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Cry Wolf
Big bad wolf
Like the skilled predator of the hunt, Harper Beaumont cornered Nikki Ashton and offered her the biggest opportunity of her career. While his domineering manner left her cold, his demanding kiss warmed her considerably.
Nikki knew Harper was the only man who could unleash her passionate nature. Unfortunately, he saw her as a gentle lamb to be protected--not as a partner who could match his fierce passion... .
Like the skilled predator of the hunt, Harper Beaumont cornered Nikki Ashton and offered her the biggest opportunity of her career. While his domineering manner left her cold, his demanding kiss warmed her considerably.
Nikki knew Harper was the only man who could unleash her passionate nature. Unfortunately, he saw her as a gentle lamb to be protected--not as a partner who could match his fierce passion... .
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
6 people are currently reading
189 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Carpenter
37 books44 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Amanda Carpenter (aka Thea Harrison) resides in northern California. She wrote her first book, a romance, when she was nineteen and had sixteen romances published under the name Amanda Carpenter.
She took a break from writing to collect a couple of graduate degrees and a grown child. Her graduate degrees are in Philanthropic Studies and Library Information Science, but her first love has always been writing fiction. She's back with her paranormal Elder Races series under the pseudonym Thea Harrison.
Amanda Carpenter (aka Thea Harrison) resides in northern California. She wrote her first book, a romance, when she was nineteen and had sixteen romances published under the name Amanda Carpenter.
She took a break from writing to collect a couple of graduate degrees and a grown child. Her graduate degrees are in Philanthropic Studies and Library Information Science, but her first love has always been writing fiction. She's back with her paranormal Elder Races series under the pseudonym Thea Harrison.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 21, 2018
Re Cry Wolf - Amanda Carpenter's tenth HP outing is a study in adjective laden verbosity. But it is a pretty lyrical verbosity that is reminiscent of a slow drift down a lazy river on a sunny English day.
The h is a 24 yr artist. She is the daughter of a deceased US Senator and comes from a very sophisticated background. She has left her family behind in the States, as her mother remarried another narcissistic power broker like her late father and she got tired of the pretenses of high society life.
She now works in advertising and in a certain respect, she limits herself to the here and now and earning a living. She meets the H as she is running with badly cut hands after she got lost near Soho and was attacked.
The H is a 36 yr old Captain of Industry and a renowned art collector himself. He rescues the h when she literally runs into him and because one part of him is amused and wants to capture and conquer the feisty but gamine h and the other part wants to protect her from all harm, he soon maneuvers her into staying at his Oxfordshire manor home.
He does this by going to the ad agency she works for and holding out the chance for a lucrative contract if the h can come up an overarching logo and theme for his vast conglomerate of businesses.
The h is very wary at first, they have a huge mutual attraction, but she has been around power brokers before and she is not impressed by the callousness they have for other people.
The h doesn't want to be used and cast aside, but the H also has a very cute six year old nephew that soon becomes the h's bosom beau and the care and love the H has for his nephew goes a long way to reassuring the h that the H is relatively harmless.
Then the H challenges the h to spend six months on a painting, of any subject, and he will subsidize her and then purchase it for a healthy sum.
He sets up a studio for her in his country home and there is a lot of back and forth as the h and the H battle their intense attraction for each other and the H battles the conqueror side vs the protector side of his inner nature.
Throw in a long time family friend who is a wanna be OW with marriage in mind, a really good verbal showdown between the h and the wanna be OW after the h and H become lovers and an overheard conversation by the h where she thinks the H is dumping her because she isn't elusive enough and we get ourselves a nice little lazy afternoon melodrama.
Things come to a climax when the H goes to ask her family's permission to marry the h. While the h is making plans to leave because she believes she failed to make the H love her and he is kicking her out, the h's brother flies back with the H to ask his sister to return to the family fold in the States.
The little nephew is very irate that the h is leaving and those are the first words that greet the H and the brother when they show up at the Oxfordshire home. The h is so wrapped in misery, she can't even see straight, but she did manage to finish the painting the H commissioned.
The h's brother then spills the beans about the H wanting to marry her cause he loves her and all is right again as the h runs to find the H and give him a piece of her mind about not telling her he loves her before he announces it to all and sundry.
