THE WOODSMAN
Belle Scarlett
Ellora’s Cave (e-book)
ISBN: 9781419916342
May 2008
Ultimate

This very interesting book reads like a fairy tale. Lily Rouge is a proper French lady who is on her way to become the bride of a wealthy older man. Her parents have essentially sold her to him and she is riding alone in a coach when she hears the baying of a lone wolf. Startled and emotionally moved by the sound she is stunned when her driver stops and runs into the forest, leaving her alone.

Lily first began dreaming about a fantasy man and her sexual response to him ten years before. She often wonders about him and is startled when she leaves the coach and is confronted by a large black wolf with eyes just like those of her fantasy man.

The rest of the story moves from there, detailing the life of Sir Marrok Ulfang, cursed to live at night as a wolf unless he becomes intimate with a virgin on Halloween. Predictably, Lily has ventured into the forest on just this night. The story goes back and forth around their relationship and their attempts to reverse the curse.

This book is a little uneven but nicely written with a sensual tale and interesting characters. Filled with images of shape-shifting and the enchanted forest, it reads like a highly erotic fairy tale. Nicely done.

Reviewed by Jeri Neal
Rating: 4