved the sense of Scotland that you get while you read. Ms. Spear really has a talent for bringing out the beauty of Scotland and showing it to the reader, instantly transporting you there.
I do think that if you’re for a paranormal romance with alpha wolves and stalker exes, this won’t necessarily satisfy you. It’s basically a contemporary romance where the characters turn into wolves sometimes.
But if you prefer your paranormal on the lighter side, where it isn’t an all-encompassing world, then this might be for you.
***ARC courtesy of Sourcebooks Casablanca
