Review of Heart of the Highland Wolf by Terry Spear

HEART OF THE HIGHLAND WOLF BY TERRY SPEAR

Each holds a secret they can’t possibly overcome alone…
Julia Wildthorn is sneaking into Argent Castle to steal an ancient relic, but reluctant laird Ian MacNeill may be the key to unlocking the one answer she really wants discovered…

From brilliant storyteller Terry Spear, modern day werewolves meet the rugged Highlands of Scotland, where instinct meets tradition, and clan loyalties give a whole new meaning to danger…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, Terry Spear has an MBA from Monmouth College. An eclectic writer with a PW Best Book of 2008 (Heart of the Wolf), she writes paranormal romance as well as historical and true life stories for both teen and adult audiences. Spear lives in Crawford, Texas. For more information, please visit www.terryspear.com

My Review:

Scottish highlands + Werewolves + kilts = OMG awesome!

Set in a Scottish castle in contemporary times Spear seamlessly weaves a bit of history and a whole lot of paranormal werewolf elements into a romance novel peppered with suspense.

I love Spear's werewolf series. The novels always feature a great alpha male and a strong female heroine. This was another great blend of characters that made for a quick and sexy read that I don't want to put down.

Julia and Ian are a great pair with a sizzling attraction even though Julia's scheming threatens to throw a wrench into their connection from the get go. But I loved that she's a romance writer and can totally relate to her plotting and thinking about writing all the time (occupational hazard).

Ian...sexy werewolf in a kilt. What else is there to say? Seriously his character is fabulous- strong, true, with a lot of responsibility. He is a honorable man which is so hard to find these days and thus makes him that much more appealing.

Spear definitely delivered another page turning book in her series. Can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Werewolf in a Kilt Guest Blog and Giveaway with Terry Spear

Werewolf in a Kilt

(AKA: Heart of the Highland Wolf)

What makes a Scottish hero so special? He’s protective, a warrior, sexy—I mean, not all guys in kilts look great, but when they do, they look GREAT, and at least as far as I like my men, they have a sense of humor.

So what makes him different if he’s a werewolf? How does the Scottish hero change?

Well, there’s this whole shape-shifting issue going on. A Scottish hero might pull his claymore out to fight his enemy. A werewolf in a kilt might just toss the kilt aside and shift into the wolf so he can fight the enemy clan wolf to wolf.

Although in Heart of the Highland Wolf, there’s quite a bit of swordplay going on, too. It all has to do with male testosterone, and the need to possess and protect. There is also the issue of old time clan grudges, which for werewolves who live long lives, it’s really, really personal.

I think blending the past with the present is a neat way to reconnect with the ways of the Highlanders of old yet still bring them up-to-date in modern society. I enjoyed seeing the Scotsman dressed in kilts while I visited some of the castles in Scotland—those who worked at the castles, and one who was taking pictures of a castle and just a tourist like us. Any of them could have been werewolves in disguise. In truth, they might have been.

Werewolves don’t reveal their true side to just anyone.

The biggest difficulty in making a Scottish werewolf is that wolves were long ago eliminated from Scotland. So whereas in the States where we still have them, or wolf dogs even, they don’t have wolves running wild in Scotland. Which makes it hard on werewolves. They have the same difficulty as werewolves living anywhere. If they get caught, they have to eliminate the future threat to them. But at least if someone saw a wolf running wild, if it was in the States, they could assume it was a real wolf someone had at one time owned. In Scotland? That’s a lot harder to explain.

But since wolves did exist in Scotland in days gone by, and werewolves are legend all over the world, it seemed only right that some Scots have a few secrets of their own.

I found Scotland truly magical when I visited, from the haunted ghostly castles (of which I found none) and the fields of green grass by a river where long-haired cattle grazed, and I heard Celtic music playing on the breeze. I thought how it was like a movie scene with an orchestra playing softly in the background as the viewer observed the scene, not really intruding, but adding to the already special atmosphere. Yet when I approached the fence to take a closer picture of the Highland cows, the music stopped. I was disappointed, but after we finished taking pictures, I excitedly asked my companions what they thought of the music. How neat it was to be serenaded like that.

They heard no music. There had been no music. I didn’t need to find ghosts in a much-sighted ghost-filled castle…just next to a field with a few woolly cows, where there were no homes or people for miles around—to feel the magic of Scotland.

So what do you think? Do you still feel that Highlanders are hero enough just like they are? Or would a Scottish hero be just as hot and sexy if he wore a wolf coat under his kilt?

