'The Taming of the Wolf' by Lydia DARE

From the BLURB:

Lord Dashiel Thorpe has fought his true nature his entire life, but whenever the moonlight proves too powerful, Dashiel is unable to control the werewolf within him. It is on one such moonlit night that Dashiel accidentally bites the beautiful Scottish witch, Caitrin McLeod. Though now bound to him irrevocably, Cait decides that she wants nothing to do with him. When she flees to her native Scotland, Dashiel has no choice but to follow her and convince her that it was nothing short of destiny that has bound them together body and soul.

Lord Dashiel Thorpe was introduced in Lydia Dare’s third ‘Westfield Brothers’ book, ‘The Wolf Next Door’. In that book, Dashiel ‘Dash’ Thorpe was a rogue Lycan trespassing on William Westfield’s territory by trying to marry his mate, Prisca Hawthorne. In ‘Taming of the Wolf’ Dash has lost the girl but decided to reclaim his life and humanity. He no longer wants to be a wild and dangerous Lycan – he wants to reform and learn how to control his ‘beast’. But on the night of this decision the beautiful and ethereal Caitrin McLeod stumbles into his life, and he can’t help marking her as his mate.
Now Dash and Caitrin are irrecoverably entwined, destined as soul-mates. . . if only Dash can convince her to have him as a husband.

“My mate?” Dash gaped at him. “But I don’t even know the girl. Surely something like this has happened before. There has to be a way to remedy–”
“Aye, Brimsworth. This is not the first time a Lycan, drunk on the spell of the moon, has claimed an unintended mate.” The major shuddered. “I don’t know of one instance where there was a happy ending, however.”

I went into this book a little sceptical. I wasn’t a big fan of Caitrin since her appearance in ‘The Wolf Next Door’ left me irritated. Caitrin is a witch who can see the future – and as such she tends to meddle in other people’s affairs and have a fairly ‘high and mighty’ attitude. I found her annoying and abrasive in ‘The Wolf Next Door’. . . but everything I disliked about Caitrin in that book is what annoys/charms Dash in ‘Taming’, and I found myself reluctantly turned around.

Dash and Caitrin are a great pair – between them they’re bossy, pretentious and mule headed. But they’re also utterly charming and bring out the best in each other. Dash is starved for affection after a disastrous childhood spent knowing he was a cuckolded bastard and ‘beast’. Caitrin’s life is dictated by her foresight, and she is worried when her visions don’t encompass Dashiel. These two had a lot to overcome – but just being together is a soothing balm for both of them.

One small complaint I had about ‘The Wolf Next Door’ was not enough sex. I know, I know – my head is in the gutter. But I was glad to read a noticeable smutting-up in this fourth book. And better yet, the storyline and characters call for it. Dash is a wicked rake when Caitrin meets him – he even has a little black book of conquests which Caitrin stumbles across. Dash is a highly-sexed individual, and in Caitrin he has found a woman who incites endless lust in him.

Lydia Dare has very cleverly introduced a new trajectory for the ‘Westfield Brothers’ series in ‘Taming’. I think the Lycan boys are going to be put aside for the next two books in the series. . . since Caitrin’s foresight has hinted at a Vampire focus. In ‘Taming’ Caitrin has visions of dead men stalking her friends, and she meets a handsome man who conjures images of broadswords and cudgels. I got goosebumps when I read all of Lydia Dare’s dropped-vampire-hints. . . I can’t wait for these new supernaturals to be introduced to the coven witches! Yay!

Lydia Dare is actually two people – writing team Tammy Falkner and Jodie Pearson. I did not know this! And the ‘about the author’ page at the back of ‘Taming’ explains exactly how their process works – with each writing 1500-word instalments and editing the other’s previous work. Writing-team’s have always fascinated me – and Lydia Dare is particularly perplexing because I would have never guessed this was a combined effort! The writing is so seamless. . . and I really appreciated the insight into their duo-style. Incredible!

I really loved ‘Taming of the Wolf’ and look forward to the next two books in Lydia Dare’s list, ‘It Happened one Bite’ (approx: March 1 2011) and ‘In the Heat of the Bite’ (approx: July 1 2011). Bring on the vampires, I say!

5/5

(cover in progress)
Book #6 - March 1st 2011