There are big shouted "I love you's" in the midst of their argument about their inner natures and we get a lovely wedding with the h at her most gamine and feisty best, a besotted H who still retains his boardroom predator image and a lovely portrait of the H as a wedding present that shows both sides of his personality.
Thus proving that the h is not only a great artist, but the one woman that can see all of the H and loves him for it anyway. As the H sees and adores her and all her wisdom and winsomeness just as much, we leave the two planning to sail down the Nile on honeymoon for a truly sparkly happy sunny HPlandia HEA.
This one is cute, the prose is absolutely lyrical and relaxing, but not a whole lot happens and the angst is more from the over use of the adjectives rather than any real drama. On the whole give this one a go when you are in a whimsical beach mode for a more relaxed and fairly cute HP excursion.
The h is a 24 yr artist. She is the daughter of a deceased US Senator and comes from a very sophisticated background. She has left her family behind in the States, as her mother remarried another narcissistic power broker like her late father and she got tired of the pretenses of high society life.
She now works in advertising and in a certain respect, she limits herself to the here and now and earning a living. She meets the H as she is running with badly cut hands after she got lost near Soho and was attacked.
The H is a 36 yr old Captain of Industry and a renowned art collector himself. He rescues the h when she literally runs into him and because one part of him is amused and wants to capture and conquer the feisty but gamine h and the other part wants to protect her from all harm, he soon maneuvers her into staying at his Oxfordshire manor home.
He does this by going to the ad agency she works for and holding out the chance for a lucrative contract if the h can come up an overarching logo and theme for his vast conglomerate of businesses.
The h is very wary at first, they have a huge mutual attraction, but she has been around power brokers before and she is not impressed by the callousness they have for other people.
The h doesn't want to be used and cast aside, but the H also has a very cute six year old nephew that soon becomes the h's bosom beau and the care and love the H has for his nephew goes a long way to reassuring the h that the H is relatively harmless.
Then the H challenges the h to spend six months on a painting, of any subject, and he will subsidize her and then purchase it for a healthy sum.
He sets up a studio for her in his country home and there is a lot of back and forth as the h and the H battle their intense attraction for each other and the H battles the conqueror side vs the protector side of his inner nature.
Throw in a long time family friend who is a wanna be OW with marriage in mind, a really good verbal showdown between the h and the wanna be OW after the h and H become lovers and an overheard conversation by the h where she thinks the H is dumping her because she isn't elusive enough and we get ourselves a nice little lazy afternoon melodrama.
Things come to a climax when the H goes to ask her family's permission to marry the h. While the h is making plans to leave because she believes she failed to make the H love her and he is kicking her out, the h's brother flies back with the H to ask his sister to return to the family fold in the States.
The little nephew is very irate that the h is leaving and those are the first words that greet the H and the brother when they show up at the Oxfordshire home. The h is so wrapped in misery, she can't even see straight, but she did manage to finish the painting the H commissioned.
The h's brother then spills the beans about the H wanting to marry her cause he loves her and all is right again as the h runs to find the H and give him a piece of her mind about not telling her he loves her before he announces it to all and sundry.
There are big shouted "I love you's" in the midst of their argument about their inner natures and we get a lovely wedding with the h at her most gamine and feisty best, a besotted H who still retains his boardroom predator image and a lovely portrait of the H as a wedding present that shows both sides of his personality.
Thus proving that the h is not only a great artist, but the one woman that can see all of the H and loves him for it anyway. As the H sees and adores her and all her wisdom and winsomeness just as much, we leave the two planning to sail down the Nile on honeymoon for a truly sparkly happy sunny HPlandia HEA.
