"A wolf worth waiting for"

Taneika Swift Eagle is not like other young women her age. Not only because she has as companion a wolf, Lobo, but also because she has special abilities and enjoys hunting, killing, and eating the kill with Lobo.

Taren Carpenter is Taneika's neighbor in the woods where she lives. He also works for the park services. He follows Lobo one morning and comes upon evidence of Taneika's hunting and eating habits. He's a bit shocked. Taren now wonders if he should consider her a suspect or accomplice in the recent out-of-season deer shootings. Neither thought is agreeable when he finds himself lusting after her.

Taneika finds herself attracted to Taren, but with no belief that anything can come of it. When she discovers that he has been investigating her and Lobo's kill, she is put on her guard. Then Taren's boss, Harold Fallings, moves against Taneika and Lobo and she finds herself trusting this man as she has no other -- and finding out things about him and he about her -- that neither has shared with any but a very select few.

The trouble brought by Fallings turns out to be a lot more than just one man. The Mob is now after them, also. What is really scary though, for both Taneika and Taren, is not the danger to their lives, but the physical changes Taneika is starting to experience.

This is an interesting and engrossing story. There are scenes that are wonderful in their descriptions, the words being almost poetical. The way the heroine's character develops is admirable. I really liked the hero and his family. I enjoyed the final confrontation between the good guys and the bad guy. If you like shapeshifters and wolves, TANEIKA is a story you won't want to miss.

But... I did find the heroine to be rather prone to tears. Some readers might be put off by Taneika's eating habits, and birth control is non-existent. The complexity of the communication between the wolves and Taneika and other animals was disappointingly unbelievable. Some of the scenes tended to be repetitious. Still, I will be looking forward to the next story about the wolf princess.

Sensuality: R. Fairly descriptive sex; oral sex. Scenes of sexual intimacy--9.

Reviewed by Flora Bell
Courtesy Sensual Romance
Posted September 2, 2002

Summary

Undercover agent Taren Carpenter's new neighbor is anything but your average girl next door... Taneika sometimes seems closer to the wolves she cares for than to other people. Her rare gift, an ability to control wild animals, has branded her an outcast within their community. When Taneika inadvertently becomes part of a murder investigation Taren is assigned to, his protective instincts take over. Forced together by danger, passion seals their bond. Taren's heart has fallen, but he only knows half the woman. What will happen when he meets...Daughter of the Wolf.