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Summary: Whims Work
Review: I bought this on a whim. I wanted something to read and it caught my eye. I am not so impressed with all the vampire-wannabes so the fact that this was werewolves intrigued me. Truthfully, I expected to waste my money.I didn't. This is a taut fiction that has been very well written. Donna Boyd is now on my list of authors to look for and the first in this series (I hope it is a series... I want more)_The Promise_ is on my wishlist now. From the first moment to the last I was captivated by the werewolves among us theme. That they felt themselves above humans was part of their arrogant charm. Do buy this one!
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Summary: Tragic and Uplifting Love Story
Review: One of the most beautifully told stories that I have ever read, no matter the subject. Ultimately, "The Passion" is a tragic and uplifting love tale. The Passion refers to the transformation that werewolves experience when they change from human to wolf. I think it also refers to the passion and longing that the heroine, Tessa, possesses in her desire to understand and experience the life of a werewolf. The story reveals Tessa as a woman who, herself, transforms from one who is naïve and innocent into a woman who possesses an inner strength and determination to live, and who retains a sense of caring and consideration that makes her story all the more moving. "The Passion" is set during the 18th century and revolves around the story of Tessa, who befriends and falls in love with Alexander Devoncroix, an extremely wealthy businessman who happens to be a werewolf. She has the fortune and misfortune to be the first human welcomed into the company of the werewolves. Due to her position and her relationships she becomes the pawn of another who seeks to destroy Alex. Boyd's werewolves are both arrogant and alluring, and thus powerful and weak at the same time, as the story reveals. The story is as seductive as the characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Annoying
Review: I found it annoying that every other sentence by one of the Werewolves was "We are better than humans..." yada yada yada It got to be so overwelming. I was like: OK I get it they are better. But please I don't need to hear that every other word. The only part that kept me enthralled was toward the end with Tessa and Denis. The book made me mad on more than one occasion. The way Alexander just dismissed Tessa without even thinking. He the werewolf who should have been able to detect the truth from lies .. didn't. Oh please. For me the story just didn't stay in character.
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Summary: Something to Howl About
Review: Compelling, absorbing, and lyrical... Ms. Boyd can sure tell a story. She spins a tale of a subculture of urbane werewolves which exist and live amidst humans, unbeknownst to most of them. They are wealthy, elegant, intelligent, well-educated, and powerful: the consummate "beautiful people" known as the Devoncroix clan. It is a story which is sinuous in its imagery and sensual in its use of language. She weaves the tale of the head of the Devoncroix clan, Alexander, and his connection to the all too human Tessa. It is her fascination with Alexander and his fascination with her which is at the heart of this novel. Her description of werewolves and their subculture is intriguing and spellbinding. She draws you in and before you know it, you are caught: hook, line, and sinker. You dread coming to the end of the book, and when you do, you cannot wait to go out and get the sequel. Anne Rice, beware, here comes the heir apparent! Anyway, the book is a great read.
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Summary: What a brilliant book!
Review: I was very skeptical when I began reading The Passion - but right away I was captivated by Boyd's characters and her prose. Tessa LeGuerre is the young human who nearly succeeds in killing Alexander Devoncroix, the werewolf she believes killed her father; instead of killing her in turn, Alexander amuses himself by "adopting" her and teaching her his ways. However, the relationship goes far beyond what Alexander planned, and Tessa's existence ends up changing the werewolves lives forever. The world of the loup-garous is a very credible one, despite just how fantastic they are, their families are filled with backstabbing and jealousies, greed and overwhelming passion. If you've been looking for a superb paranormal read, give The Passion a try.
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Summary: Go Straight To The Best Werewolf Tale--This One!
Review: I thought that I wouldn't be able to stand reading yet another werewolf book. I've read so many, and seen so many werewolf films, that I'm surprised I don't turn into one during the full moon myself! A friend, Sandi M, insisted though that this was the best werewolf tale of them all so I gave it a try. Boy, was she right! Shifting from present time to the past and back again, Boyd delivers an entire world of werewolves who live amongst humans yet surpass them on every level. The "hook" she uses is incredibly inventive: what happens to humans if they have sex with a werewolf. And, naturally, in Boyd's werewolf world, one does. I dove directly from this book into its sequel, THE PROMISE, which was every bit as terrific! Btw, that's a nude in flames on the inner front cover of the book, which you just catch a glimpse of on the front cover cut-out. It is one of the better hidden front covers.
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Summary: What a great werewolf tale!