This one is cute, the prose is absolutely lyrical and relaxing, but not a whole lot happens and the angst is more from the over use of the adjectives rather than any real drama. On the whole give this one a go when you are in a whimsical beach mode for a more relaxed and fairly cute HP excursion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2010
Although I wouldn't call this book unputdownable, I enjoyed it. It had a deep element that I don't always see in Harlequin Presents. I liked the way that Nikki could see there were two aspects of Harper that were fighting each other. The part of him that was a protector, sweet, and loving; and the predatory, domineering, take no prisoner part of him. She saw that he was in conflict, feeling like he needed to supress one over the other, and that this would be an issue in him accepting his love for her, instead of pushing her away altruistically. Nikki was young, about 23, but she was pretty mature and insightful. I loved that she was an artist. She reminded me of my mother, in fact. She was a pretty layered character. Harper was also deep and rich in characterization. I liked him from the beginning. He has that tough, strong, intense nature that I love in a hero, but also the warm, sweet, loving, caring personality that is equally irresistible. And he was a British hero. We need more Brits in the HP books! Another thing I liked about this book was that Harper was a family man. He was raising his nephew since his parents died when he was a baby. He was also close to his mother. I think Ms. Carpenter wrote this book with some elements that enriched it in a way that I wish I saw more in this category of books. This was a good book, and I wish I had read it fast, but I kept picking it up near bedtime when I was too sleepy to enjoy it as much as I could.
If you want to sample a Harlequin Presents that veers away from the whole Mediterrean/Latin billionaire playboy with the arm-candy heroine, you should check this out. I hope to find more of Amanda Carpenter's books since I enjoyed this one and The Great Escape.
If you want to sample a Harlequin Presents that veers away from the whole Mediterrean/Latin billionaire playboy with the arm-candy heroine, you should check this out. I hope to find more of Amanda Carpenter's books since I enjoyed this one and The Great Escape.
March 7, 2019
It was, as nothing else could be, a baptism of fire. It scorched her to the bone and seared her soul. It was the first and only kiss, a conflagration, a death indeed of innocence, and at the same time a shrieking phoenix flight, for nothing was spared or held back as he kissed her with full unbridled passion, ravenous and open-mouthed, penetrating her with his tongue and plunging her headlong into deepest adult sensuality.
"Cry Wolf" is the story of Nikki and Harper.
An ode to our couple's extremely volatile and passionate tale, in this story, we see two independent yet incomplete characters meet, have instant attraction, challenge each other's beliefs and fall insanely in love with each other.
Yes, this might get exhausting for some readers because its flowy language and heavy usage of prose, adverbs and adjectives throughout the book, but for me, it was their intensely artistic love story that shone through all the waxy lyrics the author weaved around them.
Despite it's literary heaviness, this still has an insanely posessive hero, a strong heroine, witty banter, an adorable child, a jealous OW and interfering OM- mixed with loads of romance and breakdowns. Ending was oh so dramatically sweet!
Enjoyed it!
Safe
4/5
"Cry Wolf" is the story of Nikki and Harper.
An ode to our couple's extremely volatile and passionate tale, in this story, we see two independent yet incomplete characters meet, have instant attraction, challenge each other's beliefs and fall insanely in love with each other.
Yes, this might get exhausting for some readers because its flowy language and heavy usage of prose, adverbs and adjectives throughout the book, but for me, it was their intensely artistic love story that shone through all the waxy lyrics the author weaved around them.
Despite it's literary heaviness, this still has an insanely posessive hero, a strong heroine, witty banter, an adorable child, a jealous OW and interfering OM- mixed with loads of romance and breakdowns. Ending was oh so dramatically sweet!
Enjoyed it!
Safe
4/5
December 15, 2012
Despite the prose of the book filled with adjectives, I loved this book. There was something that pulled me in. The heroine comes from a privileged background and is a 24 year old artist who doesn't challenge herself much. Then she meets the hero when he rescues her from bad men. The hero sees through to her. He is 36 and successful and pushes her art. They are attracted to each other but the hero could be passive aggressive sometimes, pushing her away because of her innocence but the heroine gave as good as it got. They didn't want to pressure on each other, hence the holding back which almost caused misunderstandings before the HEA.
September 19, 2016
Ok this is her last book I am reading of her!!! They just piss me off! Firstly, how is she responsible for birth control asshole your the one with the experience and also they are both two very selfish self centered people!!! God help me but they pissed me off!!! It's like no one else was in this book but two very boring selfish people who could read each other's motives and bore oh bore they went to bed together only when it was convenient!!! Omg that's not passion that's not love!!! It's just I don't like her writing I think she makes me mad and I want to just yell!!! In fact I just did!!! Never again.
