THE BEST OF BOTH WOLVES is the second book in Terry Spear’s “Red Wolf” series. Sierra Redding is a woman and wolf in a time of transition in her life. She’s the newbie in town, starting a new job as an art teacher for the local wolf pack, but kind of falls into a part time job as police sketch artist. Likewise, she’s going through transition when it comes to her love life. She halfheartedly, yet loyally, holds a connection to her wolf boyfriend back home but she gradually concludes that he’s not the kind of guy she wants. Through it all, dreamy werewolf detective Adam Holmes low key pursues Sierra, while also giving her the time and space she needs to make her own decisions about her life. That’s my kind of hero.

I think one of the reasons the sense of danger resonates so much for readers as they read THE BEST OF BOTH WOLVES, is because it taps into our worst fears. Sierra Redding is trying to start over somewhere new, minding her own business, not leading a high-risk lifestyle, when simple coincidence has the bad guys finding her. She’s doing something mundane like we all do every day – take a shower – when a thief breaks into the cabin she’s staying at. Because she’s a werewolf, she shifts and successfully chases him off. But because she does her duty and publicly accuses the guilty party, landing him in jail, she begins a rollercoaster of terror. Thankfully, Sierra is a wolf while the thugs that target her are not. She has an advantage. Adam may be the professional crime fighter, but Sierra is no wilting flower. She lets the professionals do their jobs accordingly, but she doesn’t cower and hide. Terry Spear does a fantastic job of balancing the suspense and the romance. The tension is tight throughout the entire novel, because of the danger presented by the main villain orchestrating things from his jail cell. The villain is almost shark-like in his single-minded pursuit of Sierra and the goal of getting retribution for the wrong he feels she did him. Some bad guys can be multifaceted or have one aspect that makes them human. That's not true with this villain.

THE BEST OF BOTH WOLVES is a superb mix of adrenaline-infused storytelling and a well-crafted love story. I got kind of a “Cape Fear” meets Alfred Hitchcock film vibe while reading THE BEST OF BOTH WOLVES. Because I’m familiar with Terry Spear’s romance novels, I know that everything will work out ok. However, I couldn’t help worrying for the good guys as the actions of the bad guys seemed so unpredictable yet unrelenting. I think a good tale of suspense will make the reader a little uneasy as they’re reading it, and that was totally accomplished with this story.