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Wilderness
Alice White has a secret that stalks her steps and shadows her every thought and feeling. There is no friend or family member she can trust and confide in, especially not the strangers who are her willing accomplices in the fevered one-night stands that areas close as she dares come to love. Then she meets Erik Summers,a college professor and biologist, who inspires a passion she can neither control nor deny, drawing Alice from the cage she has constructed to enclose her life. But though Erik feels her fire and shares with her deep emotions and a spiritual kinship, he recoils from her words, her seeming delusions, her dark truths. Until, in the vast Canadian wilderness, he is forced to confront the reality of both the woman he is coming to love and the nightmare he dreads -- as the sinister brightness of the full moon shines downupon Alice White ... and the change begins once again.
From Dennis Danvers, the acclaimed author of The Fourth World and Circuit of Heaven, comes a spellbinding, erotically charged novel of love, terror, and transformation that is as satisfying and darkly compelling as anything in modern fiction.376 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
April 2, 2024
I will preface this review by stating that I really do not have much interest in romance fiction, and given that Wilderness constitutes a romance novel, I had low expectations. Nonetheless, I did find it rather charming and well written; perhaps because of the intriguing premise. Alice White, one of the leads, leads a rather lonely existence. In her early 30s, she works at a travel agency and takes college courses on the side, not with the intent to graduate, or even to declare a major, but simply to learn. One day she meet her new faculty advisor and lightening strikes. I know, a rather old trope in romance fiction, and yes, it quickly leads into a steamy fling.
The thing is, Alice is a werewolf, and due to this, she never has allowed herself to become close to anyone. She has a house with a basement 'wolf proofed' where she goes when the 'change' happens, along with a bag of dogfood. Her new lover, Erik Summers, is recently divorced and falls head over heels for her. After a week or so, she decides she has to tell him her 'big secret' and let the chips fall where they may. The thing is, she has told a few people before about her being a werewolf and no one believes her, including her shrink, who plays a role in the story. Well, surprise surprise, Erik does not believe her either and away she goes...
Danvers may not have invented any new tropes here, but the werewolf/love story is a neat twist for sure, and very well done. I read a few other reviews of this one and it seems other people with an aversion to romance stories also liked it, so if you are into romance, you may really like it! 3.5 howling stars!!
The thing is, Alice is a werewolf, and due to this, she never has allowed herself to become close to anyone. She has a house with a basement 'wolf proofed' where she goes when the 'change' happens, along with a bag of dogfood. Her new lover, Erik Summers, is recently divorced and falls head over heels for her. After a week or so, she decides she has to tell him her 'big secret' and let the chips fall where they may. The thing is, she has told a few people before about her being a werewolf and no one believes her, including her shrink, who plays a role in the story. Well, surprise surprise, Erik does not believe her either and away she goes...
Danvers may not have invented any new tropes here, but the werewolf/love story is a neat twist for sure, and very well done. I read a few other reviews of this one and it seems other people with an aversion to romance stories also liked it, so if you are into romance, you may really like it! 3.5 howling stars!!
April 16, 2010
Wilderness, originally published in 1991, has recently been rereleased. I presume it’s because tales of lycanthropy are all the rage at the moment. Wilderness is an excellent novel and I’m thrilled that it will get the chance to reach new readers — myself included, as I hadn’t heard of it until the new edition popped up on shelves — and at the same time, I hope it will find its way to readers who will appreciate it for what it is rather than wishing it were something else. I worry that the new cover art will lead readers to expect a novel more in line with the books of Laurell K. Hamilton. If you’re looking for the latest lycanthropic smut-and-gore fest, Wilderness is not it.
So what is it? It’s a love story, but it’s not a “romance novel” and doesn’t adhere to all of the conventions of that genre. It’s a werewolf story, but it’s not horror. It’s deeply romantic and intensely psychological. I want to call it contemplative, but that might give the impression that it’s long and slow-paced, and Wilderness is neither. When trying to think of another novel to compare it to, the closest I could think of was another 1991 release, Megan Lindholm’s Cloven Hooves. While Wilderness is less melancholy than Cloven Hooves, both novels explore the idea of the “wild,” authentic self vs. the “tame,” conventional self. And both writers share a talent for describing the beauties of nature.