July 16, 2020
Big bad wolf
Like the skilled predator of the hunt, Harper Beaumont cornered Nikki Ashton and offered her the biggest opportunity of her career. While his domineering manner left her cold, his demanding kiss warmed her considerably.
Nikki knew Harper was the only man who could unleash her passionate nature. Unfortunately, he saw her as a gentle lamb to be protected--not as a partner who could match his fierce passion...
Like the skilled predator of the hunt, Harper Beaumont cornered Nikki Ashton and offered her the biggest opportunity of her career. While his domineering manner left her cold, his demanding kiss warmed her considerably.
Nikki knew Harper was the only man who could unleash her passionate nature. Unfortunately, he saw her as a gentle lamb to be protected--not as a partner who could match his fierce passion...
July 19, 2010
**** 4 1/2 stars *****
Something about this book just appealed to me. The language at times was a bit flowery and OTT, but in the end, I just plain liked it. I might even give it a re-read down the road!
Something about this book just appealed to me. The language at times was a bit flowery and OTT, but in the end, I just plain liked it. I might even give it a re-read down the road!
October 24, 2025
Two lone wolves meet by chance and then conduct a brief, sweet courtship. That's it - that's the plot. It's hyper-focused on the H/h, which I liked a lot.
The prose is very purple, however. And the heroine takes herself very seriously. Her father was a powerful man and the her mother married another power broker after his death. Artist heroine's independence has been hard won. When she is attacked on a London street and rescued by the alpha hero, her daddy issues are triggered. She loves being protected, but hates being overwhelmed.
Her wolf (prematurely grey hero) is a powerful banker, patron of the arts, and guardian of his adorable six-year-old nephew. He has a London home and a manor house in Oxford. Heroine is one of the few people to see both aspects of his life. She can't see it, but hero is smitten for life.
*happy sigh* Just a nice story.
The prose is very purple, however. And the heroine takes herself very seriously. Her father was a powerful man and the her mother married another power broker after his death. Artist heroine's independence has been hard won. When she is attacked on a London street and rescued by the alpha hero, her daddy issues are triggered. She loves being protected, but hates being overwhelmed.
Her wolf (prematurely grey hero) is a powerful banker, patron of the arts, and guardian of his adorable six-year-old nephew. He has a London home and a manor house in Oxford. Heroine is one of the few people to see both aspects of his life. She can't see it, but hero is smitten for life.
*happy sigh* Just a nice story.
February 14, 2012
I really liked this one, though it was probably more like 4.5 stars. Way melodramatic, and I felt like half the time I couldn't really follow whatever deep, intense points they were making in conversation. Nonetheless, it kind of worked for me -- I do like emotional angst anyway. And I think I just liked this hero -- very strong, but also gentle -- you really got the feeling he was going to take care of her. Not the most modern relationship, but still nice in a romance novel.
January 19, 2013
Read Dec 2011.
The hero treated the heroine like a fragile piece of glass until she stepped up to the plate. Honestly, I adored this novel.
The hero treated the heroine like a fragile piece of glass until she stepped up to the plate. Honestly, I adored this novel.
November 20, 2014
It's really sweet how much the hero loves her, but there wasn't an actual plot outside of that.
March 4, 2014
Nice story with elements that give it more depth than is usual for series romance. Towards the end the story fell back on the usual tropes, though, which lessened my enjoyment a bit.
June 20, 2023
I loved the book.
Harper was a great H: intelligent, smart and honorable, it's a truly alpha and one of the few Hs that I liked in books. He loved Nikki since the beginning, I think he loved her the same night that he met her although he was almost rude to her when they met when she needed help, I think he fell in love with her before she went to bed, when she was Gordon was taking care of her injuries, it was the first time that he felt jealousy and possessiveness in his life. He knew that he loved her the next day when he went to her job to find a different Nikki and it did not take long to him to guess her identity because of her name and some characteristics that she shared with her late father, like I said he has a sharp brain unlike other Hs. I liked that he loved her before he knew who she was.
