Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply

The Silver Town Wolf series, spun off from Spear’s long-running Heart of the Wolf books (A Silver Wolf Christmas), kicks off with this anemic paranormal romance. With two alpha werewolves in the lead roles—park ranger Eric Silver and forester Pepper Grayling—why is their courtship so low-key and ultimately disappointing? Pack leader Pepper isn’t satisfied with her dispassionate first mating with a beta (who then gets himself killed, conveniently for the later romance plot). She knows a fellow alpha would be a more interesting and exciting mate, but also a threat to her authority. Eric is eager to involve himself in Pepper’s life, but he woos her subtly to avoid scaring her off. By convincing her that he’s strong enough to be her mate, yet not so strong that he’ll overpower her, he nearly eliminates the animalistic sexuality that readers have come to expect in shape-shifter romances. Instead, the action focuses on weed-growing werewolves using San Isabel National Forest in Colorado as their base of operation, and the machinations of a dangerous pack leader attempting to win Pepper as his mate. (May)