We meet Alice White, a 32-year-old woman who happens to be a werewolf. She has been a loner since adolescence, afraid to reveal her true self to anyone and afraid of hurting people during her monthly transformations. I loved her instantly, especially in her approach to college education; she wishes she could follow her passions, take whatever classes she wants whenever she wants to take them, rather than conforming to a set schedule or sequence. Meanwhile, she does tons of reading in mythology and folklore on her own, without anyone ever awarding her a degree in it. Boy, how I could relate to that…
Her love interest is Erik Summers, a biology professor in the thick of a messy divorce. She’s not used to getting attached to people, and he’s still not quite over his ex, which is why it surprises them both when they rapidly develop a deep bond. These early stages of the relationship move at a quick pace. There’s even a literary version of the "Falling in Love Montage" that you might recognize from movies. This might seem a little rushed to some readers, but it works. It helps move the story quickly toward the real meat of the book, the real test of Alice and Erik’s love. She decides to tell him about her lycanthropy.
Danvers makes us sympathize with both characters here. We feel for Alice, who wants to be believed and accepted. It’s easy for us to condemn Erik. We’re reading the book, after all, and we know Alice is really a werewolf. But how would we react if we were in his position, rather than looking in from outside? (If it were me, and Alice showed me her full-moon confinement set-up, I’d probably careen right past “she’s crazy” to “she’s abusing dogs” and I’d be out of there before you could say “ASPCA.”) Suffice it to say that everything gets messed up, and then Erik must undertake a quest to find Alice again and make it right.
Wilderness contains a lot of insight into animal behavior, including human behavior. Danvers never lets us forget that we too are animals, and that our customs and etiquette might look just as strange from the outside as penguin behavior looks to us. He also includes several chapters narrated from the point of view of Alice’s wolf-self. These are sensitively written and “feel” like the real thoughts of a wolf. I find myself wondering whether Faith Hunter, who is also excellent at writing from an animal POV, has read and been influenced by Wilderness. (If not, I think she’d like it!) Danvers subverts the idea that the wolf-self is the more dangerous one.
The only element I found annoying was Erik’s random ogling of women. He seems unable to pass a pretty woman on the street without it being mentioned in the narrative, and one of my personal quirks is that this gets on my nerves. Yet I know exactly why Danvers did it. It shows that Erik’s attraction to Alice isn’t just lust or the desire for a rebound fling. He could satisfy those urges elsewhere if that were all he wanted. He wants the connection he has with Alice. Plus, I think that’s just the way the male brain — heck, the human brain — works.
Wilderness devoured me for two days and evoked the whole gamut of emotions. I recommend it to readers looking for a moving supernatural love story, with themes of trust, acceptance, and forgiveness. This is more in the vein of the “old-school” urban fantasies than the “new” style. It’s not a noir story, not much ass gets kicked, and many of the developments take place within the characters’ psyches. It’s a beautiful example of what it is, though, and I hope it finds its way to the right niche of readers.
So what is it? It’s a love story, but it’s not a “romance novel” and doesn’t adhere to all of the conventions of that genre. It’s a werewolf story, but it’s not horror. It’s deeply romantic and intensely psychological. I want to call it contemplative, but that might give the impression that it’s long and slow-paced, and Wilderness is neither. When trying to think of another novel to compare it to, the closest I could think of was another 1991 release, Megan Lindholm’s Cloven Hooves. While Wilderness is less melancholy than Cloven Hooves, both novels explore the idea of the “wild,” authentic self vs. the “tame,” conventional self. And both writers share a talent for describing the beauties of nature.
We meet Alice White, a 32-year-old woman who happens to be a werewolf. She has been a loner since adolescence, afraid to reveal her true self to anyone and afraid of hurting people during her monthly transformations. I loved her instantly, especially in her approach to college education; she wishes she could follow her passions, take whatever classes she wants whenever she wants to take them, rather than conforming to a set schedule or sequence. Meanwhile, she does tons of reading in mythology and folklore on her own, without anyone ever awarding her a degree in it. Boy, how I could relate to that…
Her love interest is Erik Summers, a biology professor in the thick of a messy divorce. She’s not used to getting attached to people, and he’s still not quite over his ex, which is why it surprises them both when they rapidly develop a deep bond. These early stages of the relationship move at a quick pace. There’s even a literary version of the "Falling in Love Montage" that you might recognize from movies. This might seem a little rushed to some readers, but it works. It helps move the story quickly toward the real meat of the book, the real test of Alice and Erik’s love. She decides to tell him about her lycanthropy.
Danvers makes us sympathize with both characters here. We feel for Alice, who wants to be believed and accepted. It’s easy for us to condemn Erik. We’re reading the book, after all, and we know Alice is really a werewolf. But how would we react if we were in his position, rather than looking in from outside? (If it were me, and Alice showed me her full-moon confinement set-up, I’d probably careen right past “she’s crazy” to “she’s abusing dogs” and I’d be out of there before you could say “ASPCA.”) Suffice it to say that everything gets messed up, and then Erik must undertake a quest to find Alice again and make it right.
Wilderness contains a lot of insight into animal behavior, including human behavior. Danvers never lets us forget that we too are animals, and that our customs and etiquette might look just as strange from the outside as penguin behavior looks to us. He also includes several chapters narrated from the point of view of Alice’s wolf-self. These are sensitively written and “feel” like the real thoughts of a wolf. I find myself wondering whether Faith Hunter, who is also excellent at writing from an animal POV, has read and been influenced by Wilderness. (If not, I think she’d like it!) Danvers subverts the idea that the wolf-self is the more dangerous one.
The only element I found annoying was Erik’s random ogling of women. He seems unable to pass a pretty woman on the street without it being mentioned in the narrative, and one of my personal quirks is that this gets on my nerves. Yet I know exactly why Danvers did it. It shows that Erik’s attraction to Alice isn’t just lust or the desire for a rebound fling. He could satisfy those urges elsewhere if that were all he wanted. He wants the connection he has with Alice. Plus, I think that’s just the way the male brain — heck, the human brain — works.
Wilderness devoured me for two days and evoked the whole gamut of emotions. I recommend it to readers looking for a moving supernatural love story, with themes of trust, acceptance, and forgiveness. This is more in the vein of the “old-school” urban fantasies than the “new” style. It’s not a noir story, not much ass gets kicked, and many of the developments take place within the characters’ psyches. It’s a beautiful example of what it is, though, and I hope it finds its way to the right niche of readers.
April 12, 2010
Boy meets girl.
Boy loses girl.
Boy tries to win girl back.
Girl is werewolf.
Oddly enough, I liked it!
Boy loses girl.
Boy tries to win girl back.
Girl is werewolf.
Oddly enough, I liked it!
November 15, 2017
3.5.
Overall, I thought this book was solid. While it can't quite avoid a lot of the trappings of your typical romance ("true love", characters falling in love and banging nearly at first sight, love triangles), Dennis Danvers writes with a poet's eye for the loneliness and despair of being trapped in our own wilderness, and believably weaves this story of one sad werewolf around a small cast of well-rendered characters. I was frequently pleased with the author's refusal to give in to cheap plot devices. There were no boring bad guys, the male character's ex-wife wasn't a one note shrew who existed only to break them up, etc. The author's prose style was also erudite and intelligent, without calling attention to itself, and his dialogue felt natural and realistic. It's not incredible, though. Sometimes I felt the narrative dipped into mawkishness, as I suppose is pretty impossible to avoid in this genre, and while the writing was good, there was nothing superlative that kept me coming back. But everything worked, and I wasn't bored. If you're interested in a paranormal romance where the author can string a halfway decent sentence together and all of the characters act like real people (for the most part), you could do much worse than this.
Overall, I thought this book was solid. While it can't quite avoid a lot of the trappings of your typical romance ("true love", characters falling in love and banging nearly at first sight, love triangles), Dennis Danvers writes with a poet's eye for the loneliness and despair of being trapped in our own wilderness, and believably weaves this story of one sad werewolf around a small cast of well-rendered characters. I was frequently pleased with the author's refusal to give in to cheap plot devices. There were no boring bad guys, the male character's ex-wife wasn't a one note shrew who existed only to break them up, etc. The author's prose style was also erudite and intelligent, without calling attention to itself, and his dialogue felt natural and realistic. It's not incredible, though. Sometimes I felt the narrative dipped into mawkishness, as I suppose is pretty impossible to avoid in this genre, and while the writing was good, there was nothing superlative that kept me coming back. But everything worked, and I wasn't bored. If you're interested in a paranormal romance where the author can string a halfway decent sentence together and all of the characters act like real people (for the most part), you could do much worse than this.
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October 31, 2025The library record had the book summary for this Danvers book attached to Wilderness and you can imagined how confused I was... oh wait. GoodReads has it, too. Sloppy cataloging, y'all!
April 19, 2015
Not a bad story. It forced me to think about what a werewolf might actually be like in our modern world. Strangely, for three nights in a row I have tried to rewrite the book in my head. My muses are buzzing for me to do more writing. This book is thought-provoking and definitely worth reading at least once. As it is, someone on listia will probably really enjoy this book. =)
October 25, 2022
Once a month, on the night of the full moon, Alice White becomes a wolf. She does not remember her time as a wolf and has no control over it – once, as a teen, she killed a man who tried to rape her, and ever since has locked herself away when she transforms to avoid harming anyone else. She’s locked away when in human form, too, in that she refuses to let anyone get close to her – that is, until she meets a man named Erik and, against her better judgement, begins to fall for him.
I enjoyed the fact that Alice becomes an actual wolf, rather than a blood-thirsty man-wolf hybrid. I did not enjoy the unnecessary back-story we have to plough through for almost every character that appears, even those with a minor role. Alice and Erik’s back-stories, fine. Even Erik’s ex-wife, since she plays a significant role in the story. But Alice’s psychiatrist, his wife, Erik’s father, Erik’s best friend, a random man Alice meets on the street … We do not need to hear the life story of all these people. I understand that the author was trying to flesh out his characters, but for most of them it simply isn’t necessary. It becomes rather tiresome having to learn all about the childhood trauma or quirky insecurities of someone who will disappear in four pages, never to be seen again.
Overall, this is a fairly entertaining read, but if you’re a werewolf fan be aware that it isn’t your typical blood-and-guts werewolf tale. It’s essentially a love story, with the added twist of one of the protagonists being a werewolf. Alice is afraid of hurting Erik or scaring him off. He is afraid she’s crazy. Will their love triumph over the odds? I’m sure you can guess the answer …
I enjoyed the fact that Alice becomes an actual wolf, rather than a blood-thirsty man-wolf hybrid. I did not enjoy the unnecessary back-story we have to plough through for almost every character that appears, even those with a minor role. Alice and Erik’s back-stories, fine. Even Erik’s ex-wife, since she plays a significant role in the story. But Alice’s psychiatrist, his wife, Erik’s father, Erik’s best friend, a random man Alice meets on the street … We do not need to hear the life story of all these people. I understand that the author was trying to flesh out his characters, but for most of them it simply isn’t necessary. It becomes rather tiresome having to learn all about the childhood trauma or quirky insecurities of someone who will disappear in four pages, never to be seen again.
Overall, this is a fairly entertaining read, but if you’re a werewolf fan be aware that it isn’t your typical blood-and-guts werewolf tale. It’s essentially a love story, with the added twist of one of the protagonists being a werewolf. Alice is afraid of hurting Erik or scaring him off. He is afraid she’s crazy. Will their love triumph over the odds? I’m sure you can guess the answer …
January 27, 2010
I got this from the romance section and even though it is basically a love story it is not typical of romance werewolf stories. Or even typical of romances in general. The hero is a beta hero. The writing was a bit pretentious in places. This was obviously written by a man. Examples are (keeping in mind I am talking about ROMANCES written by women not women writers in general) the heroine as a wolf takes a sh**. Never do women include this in romance novels as that just isn't romantic. Also the hero smokes pot. Women who read romance novels don't generally think pot heads are very romantic. That's just 2 examples. The happy ever after bit at the end was barely there. So not a lot of payoff for sticking with it for 376 pages.
So a fairly good book. NOT a romance.
So a fairly good book. NOT a romance.
February 25, 2021
Great book. Loved it about a woman who thinks she’s a werewolf. Her psychiatrist is infatuated with her, thinks she’s crazy, and possibly dangerous. There’s no omniscient narrator so you don’t know either.
It’s a story about love, and failed marriages.
It’s a story about loneliness.
And it doesn’t have an American/Disney ending.
It’s a story about love, and failed marriages.
It’s a story about loneliness.
And it doesn’t have an American/Disney ending.
