The Wombat's Book Blog

Can I just say, I love the idea that I can associate an entire series with one post on Booklikes? Because that, my darlings, is fucking awesome.

So.

Werewolves. The Regency period. Can we have a hell-yeah from the congregation?

The series is basically split up into two parts. The Westfield brothers (Simon, Ben, and Will) take up the first three books. I'm quite fond of the Westfield brothers.

Book One, A Certain Wolfish Charm, is all about Simon and Lily. Simon is a bit of an arse, but he gets over it. Eventually. There's some secret-keeping going on which...fair enough, if I was a werewolf and I was convinced I was going to hurt the ones I love, I probably wouldn't want to tell them either. It's well-written and has a touch of spice, and a heroine who takes no shit.

Book Two, Tall, Dark and Wolfish is Ben's story. I have no words for how much I love poor, puppyish Ben. Unlike bossy grumpy Simon, Ben just wants to do whatever it takes to keep Elspeth happy. Elspeth's coven sisters become important later on - Caitrin is the heroine of Taming the Wolf (Book 4) while Blair, Sorcha, and Rhiannon are the heroines of the three Gentlemen Vampyres novels. On which more later. Anyway, Elspeth and Ben are adorable, although Ben does display the first sign of Bumbling Idiot Syndrome, which killed the last two novels in the series for me.

Book Three, The Wolf Next Door, was a decent read. Nothing particularly special, and I personally disliked both the hero and the heroine. PLUS, and this is my major problem, we're never actually fucking told what went wrong with their elopement. It's sort of implied that she changed her mind, but I was hoping for a flashback confrontation at the very least. Still, the book is worth it for the introduction of Dashiel 'Dash' Thorpe, Earl of Brimsworth. Poor bastard, he got a really shit deal. I mean, okay, he was also a bit of an arse, but you can't have everything.

Book Four, The Taming of the Wolf, is the story of Dash and Caitrin. Dash was a contender for Prisca's hand in Book Three, although I never did understand what he saw in her. Now he's gone and bitten Cait and bound himself to her for life as her mate. Cait is naturally not pleased. The pair of them bicker adorably, and there's an accidental poisoning, a long run, and eventually, lurve. I think this one is my favourite, because Dash is frankly adorable.

I'm not going to write individual paragraphs for Books Five and Six (The Wolf Who Loved Me and Wolfishly Yours) . The books are about two of Dash's half-brothers, Wes (Book 5) and Gray (Book 6) and their love interests. I had hopes for Book 5, which started out decently, but was ruined by the whiniest, most annoying, most utterly useless heroine I have ever read in my entire goddamn life. If I were in Wes' shoes, I'd have dumped Maddie in a ditch halfway to Gretna and thanked the gods for a lucky escape. Wes is not exactly a bright spark either, but at least he doesn't while all the bloody time. Book Six had a decent heroine, but was ruined by the most idiotic, drunken, obnoxious loud of a hero I have ever read. Seriously. Gray is a total idiot. 

I guess the stupidity in Books Five and Six is supposed to be a continuation of the humour of the first four books but for me, it just falls completely flat. There's nothing humorous about a girl who's lost her fortune and is now receiving offers to become a mistress from men who'd asked her to marry them before.

And shall we talk about Viscount Radbourne (Dash's other half brother)? In the Gentleman Vampyres trilogy, he's portrayed as something of a lovable rogue. You know the sort - he's a rake and a rogue, but a girl can count on him when she's in need. An incorrigible flirt, but kind of sweet underneath it all, and basically a good sort. In these two books, he's portrayed as practically a villain. He's rude, he's obnoxious, he leers at every single female character, and he's just...gah. Revolting is probably a good word? On the one hand, I guess it's good marketing because I want to read his book to have him redeemed, but on the other I kind of never want to see this author's name on my Kindle again.

So here's my verdict: Four stars for the first four books, and if I were you I'd stop after book 4 because nothing worth knowing happens in the other two.