Crown Prince Mihai Sigmaringen of Moldavia is happily attending school in England with a mistress when he is called home to honor an arranged marriage thrust upon him to help unite two lands. In the 1800s, supernatural beliefs abounded and Mihai determines to bring modernization to his country upon claiming the throne. His plan is complicated when his best friend is bitten by a werewolf.

Let me start by saying I’m not generally a paranormal reader. In fact, this was the first paranormal I can remember reading. I do like historicals and romantic stories, however, so I stretched my wings an extent and gave “The Wolf’s Torment” a try. The combination of historical paranormal romance was intriguing.

Cardin has put extensive research into the development of the story and interweaves it easily into the narrative. We get brief bits of history here and there when appropriate, enough to flavor the book and add to our knowledge of Romania. It’s enough to lead us to our own research if we decide, but not enough to distract from the storytelling.

Other than minor things such as some extra repetition and a certain word used more often than necessary, at least for my own taste, Cardin has done a nice job with weaving meticulous detail into a romantic story in which we feel we have a personal stake. I would like to have seen more of Viktor before the event that causes his change of paths, as he is the most interesting character in the novel and I think he had much more to tell us. I didn’t make much of a connection with Mihai or Theresa as they were both playing parts – but then, maybe that was the point.

What I did really enjoy was considering the struggle between Mihai holding his personal values and trying to bend to adjust to loved ones. The story lets us make our own decision about which he should do even while it is unfolding. Also, we are led to consider what is meant by strength and weakness, and what is love and what is only the disguise of love. There is much to ponder and I found myself thinking of the story even when not reading it. The end is not an end, but a pause, letting us know there is more to this tale in the making. I’m interested in knowing where it will go.

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Created Aug 12, 2008 at 10:21pm • Submit your own review...