What do you think?
Rate this book
Historical Werewolf #3
Secret of the Wolf
Amid the lush vineyards and majestic hills of Napa Valley, hypnotist Johanna Schell has founded Der Hafen--a sanctuary for those who know the pain of being "different." For desperate, frightened people whose souls are lost to grief. For lonely, tortured men like Quentin Forster....
Frightening spells of amnesia have plagued Quentin for years, and Johanna wants nothing more than to ease his unspeakable pain--and find out if his claim to werewolf blood is just a delusion. But she is horrified to discover that, under hypnosis, this tender, thoughtful man becomes violent, vengeful ...evil. And now--caught in the balance between reality and illusion, truth and deception, simple desire and absolute destruction--she must find the courage to trust him. To love him. To save him...
Frightening spells of amnesia have plagued Quentin for years, and Johanna wants nothing more than to ease his unspeakable pain--and find out if his claim to werewolf blood is just a delusion. But she is horrified to discover that, under hypnosis, this tender, thoughtful man becomes violent, vengeful ...evil. And now--caught in the balance between reality and illusion, truth and deception, simple desire and absolute destruction--she must find the courage to trust him. To love him. To save him...
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
5 people are currently reading
434 people want to read
About the author
Susan Krinard
76 books330 followersTrained as an artist with a BFA in Illustration from the California College of Arts and Crafts, Susan Krinard became a writer in 1992 when a friend read a short story she'd written and suggested she try writing a romance novel. A long-time fan of science fiction and fantasy, Susan began reading romance -- and realized what she wanted to do was combine the two genres. Prince of Wolves, her first romance novel and one of the earliest to feature a werewolf hero, was the result. Within a year Susan had sold the manuscript to Bantam as part of a three-book contract, and the novel went on to make several bestseller lists.
Since then, she's written and published over fourteen paranormal and fantasy novels, and written stories for a number of anthologies, both fantasy and romance. Both the anthology Out of This World (which included Susan's "Kinsman") and the novel Lord of the Beasts appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Susan makes her home in New Mexico, the "Land of Enchantment", with her husband Serge, their dogs Freya, Nahla and Cagney, and their cat Jefferson. In addition to writing, Susan's interests include music of almost every kind, old movies, reading, nature, baking, and collecting unique handmade jewelry and decorative crafts.
Since then, she's written and published over fourteen paranormal and fantasy novels, and written stories for a number of anthologies, both fantasy and romance. Both the anthology Out of This World (which included Susan's "Kinsman") and the novel Lord of the Beasts appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Susan makes her home in New Mexico, the "Land of Enchantment", with her husband Serge, their dogs Freya, Nahla and Cagney, and their cat Jefferson. In addition to writing, Susan's interests include music of almost every kind, old movies, reading, nature, baking, and collecting unique handmade jewelry and decorative crafts.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 19, 2011
Susan Krinard tells some of the best paranormal tales I have read. Her writing is superb. Her stories, though intense and allow for a lot of angst, reveal a deep understanding of the human psyche. She raises the writing of paranormal romance to a level few other authors can match. I highly recommend this series.
January 19, 2010
#3 in the ongoing Forster werewolf sagas. Good story with another strong, female lead character. But unlike most "romantic" fictions this character is not ravishingly beautiful and petite but rather solidly built and quite capable! Highly recommended by this solidly built lady ;)
October 4, 2018
Finally back on track with this series. I read the first two and now this one. I've been nervous about Quentin's book because I liked him (from what I remember) and know he has a lot of demons and I was scared.
But yes, Quentin is the twin of Rowena (from book 2) and the younger brother of Brandon (book 1). He ran away to America for a numerous amount of reasons. The main is that he is having issues with his brain. He drinks and blacks out. He has lots of blank spots in his memory and he is suffering. During one of his blackouts, he finds himself waking up in a bed of a sanctuary and a woman doctor, Johanna, who is there to help him.
It was a curious and unique storyline. Not a lot happens at first. We get to meet all the patients along with our hero and heroine. I liked that a lot! It was nice to feel like I was there. It was really fun. The patients all have their own issues. I want to see more of them in the future. Maybe some short stories! Especially Logan (?gods I am blanking on his full name). There has to be more to his story! That actress needed a good kick in the romp. I get she is insane and full of delusion....but she is mean. HORRIBLE. I liked Louis even though he is a psycho priest. May was cute. Johanna's dad was cute. I feel so bad for him.
Okay - enough about the side characters.
