Review courtesy of
All Thngs Urban Fantasy.
As if living with precognitive abilities in an unbelieving world wasn't hard enough, Carol Woods now has to adapt to being a newly-turned werewolf. Even worse, her new pack doesn't trust her ability to stay in control (and stay hidden), so Carol must choose a mate or remain under the pack-leaders’ supervision. Females are rare, and she quickly goes from feeling like a wallflower to having all the attention she can handle.
As an adult turned werewolf, Carol has a lot to learn about the wolves' customs and culture. This was both interesting and useful to read, as WOLF FEVER was the first book I read in the
Heart of the Wolf series. Learning alongside Carol, I soon realized that this was no overwrought “forced to marry” situation. The pack was more like a huge family eager to match-make. Enthusiastic, sometimes embarrassing, but always with their heart in the right place. Spear was not afraid to take risks with her characters, and gave Carol the luxury of more than one attractive candidate to consider.
Of course, it does not take long for Carol to identify her hero. To me, Chester “I go by Ryan” McKinley wasn’t as interesting a character as Carol, but I appreciated the humor of a werewolf that doesn't believe in psychics. Also, in Spear's mythology, werewolves are bonded for life once they have sex with another wolf. This makes for great sexual tension (and a lot of heavy petting). It was refreshing to read a paranormal romance where the characters can’t fall into bed with each other right away.
There are many components that come together to make a good book, and WOLF FEVER made a strong showing in most of them. The closed world of the Silver Town wolves was of practical interest (how does an entire paranormal sub-culture survive unnoticed in the modern world), and the plot of this particular book was intriguing as well. However, the flow of the writing itself was hit or miss. I didn't want to stop reading, but it did detract from my overall enjoyment of the book in places. Spear did a great job drawing realistic wolf details and behaviors into the fabric her werewolf mythology, and that (combined with the good plot and characters), is enough to bring me back to the Heart of the Wolf series.
Sexual Content: Several scenes of sexuality and heavy petting (no wolf pun intended).