Lydia Dare

The first half or so I enjoyed. I mean it's not a thriller or that but it was mindless entertaining fluff. The wolf aspect wasn't exactly prominent - although it was the catalyst for most of the events in the book. Wes was a pretty alright character if not a bit absent minded. He wasn't very alpha like - he was more puppy like. Madeline was kind of whiny and ridiculously naive. She started off smarter but she got dumber as the book progressed. The villain was an idiot and the whole plotline there didn't make much sense. Nor did the plotline for Lucy. The one for Sophie started out strong and then just fizzled. The plot itself was okay right up until the cheating. It was just random. It was an unneeded complication. They could've just had conflict with the father or something but the whole fleeing thing was just ridiculous. And it was just all downhill from there. It just kept getting more ridiculous and annoying as it went. The first three quarters or so I'd rate a solid three stars. Not necessarily everyone's tastes but easy mindless entertaining fluff - beach read for example. The last I'd give a one. I'm going to split the difference for the final rating and give 2 stars.… (more)

A Certain Wolfish Charm caught my attention almost as soon as I saw the title. I didn't expect it to be about a werewolf family in Regency England--I thought it merely was a statement of the male lead's personality. The description hooked me however and I eagerly awaited the chance to read this. Then I began reading it and I eagerly sacrificed my sleep in order to read it all in one sitting.

The premise isn't a new one, but the way that Dare handles the Lycan side of Simon (and the other family members afflicted with the genetics) was certainly interesting. Apparently in order to keep the Beast at bay Simon perfected a routine that involved sleeping women, gambling and carousing (to be fair so did his two brothers William and the absent Benjamin). He is also rather thick-headed when it comes to what will make a woman happy. His original solution to the predicament of Lily wanting to stay near Oliver, Simon wanting to stay near Lily and keeping the secret that he was afraid would repulse her is one of his stupidest mistakes. Which everyone is more than happy to tell him, but he's so excited about that stupid mistake its hard to fault him for it.

Lily is not shrinking violet and doesn't let Simon (or Oliver, or anyone for that matter) make her feel as if she doesn't have a right to what she has to say. Her moments of vulnerability are understandable, given Simon's initial hot/cold/passionate/scared treatment of her as well as her fear of becoming what her sister became after marrying Simon's cousin David. She can come across as being entirely too nosy at times however. Simon...well Simon is hard to resist. I can't imagine too many men would offer to give the girl they want to bed (badly) a dowry and then offer to practically tear an old friend's arm off for even thinking of marrying her all in the same breath.

The two of them are entirely too blind to what's going on between them and it sometimes makes mountains out of molehills. There are definite trust issues involved, but Dare doesn't explore them as deeply as I wanted and Lily's attempts at wheedling information out of Simon (or anyone else) were more annoying then anything else.

Oliver, Lily's nephew by her late sister Emma (who married David, Simon's cousin), is the most surly, obstinate and aggravating child I have ever read about. Lily mentions how sweet and amiable the child was before he hit twelve, but I can't see it. And neither can any other character quite frankly--almost every single character either mentions or thinks that Lily is a Saint for being able to put up with him the last six years. Certainly the fact he is undergoing the transformation for the first time and is scared of what's happening to him explains some of it, but the kid was just this side of being a complete jerk to everyone--including Lily.

As this is the first in the trilogy, there is a lot more set up that will come to fruition in the latter two books. William's past relationship with Prisca (the girl next door) and Benjamin's disappearance for instance. The trilogy is slated to have back to back releases--which by the way, I love when publishers do that, just saying--with A Certain Wolfish Charm due in April, Tall, Dark and Wolfish due out in May (Benjamin) and The Wolf Next Door due out in June (William).

This is Dare's debut novel and is well worth reading and enjoying. The in-jokes between Simon and William (about being wolves), the banter between any of the characters is amusing and witty and the heat is high. I can't possibly recommend this book more, though I'm sure I could fangirl a bit more if anyone would like.… (more)