Romancing the Weekends: Wolfishly Yours by Lydia Dare

Grayson Hadley is twin to Weston Hadley (the hero from The Wolf Who Loved Me). Gray and his unmarried brother Archer have been forced by their half-brother and Pack Alpha, Dash (the hero from The Taming of the Wolf), to submit to culture lessons.  When Gray’s mother invites them to go with her to Livi’s grandfather’s home to meet Livi, Gray does not want to go, but once he meets her he is intrigued by the feisty and outspoken young woman.  Of course, Livi’s grandfather wants the rougish Hadley brothers to stay as far away from Livi as possible.When they all head off to Bath together as practice for Livi’s first Season, absolutely nothing goes as planned…Wolfishly Yours is the 5th book in the Westerfeld Wolves series, and is a fun frolic back into the historical paranormal world created by the writing duo of Lydia Dare. I’m happy to say we get to meet again with wolves and wives from previous books, although it’s okay if you haven’t read any of the previous books in the series.

I really enjoyed these two socially awkward characters doing their best to follow the rules of society and bumbling through with only partial success.  Livi is sweet and I felt badly for her situation, coming across the ocean to a strange place where she didn’t know anyone.  When her brothers showed up later in the book, I really enjoyed them too – I’ll admit to a great curiosity about the New Orleans Lycans – they seem to be naughty, naughty boys *winks*.  And Gray – oh poor Gray!  He’s got no income to speak of, he’s a bit of a rake, and against his will he falls for this sweet American who knows what he is.  He wants to be with her but doesn’t feel worthy and makes quite a mess of things, more than once!

I find that sometimes secondary characters can make or break a book, and in the case of Wolfishly Yours it’s definitely a ‘make’!  I liked Lady Sophie, the woman who is teaching Livi and the Hadley brothers to fit in society, and her antagonistic relationship with Archer is very interesting.  As mentioned above, Livi’s brothers are both entertaining and enjoy causing trouble for Gray.

Here’s my only real complaint:  Livi and Gray didn’t have the usual ‘spark’ that I’ve come to expect from a Lydia Dare book.  They seemed to like each other well enough but weren’t really wild about each other until near the very end of the book, and even then it didn’t feel like the paranormal ‘mate bond’ that assures me they will be together and passionately in love forever.  Don’t get me wrong, they get their HEA, and I think they’ll be together forever, but it’s a bit more tame than I’m used to from this series.

It looks like Gray’s brother Archer might be the hero in the next book – I enjoyed the back-and-forth between Archer and Lady Sophia and definitely there’s a history (and tension) between them that is begging to be explored.  Also, it looks like the author is setting up for some future books to possibly take place in New Orleans *fingers crossed*!  Since I live in NOLA, I have a soft spot for books set here and am looking forward to that possibility…

 

Recommendations

One of the things I love about these books is that they appeal to fans of historical romance and fans of paranormal romance – it’s the best of both worlds!!

Other Novels you might like, similar to ‘Wolfishly Yours’:

A Certain Wolfish Charm (Westfield Wolves #1) by Lydia Dare
Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1) by Gail Carriger

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