Review: The Wolf Next Door by Lydia Dare

They can't even be in the same room together...

Ever since their failed elopement years ago, Prisca Hawthorne has taunted, insulted, and in every way tried to push him away.  If only her heart didn't break every time Lord William Westfield left her...

But staying apart is even worse...

Lord William throws himself into drinking, gambling, and debauchery and pretends not to care about Prisca at all.  But when he returns to find a rival werewolf vying for her hand, he'll stop at nothing to claim the woman who should have been his all along.

Can Prisca forgive the unforgivable, or are the moon-crossed lovers going to be forced into a battle of wills that could be fatal?

My favorite book of the series, I think.  I've been waiting for Will and Prisca ever since their initial spark in A Certain Wolfish Charm.   Drinking and cavorting are no help to Will in forgetting that he truly loves Prisca; her icy demeanor toward him doesn't ease her heartache. 

Several things caught my attention though, particularly concerning Will's and Prisca's botched elopement.  Prisca was 15 at the time; Will was older, 19 or 20?  That's young, shockingly young, I thought. 

When it's made known the circumstances of why they didn't elope, I expected there to be more hurt, especially coming from Prisca as she's the "wronged" party (though it turns out Will was wronged too, thanks to a lie).  Yet Prisca says she's forgiven Will, now that she knows the truth.  I assumed the matter would be a bigger deal or brought up more in the prose.  Nope, just the one time (maybe twice).  What finally pushes Will over the edge is the arrival of Dashiel Thorpe. 

Here's where Prisca loses some of her feisty-ness.  When Will and Dashiel are "marking their territory."  She fades into the background, possibly because she's already Will's wife and she knows -- or is at least starting to figure out -- there are some issues with the Westfields.  I wanted her to be more inquisitive, more curious.  The asides from various family members seem to go right over her head too.  Maybe she's just trying to harden her heart against Will breaking it.  She was tricked into a marriage, after all!

Despite that, I am looking forward to the next book by Ms. Dare, The Taming of the Wolf. I suspect it will be a bumpy, bumpy ride.