Heart of the Winter Wolf by Dani Harper

TITLE: Heart of the Winter Wolf
AUTHOR: Dani Harper
PUBLISHER: New Concepts Publishing
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 111k)
GENRE: Werewolf romance
COST: $6.49

Veterinarian Jillian Descharme has dreamed of a white wolf nearly all her adult life. When the opportunity to take a job that seems too good to be true arises, she takes it and moves across Canada, hoping that she’ll eventually get the opportunity to study wolves in the wild. She is surprised to soon discover that the wolf of her dreams has followed her – literally. An encounter on a hike has her grateful for his continued presence, but along with it comes an encounter with the reserved James Macleod, the long-lost brother of her boss. What she doesn’t realize is that the wolf and James are one and the same, or that her life is about to change forever.

I think the key word for this review is “otherwise.” In thinking over the various elements, I find myself facing flaws in most of them, flaws that I’d consider serious in other stories, but then almost immediately qualify it with an, “…otherwise…”

The prose, for instance. Harper’s writing is dense with detail, and her pacing is slow and even. It draws you in for a languorous comfort read, but then, out of the blue about halfway through the book, there’s a section of headhopping and just such poorly edited prose that it jars you out of the story. But it doesn’t last long, thankfully, and then you’re drawn back into the story, falling in love with the characters when…it happens again. There are a few instances of this scattered throughout the latter half of the book, and the quality of those chapters is so distinctly lower than the rest of the story that you can’t help but notice. Otherwise, it’s rich and vivid, a serious, thorough approach to a tale that demands such attention.

Then there’s the hero. James has suffered tragedy. His wife and unborn child were murdered for being married to him, and he was too late to save them. Injured himself, he retreated into his wolf persona for decades, only coming out when Jillian enters the picture. Now, the author takes her time drawing all this out, giving his tragedy the time it needs in order to heal. James is understandably withdrawn and reluctant to enter another relationship, but I’ll be honest. The constant flipflopping – I can’t be with her followed by a wonderful moment of some sort followed again by James withdrawing – gets tedious after awhile. I’m not saying it’s not warranted. But when the middle section is all about character/relationship building and not action, it gets to be too much for me. Otherwise, James is solid and attractive, worthy of any romantic hero mantle.

Now Jillian is my favorite part of the story. This is a woman who’s had her own share of tragedy, but rather than wallow and retreat as James did, she took the comfort she received from her white wolf and used it to forge a better future for herself. She doesn’t falter in the face of difficulty. If anything, it makes her stronger. She’s independent, almost too independent sometimes, but not without her feminine side. There’s a lot to really like about Jillian, and like her I did.

In spite of the obvious flaws, I was fully prepared to absolutely love the story until the ending let me down. Oh, don’t get me wrong. It’s romantic, and an HEA, and anybody wanting closure is absolutely going to get it. What didn’t work for me was just how perfect it was. Because ultimately, what I was getting throughout the story was that the world wasn’t perfect. That bad things happen. That it’s okay for things not to be perfect as long as you stick together and work through it and hang in there for the other side. I loved that realism – even if it was an unreal world of werewolves. I guess I’m disappointed slightly because the ending – to me – didn’t stay true to the tone of the rest of the book. It was too much goodness, if that makes sense.

Otherwise, it was a very satisfying read. Thank you, Teddypig, for the recommendation!

Readability	7/10 – A few sections in serious need of editing and a midsection that drags hinder otherwise very readable prose
Hero	8/10 – Maybe he angsts just a little bit too much, but in light of what he endures, it’s understandable. Otherwise, he’s solid and attractive
Heroine	9/10 – Strong and intelligent, without forgetting she has flaws.
Entertainment value	8/10 – An ending a little too sweet for the tone of the rest of the story mars what was otherwise a really enjoyable read.
World building	10/10 – The detail in this is thorough and nicely painted, without leaving questions unanswered in the end.
TOTAL:	42/50