Review: Dreaming of the Wolf by Terry Spear

Dreaming of the Wolf
(Heart of the Wolf #8)
by Terry Spear
Mass Market Paperback, 363 pages
Published December 1st 2011 by Sourcebooks Casablanca (first published December 1st 2001)
ISBN 1402245556
ARC courtesy of Publisher

Terry Spear's debut Heart of the Wolf was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. Known for her research into how wolves live in nature, Spear writes her werewolves as they would behave realistically, including pack dynamics, mating behavior, and hierarchies.                                                       Werewolf pack leader Jake Silver is an acclaimed photographer. He sees a beautiful woman at the art gallery where his photos are on display, and his intrigue turns into wolfish protectiveness. Alicia Greiston has never met anyone like Jake-he's sexy, alpha, and totally irresistible, and he calls to something primal in her soul.

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My Thoughts:

Jake Silver is a nature photographer who just recently started displaying his works in local galleries, he is also a werewolf. Visiting the town of Breakenridge to drop off some of his work, Jake sees a beautiful woman sneaking around outside and decides to follow her. Learning that Alicia Greiston is a bounty hunter seeking vengeance on a group of mobsters for the death of her mother brings out all of Jake’s protective instincts even though Alicia is only human. Trying to keep her safe proves to be quite the challenge for Jake since Alicia is adamant in taking down the mobsters by herself and keeping Jake out of harm's way. But with danger comes an intense passion that can’t be denied and when circumstances change Alicia might just get the wolf, and the future, she’s been dreaming of.


Dreaming of the Wolf is book 8 in the Heart of the Wolf series, but don’t let that scare you off because it is set up perfectly as a stand-alone.  This is actually my first read from author Terry Spear, though I’ve had her on my TBR list for a while now. Dreaming of the Wolf was a good story and I enjoyed the aspects of the Silver wolf pack but the actuality of it didn’t quite meet my expectations.


The character of Jake himself was well-written, sexy and captivating. He had a deliciously sweet side and I really loved him and the whole silver pack that was featured. They intrigued me and made me interested in their own stories. The pack atmosphere was well detailed and vivid; you could tell that the author knew what she was talking about when it came to wolves. When it came to Jake’s relationship with Alicia however, I wasn’t quite feeling it. Being a werewolf, Jake couldn’t get involved with a human and Alicia was too set on her journey for justice to be side-tracked. Having a few failed marriages under her belt didn’t put Jake in any better of a light for her either. Jake was trying to find a way around their circumstances, considering his feelings for Alicia, but she was having none of it and her character just didn’t seem to fit. And when it came to their sex scenes I actually skipped over half of them. You're shocked, I know. LoL The reason being, they were redundant. It was the same scenario, same actions, same moves, each and every time. It was like these characters only knew one way to get it on and it never varied no matter how many times they did it. I was just unable to connect with the heroine or believe in their relationship which ended up dragging the story down for me. I think if there was a different heroine, a better fit maybe for the hero, I would of enjoyed the romance more. 


However, there was some action, a few nice twists, and the world-building was excellent. I would say Dreaming of the Wolf was still a good read despite my problems with it and I have seen many glowing reviews for it, but it just wasn't my glass of wine. Though this will not be the last novel I read by Terry Spear, I will definitely be trying out her other novels in the Heart of the Wolf series just for the werewolves alone!

Rating: 3 Wine Glasses

Sexual Content: Recommended for adult readers. Several graphic love scenes that teased with the possibility of a fiery inferno but ended up being somewhat lackluster for me.