A Highland Werewolf Wedding by Terry Spear

A Highland Werewolf Wedding by Terry Spear
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Paranormal, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (342 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

Elaine Hawthorn is a gray American werewolf, currently out of work, and on a mission to share in a family treasure. When she arrives in Scotland, she nearly has a head-on collision with one hot, kilt-garbed Highlander, and runs him off the road.

Werewolf laird Cearnach MacNeill isn’t happy Elaine ruined his car, but he quickly becomes her protector after a misunderstanding lands her right in the middle of two feuding clans. Now he’s out to ensure that this sexy female wolf gets her fair share of her clan’s treasure. He knows he should leave well enough alone, but it’s too late to leave his heart out of it.

I knew I had just read an awesome book by the aftermath – nails bitten, teeth aching and hyperventilation, check – check – check. There is action, suspense and more twists and turns than the Pacific Coast Highway; and it can leave a reader just as breathless. A Highland Werewolf Wedding delivered surprises, shocks and heart pounding adventures that had my brain spinning. What a ride!

The author first introduced me to the lead characters way back in history. Because werewolves live a long time, fate had a nice, leisurely time span to work its magic. Ms. Spear’s writing is diabolical and clever. She wove an intricate little mystery about a time honored tradition – hunting for buried pirate treasure. There was murder and betrayal along the way, naturally, but there is something infinitely more intriguing buried with the stash – destiny.

Elaine is young and scared when the story opens. When next a reader meets her, she’s all grown up and a force to be reckoned with. Life has hardened her and made her more cunning, determined and a woman who knows her own mind. She stands up for herself, and because she’s been on her own for so long, knows what it’s like to have no one to guard her back. That makes her a woman of action. If there’s injustice, she stands against it. If there’s a wrong, she is going to correct it. And if someone is going to try to feed her a load of blarney, she’ll call them on it. Elaine Hawthorne is no one’s fool. Despite everything she’s lived through and survived, there is this little spark of romantic yearning inside that has lain dormant all these years. It will take one man to ignite it and his name is Cearnach MacNeill.

I originally met Cearnach in A Howl for a Highlander and he was portrayed as a man who is jovial in nature with a will of steel. In his own story, I got to see a greater depth from him that pleased me. That easygoing manner that his family is familiar with isn’t present in this book. He’s taking a stand against injustice; a right choice in the face of one hundred percent disapproval. And yet, the hero can do no less. It’s that sense of honor, integrity and the unwillingness to let a wrong go uncontested that made him an awesome choice for winning the heroine’s love. The fact that he is drool-worthy in a kilt, or nothing at all, is an added bonus.
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What kills me is that I can’t talk at length about the villains. The whole lot of them play a key role in getting Elaine and Cearnach together long enough that they fall in love, wholly and completely. So much happens to the two of them because of the actions and manipulations of the bad guys that it’s astounding.  The conflict is genius, the action sequences of fighting, running and fighting some more were tightly written and the final culmination of a century’s old mystery finally getting solved was satisfactorily wrapped up.

At first, their romance seems to be humming along without a hitch, mostly because they’re both wolves and they know the mating expectations. The hero and heroine are not shy by any means, which had the effect of providing me with some oh-so-sexy seduction scenes. Both characters know what they like and want and go after it. I was enjoying their getting together so much that when the villains made their dramatic strike it was a like being splashed with frigid Arctic water. SHOCK! I yelled at the book, put it down, stalked off, came right back and started reading again. I could not believe my eyes. What an amazing, truly amazing gift Ms. Spear has for storytelling!

I absolutely enjoyed the romance, the back story and the delivery but the novel isn’t totally perfect. There is only one thing that could have made the book one hundred percent ideal and that was less repetition of Elaine being an “alpha-she wolf”. I get it. Cearnach totally loved that about her, was enamored of her personality and appreciated that she was an alpha-she wolf. But I was beat over the head with it and after a while all I could do was roll my eyes. It almost came to the point that she was over-alphing the hero, which wouldn’t have been a good thing. The author managed to prevent the heroine from usurping the hero’s place as a hero, but barely. In the end, the most important fact is that they came out equal, Elaine and Cearnach are well matched and their union is truly blessed. A piece of the pirate treasure proved that.

Another component to enjoy was seeing Duncan again from A Highland Werewolf Wedding. In this story he acts like the other book said he usually did but because he was falling in love at the time, a reader didn’t get to see him in action. His devilish bloodthirsty nature came out loud and clear in this tale and it was a great benefit for Cearnach. Not only did I get to see Ian, the oldest brother again, but I had the distinct treat of seeing I was right about an observation that I’d made when reading the other book. Uncle Ethan is fitting right in. I’m tickled pink.

Even though I’m making references to a previous book, please don’t let that dissuade you from reading this one. It’s a great standalone read because the story is complete unto itself. Yes, there are little references from the previous books that a fan will be able to pick up and enjoy all the more. It’s like a double layer of fun – it’s great for both new and old fans of the series.

A Highland Werewolf Wedding is not only sultry, sexy and satisfying but it has a plot conflict that stuns, shocks and bowls a reader over from the surprise. This is a book that kept me on my toes, kept me glued to its pages and bouncing in my chair. I cannot even express the myriad of emotions this book wrung from me but it’s all due to the awesome talent that Ms. Spear possesses. It was amazing how she lulled me into thinking that this was going to be a sweet but hot romance with a mild bit of drama. Readers are in for a wild time. I feel like I’m straining against the bit because I want to reveal just what made this novel as cool and diabolical as it is and I can’t. It’s a major spoiler and I want readers to feel what I did, experience the whole sensation like I did and that can only come from the not knowing. I guess some readers might figure it out. In retrospect I think the author did drop clues. But I didn’t catch on so it made the revelation all the more powerful. So, rush out and get this book when you can and find out for yourself. A Highland Werewolf Wedding a sure winner.