Terry Spear

http://www.terryspear.com/

http://www.facebook.com/#!/terry.spear

https://twitter.com/#!/TerrySpear

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/tspear

HEART OF THE HIGHLAND WOLF BY TERRY SPEAR – IN STORES JUNE 2011

Each holds a secret they can’t possibly overcome alone…

Julia Wildthorn is sneaking into Argent Castle to steal an ancient relic, but reluctant laird Ian MacNeill may be the key to unlocking the one answer she really wants discovered…

From brilliant storyteller Terry Spear, modern day werewolves meet the rugged Highlands of Scotland, where instinct meets tradition, and clan loyalties give a whole new meaning to danger…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, Terry Spear has an MBA from Monmouth College. An eclectic writer with a PW Best Book of 2008 (Heart of the Wolf), she writes paranormal romance as well as historical and true life stories for both teen and adult audiences. Spear lives in Crawford, Texas. For more information, please visit www.terryspear.com.

Giveaway Time!

Sourcebooks has generously offered to giveaway

2 copies of Heart of the Highland Wolf

2 winners, US and Canada only

To enter leave a comment on this post

Include your email

Winners TBA Next Wednesday

Guest Blog and Giveaway with Terry Spear

This guest author and giveaway is not part of Michigan month at Fang-tastic Books

Lupus in Love The Mating Behavior of Werewolves

First, I just want everyone to know that werewolves normally get to know each other in their human forms before they mix it up much as wolves.

Here is Cassie Roux’s take on the matter:

“She hated believing they [Leidolf Wildhaven’s pack] thought she was fooling around with a lupus garou as a wolf before she’d even made his acquaintance as a human. Not that she intended to see any of these people again, but… still, she did have some pride.” – From Seduced by the Wolf, Terry Spear © 2010

There are social norms, after all, among werewolves.

I was asked in a Portland newspaper interview if I ever “show” my werewolves making out in their wolf forms. No. This is not to say they don’t. But just that I don’t show that part of their nature. Some things are just more private than others.

Did you know real wolves sometimes go off to a more secluded spot to get more—frisky? Not always. I did see a case where other wolves were watching. You know only one can have a mate in a pack normally. So all the others get to do is watch.

That’s the good thing about being a werewolf. All can have a mate, if they can find one.
Werewolves can have flings with humans, but when they settle down with a werewolf mate, that’s it. No other woman/man will ever make them stray. They’re devoted to their mate. It’s the wolf part of their psyche. One wolf mate per wolf.

But yes, there was a documented case where a wolf had two wolf mates at the same time. He was a wolf bigamist. But normally, no. One wolf mate per wolf. Of course, there always has to be an exception to the rule.

As far as lupus garous in love, they do the usual: go out on dates—dinners, dancing nice and close, play games—the more physical kind, not board games, and swim, when they can.

In Dreaming of the Wolf (Fall 2011), Jake Silver wanted to take Alicia Greiston to the drive-in for a nice movie date. He’s a wolf, what can I say??? And in Wolf Fever (December 2010), Chester Ryan McKinley offers to have a date at his room at the bed and breakfast while he curls up with Carol Wood to watch a movie. But Darien Silver, her pack leader, gives him a wry, knowing smile and suggests a date at the tavern where he and his pack members can keep an eye on him.

In Seduced by the Wolf (in stores now!), Leidolf’s tack is to play with Cassie as a wolf. And being the kind of guy he is, he lets her pin him down in a sexy kind of werewolf game of wrestling, wolf-style. Now for wolves to bare their throat to another is the ultimate in showing trust.

But the courting is tantamount to prompting the mutual agreement between two werewolves that they will love and cherish each other forever. And since they live a long time, it’s important that they are really compatible. Which means there’s a lot of give and take, like there has to be in any relationship. So when Leidolf wants Cassie to agree to mate him, she sets down some perimeters. With an alpha male, no less! But if he wants her…

Well, that’s what’s fun about falling in love with a lupus garou. Working out the details. Except that sometimes the workout makes the two forget what they were disagreeing about in the first place.

Ahh, such is the life of living as a werewolf. Now, some packs still have a gathering—a coming out of the wolf, just like in days of old for humans, and even in many places in the world still today, where women who are of age are now available in the wedding mart. Wolf Fever has such a gathering because Darien wants Carol Wood to have a mate, but that’s another story. Because they live so long, many of their traditions continue to be honored in the packs.

Unfortunately, Jake’s still looking for a drive-in movie close enough to take Alicia to in Dreaming of the Wolf. And Ian MacNeill of Heart of the Highland Wolf (Spring 2011) gets pretty frisky on a hike through his native countryside with romance werewolf author, Julia Wildthorn. While Leidolf of Seduced by the Wolf, enjoys fishing with Cassie. And well, as you can see, werewolves are just like real people. They all have their own ways to be with the one they love.

Thanks so much for having me here today at Fang-tastic Books!

If you perchance were to meet one of these veritable hunks, what would your kind of date be like?

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to drop by and say hi!

~Terry

SEDUCED BY THE WOLF BY TERRY SPEAR – IN STORES AUGUST 2010

His first priority is to protect his pack…

Werewolf pack leader Leidolf Wildhaven has just taken over a demoralized pack. With rogue wolves on the loose causing havoc and the authorities from the zoo suddenly zeroing in on the local wolf population, the last thing he needs in his territory is a do-gooder female, no matter how beautiful and enticing she is…

She’ll do anything to help wolves…

Biologist Cassie Roux has dedicated her life to protecting wolves in the wild. On a desperate mission to help a she-wolf with newborn pups, the last thing Cassie needs right now is a nosy and entirely too attractive werewolf pack leader trying to track her down…

With rogue wolves and hunters threatening at every turn, Cassie and Leidolf may find their attraction the most dangerous force of all…

About the Author

A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, Terry Spear has an MBA from Monmouth College. An eclectic writer, she dabbles in the paranormal as well as writing historical and true life stories for both teen and adult audiences. Spear lives in Crawford, Texas.

For more information, please visit Terry at these various places on the web:

www.terryspear.com

http://www.wickedlyromantic.blogspot.com /

http://casablancaauthors.blogspot.com/

http://fierceromance.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/terry.spear

http://shapeshifterromance.wordpress.com/

http://terry-spear.blogspot.com/

Now its contest time!!!

Who wants a copy of Seduced by the Wolf

Sourcebooks is offering 2 copies to 2 lucky winners

US and Canada Shipping Only Please

To Enter Just Leave a Comment on This Post, Be Sure To Include You Email Address

You Can Answer Terry's Above Question About A Date with A Werewolf if you wish

Bonus Entry For Being a Fang-tastic Follower

Bonus Entry for being a Twitter Follower

@Roxanne Rhoads

Bonus Entry for Friending Me On Facebook

Winner to Be Announced Next Wednesday

A Review of Seduced by the Wolf

.5
4.5 Fangs for Seduced by the Wolf by Terry Spear

Seduced by the Wolf is probably the Terry Spear's best wolf book so far. S

he knows how to make werewolves sexy and this book is definitely sexy and filled with plenty of action and adventure, along with twists and turns- enough to leave you breathless and wanting more.

I was a little confused at first by the vast assortment of characters introduced into the story in the beginning- Cassie, Leidolf, Aimee, and all the wolves in Leidolf's pack along with Alex the wolf biologist following Cassie, the guy from the zoo and even the wolf mother and her pups.

I was like "wow that's a lot to take in" and I had no idea where everything was going and how all those characters were going to fit into the story- which is a good thing because I hate seeing the end right from the beginning. You know what I mean - when you see all the set ups and immediately know where the book is going to go- I kinda hate that. I like a book to surprise me. And this one did.

Cassie and Leidolf are the two main characters and are fun to read- they are so into each other right from the start but Leidolf has to battle his feelings because he is the alpha and thinks Cassie to be human- His main priority is to his pack which means he needs to mate with a werewolf. Cassie is battling her feelings because of her past and because her first priority is the mother wolf and pups that she wants to protect.

When Cassie and Leidolf finally join forces they still have to combat rogue werewolves, determined zoo keepers, and hunters along with the growing feelings they have for each other. We all know that's a battle they'll lose but what's going to happen with everything else that's stacked up against them?

This fast paced book will suck you in right away. Once I picked it up and started reading I was hooked. I couldn't wait to see how things would fit together and how everything was going to turn out.

Fabulous read.

Review of Legend of the White Wolf by Terry Spear

.5
4.5 Fangs for Legend of the White Wolf

Terry Spear's books just keep getting better and better as her wolf world develops and expands with each new set of characters.

In the fourth installment of her series her characters get more complex and the story has more bite than any other before. It has everything you could hope for in a PNR book: mystery, drama, paranormal elements, sizzling sex and of course...romance. What more could you ask for?

In Legend of the White Wolf her characters don't start out as wolves but get tossed unexpectedly into a fantastic world where men turn into wolves and run wild in the forest.

Cameron and Faith are both strong characters that are fleshed out and fabulous with their strong and somewhat stubborn personalities. The conflict and the heat between them is sizzling.

Will they be strong enough to accept the changes? Can they learn to work together? Will they give in to the feelings they have for each other?

Such a wild read. This fast paced book will keep you turning pages wanting to know what's going to happen and how Cameron and Faith deal with everything that gets tossed their way.

Spear's world of the lupus garou is wild and sexy, shapeshifters at their best. No crazy wolfman monsters running around, no Spear's books are filled with sexy men that turn into actual wolves based on Native American lore.

Definitely a wild and sexy series you'll want more of so you won't be disappointed to learn that two more of her werewolf books will be released later this year: Seduced by the Wolf and Wolf Fever with two other wolf books scheduled for release in 2011- Dreaming of the Wolf and Taming the Highland Wolf

Blurb from Amazon:

In this fourth in Spear's series, Private Eye Cameron MacPherson and Faith O'Mallery are both on quests that lead them into the world of magical wolves…

Cameron arrives in the Canadian Arctic to search for his partners in his P.I. business who are late returning from a hunting trip. Faith is there to discover what her father had seen in the same area years earlier that had made him lose touch with reality—man-wolves, he called them.

The two tumble into an icy world of enemies bent on destroying the lupus garou kind. As they turn into lupus garou themselves, and bond with the pack that only they can rescue from destruction, Cameron and Faith find their soul mates in each other.

Read more reviews and an excerpt here. (Scroll all the way down to get to excerpt.)

Guest Blog with Author Terry Spear and Book Giveaway

The Bite of the Wolf

By Terry Spear

Thanks so much, Roxanne, for having me at Fang-tastic Books today!

From when I was a teen, I was drawn to the dark side of the seductive embrace of the vampire, and have written several vampire romances. But werewolves also had their draw—the man who loved a woman, but had this darker side to him. He shapeshifted during the light of the full moon. Vampires can shapeshift also, and in my books, their preferred form is…the wolf.

So what allure does the wolf have? They have bite, too. :) You know—those killer canines that can end the bad guy’s life. I’m definitely not an advocate of werewolves and vampires running around with guns shooting each other. Leave that to the cop shows or westerns. The teeth are what make the man. :)

And just like the vampire’s bite, a werewolf can make a human one of his kind. In my stories, it runs the gamut of mistakes, to fights, to sexy bites. So yep, the bite is all important in the werewolf world also.

In my vampire stories, they also do a little bit of sword play. An extension of their, ahem, masculinity. And on occasion a werewolf uses silver bullets, but this is just not acceptable.

But why werewolves? Mine, which you can read about in my newest release, To Tempt the Wolf, are not monster-like creatures when they shift, but beautiful wolves who have a human’s conscience. I admit, though, that sometimes that wolfish side takes over when they’re on a hunt. Particularly when the prey is a sexy woman they have their sights set on. And when they’re human, they have their wolf senses, but also wolf instincts. It’s been fun creating a world where so many reviewers comment that the world feels so real, that werewolves could very likely live among us.

Just think, that hunk of a car mechanic who gives you a sexy wink when you’re at your wits end because your car isn’t running, again, could be a werewolf in disguise. Not only does he repair cars, but he cooks meals—steaks a little on the rare side—is protective and possessive, but man, when he makes a commitment, it’s forever.

So if you’re looking for a read a little on the wild side, check out my wolf series and see how a hunk of a werewolf can make for a sizzling hot romantic.

Ready for a giveaway?

Readers have the chance to win- 2 sets of 2 books, that means there will be 2 winners!

Each of the two winners will receive a copy of : Heart of the Wolf and To Tempt the Wolf.

US and Canada addresses only. Just leave a comment answering this question-

What do you think? Can a “wolf” of a man capture your heart?

Thanks again, Roxanne, and to all your readers, good luck with the contest!

You can find me here if you want to join me:

http://www.terryspear.com/
http://twitter.com/TerrySpear
http://www.facebook.com/terry.spear
http://www.myspace.com/terryspear
http://www.terry-spear.blogspot.com/
http://casablancaauthors.blogspot.com/
http://www.wickedlyromantic.blogspot.com/

http://shapeshifterromance.wordpress.com/

Terry Spear
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male.”


To Tempt the Wolf, In stores September 1, 2009

In this third in the series, wildlife photographer Tessa Anderson must prove her brother innocent of murder charges. But when she discovers a gorgeous naked man barely alive on her beach, she's got a new world of troubles to deal with, not least of which is how he affects her with just a look, a touch, or a whispered word.

Hunter Greymore is a lupus garou, a grey werewolf. Hoping to keep a low profile at Tessa's cabin on the coast, he's drawn into her life—and into her bed. His animal instincts war with his human half, but in the end, the only thing he can do about this fascinating, adorable woman is to leave her forever —unless she becomes one of them.

About the Author

A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, award-winning author Terry Spear has an MBA from Monmouth College. An eclectic writer, she dabbles in the paranormal as well as writing historical and true life stories for both teen and adult audiences. Spear lives in Crawford, Texas. Her 2008 Sourcebooks Casablanca release, Heart of the Wolf was named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly. Destiny of the Wolf and To Tempt the Wolf are in stores now, and more are on the way: The Legend of the White Wolf (February 2010) and Seduction of the Wolf (August 2010). For more information please visit www.terryspear.com or http://twitter.com/TerrySpear!