"snappy dialogue that crackles and pulls the reader into the suspense"
How far and to what lengths would you go to keep a promise
to a friend? In WOLFSONG Ms. Raffin shows exactly to what
lengths schoolteacher Madison Montgomery would go to seek
justice for and reclaim her best and closest friend,
Laurel's honor. Madison pulls every string she can in order to secure a
position as the cook for several men working out in the
woods on a wolf re-population project. She has pulled
together a sketchy profile of Laurel's rapist and is
determined to find the man responsible for her friend's
suicide among the gentlemen working on the project. But
from the minute she gets off the bus and meets her host
and boss, Walker Armstrong, she is shown exactly how
unwanted she is. His greeting is barely a grunt as he
takes her bags to put them in his truck and drive her to
the super market to stock up the cabin. Undeterred by Walker's disdain and gruff manner, Madison
is determined to fit in and make herself as useful as
possible in her position as cook. Unobtrusive is another
matter altogether when Madison shows up at the local bar,
appearing drunk and seeming to come onto every fair-haired
boy in sight. She has ulterior motives. The man who raped
Laurel was fair-haired and had a distinctive tattoo on his
chest. Walker, witnessing Madison in action sees another hot-to-
trot city girl on the make, especially when he notices
Madison's total lack of discrimination. Or should he
consider it discrimination, against men dark and Native
American such as he? He tells himself that he is not hurt
by her choices, that her preferences in men mean nothing
to him. This would all be fine and dandy if he could get
her cute little heart-shaped ass and her fake-green eyed
gaze out of his mind. Walker watches Madison methodically work her way through
each and every man on the project -- all fair-haired, and
at least one rich boy among the group. He is initially
convinced that, like his ex-fiancée who slept with his
best friend before jilting him, Madison is only out for a
good time and to get her hooks into a rich boy in the
bargain. He believes that everything about her -- from the
green contacts she's wearing to her shy innocent virgin
act -- is faked and doesn't care if she's the greatest and
prettiest cook he and his men have seen in a long time.
Walker doesn't trust Madison Montgomery, but he wants her. Madison thought her plan to catch a rapist a perfectly
viable one until she goes through and discounts every
suspect on the wolf project. And the one man, who couldn't
have committed the attack on Laurel, is the one man that
Madison wish would attack her in the most sensual and
stimulating ways. But can she allow herself even that
small measure of pleasure, when she hasn't succeeded in
reconciling her friend's death and bringing a rapist to
justice? Walker takes the decision out of her hands when he makes a
move on Madison. Driven part by jealousy and part by lust,
he is out to prove that he is just as good as any fair-
haired boy to whom Madison Montgomery has so far been
attracted. But Madison is not a wilting flower, or a fast
city-girl, despite all Walker's misconceptions, but most
of all, she is not an easy woman on the make, but a woman
with a mission. And the last thing Madison wants is to be
the transition woman for a man on the rebound, no matter
how virile or how attracted to him she is. Convincing Walker of her integrity and intentions is at
first a hard sale. But Madison gradually brings him around
to trusting her. Helping him accept his parents' death and
confiding in him about the loss of her own parents opens
up an entire new world of trust for both Walker and
Madison, and takes their relationship to a new level. Consummation soon follows, but not without some pitfalls
as Madison discovers that Walker has made a bet with
Dalton, the resident rich boy, on whom would sleep with
Madison first between them. Ms. Raffin has a gift for the rustic setting and her
depiction of the alpha he- and she-wolf's mating ritual as
a metaphor of the carnal desires simmering between Walker
and Madison in one particular scene in the book is well
done and shows the growth and acceptance of the
characters. The characters themselves are well-written and
true-to-life, with snappy dialogue that crackles with
realism and pulls the reader into the sexual tension and
suspense of the story, all complimenting the unfolding
mystery.
Gracie
McKeever, Author
For
ParaNormal Romance Reviews
Reviewed by Gracie McKeever
Posted May 21, 2003
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