Quentin was sweet. I liked him.
Johanna was a fun character. I liked her a lot. I saw a lot of myself in her, but she is for sure the doctor version of me. I'm not smart enough for that ;)
The drama was good and you could see it slowly coming but what could anyone do? So good. I loved it. It was well paced. Sure it takes to get there, but there was a lot of character building, world-building, and tension to be built. It was so good. I had no idea how everything was going to be fixed.
The romance was done well too.
I do have ONE issue with the ending...I wanted more of an epilogue. Like...what do they do? Do they go to England? Do they stay? Maybe there will be more of a conclusion for them in the next book? I really want to know!!!!!!!
Now...the narrator...I had to grow to like her voice. It was hard to hear her half of the time and some of her accents were off. The American and German were okay. The Russian and English? Ehhh. For the accents she could do, she did well and I enjoyed that. So yes - not a huge fan.
In the end, I enjoyed this quite a bit! I wanted more of a conclusion and the narrator was eh to me. However, the story and characters! Loved it. I would encourage reading the other two before this one though. Not a great standalone for sure. Now....the rating???? I will still give it a 5 since the story and characters outshined the two issues I had.
But yes, Quentin is the twin of Rowena (from book 2) and the younger brother of Brandon (book 1). He ran away to America for a numerous amount of reasons. The main is that he is having issues with his brain. He drinks and blacks out. He has lots of blank spots in his memory and he is suffering. During one of his blackouts, he finds himself waking up in a bed of a sanctuary and a woman doctor, Johanna, who is there to help him.
It was a curious and unique storyline. Not a lot happens at first. We get to meet all the patients along with our hero and heroine. I liked that a lot! It was nice to feel like I was there. It was really fun. The patients all have their own issues. I want to see more of them in the future. Maybe some short stories! Especially Logan (?gods I am blanking on his full name). There has to be more to his story! That actress needed a good kick in the romp. I get she is insane and full of delusion....but she is mean. HORRIBLE. I liked Louis even though he is a psycho priest. May was cute. Johanna's dad was cute. I feel so bad for him.
Okay - enough about the side characters.
Quentin was sweet. I liked him.
Johanna was a fun character. I liked her a lot. I saw a lot of myself in her, but she is for sure the doctor version of me. I'm not smart enough for that ;)
The drama was good and you could see it slowly coming but what could anyone do? So good. I loved it. It was well paced. Sure it takes to get there, but there was a lot of character building, world-building, and tension to be built. It was so good. I had no idea how everything was going to be fixed.
The romance was done well too.
I do have ONE issue with the ending...I wanted more of an epilogue. Like...what do they do? Do they go to England? Do they stay? Maybe there will be more of a conclusion for them in the next book? I really want to know!!!!!!!
Now...the narrator...I had to grow to like her voice. It was hard to hear her half of the time and some of her accents were off. The American and German were okay. The Russian and English? Ehhh. For the accents she could do, she did well and I enjoyed that. So yes - not a huge fan.
In the end, I enjoyed this quite a bit! I wanted more of a conclusion and the narrator was eh to me. However, the story and characters! Loved it. I would encourage reading the other two before this one though. Not a great standalone for sure. Now....the rating???? I will still give it a 5 since the story and characters outshined the two issues I had.
August 3, 2018
The heroin has too much on her plate.
March 18, 2021
Absolutely riveting! I loved the direction the author took with this. It was all unexpected and different from anything I've read. Wanted more the whole time. Couldn't put it down.
November 3, 2021
Found new authors
June 23, 2023
Great series
Really enjoyed it
Really enjoyed it
August 14, 2025
Johanna has dedicated her life to the study of the mind and the development of better ways to treat those who are afflicted with mental illness. She may be a woman but that has never stopped her before from standing up to anything and anyone who mistreats those in her care. Once, she shared responsibility with her beloved father until he himself feel victim to the failure of the mind, now she is sole care giver to those whom society cast out. And she does so on very little funds. Until the day the hero arrives. Drunken and past out on the side of the road, she welcomes him into The Haven, determined to discover the reason behind his alcoholism and memory loss. Though from the start she feels hesitate to allow him to stay, despite her oath to help anyone in need as this stranger stirs something up deep inside of her. Something she doesn’t want or really understands.
Quentin hides his pain and suffering behind a joker’s façade. It’s the way he’s always dealt with being a disappointment to his brother and the horrible memories of his grandfather. He knows he shouldn’t stay at the peaceful residence the beautiful German doctor runs, fearing his memory lapses and what happens when he’s not himself. The last thing he needs is for people to find out about his Wolf. Yet something about Johanna makes it impossible for him to stray. And he finds he is a great help to the other residences, including a small child terrorized by the actions of her father and a soldier lost in the horrors of war.
As their sessions of hypnosis go on, deeper and deeper, the reality of Quentin’s situation and the danger he imposes on those around him because clear. Yet Johanna refuses to give up on him, the man whom she’s come to love and respect.
This book was a roller-coaster for me, with many highs and lows. On one hand, I adored the authors’ ability to create such a lovely and strong heroine. And I feel like she defiantly loved Johanna as much as I did. I loved Quentin just not in the same way. And while I liked them together, I far and above enjoyed more the study of mind and the respect they had for each other. I thought the sex scenes were somewhat pointless to me and I would have liked it better if more time could have been spent on developing to the emotion than trying to put in scenes of sexual intimacy. Still, every character in this book played a pivotal rule and was important to the story and that’s something I really liked. It’s a good book, one that’s I’d more than likely read again.
Quentin hides his pain and suffering behind a joker’s façade. It’s the way he’s always dealt with being a disappointment to his brother and the horrible memories of his grandfather. He knows he shouldn’t stay at the peaceful residence the beautiful German doctor runs, fearing his memory lapses and what happens when he’s not himself. The last thing he needs is for people to find out about his Wolf. Yet something about Johanna makes it impossible for him to stray. And he finds he is a great help to the other residences, including a small child terrorized by the actions of her father and a soldier lost in the horrors of war.
As their sessions of hypnosis go on, deeper and deeper, the reality of Quentin’s situation and the danger he imposes on those around him because clear. Yet Johanna refuses to give up on him, the man whom she’s come to love and respect.
This book was a roller-coaster for me, with many highs and lows. On one hand, I adored the authors’ ability to create such a lovely and strong heroine. And I feel like she defiantly loved Johanna as much as I did. I loved Quentin just not in the same way. And while I liked them together, I far and above enjoyed more the study of mind and the respect they had for each other. I thought the sex scenes were somewhat pointless to me and I would have liked it better if more time could have been spent on developing to the emotion than trying to put in scenes of sexual intimacy. Still, every character in this book played a pivotal rule and was important to the story and that’s something I really liked. It’s a good book, one that’s I’d more than likely read again.
Read
April 21, 2021"the world is not kind to those with his defect."
"it isnt kind to any who are different."
"the mind hid from itself. it was able to conceal its own darkest desires, its greatest fears, those most unpleasant memories it did not want to remember. and when it did so, it inevitably warped the personality out of its proper channels."
"you may rest assured that i have known love."
"i never doubted that you've given love. i only wonder if you have kept enough for yourself."
"i reckon you need proof."
"you have nothing to prove to me."
"no, its always our own selves we have to prove to."
"order is soothing to a troubled mind."
"it isnt kind to any who are different."
"the mind hid from itself. it was able to conceal its own darkest desires, its greatest fears, those most unpleasant memories it did not want to remember. and when it did so, it inevitably warped the personality out of its proper channels."
"you may rest assured that i have known love."
"i never doubted that you've given love. i only wonder if you have kept enough for yourself."
"i reckon you need proof."
"you have nothing to prove to me."
"no, its always our own selves we have to prove to."
"order is soothing to a troubled mind."
September 24, 2010
Lent to me by a friend. Did not convince me there was much reason to go looking in the romance section for good PNR/UF. There is too much of it that is bad in the fantasy section already. I think I'm sticking with Yasmine Galenorn being the only author I go over there for. Why they put her in romance instead of fantasy I cannot fathom.
March 14, 2015
Finished this one last night and I would give it 7 stars if I could! This was the best one so far...absolutely incredible read, I loved it!! This is a series I will re-read and enjoy each time, I am sure! I love that there has been a different setting for each book, but the same time period. Continue to highly recommend to Paranormal Romance/shapeshifter lovers!!
April 1, 2012
This was the best book out of the trilogy!. I couldn't wait to get home from work every night and start reading. The Netflix movies piled up unwatched, and that has never happened before! Bravo to three of the best werewolf books written by Susan Krinard !!!
August 31, 2016
Not bad, but I've read better by this author.
March 19, 2016
I love these books! The settings are interesting, the history of the time period is interesting, and the story of the werewolf is great all the way to the end!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews