Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: Fun characters but the story is a little predictable.

Opening Sentence: Hard muscles rippled beneath skin and fur.

The Review:

The Warriors of the Rift series features aliens that have been sent to Earth through a rift in space. The end result leaves these aliens transformed into what we know as the various supernatural species that dot the planet. Victoria Joseph is one such alien. Having gone through the rift over 150 years ago, she emerged as a werewolf, taking over the human memories and life from the vessel she inhabited. (Read more about Victoria’s life on the alien planet and the circumstances that forced her to come through the rift in Into the Rift. It is a short novella and it is not necessary in order to know Victoria but it is a nice, quick little backstory.)

Secret of the Wolf continues to follow the events that began in Kiss of the Vampire as Victoria has been put in charge of cracking a device taken from the enemy. Victoria enlists the help of the sexy and very human Dante MacMillan. Together they try to piece together the device and discover the enemies plan. While Dante and Victoria are working on the device, they must also work together to solve a series of werewolf attacks that are leaving the humans transformed with the werewolf virus or dead. As the werewolf liaison to the Council of Preternaturals, Victoria must go to crime scenes that involve werewolves and as a detective, Dante, often works the same crime scenes because humans are involved too.

Victoria is keeping secrets from the Council about her past. Her family has found her again after 150 years apart and she doesn’t want to lose them again. When evidence gives light to someone close to her she chooses not to believe it and goes against everything she stands for.

Victoria has definitely got the hots for Dante and she has no problem acting on it and those scenes are very heated until Dante’s standoffishness washes cold water over Victoria. He is too scared of losing something he doesn’t even have to try and see what could happen. Victoria almost gives up on him but eventually, Dante clears his head and the heat begins.

I liked Victoria. She was tough, strong and for the most part level headed except when it comes to her brother. She has only been able to rely on herself and she makes no excuses for what she has done to get by. She wants a family more than anything so when her brother comes back, she really believes that life could be like it was before she went through the rift. Dante was equally sexy in his own right, taking care of his cancer stricken sister. Understandably he doesn’t want to go through a huge loss but sometimes he was a little too annoying in his vehemence to not start a relationship with Victoria but if anyone needed that relationship, it was Dante.

Secret of the Wolf was a little too predictable. Almost all of it played out like I thought it would. There was only one thing in the end that did surprise me but the rest of the events played out like I figured they would. Even though it was predictable I still enjoyed the characters and story. It has a refreshing twist with the preternaturals that I really found entertaining. Although at times I felt the writing was a little too detailed in the characters actions from opening drawers to cleaning up after dinner. There are several points of view that Secret of the Wolf follows including Victoria and Dante to Finn Evnissyen setting up for his book, Heart of the Demon.

Overall, Secret of the Wolf was a bit predictable but I did enjoy the world that it sets up and I really liked Victoria and Dante. With the impending rift getting ready to open again, I can’t wait to see what happens next with Finn. This demon really has been raring to see where his story leads.

Notable Scene:

With a sigh she pulled out a small can of veggie juice, downing it in three long gulps. After tossing the can into the recycling bin, she scooped her wallet and keys off the counter and headed toward her bedroom. She opened the door and stopped dead in her tracks. “Rand!”

Her brother gave a start and looked up from the small black device he held in one hand. “Uh, hey, Tori.”

With deliberate movements and never taking her eyes off her brother, she put her wallet and keys on the dresser. He’d been so quiet she’d had no idea he was home. “What are you doing in here?”

He shrugged but didn’t do a very good job of hiding his nervousness. “Just wanted to see why you’re always holed up in your room.” He glanced at the small device in his hand. “So, what is this?” His voice was matter-of-fact and filled with just enough nonchalance to make her even more suspicious. For him to have found that device where she’d hidden it in the toe of her hiking shoe meant one of two things. Either he’d been spying on her and had seen her hide it, or he’d searched her room, which meant he was sneakier than she remembered. It also meant she needed to find another hiding spot.

She held out her hand and waited until he placed the device on her palm before she said, “It’s just a little something I’m trying to fix for a friend.” It was her turn to give a nonchalant shrug. “Nothing earth shattering.”

“Maybe I could help?”

Tori stared at him. “I don’t think so.” She forced a smile. “But thanks, though.” She curled her fingers around the cell phone–sized contraption and, as he got up from her bed, asked, “What do you want for dinner?”

FTC Advisory: Forever/Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group provided me with a copy of Secret of the Wolf. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )