Bella’s entire family was killed when she was a young red wolf cub and Devlyn is the grey wolf who rescued her and took her to his pack. Bella and Devlyn were raised together but as Bella became an adult, the grey pack leader made it clear he intended to take her as his mate. Devlyn wasn’t old enough to fight for her and Bella feared being forced by their pack leader so she fled. Bella lives for one hundred and fifty years as a human moving around to stay hidden but now she has been found. Devlyn has come to take her back to the grey pack and Volen the leader. If Bella can’t have Devlyn as her mate she will flee again; she will never mate with Volen. But the situation has just become even more complicated, a pack of red wolves wants Bella for their pack. Also a red wolf is murdering red-haired human women and his actions threaten the safety of all the wolf packs. Can Devlyn and Bella catch the evil red wolf before he murders more humans? Can Devlyn keep Bella safe from the red wolf pack that want to claim her? And will Devlyn finally take on Volen for the right to mate Bella and does he want to risk dying for Bella?

Heart of the Wolf by Terry Spear is a fantastic new addition to the popular trend of shape shifter stories. I loved this story, not only does Ms. Spear draw the reader into the lives of Bella and Devlyn and the other people they interact with but she has painstakingly researched the behavior of real wolves in the wild to add realism to the behavior of the werewolves in their wolf form and pack behavior. Normally I don’t find shape shifter stories humorous unless it is intended to be a kind of spoof, but this story has a humorous streak running through it. There is a human man who wants to rescue the wolf form of Bella and place her in a zoo for her protection and he is relentless in his pursuit to save the stray red wolf. This man keeps complicating Bella’s situation and adds some funny dilemmas for Bella and Devlyn to work around and right in the midst of all of their life threatening problems. Heart of the Wolf is full of action, adventure, suspense, and romance and is one of best werewolf stories I’ve read. I hope this is just the first book of a new series because I would love to read more by Ms. Spear about the wolf packs introduced in this tale. There are plenty of great secondary characters that would make interesting spin offs for another book. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves a good paranormal, romantic suspense, and shape shifter story!

Reviewed by: Stephanie B.