Review: The Passion by Donna Boyd is the first book in a series. Tessa LeGuerre is one of the few humans ever allowed to enter the werewolf world. Hired as a maid of charismatic werewolf, Alexander Devoncroix, Tessa tries to murder him in his sleep. In spite of this, Alexander is enchanted with Tessa and makes her his ward. Through Alexander, Tessa enters werewolf society and is introduced to the queen and other werewolves. Tessa soon falls in love with Alexander but he tells her that the mating between werewolf and human is impossible. When werewolves mate, it's for life. They exchange life experiences and become one; all their emotions are shared by both weres after the mating ceremony. That isn't to say that they don't have sexual encounters before they mate. Nudity and intercourse are natural for them and they do engage in it. However, werewolves don't normally have sex with humans. They feel that humans are inferior to them and are prejudice. Alexander flaunts convention by telling Tessa the secrets of his people and bringing her into their company. The first half of the book is interesting but I had no problem in putting the book down. I thought it read like a romance book instead of a horror book. Once I hit the halfway mark the book got immensely interesting and I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. Tessa does something that changes her life and those around her forever. I will say I didn't like the ending of the book, but I was still impressed with it. I hope the second book, The Promise, is like the second half of The Passion. What a wonderful book! I recommend this book as long as you aren't expecting a horror book with lots of gore and scares.
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Summary: A DELIGHTFUL, ESCAPIST ROMP THROUGH THE DARKNESS OF THE SOUL
Review: It was with some trepidation that I picked up Donna Boyd's first novel, "The Passion". As always, I am not easily sold when a book is described by using the talent of another, far better, author, for comparison. To compare this reshaping of the legend and myth surrounding werewolves to Anne Rice's vampire legend is to invite disappointment. With that in mind, I delved into this dark and brooding tale. I was pleasantly surprised! Boyd does admirable work in rebuilding the legend of the werewolf, making them not beastly, unthinking killing machines, but rather, intelligent and cultured sometime human/sometime animal. Where Rice's strenghts lie in her ability to create a chilling and compelling atmosphere in which to display the predatory side of the human (and non-human) heart, Boyd builds a more subtle and engrossing comparison of the darker sides of the human soul. The Devoncroix, a family that has survived for hundreds of years, are the forebearers of the werewolf pack, and have used their unsurpassed intelligence and uncanny overdeveloped senses to survive in a world where humans believe they are the only race living on the planet. Building tremendous financial empires at the disadvantage of humans, the pack desires to rise above the lowly human race by displaying their more-than-human sensibilities in that they refuse to kill a human under any circumstances. Not so humans. And not so a small group of anarchist rebels which exists in the frozen tundra of Siberia...they believe that all humans (except for the few left alive for subservient purposes) should be eradicated from the planet. When these two factions clash, brother against brother, a moral tale arises within which the shades of darkness within the soul are brought to light. This tale is well-written, informative, and definitely entertaining. I would recommend it for anyone looking for a good diversion from reality!
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Summary: Werewolves have never seemed so loveable!
Review: I read the second installment of this series first and though I was slightly disappointed with that one, I decided that maybe it was because I hadn't read the prequel. So I did. This I was not at all disappointed in. I had, however, hoped for there to be a little more "passion" between Alexander and Tessa. I had hoped he could lose control and fall completely in love with her. Though that wasn't to happen, the author's new rendition of the historical werewolf is amazing. I had no trouble believing in her werewolves or in her characters. I was finally, completely satisfied at the end when Denis, who originally hated Tessa (and vice versa) finally succumbs and falls for her completely, and she for him. Because of this part of the series I wait with baited breath for the third part. Even though the second part wasn't all that great, I now know this author can write and has made me become completely enamored with her characters. Hopefully, in the third part, Nicholas will become as enchanting as Alexander was in the first installment.
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Summary: Laughable Farce
Review: Boyd's attempt to Anne Rice-asize the legend of the werewolf. Unfortunately, what works for vampires does not necessarily work for werewolves. Boyd makes her monsters into ultra-intelligent, superhuman, Godlike beings, much in the same way that Rice reinvented the vampire. Boyd's failure, is in not recognizing that to be believable, werewolves can only be depicted as fierce, visceral, feral beasts, barely capable of interaction with civilized humanity. Boyd's wall-street werewolves, on the other hand, are a pack of intellectual, scholarly, Epicurean highbrows who occasionally strip off all their clothes for playful human/wolf orgies in the woods outside their palatial estates. Ahoooooooo. Curiously, the neighbors never seem to complain about all the howling. Boyd's book is a laughable farce of the classic werewolf legend.
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