Winter’s Wolf is the third and final book in the ‘Tales of the Harker Pack’. It stars Winter Thane, a werewolf, and Matt Partridge, an FBI agent who first showed up in Book 2. Although the main characters are Winter and Matt, there’s also a side relationship happening with Winter’s father, Damon. So the main povs are Winter, Matt, and Damon, but other minor povs also.



The blurb does a good job of describing the plot so I won’t go into it.

I read these books close together and this is the best written of the three. There was less over-the-top cartoonish mannerisms, vocabulary, and wolfish howling. This story was also more intricate with multiple subplots and mysteries dealing with personal and criminal interactions. I liked the mystery, but it took over the story so that there was less time given to Winter and Matt’s romance. I’d say this book fit the mystery genre more rather than the romance genre.

My thoughts on this cover are that I like the wolf heads that carry over to each of the books in the series with only the eye color changes. I have more problems with the cover models. Winter is supposed to be a very big and broad male. On the cover the model is sitting, so it helps camouflage his height, but he still doesn’t look muscular enough for me to believe that it’s Winter. The model’s hair is not super blond either, which is another characteristic that Winter and his father, Damon, share. However, Winter is only twenty-years-old, so the age of the face definitely fits better than the previous cover of this book. Therefore, this, to me, is probably the best fitting cover of the stories.

Winter and Matt based their relationship on sex. Winter was all for having a good time but he didn’t want to be used either, which was kind of odd since we learn that he used to be more interested in one night stands. I suspect that one of the reasons he was attracted to Matt, was because Matt was a mystery and was evasive compared to Winter’s other conquests. There wasn’t a lot of interaction between the two that could be considered normal, since both were hiding secrets, and because circumstances kept them apart, it was difficult to tell if they were good for each other. I would say that Winter put in more effort to connect with Matt rather than Matt did. Matt only connected when he couldn’t control himself or was desperate. Anyway, once Matt learns Winter’s secrets, the action picks up and the two seem better suited as a couple.

The culmination of the mysteries was well done, the ending exciting, and the epilogue lovely.

I found some inconsistencies and other errors that I marked in my ereader, but I’m not going to hunt them down. But overall, I liked the quality of the writing the best in this book than in the other two. However, I enjoyed the characters and plots more in the first and second books than I did in this one because this book focused more on the mystery and less on the romance, which meant less time getting to know Matt and Winter. I give Winter’s Wolf, 4 Stars.



I received a copy of this book from the author for an honest and unbiased opinion. ( )

This was a fantastic end to the series (if it was an end). I'm not sure if Ms. Lain has any more books planned in this universe, but if she ends it here, that would be fine.

This is definitely a continuation of the previous two books, in that part of the plot deals with unrest in the allied packs of Harker and Marketo (which became allied due to a marriage of alliance in [b:The Pack or the Panther|19450529|The Pack or the Panther (Tales of the Harker Pack, #1)|Tara Lain|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386978299s/19450529.jpg|27538135]). That "Alliance" has caused some dissension for many people. There is also further dissension in the ranks due to Lindsey's marriage to Seth in [b:Wolf in Gucci Loafers|20798492|Wolf in Gucci Loafers (Tales of the Harker Pack #2)|Tara Lain|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395062885s/20798492.jpg|40141774].

This is where Winter and Damon Thane enter the picture. Damon has been away from the area for 26 years (as such, his son Winter, who is only 20, has lived off-the-grid his whole life and doesn't have much experience or patience with pack politics). To start with Damon tells Winter they are returning so that Winter can have the experience with the pack (and that so he can get over this notion of sleeping with men). How shocking it is for him to learn to two same-sex pairings, and that apparently there is such a thing as a gay werewolf.

However, it doesn't take long for us (and Winter) to discover that Damon had an ulterior motive for returning home.

I've been kind of divided on this whole 'cardinal rule' thing. I get why it exists, but I think there can and should be exceptions. Lyndsey's family, for example, or if a person was to mate a human. That shouldn't be a deal-breaker. I mean, obviously, you wouldn't want to tell every person you slept with, or untrustworthy people, but there has to be some sort of middle ground.

Anyway, I liked that this one had more Lyndsey because I adore him (I know everyone is all about Cole and Paris, but for me it's Lyndsey), and I really like his whole family, so I'm glad they were all featured here, and we did learn all about how he came to be, so that was good.

I didn't think I was going to like Damon at first (his opinions about gays and his reasons for bringing Winter to Connecticut) but I actually did really like him. I liked that he could admit that he was wrong and that when he realized that both his sons were gay he wasn't trying to blame himself or thinking it was something he'd done wrong, etc... It just was.

I liked the way the whole thing ended, though I do wonder about the coup and the Harker-Marketo alliance. I doubt all the dissenters are done...dissenting.

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