Review: All the Wolf, None of the Wait!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 17, 2011
This compilation contains the types of novels where, when the phone rings, or the conductor announces your stop (or you miss your stop), or you suddenly remember that the kids need to eat and the dog has to go out, and you just can't ignore that anymore, setting a story down brings a sort of culture shock. It's like stepping back into the real world from this seemingly intense visit to another one, seductive, thrilling, and filled with beautiful, stunning scenery - and sexy, stunning werewolves, witches and warlocks. The author, Heather Killough-Walden, accomplishes this over and over, story after story, which is why I have read everything she has written. She creates worlds and fills them with  her own forms of magic, her own vocabulary and the rules and intricacies to keep a reader at ease in them. One thing her novels never are is predictable. She is a storyteller in the grandest tradition, and above all that is what you will always get with one of her books - a great story.The BBW series begins in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with "The Heat." Lily St. Claire has just returned to town with a degree in social work and while she has been away her school girl crush, the upper classman, black-haired, blue eyed, all around heartthrob Daniel Kane, has worked his way up the police force to become police chief of Baton Rouge. Kane is a werewolf, who rides a Harley Night Train, has the body you would expect of the alpha wolf he is, and the southern charm, "eh cher?" to leave this reader breathless. Lily has been dreaming about him since high school, dreams in which he turns into a wolf, the signal that she is his dormant, his intended, once-in-a-lifetime mate. Lily doesn't know that's what this means, and it isn't until her return that Daniel finds out, just as he and his Baton Rouge police force, mainly composed of the wolves of his pack, are faced with a series of horrible, high profile crimes. Daniel senses another wolf is after Lily, one who might even be the murderer striking the city and he feels forced as the alpha he is to mark and make her his own - he just never gets around to asking Lily. But life gets even more complicated in Baton Rouge, and the bond between Daniel and Lily is severely tested.Onto Vegas. In the second book in the series, "The Strip," we meet many of characters from "The Heat" again in lesser roles, except one character takes on a starring role - the best-selling author, Malcolm Cole. Cole is a very strong alpha wolf who has been struggling under a terrible gypsy's curse and is so horribly lonely that he is almost solely focused on finding his dormant. There is a real poignancy to Cole, even as he engages in some barely forgivable behavior. That is something else about Killough-Walden's writing: her characters have emotional lives that in the best moments hit you hard. "The Strip" is the story of Malcolm Cole and his dormant, Claire (Charlie) St. James, a drummer in a rock band. Cole recognizes her as his dormant fairly quickly, and Charlie has her dreams of a green-eyed man who changes into a wolf. But given the scarcity of dormants, it is not a surprise that there is another wolf set on Charlie, and where Cole can be ruthless, this wolf tends towards the sadistic. I don't want to reveal his name as that might be a spoiler, but I find nothing redeemable about him. He is just nasty and he loves his nastiness and he calls in magic users to make him even nastier. Of course, this makes him a great villain. Cole can't save Charlie alone, but fortunately the rest of the wolf community is there to help.The third book, The Spell, takes place mostly in Trinidad, California and has left me with a huge desire to visit the area and see the redwood forests amidst the fog, and the ocean. The author brings the lesser elements of magic from the earlier novels to the forefront here. Dannai, a witch with rare healing abilities, has been dreaming of two wolves, one of whom is Lucas Caige, an alpha who has been traveling on his own for many years trying to find the killer of his older brother. He finally decides to settle down for awhile in this beautiful ocean town. But his older brother was killed by black magic, and therefore he is known to hate magic. Dannai knows him well from her dreams and immediately recognizes him when she comes across him. Upon seeing him she desperately attempts to keep her magic shielded so he will give her a chance. But w-a-a-ay too much goes on with her coven and the werewolf community for a witch of her gifts to remain shielded for long. Once again, the characters from the earlier books are part of the story, even more so in this one. But this is mainly the story of Dannai and Lucas.Finally, the fourth book is "The Hunt" and it tells the story of Byron and Kat, an alpha wolf held captive by magic and chains for fifty years by a spoiled vampire princess. He is unwittingly rescued by the very Hunter who has spent her life trying to find him and seek revenge for the killing of her father. At the same time she has been having a dormant's dreams of a handsome man who turns into a handsome black wolf, but she has to ultimately be convinced of her destiny. Katherine Dare is the most emotionally realized of all Killough-Walden's dormants, in my opinion. Her motivations, her memories, her unresolved sense of loss, are revealed so effectively, as is her mindset in general. Byron also has his own demons to deal with, as well as learning about the world in the 21st Century. Much of the story involves the relationship between these two as they wind up on the run together. Byron has black hair, stormy gray eyes, and the physique of an alpha. Kat is a natural beauty with white-blonde hair, indigo eyes and with the athletic build of a Hunter. But as all of the BBW stories are, this story is heavy on action as the characters we now know so well from the other stories join in to fight their biggest battle yet. One their entire race ultimately depends upon.If this seems like a lot, I have barely scratched the surface. Remember, these are four separate novels, with four very different stories and with a cast of characters that comes together as it grows. One caveat, these are ultimately wolves. Mating habits can get rough, and anything less wouldn't make much sense. Both male and female characters have an otherworldly sexual drive at times. Watch a documentary on wolves and you will see the combination of tenderness and rough play. This is a great compilation as so many reviewers have attested to. Just clear as much of your calendar as you can to read it because you won't want to stop once you've started.