I got annoyed with Gordon when he met the heroine in the first time, the womanizer was complaining that he left his dinner and 'desert' to help a girl that had her hand hurt. Really? Screwing some woman is more important than to help a woman that had her hand cut? I thought that doctors and physicians took a oath to save lives. I'm glad that she didn't cut any slacks for him and cut him with barbs. After that he changed his mind about her. And he was very patronizing saying that she could not afford him, the moron didn't even know that her family has more money than most of wealth people in the world, she is the same class than the hero, they belonged in one of the most powerful families in the world. He should not judge for the covers without knowing their past.
Gayle, the nasty OW judge too that Nikki was beneath their class, I would love to see her face when the marriage was announced to see far from a penniless nobody, Nikki belonged to a powerful family. And I would love to see when Harper asked for a explanation of what went between her and Nikki, and cut relations with her after that. Unfortunately it was off page.
I can see like Nikki saw that the two sides of his personality are struggling with regards of his feelings for Nikki, the only thing that I didn't like it was when he acknowledge his love for her, he try to use excuse that he has no time and many responsabilities to have time to love her. If he truly loved her he would find time. Fortunately he changed his mind soon. And I loved that she and Charles got so well. I think it was almost love at first sight between them. It was important to Harper that she adored Charles, I think he treat him more like a son. He is one of the few heroes that you can see he truly loves the heroine besides the desire. He tried to contain this part of him, not to push so soon to a physical relationship because she was young and virgin. I'm glad that it was one of the few times he didn't resist the heroine when she stated what she wanted from him. Most of the Hs in HP just want to screw the heroines so they can used them and get them out of the system to go to pursue for new OWs. Harper was a giver and a protector, he truly cherished her unlike most of the Hs.
I'm also glad that the way Nikki are he would never take her for granted, she knows her mind. And he is trying not to curb her independence and to be less possessive. I think that it's adorable that such an alpha man that he is not a 100% sure of her. And I adore Charles too.
Harper was a great H: intelligent, smart and honorable, it's a truly alpha and one of the few Hs that I liked in books. He loved Nikki since the beginning, I think he loved her the same night that he met her although he was almost rude to her when they met when she needed help, I think he fell in love with her before she went to bed, when she was Gordon was taking care of her injuries, it was the first time that he felt jealousy and possessiveness in his life. He knew that he loved her the next day when he went to her job to find a different Nikki and it did not take long to him to guess her identity because of her name and some characteristics that she shared with her late father, like I said he has a sharp brain unlike other Hs. I liked that he loved her before he knew who she was.
I got annoyed with Gordon when he met the heroine in the first time, the womanizer was complaining that he left his dinner and 'desert' to help a girl that had her hand hurt. Really? Screwing some woman is more important than to help a woman that had her hand cut? I thought that doctors and physicians took a oath to save lives. I'm glad that she didn't cut any slacks for him and cut him with barbs. After that he changed his mind about her. And he was very patronizing saying that she could not afford him, the moron didn't even know that her family has more money than most of wealth people in the world, she is the same class than the hero, they belonged in one of the most powerful families in the world. He should not judge for the covers without knowing their past.
Gayle, the nasty OW judge too that Nikki was beneath their class, I would love to see her face when the marriage was announced to see far from a penniless nobody, Nikki belonged to a powerful family. And I would love to see when Harper asked for a explanation of what went between her and Nikki, and cut relations with her after that. Unfortunately it was off page.
I can see like Nikki saw that the two sides of his personality are struggling with regards of his feelings for Nikki, the only thing that I didn't like it was when he acknowledge his love for her, he try to use excuse that he has no time and many responsabilities to have time to love her. If he truly loved her he would find time. Fortunately he changed his mind soon. And I loved that she and Charles got so well. I think it was almost love at first sight between them. It was important to Harper that she adored Charles, I think he treat him more like a son. He is one of the few heroes that you can see he truly loves the heroine besides the desire. He tried to contain this part of him, not to push so soon to a physical relationship because she was young and virgin. I'm glad that it was one of the few times he didn't resist the heroine when she stated what she wanted from him. Most of the Hs in HP just want to screw the heroines so they can used them and get them out of the system to go to pursue for new OWs. Harper was a giver and a protector, he truly cherished her unlike most of the Hs.