February 6, 2023
Alice White has been living a solitary life. The she meets college professor Erik Sommers who turns her life around. The only problem she is a werewolf. Alice and Erik have to deal with this and other mundane relationship problems. An interesting interpretation of the werewolf myth. It is also good seeing the complexity connected with human relationships.
September 16, 2023
Mijn 1e weerwolf boek denk niet dat er nog vele zullen volgen . Het verhaal is dusdanig neergezet dat je denkt, Alice de weerwolf, zal gegarandeerd iemand doden of de weerwolf wordt gedood …..
op het laatste was het verhaal saaier voor mij als Erik maar blijft zoeken bij het meer zonder resultaat.
Maar de aanhouder wint tenslotte, is het niet?
op het laatste was het verhaal saaier voor mij als Erik maar blijft zoeken bij het meer zonder resultaat.
Maar de aanhouder wint tenslotte, is het niet?
November 16, 2018
Best werewolf story ever written.
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May 14, 2020I've started this book three times. My timing must be off as I'm not into howling at the moon this month. Could never actually finish reading but that has to do with me, not this writer.
November 23, 2023
Started out good, slow in the middle... Definitely can tell a man wrote it. Despite that, the language was quite poetic at times. Still ruminating on what felt missing or overdone.
April 6, 2024
What a weird book. Not your typical werewolf story at all.
July 20, 2024
Een bijzonder verhaal. Het is geen echt liefdesverhaal, al draait alles om de vraag of het uiteindelijk goed komt tussen hun.
Met plezier gelezen.
Met plezier gelezen.
March 18, 2025
Fucking YES
November 4, 2016
I bought this book at the Goodwill in Bristol Georgia for $.99 on Saturday. Picked it up after the last book I reviewed.
I finished this book before work this morning (Tuesday). I knew the pages were few from being complete when I went to bed last night but my allergies are taken me for a loop, so off to bed by 11pm. When I began reading this morning, I was done in no time.
I am not fond of finishing a book before work. I like to leave something to think on through the day. But this book / well I knew how it would end and was ready to be done with it. Not that it’s a bad book – I just was on it longer than I thought I should have been.
The main character pushed through life as best she could / or knew how. She actually didn’t think there was another way for her to live. Oh yes she dreamed, but reality was she only knew this way.
Until she met him and then she knew she was lonely and she wanted more of life. She thought at first by denying part of who she was – would be the answer to live a full life. But soon she learned she had to be true to herself first and she went away to do just that.
After many discoveries she began another life, one were she was really herself and was not hiding or in denial any longer. She had so many emotions to deal with and work out. But soon she is one with herself and only now can she be happy with another.
So finally they meet again and he too knows he must accept all of her – and he does!
I believe – Love conquers all – and you will believe as well after reading this book.
Even though it was a somewhat good book (it didn’t excite me) – I don’t think it is worthy of a spot on my book shelf. So you can find this one on Swaptree for trade.
I finished this book before work this morning (Tuesday). I knew the pages were few from being complete when I went to bed last night but my allergies are taken me for a loop, so off to bed by 11pm. When I began reading this morning, I was done in no time.
I am not fond of finishing a book before work. I like to leave something to think on through the day. But this book / well I knew how it would end and was ready to be done with it. Not that it’s a bad book – I just was on it longer than I thought I should have been.
The main character pushed through life as best she could / or knew how. She actually didn’t think there was another way for her to live. Oh yes she dreamed, but reality was she only knew this way.
Until she met him and then she knew she was lonely and she wanted more of life. She thought at first by denying part of who she was – would be the answer to live a full life. But soon she learned she had to be true to herself first and she went away to do just that.
After many discoveries she began another life, one were she was really herself and was not hiding or in denial any longer. She had so many emotions to deal with and work out. But soon she is one with herself and only now can she be happy with another.
So finally they meet again and he too knows he must accept all of her – and he does!
I believe – Love conquers all – and you will believe as well after reading this book.
Even though it was a somewhat good book (it didn’t excite me) – I don’t think it is worthy of a spot on my book shelf. So you can find this one on Swaptree for trade.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2014
As another reviewer put it, this is fabulous. While the premise may seem simple the book is richly layered and full of beautiful language. Ignore the lurid cover - this is not part of the 'true blood/ Laurel K Hamilton/ Twilight' band wagon. So people looking for a werewolf story are going to be disappointed. People looking for a specific kind of paranormal romance might feel cheated. But then this book has never claimed to be anything it's not - blame the new marketing angle!
