The Wolf Who Loved Me by Lydia Dare

LDare-Wolf Who Loved MeI had the pleasure of finding Lydia Dare’s Regency Vampire Trilogy series last year.   It had three elements that I love: historical romance, werewolves and vampires.  I fell in love and bought every book of this series and Dare’s the Westford Wolves series.  I just now got back into this magical world with The Wolf Who Loved Me (from the Westford Wolves), and while it was everything I had thought it would be it wasn’t as good as I had hoped.

A new sexy Regency paranormal trilogy by bestselling author Lydia Dare features hunky werewolves who need to learn how to behave in polite society. Can this pack of ‘gentlemen’ be trained in the ways of the ton, or is it too late to teach an old Lycan new tricks?

Lady Madeline Hayburn is called upon to lend her respectability and introduce the Hadley brothers to society. Mr. Weston Hadley admires her from afar, yet his very presence draws her in…

I fell in love with the Hadley brothers and when I saw that there was a series dedicated just for these unruly, ornery werewolves I was thrilled.  They are the characters that get into trouble and you are always wondering what they are going to do next.  The Wolf Who Loved Me is for Weston, the twin of Grayson, with a scar disfiguring his handsome face.  I like Weston, he’s not stuffy and boring; he is on the lookout for the next adventure.  He doesn’t think things through, however, which always gets him into dangerous situations.  With his odd sense of humor, he can be all bloody and injured, and not see a problem.  He’s from a not so respectable poor family; he’s the underdog trying to make the best of what he does have.  Then you meet his crush, Madelyn, who is stuffy and the absolute image of perfection of the well breeding upper class.  She’s spoiled, bratty and manipulative at times.  She’s never gotten dirty or done anything considered improper.  Imagine her horror at being without shoes and going days without a bath?  I admit I was laughing at her, it was too good not to.  Especially the scene where she’s covered in what she thought was mud but turned out to be horse dung. That scene wasn’t long enough, LOL.  She brings out the respectable man deep inside him, making him want to do better for her and his family and make a better name for them all.  And he brings out the adventure in her, to do things that she’d never think of doing and being comfortable with not being perfect all the time.

Sadly that’s as far as I liked The Wolf Who Loved Me.

This plot is one that I’ve read so many times I knew what was going to happen way before it did.  At one point I even said out loud ‘Let me see, I predict blah blah’ and two chapters later, there it was.  Everything was typical and expected, sadly.  Which if you read romance or historical romance, you know this is going to happen; you just look over it and keep reading.  I really like these two characters and I wish the team that is Lydia Dare had come up with a different plot for them.  This could have been so much better had they stretched away from the ‘romance guideline’ that seems to be used by everyone.

Another thing I didn’t like is that Dashiel, the wolf pack leader and older brother to Weston and Grayson, is so upset over the Hadley brother’s antics that he appoints a governess to them.  To my knowledge a governess was only appointed to school age children, and boys didn’t have one typically after the age of 8.  Yet this was done to grown men?  This seems nit-picky I’m sure, but I’m a history nut and I can’t help it, I didn’t believe it for a second.  I also thought it was unnecessary considering there isn’t much time or work done that you actually see her do.  If there had been some actual scenes (there was only one and that was at the end) involving her trying to teach them respectable manners and how behave like adults, etc., it may not have bothered me so badly.

I still recommend this book, the series and Lydia Dare.  I love this combination of historical romance and paranormal romance.  I love the clothing, the horse drawn carriages, all the ‘My Lady’s and all that grandeur that is historical fiction/romance.  LOVE IT.  I do hope that the next book in this series isn’t along the same lines as this one, that they expand their plot and try something a little less expected and over done.

Read Order:
A Certain Wolfish Charm
Tall, Dark and Wolfish
The Wolf Next Door
The Taming of the Wolf
The Wolf Who Loved Me
Wolfishly Yours

About Nikki R 120 Articles
SAHM of 2, happily married bookworm, blogger and aspiring author. If I could read/write all day, every day, I would. Luckily I have a very understanding, and patient, husband who lets me get away with it as much as possible. Now if only the kids would understand my obsession, and the house would clean itself, then I'd be all set.