A Highland Wolf Christmas (Heart of the Wolf #15)
by Terry Spear
Blurb:
It's going to take a lot of
mistletoe...
Guthrie
MacNeill, financial advisor for his clan and werewolf pack, is at his wit's end
when the pack leader's mate hires a gorgeous party planner to bring holiday
cheer to the castle. Guthrie's wildly attracted to Calla, except he can't
reconcile the fact that his job is to save the clan's money, and hers seems to
be to spend it.
To warm this Highlander's heart
Calla
Stewart has never had a more difficult client. The laird and lady of the castle
are delightful, but the handsome Highlander holding the purse strings is quite
impossible. Since she specializes in holiday magic, Calla hopes she can make
the scrooge-like wolf lighten up. Then Guthrie takes on the role of Highland
warrior to protect her from an unexpected threat, and the holidays take a turn
for the passionate.
Themes: highlanders,
wolves, paranormal
Rating: 3.5 stars
Heat Rating: 
Review:
Honestly,
is there anything better than a beautiful Highland Christmas combined with a
sexy wolf? Not in my opinion! While I am always pulled in by anything
written by Terry Spear, as evidenced by my bookshelves, I have been dying to
read this particular story for a while now.
Guthrie always seemed a bit like a stick in the mud when we have read
about him in the past, but now we get to see the softer, sweeter side of this Highland warrior. Spear's rich and
amazing settings always make you feel like you are right there with her in the
Scottish Highlands, in a haunted keep, surrounded by sexy men in kilts wielding
broadswords, which for many of us is just about the ultimate fantasy. While the series has jumped around a lot from
different places, different groups of wolves, and even different enemies, this
story arc has been in motion a while and I was glad to see the MacNeill's
finally find peace with their enemy clan.
If you haven't read the ENTIRE Heart of the Wolf Series, you won't be
lost, but I recommend at least going back and reading the other books involved
in this storyline (Heart of the Highland Wolf, Howl for a Highlander, Highland Werewolf Wedding).
For now, I can promise you will enjoy reading this sometimes light
hearted, sometimes dramatic, and always sensual, foray into the lives of two
wolves determined not to make another mistake in love.
This
story picks up almost the day after the last one ends, with Calla returning to
her home to gather everything she needs for an extended stay at the MacNeill
keep. Her main purpose is to help the
clan chief and his wife plan the biggest and best Christmas celebration they
have ever had, but under that is her desire to remove herself from the sight of her ex-fiancée and to get to know the wolf who pulls her emotionally as well
as physically, Guthrie MacNeill. Guthrie has had some bad luck with love in the
past and is determined that he not repeat his mistakes and the only way for him
to do that is to keep Calla at a distance while she has time to recover from
her last failed relationship. But when
the danger around Calla begins to escalate, Guthrie finds his inner wolf needs
to protect her more than he needs to protect his heart. Thrown together again and again, by
circumstances as well as by their friends and pack-mates, Calla and Guthrie
find it increasingly difficult to resist the passion that stirs between
them. The question becomes, are they
both ready for a serious relationship, or will they be making another mistake
in love, this time one that might be irreversible?
Calla Stewart is a she-wolf unlike any I have
read about in recent years. While she
can certainly defend herself and her friends, she understands there are
limitations to what she can handle and is more than willing to allow her new
pack to protect her. What she won’t deal
with is the ridiculous posturing and Neanderthal attitude that some men seem
unable to keep in check around each other.
I loved seeing her try to set the male wolves, Guthrie included, in
their places and make them understand that defending her against actually
enemies is one thing, trying to defend her honor against some imagined slight
is quite another, especially when it interferes in her business. Calla was a truly strong woman, one that was
able to make the difficult decision to take back her heart from a man who didn’t
really deserve it, and find a way to forge a new path. Even when she is faced with the uncertainty
of a future with a new pack, the drama caused by her parents' bad decisions,
and the chance that she might be losing her heart to another undeserving man,
she never loses her optimism and embraces the new changes in her life with
exuberance and strength. Witty,
sometimes sarcastic, smart, ingenious, determined, sweet, and sensual there was
really no way for Guthrie to resist her and she is a character that exemplifies
the characteristics that women can relate to.
Guthrie
is a man with simple needs, protecting his pack and family, ensuring the pack
has enough money to make life enjoyable and secure, time to run in his fur, and
a woman to call his own. The last bit is
what has been giving him the most trouble though, with a couple of failed relationships and now
an irresistible she-wolf underfoot, Guthrie finds himself a bit off-kilter and
acting out of character. When Calla is
threatened by her ex and his pack, he refuses to let anything happen to her and
sets himself in front of danger at every turn, even if Calla doesn’t want him
to. The alluring she-wolf also begins to
remind him that keeping the pack solvent doesn’t mean that they have to isolate
themselves and horde their money, sometimes you have to open yourself up and
allow for change. Seeing them working
together to help the entire pack, whether it’s with the Scottish Faire, the huge pack Christmas celebration, or just
with the everyday math lessons for the youths, it becomes obvious that Guthrie
has found his perfect match if he allows himself to let go of the past and
embrace a chance for a future with her.
Sexy as all get out, Guthrie is one of the strongest, sweetest, and
funniest wolves I’ve had the pleasure of reading about. And did I mention that he's one of FOUR,
seriously, sexy Scottish wolf QUADRUPLETS, what more could a woman want?
As
the saying goes, you can never have too much of a good thing, and Spear proves that with her newest addition to the Heart of the Wolf series. Guthrie and Calla's story made me cry, laugh,
groan, and wish that it was just that little bit longer so that I could have
enjoyed even more. Calla was spirited,
intelligent, and loving, while being fierce in her protection of others as well
as being fiercely determined to find her perfect match and the perfect place
for her to make her life. Guthrie was
obviously the perfect match for Calla;
he's just as smart, willing to do just about anything to protect his family
and pack, and even more important he is understanding of the emotional trauma a
failed relationship can cause and willing to give Calla the time she might needs to get over it before he pursues her.
Calla's stalker's motives, which come to light in the end, were surprisingly
human, not something I expected from a wolf, and are truly the failing of all higher species--Greed. I was thrilled to
see the previous couples and many of the secondary characters that have
supported this individual story arc. I
am especially looking forward to the day Logan is old enough to have his own
mate and meets the woman that will lead him into the danger of the heart. I can see myself as an old woman still
lusting for this series, so hopefully there is no end in sight. You continue to amaze me Terry; keep up the
great writing and I promise to keep dragging even the most reluctant readers to
your fan base!
*eARC provided by publisher (via
netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No
compensation was provided.
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