This is a deep, intellectual look at human nature versus the more instinctual, unconscious nature of the wilderness. What happens when one woman carries both nature's within herself in their purest forms but is unable to yield to either? What happens when you are two things at once, both very sociable animals but your very otherness forces you to be an outsider? This is a crie de cour for the line wolf, the one who fits in no where. The romantic storyline is further exploration of this theme.
Alice is a wonderful character - perhaps the best example of being human even when she isn't. Erik is lovely and flawed. All the other characters are well rounded and enjoyable - cue smacking Debra - but my favorite is probably Rupert, crazy hippie geneticist (in another life, if if just taken one more side step...)
Anyway if you're looking for paranormal novel with beautiful language, deep themes and a story you can get your teeth into, look no further. There should be more books like this.
This is a deep, intellectual look at human nature versus the more instinctual, unconscious nature of the wilderness. What happens when one woman carries both nature's within herself in their purest forms but is unable to yield to either? What happens when you are two things at once, both very sociable animals but your very otherness forces you to be an outsider? This is a crie de cour for the line wolf, the one who fits in no where. The romantic storyline is further exploration of this theme.
Alice is a wonderful character - perhaps the best example of being human even when she isn't. Erik is lovely and flawed. All the other characters are well rounded and enjoyable - cue smacking Debra - but my favorite is probably Rupert, crazy hippie geneticist (in another life, if if just taken one more side step...)
Anyway if you're looking for paranormal novel with beautiful language, deep themes and a story you can get your teeth into, look no further. There should be more books like this.
August 21, 2014
This book was merely okay to me. I read it because Circuit of Heaven by Dennis Danvers is my favorite book, so I wanted to read another work of his. I've never read a book about werewolves before so I can't comment about how good this book is compared to others in the genre, but I didn't love it. I liked it enough to want to see how it ended. The characters are pretty good and the setting is alright. It's fast paced. But some parts of it bored me and I feel the beginning is better than the rest of the whole book; it made the book seem like it would be more interesting what it was. The love story was alright, not the best I've ever read and not the worst. It was more x-rated than I expected and I didn't really think those parts were necessary. All in all, I think Circuit of Heaven is better in every single way, even though it's a completely different story. What Wilderness tries to do is what Circuit of Heaven does masterfully. I was hoping for an all-engrossing world with characters that I fell in love with, with an amazing story to boot, but that's just not what Wilderness was for me. My expectations might have been too high. I see Wilderness came out long before Circuit of Heaven so this is a good beginning for a writing career, but Danvers definitely got better with more experience. If you like werewolves than this book is for you because that part was interesting, but I don't really recommend this one if you don't care for werewolves. Check out Circuit of Heaven instead!
July 23, 2010
I liked this story, it was a sweet love story, kind of like the little book that could.
Alice was great fun right away. She is a werewolf in therapy, where her biggest issue is she can't get close to anyone. When she wants sex she picks up some guy. She both longs for and doesn't want the closeness of other people. I think this comes from how she first learned she was a werewolf, it wasn't a great experience. As you learn more about Alice and how she dealt with her "condition" you really admire her.
Alice's life gets thrown out of whack when she meets Erik. They immediately fall into bed and love. Their first week together is bliss for them both, but Alice has some anxiety about keeping her secret. She finally decides to tell Erik the truth and that is where things go to hell. Erik makes some choices that betray Alice and you start to hate him for hit. His choices put Alice in a tail spin where she feels the need to reevaluate her life.
The rest of the book deals with the aftermath once the secret is revealed. You can understand both sides of the story, but if you are like me, you are rooting for Alice to find what she desperately needs in her life.
Alice was great fun right away. She is a werewolf in therapy, where her biggest issue is she can't get close to anyone. When she wants sex she picks up some guy. She both longs for and doesn't want the closeness of other people. I think this comes from how she first learned she was a werewolf, it wasn't a great experience. As you learn more about Alice and how she dealt with her "condition" you really admire her.
Alice's life gets thrown out of whack when she meets Erik. They immediately fall into bed and love. Their first week together is bliss for them both, but Alice has some anxiety about keeping her secret. She finally decides to tell Erik the truth and that is where things go to hell. Erik makes some choices that betray Alice and you start to hate him for hit. His choices put Alice in a tail spin where she feels the need to reevaluate her life.
The rest of the book deals with the aftermath once the secret is revealed. You can understand both sides of the story, but if you are like me, you are rooting for Alice to find what she desperately needs in her life.
February 26, 2007
Primarily a story about the trials of love, Wilderness has as its heroine Alice White, a woman who has kept herself shut off emotionally because of a shameful secret. When she meets Erik, they fall in love and she decides to tell him who she really is--a werewolf. Of course he doesn't believe her, and their resulting soul-searching is painful to share. Alice's main concern was to be believed and accepted; so at Erik's rejection she decides actively to explore her animal half. Matters are complicated by Alice's inept psychiatrist and by Erik's ex-wife, who decides at this crucial time that she wants him back. Eventually, Erik realizes he loves Alice, and he searches for her to bring her back.
This was a great novel (for those who enjoy the genre); it was touching and thoroughly enjoyable.
This was a great novel (for those who enjoy the genre); it was touching and thoroughly enjoyable.
December 1, 2008
Erm. Not sure what I think about this one. It took ages to really hold my attention. I guess I kept waiting for the big conflict to erupt - and it never did. It's a love story. And that's kind of it. I'm accustomed to the Buffy/X-Files/Supernatural school where no one is just a vampire or a werewolf or a shapeshifter - it always has wider ramifications for them and their worlds. That being said, the characters were solid and pretty realistic - strangely enough, for a werewolf novel. It just didn't really every spark for me until the very end, when Alice found her wolves - that was pretty cool. Hmm, I think I'll have to mull over this one, because parts of it really stuck with me.
January 28, 2009
This is a nice love story. The characters are well-drawn, full of flaws and insecurities. The scenario of a woman haunted by her past (she was nearly raped as a girl and managed to kill her attacker) who falls in love with a newly divorced man is normal and believable. The werewolf aspect, however, felt contrived as if it was thrown into the mix as an afterthought to create interest. The author could easily delete every reference to werewolf without disturbing the plot. Instead of turning into a wolf in front of everyone, she could just find out that her boyfriend was having a fling with his ex-wife and run away, forcing him to search for her. It would still be a nice love story, and I wouldn't feel so cheated.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 23, 2014
This is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read!
The prose is elegant, the characters painfully real and well drawn and the subject matter delicately restrained and well handled.
It's ultimately a love story, so well crafted with a SOLID structure that I continue to return to it. It deals with an unbelievable concept in such a believable way that it draws you into effortlessly. The ending is haunting......
I HIGHLY recommend this title!
(I'm reading it again right now...)
The prose is elegant, the characters painfully real and well drawn and the subject matter delicately restrained and well handled.
It's ultimately a love story, so well crafted with a SOLID structure that I continue to return to it. It deals with an unbelievable concept in such a believable way that it draws you into effortlessly. The ending is haunting......
I HIGHLY recommend this title!
(I'm reading it again right now...)
September 2, 2015
A really good book. Unfortunately, the new cover they put on it makes me want to wretch. The publisher should have stuck with the old one to avoid looking like your stereotypical paranormal romance. This is not your stereotypical werewolf story. It has a more thoughtful perspective on actual wolves and the woman that turns into one since she was a young girl. It's more a tale of being lonely and finding someone to love. Dark but sweet.
July 8, 2010
Read long time ago. Being werewolf... falling in love with an usual man. To tell to him or not? Whether it helps or not? Although it was "sensuous, erotic and compelling" story while reading, it is almost forgotten. So, I can not give more than 2/5.
March 5, 2015
I must say this book surprised me!!! Very well written it flowed nicely. The characters were hilarious and I could just picture each one. If u have it read it now you will love it. If not something's wrong with u. My next hint is to see if I have any more of this authors books hidden in my room.
March 5, 2016
I gave it two stars cuz i was able to finish it. Had my copy had this cover, I would not have bothered. Its a romance novel, not an adventure novel. And a boring one at that. Nothing cool happens, characters are boring. Do not waste ur money.
August 12, 2008
This was suggested in a RA blog as an adult read-alike for Twilight fans
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