Ronda Thompson, The Cursed One

The Cursed One

Ronda Thompson

St. Martin's Press, December 2006, $6.99

ISBN: 0312935757

In 1821 England, instead of making love in their Collingsworth Manor bedroom, Lady Amelia Collingsworth thinks her husband Robert, whom she just married, is about to kill her, as he has his hands, make that his claws, around her neck. Not one to idly accept her fate, Amelia uses her nails to free herself and grabs a sharp object off the nearby desk and stabs him. Hearing the racket, Lord Gabriel Wulf, the object of Amelia's fantasies, arrives; she calmly tells him she killed her spouse. However, a monster actually kills Robert and stabs Gabriel before fleeing.

Reluctantly, Gabriel knows he must keep Amelia safe until he can return her to her family. He knows what the human beast is, as he suffers from the same curse. However, instead of taking her to her kin, the Sinclairs, they are under siege, as Collingsworth Manor is surrounded by a pack of werewolves. Already attracted to one another before the current perilous situation, Amelia and Gabriel fall in love, but he fears for her safety, not from those trying to kill her, but from him, the beast.

The latest Wild Wulfs of London (see THE UNTAMED ONE and THE DARK ONE) is a superb werewolf Regency romantic suspense thriller, that starts off as a five star howl and never slows down until the final confrontation between beauty and the beast. Gabriel is a hesitant champion, because he fears he will not control the beast when it comes to his desire for Amelia; she is as courageous as a lioness not afraid to protect herself and her beloved, though knowing the enemy is much more powerful than her. Fans will appreciate this wonderful paranormal historical romance.