Silhouette had a line of books was I very sorry to see ended, Silhouette Shadows. These were paranormal romances and came from some of the greatest writers in the field today like Anne Stuart, Jane Toombs, but one of the best was a trilogy about Werewolves in today's society, the first was #54 "Secret of the Wolf", second was #57 "Wolf in Waiting" and third was #59 "Shadow of the Wolf" by Rebecca Flanders. She also did "Heart of the Wolf". Flanders writes under various names, but these are some of her niftiest works. Therefore, this Dreamscape Edition is a reprint.In this book, it’s a little jarring because instead of third person, she switches back and forth between Male and Female leads with first person. I am not overly fond of first person, but it really works in this book. Noel Duprey is the heir to the Werewolf Empire. They have entered modern day world applying all the superior qualities of their powers into big business. Since Michael, the true heir to the Empire refuses to take control (see "Secret of the Wolf"), Noel is now the golden boy. He had several items on his agenda. 1) to find out who is the corporate spy within their ranks and 2) find the perfect bride to reign at his side. Victoria is Noel’s prime candidate for number #1, and while he is wildly attracted to her, he knows she cannot ever be candidate for #2 because she is an anthromorph, a werewolf with all their power – except – the ability to change into her wolf state. This is looked down on the others of her blood as being defective. Noel and she both know for them to ever consider marriage, she would have to turn into a wolf, and Victoria knows this is not going to happen.That does not stop Noel from stalking her sexually, he wants her, won’t leave her be because he is trying to discover if she is the one ruining their corporate empire as revenge for being treated as a reject because of being an anthromorph. Noeltries to stay away from the bad boy Princeling, but just cannot resist him.It’s a sexy, heartfelt novel that is right on target. You really feel for Victoria. All of Flanders werewolf series needs to be reprinted.
A really great book
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
I am not fond of stories written in the first person, in fact I go out of my way to avoid them. But having read Michael's story (Secret Of The Wolf), I was intrigued by the very proper and reserved Noel. Now I'm glad I took the chance because this book is even better than the previous one. Unlike Michael's story where you are drawn into the human world from a werewolf's perspective, now you are drawn into the werewolf's society. A lot of questions are finally answered, like why it's impossible to cut their hair, which was brought up but never really explained in depth by the previous book. A lot of facinating details are revealed about their society and the prejudices that exist about anthromorphs (werewolfs who cannot change). I really enjoyed getting into the lives of the characters and even though the first person viewpoint constantly swiches from Victoria to Noel, I never had any difficulty following along. This is a really great book to disappear into.
Wonderful
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
This is one of my favorite of the Shadows books. If you've never read one before, this is a great place to start. I wanted to disagree with the earlier review. The heroine is not a doormat at all! Everyone around Victoria treats her like trash, and she simply exists above it all. Why bother fighting back? She knows she's a lot better than anyone gives her credit for; why does she need their approval anyway? She displays the kind of inner strength and confidence that I truly admired. She's cool, confident--to heck with all those others! Loved her, but I also loved Noel's reaction to how people treated her. A great book, a great heroine. For a heroine to admire, don't miss this one!
Fine wine, Godiva chocolate, and a hot tub--need I say more?
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
Not only was this an outstanding example of supernatural fiction, it was also an outstanding example of a romance novel. There are many things to like about this book, its quirky narrative style, the descriptions and sheer detail about werewolf nature, the fact that the heroine is "handicapped"--but probably my absolute favorite part about the book was its "love scene." This is as non-traditional as the rest of the book, but anyone who does not melt when they imagine themselves in a jacuzzi tub having Godiva chocolate smeared on them and then licked off by the sexiest man on the planet has a harder heart than I! This is definitely not a book for people who only like formula romances, but if you're willing to take a walk on the wild side, then this book is definitely for you!
Creative & fascinating werewolf romance
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
I can't recall reading a romance like this one before, written in the first person, with each chapter switching from his point of view to hers. It took a little getting used to but I enjoyed it because I got a first person account of the quirkiness of the characters and their intimate thoughts about a previous scene. I laughed more than once as his viewpoint ended and then we got to see her real thoughts about the last scene. Victoria is an anthromorph. A what, you ask? This means she's a defective werewolf. Born to two werewolf parents but with a defect that prevents her from shapeshifting, mating and having little werewolves. But she does have all of the other benefits of a typical werewolf such as heightened senses and extreme beauty. Because of her disability others in the pack treat her with indifference and blatant prejudice. She's been passed over for promotions and has had all of her creative ideas stolen from her. Surprisingly she's not bitter, she just accepts this as her fate since she's been treated this way since birth. She's a little bit of a doormat but I immediately liked her and once she meets Noah she's anything but passive! Noah's a full-blooded werewolf (and all of his parts work), who's recently been appointed head of the business and will one day be leader of the werewolf pack. He has some misgivings about the whole thing because up until lately he loved his playboy/slacker lifestyle and now his Grandpere, who doesn't seem to have any confidence in his skills, is making him work like a dog but not giving him any real responsibilities. When he's assigned to work with Victoria to locate an employee bent on sabotaging the company he figures he being played for a fool. After all he is the Big Boss and she's a measly peon with little brains, or so he's led to believe - at first. As they begin to spend time together he realizes he and the rest of the pack were all wrong about Victoria. He soon respects her talent and lusts after her body. He begins wanting to spend time with her just because he likes being around her and he tells her so. She's flattered by the attention but thinks he's only trying to get her to do more work, off hours, and is too cheap to pay her overtime. They start to fall in love and can't keep their hands off of each other but it's a seemingly hopeless cause because of his responsibility to the pack to produce an heir, something Victoria is unable to do. This is a great werewolf romance. The characters are lovable (although I must admit I had my doubts about the arrogant playboy hero who was a little snobby but the strong woman in the novel didn't let him get away with it and he turned out to be a big softie). It has a little angst, a little humor and a lot of sensuality. The love story was developed slowly and the couple become friends before realizing that they were in love, always a plus when one reads a romance. And I also liked the way the werewolves looked at things so differentl
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