Guest Review: Tall, Dark, and Wolfish by Lydia Dare

Posted August 12, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 2 Comments

Judith‘s review of Tall, Dark, and Wolfish (Westfield Brothers, Book 2) by Lydia Dare

He lost the most important part of himself . . . Lord Benjamin Westfield is a powerful werewolf–until one full moon. His life now shattered, he rushes off to Scotland to search for the healer who can restore his inner beast, only to find she’s not at all what he expected.

She would make him whole if she could . . .Young, beautiful witch Elspeth Campbell will do anything to help anyone who calls upon her healing arts. Until Lord Benjamin shows up and she suddenly discovers she may need him even more than he needs her.

This is the second in Lydia Dare’s Westfield Trilogy wherein she is telling the stories of three brothers. In this particular novel she tells the story of Lord Benjamin, youngest of the Westfield siblings who is now seriously damaged within himself and is seeking to find a person, a healer who can restore him–actually the beast within. Because of the increased carnal desires that afflict all Lycan near the full moon, he lost control of his wolf and seriously injured a woman. He is now fearful and unable to shift. The woman he seeks in Scotland (and that was a two week journey by carriage from his home) is now dead and her daughter Elspeth has inherited her powers as well as all her recipes and potions. As an acclaimed rake, Lord Benjamin is certainly attracted to the powerful and fiery redhead. Elspeth cannot deny that she is drawn to Ben in the same way. When it appears they are “compromised” because of a situation during Elspeth’s own illness–when she was completely drained physcally after healing one of her sister witches, they are married. Their relationship is, at times, gentle and loving. At others it is rocky and mixed with hurts and misunderstandings. Sounds about right, eh? Somehow they must find not only a healing for Ben’s inability to be a normal Lycan but a resolution to their relational ups and downs.

This is a delightful historical romance filled with magic and mystery, with people of wit and wisdom, with the paranormal and with wizardry. There is love aplenty here, deep and abiding affection and friendship, romantic and passionate love, and the fears and jeolousies that complicate relationships when people are at their most vulnerable. Ms Dare has also continued the stories of individuals that were highlighted in the first novel so that their stories are allowed to continue. The personalites of the characters are very well-developed and the interrationships between the five witches of the ancient Ciog make for delightful dialogue. Lord Benjamin is a person of wit, accurately styled as a rake of the first order, and yet he is growing tired of his life, frightened that this change in his Lycan abilities will make him less than what he wants to be. He is even afraid to love in his deepest heart and emotions, and he is certainly now afraid to be with Elspeth in the days just preceding the full moon.

It seems to me that this story is really about the damage that hurt and pain can do, not only to those who are injured, but to those who inadvertently cause those injuries. It is about the power of insecurity and self-doubt to change and inhibit who we really are down to the very core of our being, and it is about the willingness of those who truly love us to put themselves, their energies and their abilities, their love and their futures on the line to insure our wellbeing. This story ranges all the way from Edinburgh to London and back, brings a father and a daughter together, reveals facts not previously in evidence, and resolves some significant hurts in the lives of the characters. It is not a simple story but one that will bring joy to any lover of historical romance and to those who love the paranormal. That a rich and powerful peer of Regency England is a Lycan is, in and of itself, an interesting twist.

So I recommend this book as a very good adventure and a delightful journey into the world of magic and the paranormal, and a heartwarming story of love and family. It will be educational and entertaining, and might even be good for the libido. I really think I will be re-reading this book somewhere down the road.

I give this novel a rating of 4 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Sourcebooks Casablanca. You can buy it here or here in e-format.