The Silver Wolf (Legends of the Wolf #1)
The Silver Wolf (Legends of the Wolf #1)
Author: Alice Borchardt
Desc: Regeane is a fatherless royal relation who happens to be a werewolf. Her guardian Gundabald and his venal son Hugo plan to recoup their fortunes by marrying Regeane to a wealthy bridegroom even though she might inadvertently make him into a bedtime snack. Gundabald forces her into apparent compliance by threatening to reveal her secret to the Church which would burn her at the stake. As the bridegroom Maeniel journeys to Rome to claim her Regeane discovers allies in her quest to defeat Gundabald's machinations including some very strong funny and levelheaded women. Unfortunately for Regeane she also has more powerful enemies than Gundabald. Alice Borchardt brings 8th-century Rome vividly to life. Her language is earthy and sensuously descriptive: "The wolf visited Regeane's eyes and ears. The girl staggered slightly with the shock. The light in the square became intense. Smells an overwhelming experience: wet stone damp air musty clothing perspirations shading from ancient sticky filth to fresh acrid adrenal alarm." Borchardt is Anne Rice's sister but she writes a very different sort of tale. Ghosts the dead and supernatural forces are here but so is laugh-out-loud humor and a happy ending. --Nona Vero