Rating: 
Summary: A Fabulous Read!
Review: "Secret of the Wolf" is the final chapter in Susan Krinard's captivating trilogy that started with "Touch of the Wolf" and "Once a Wolf" and in my opinion it is much the best. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy, but "Secret of the Wolf" is something really special. Krinard has created an amazingly insightful, touching, and thought-provoking novel that I could not put down (I was even reading it at stoplights in my car!).Amidst the lush vineyards and rolling hills of the picturesque Napa Valley is Dr. Johanna Schell's Der Haven, a place where those who know the pain of being different can come to live in peace. Well ahead of her time, Johanna uses hypnotism as one of her main tools to treat her patients' mental illnesses. The patients at Der Haven are a diverse bunch: Lewis, the obsessive compulsive former Reverend, Harper, the catatonic ex-soldier, Irene, a middle-aged ex-theatre actress who thinks she's still a star, May, an incredibly shy and nervous young girl who rarely shows her face, and Oscar, whose mind will forever be child-like. Krinard paints all of these characters with compassion and realism, and as a result they become almost as intriguing as the primary characters. The story begins when on her way home after a trip, Johanna finds a man unconscious on the path leading to Der Haven, reeking of liquor. Unable to ignore anyone in need, Johanna brings the man to Der Haven, where she goes about treating his condition. When Quentin Forster finally wakes, he doesn't have a clue where he is or how he got there. But that is nothing new to Quentin, who has been suffering from terrifying spells of amnesia that leave him with nothing more than a impression of violence. But Quentin is no ordinary man; he is one of the last survivors of a race of werewolves or loups-garous, noble and majestic creatures that have kept their existence hidden from the human world. Quentin has been running from his personal demons for years, but he finally may have found a place where he can stop running and begin to heal, if only he can find the courage to face the shadows that haunt him. As time passes and Quentin settles in at Der Haven, Johanna is amazed at his ability to draw out the other patients, especially May. But the biggest issue Johanna must face is her intense attraction to Quentin, which becomes harder and harder to deny, and threatens to interfere with Quentin's treatment. Though afraid of what he may discover within himself, Quentin has great faith and trust in Johanna and her ability to make him whole again. And it doesn't take long for Quentin's trust to become something deeper and more permanent - love. But Quentin has many demons to face before he can even start to think about building a life with Johanna. While hypnotized, Johanna is shocked to discover that Quentin becomes violent and evil, and also suffers from delusions that he is a werewolf. But worst of all is the emergence of an entirely separate personality, Fenris, the embodiment of all of Quentin's fear and hatred, created during his years of childhood abuse and torture. Realizing she is in over her head and allowing her emotions to cloud her judgement, Johanna begins to doubt her ability to help Quentin. But trouble is heading Johanna and Quentin's way. Dr. Feodor Bolkonsky arrives in Silverado Springs under the guise of wanting to discuss hypnotism with a fellow doctor. But it isn't long before Johanna discovers that Bolkonsky is really there to return May to her sexually abusive father. Determined to keep May away from her father Johanna begins to construct a plan, and when Quentin finds out what's happening, he is determined to protect May at all costs. However, Bolkonsky has another and much more sinister hidden agenda, and Johanna must find the courage within herself to trust, heal, and love Quentin in order to save him! "Secret of the Wolf" is an affecting tale of love, self-discovery, and redemption. Krinard shows amazing insight into the inner workings of the minds and hearts of her rich and vivid characters and these fascinating characters kept me utterly absorbed in the story because I cared so much about them. Susan Krinard is one of the best paranormal romance authors out there, and "Secret of the Wolf" is a terrific read that does the genre proud. So don't miss out on this exceptional read, buy it right away and enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: One weird romance...
Review: ... well if you call the heroine-doctor falling in love with her multiple-persona (due to torture as a child by a relative), werewolf patient a romance. This isn't a romanticized Jekyll/Hyde with fur type of story. I kept reading it wondering where the story was going and how she could give us our happy romantic ending. It does, but it's still a weird read. If you like your romantic couple to suffer before ending up together then this might be the book for you. I found it tedious. Ms. Krinards descriptons and scenery are very good, but her jumping from each character's point of view (sometimes within the same paragraph) got confusing. There are many other books of supernatural romance out there... I would strongly suggest you read one of those.
Rating:
Summary: One weird romance...
Review: ... well if you call the heroine-doctor falling in love with her multiple-persona (due to torture as a child by a relative), werewolf patient a romance. This isn't a romanticized Jekyll/Hyde with fur type of story. I kept reading it wondering where the story was going and how she could give us our happy romantic ending. It does, but it's still a weird read. If you like your romantic couple to suffer before ending up together then this might be the book for you. I found it tedious. Ms. Krinards descriptons and scenery are very good, but her jumping from each character's point of view (sometimes within the same paragraph) got confusing. There are many other books of supernatural romance out there... I would strongly suggest you read one of those.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book!
Review: After I read the first two, this one by far, was my favorite. I loved how she started the characters off which made you think that Quentin was really just a drunk. Johanna's character was developed as a caring and unjudging woman who needed just the right man to bring out her passionate side. What a great book to end the trilogy.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but a bit disappointing...
Review: An asylum sheltered in the midst of the vineyard of Napa Valley is the haven for disturbed souls haunted by acts of violence, war and misery. Dr. Joanna Schell is the psychiatrist for the inhabitants and she is tenacious to make hypnotism flourish as a healing tool. She carries on from where her apoplexy-strickened father Wilheim has left off. An unexpected encounter with the injured and inebriated Quentin Foster brings him to The Haven to receive treatment for his wounded body and soul. Quentin's secret as a werewolf is concealed. Joanna is intrigued by him - and even more so for his dimensions and magentism in interacting with the inhabitants here. Harper, a veteran scarred by the war carnage shares the same fate with the war-tormented Quentin; May shrugs off her repulsion towards the opposite gender. Soon their doctor-relationship explodes into a deeper attachment and the peace of the Haven is threatened by a doctor called Feouder Bolvonsky who is here to reclaim May to her sexually abusive father. Quentin is determined to stop this and his aggression may once again lead him into killing. A deadly deception lies ahead and The Haven will depend on Joanna's love to tame Quentin and rekindle his hope in humanity.... Susan Krinard's SECRET OF THE WOLF forms the trilogy in her paranormal series after ONCE A WOLF and TOUCH OF THE WOLF. This effort is to date her most dazzling showcase in spinning a romantic tale that is emotionally gripping and detailed with medical researches. It explores the savage side of humankind with Quentin's multiple personality disorder and engages sympathy for the discriminated Oscar with his mental illness. The complication of science and humanity makes an interesting stage; the ficitional romance and adventure is soaring. Yet what makes SECRET OF THE WOLF her most accomplished so far is the savage tenderness in Quentin and his struggle with his childhood abuse by his grandfather. A race threatened by extinction, Quentin is programmed to be a primitive killing machine to sustain the power of the wolf population. How Joanna manages to exonerate his guilt and tragedy with her power of love is poignantly touching. Susan Krinard's latest is beyond categorization. The complexity of the story is handled with finesse and spiced up by her absorbing style of narration and description. Her talents in crafting an exciting werewolf read should be no secret by now.
Rating:
Summary: Good but a bit disappointing...
Review: Boy! What a myriad of emotions I went through while reading Secret of the Wolf by Susan Krinard! First of all, let me say that I'd been eagerly waiting for the conclusion of Krinard's werewolf saga. I adored Braden and Cassidy in Book 1 Touch of the Wolf and I really enjoyed Rowena and Tomas in Book 2 Once a Wolf. This is Quentin's story. It started slow and without much spark. I was set to write a very poor review. Then it picked up in the middle when a double personality story was introduced, which was a very interesting concept but it eventually overshadowed the werewolf story! This was not the story of Quentin the werewolf as much as the story of Quentin/Fenris, his alter ego. I really liked heroine Johanna's character: she was insightful, calm and trustworthy. She cared for her patients as if they were family. Her only experience with love and romance had left her unsure of herself as a woman. But her attraction and devotion to Quentin was undeniable. Quentin was fighting demons from Page One, and having read the previous stories, I thought it would be like Rowena's story: an unwillingness to accept the werewolf half of his body and personality. But there was so much more to Quentin than could be seen at first. Physical childhood abuse had carved out his character, violent aspects and all, but the reader never doubted Quentin's essential goodness. The ending was a real page-turner, with all the pieces coming together in a complicated, action-packed conclusion. And because the book was ultimately a romance, of course there was a happy ending. But I must admit a sense of disappointment (hence the 4 star rating). There was not enough of the werewolf aspect of the story and no real connection to the previously ( well-loved) characters such as Braden, Cassidy and Rowena. I feel this was the weakest link in the trilogy, although it's still very much worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Secret of the Wolf
Review: Bravo, you did it again. I am a big fan of yours and I really enjoyed your book. I have the collection and they are keepers.
I think you should write another one where they get together (Branden, Rowena, and Quentin along with their families. I also loved the books Prince of Wolves and Prince of Shadows. Thank you so much for the hours of "getting away". Can't wait for the next one.
Patricia
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not as good as the other two
Review: In the third installment of the Forster trilogy, Quentin is wandering about Northern California in an alcoholic haze. The drinking mentioned in the previous books has gone out of control. During a binge, he saves Dr. Johanna Schell from a drunken brute in an alley and becomes obsessed. He follows her home, she finds him passed out on the side of the road. Dr. Schell runs a private mental hospital and takes him in to treat his dipsomania. It turns out that this is not his only problem, and she resolves to treat that as well. Their relationship developes at a strange pace from there. Someone from the past is trying to disturb the Haven as well. This is not of the same caliber as the earlier novels. I really didn't approve of the way Quentin cured everyone's ills. It was too simplistic. Overall, it was an enjoyable book, but I was hoping for more.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent paranormal romance
Review: Near her family's vineyards in Napa Valley, Dr. Johanna Schell provides a haven for those plagued with mental anguish. Suffering Quentin Forster stumbles into Johanna's sanctuary, but suffers from amnesia with some glimpses of his past. Quentin knows he is on the run, but why and from whom remains blank. She offers the tormented yet compassionate man refuge and he grasps at her overture.
Joanna and Quentin begin to fall in love even as she tries to help him with whatever hidden tortures wrack his mind. However, his past arrives in her shelter causing perilous havoc for everyone there and under her hypnotic spell THE SECRET OF THE WOLF is released. If Johanna and Quentin somehow survive his past, can two extraordinary individuals cross specie lines find a lifetime of happiness even as love flows freely between them?
The third Susan Krinard werewolf romance (see TOUCH OF THE WOLF and ONCE A WOLF) is an exciting supernatural tale that will haunt readers long after the novel is done. The story line is loaded with plenty of otherworldly action that will thrill horror fans yet finds room for a strong ardent relationship between Johanna and Quentin. Ms. Krinard has another howling success that will send her back to her normal spot on the bestseller lists. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A Delicious Meal For The Mind
Review: SECRET OF THE WOLF is not only a conceptually brilliant book--- it is well-executed and terribly enjoyable to read with its lush descriptions of California's natural surroundings, and realistic depictions of fallible humans battling their own personal demons at the Der Haven Sanctuary. Also, I find Susan Krinard's depiction of her werewolf Quentin Forster in this 2001 novel, totally credible and sympathetic. Forster is the semi-human, tortured loup-garou caught between constantly vacillating states of mind and body... If all Romance novels had been written by Ms. Krinard, I would have faithfully begun to read this genre long ago! (Heretofore I have been primarily a reader and lay-writer of horror fiction .) Quentin Forster proves to be a sexy rogue; wildly sensuous, provocative, intriguing and an a-typical rusty-haired leading creature (man)!
Krinard has taken a courageous departure here from the perceived mainstream Romance novels. In SECRET she weaves the fallibility of humans into her work exhibited through the unique frailties of the small handful of Der Haven's "mental patients". This book just might destabilize the intellectually enfeebled because Krinard takes genre-crossing risks. She mates romance and the supernatural apparently she was born to write about sexy beast/s and slightly lonely but self-reliant ladies. One message shining through in SECRET is how sometimes frailties and neuroses found in the human species can be secret strengths as well.
Far from 'grandstanding' on the topic of mental illness, Krinard seems to embrace the human uniqueness and fascination of the mentally afflicted; both severely neurotic and the delusional. She makes such characters somehow a little bit relatable to all of us. Her characters are compelling to read about in SECRET and rusty-haired Quentin is damn alluring; dripping with animal magnetism! Who wants to read about cookie-cutter lovers when the human soul is much deeper, varied and tortured? Are we not merely housed by the husks of our bodies? Susan Krinard's sophisticated readers will look deeply into the enigmatic eyes of her werewolve/s and certainly fall into the depth of her character/s. Readers will be sucked into the paranormal pages comprising this novel. Indeed, it will be hard to break the spell... Definitely not for cliche'-seekers or intellectual midgets.
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