I'm also glad that the way Nikki are he would never take her for granted, she knows her mind. And he is trying not to curb her independence and to be less possessive. I think that it's adorable that such an alpha man that he is not a 100% sure of her. And I adore Charles too.
June 11, 2023
I loved it so much, up to a point, that being the inevitable misunderstanding/near-break-up at the 80% mark. I'll tell you why, I just plain *didn't get it*. In fact I worried I had accidently skipped a page because I didn't understand where all this conflict suddenly came from. Everything was so sweet and going well then for seemingly no reason she's all angst and doubt and secrets and misunderstandings and I'm like 'girl where did that wise, honest, open girl vanish to?'
I would give that hair drying scene a solid five stars though. Solid gold heart fluttering romance moment.
I would give that hair drying scene a solid five stars though. Solid gold heart fluttering romance moment.
December 27, 2021
Zero stars. This was awful.
The female lead asserts that she doesn't play mind games, when in actual fact SHE INCESSANTLY PLAYS MIND GAMES. She is delusional, mentally unstable, and a danger to the sanity of those in her orbit.
The hero seems a nice enough chap, although I wonder at what his damage is that he is so quickly ensnared by this sociopath. I deeply pity him, and I fear for his nephew.
This was a disturbing read. I recommend that you avoid it.
The female lead asserts that she doesn't play mind games, when in actual fact SHE INCESSANTLY PLAYS MIND GAMES. She is delusional, mentally unstable, and a danger to the sanity of those in her orbit.
The hero seems a nice enough chap, although I wonder at what his damage is that he is so quickly ensnared by this sociopath. I deeply pity him, and I fear for his nephew.
This was a disturbing read. I recommend that you avoid it.
September 12, 2025
Boring.
The main couple plays mind games all the time, trying to gauge each other’s intentions and thoughts.
The American h is accosted in London. While trying to escape, she runs into the H, who brings her home and takes charge of her life.
She’s a wealthy heiress who wants to succeed as a painter on her own. The H commissions a painting.
The main couple plays mind games all the time, trying to gauge each other’s intentions and thoughts.
The American h is accosted in London. While trying to escape, she runs into the H, who brings her home and takes charge of her life.
She’s a wealthy heiress who wants to succeed as a painter on her own. The H commissions a painting.
May 14, 2020
Good wording. But what were all drama and eye talking about? H and h conversed quite a bit and reached some inscrutable conculitons all without any actual words. Meanwhile us, the readers, were like "huh?".
September 18, 2017
This book was ALL about the chase and without it the H lost interest.
February 12, 2019
I don’t know. I didn’t really like this one... The flowery prose, the overwrought emotion between the characters, it was so... for want of a better word, corny 🙄 I just wasn’t feeling it.
May 19, 2023
More tell than show and I felt no connection to either h or H. Little nephew was the best character.
October 11, 2021
2.5 stars?
I didn't know how to rate this. The prose was elegant and graceful but tended towards being over wrought. And I did find the romance to be a bit dry and dull.
Maybe I missed a lot of the subtleties and nuances because I did skim a bit. There didn't seem to be a lot of angst, drama or plot in the story. Also, I found the hero's name jarring and I winced every time I read it.
I didn't know how to rate this. The prose was elegant and graceful but tended towards being over wrought. And I did find the romance to be a bit dry and dull.
Maybe I missed a lot of the subtleties and nuances because I did skim a bit. There didn't seem to be a lot of angst, drama or plot in the story. Also, I found the hero's name jarring and I winced every time I read it.
September 2, 2015
Three and a half stars
I read this when searching out Thea Harrison books. Set in the early nineties I found the draw very compelling. The ending was a little too sweet for my tastes but matches the time and publisher.
I read this when searching out Thea Harrison books. Set in the early nineties I found the draw very compelling. The ending was a little too sweet for my tastes but matches the time and publisher.
January 29, 2014
Full of the standard misunderstandings between the H/H, but nonetheless, it managed to keep it interesting.
November 16, 2014
El aullido del lobo (título en español). Novela ligera, completamente blanca. Me gustó, aunque es bastante predecible en algunas partes.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews