Wolf's Cross

June 14, 2010
Swann's considerable writing skill isn't matched by originality in this historical supernatural romance, the sequel to 2009's Wolfbreed. The opening scenes are gripping enough, as Brother Josef, a probationer in a "convent of warrior monks" in 14th-century Prussia, encounters evidence of a massacre carried out by a werewolf. When the beast attacks his group, Josef manages to strike the creature in the eye with a silver crossbow bolt and to survive his serious injuries. As he's tended by Maria, an attractive servant, he develops strong feelings for her, but Maria is drawn to Darien, a hunky stranger with a scar on one of his eyes. As those two grow closer, Darien reveals that Maria herself is a wolfbreed, setting up a predictable love triangle and the usual struggles between human loyalty and animal nature. This is nothing new for fans of paranormal romance, horror, or historical fantasy.

May 15, 2010
When a wounded Teutonic knight seeks shelter in a foreign land, village girl Maria tends his wounds even as she wonders at his refusal to speak of what creature caused them. Still a knight-probationer, Josef finds himself drawn to Maria in spite of his vows. When Maria discovers her true nature and the identity of the beast responsible for the deaths of many humans, she and Josef face a dilemma that seems impossible to resolve. Set in the same eastern Europe during the Crusades as "Wolfbreed", this is the tale of a young woman raised to believe she was human only to find herself one of the damned shape-changing wolves. VERDICT Swann's cinematic style and the intensity of his star-crossed lovers makes this an excellent selection for lovers of werewolf fiction as well as fans of Jane Lindskold's "Wolf" series. [Ebook ISBN 978-0-345-52172-9.]

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2010
In 1353, Maria, a 16-year-old servant in a Polish fortress, witnesses the arrival of a party of Teutonic knights, warrior monks, who are battered and beaten. Seeking refuge after a horrible defeat, they surrender their weapons, which, surprisingly enough, are edged in silver. Maria is assigned to care for Josef, who is not expected to survive his wounds. One night when heading home from the fortress, she is attacked by a stable hand and rescued by revenge-seeking wolfbreed Darien, who comes out of the woods and displays super strength. When he gets her to remove the silver cross her father and stepmother have insisted she wear her entire life, she discovers that she is a wolfbreed. Maria begins to fall in love with Josef, even though he is a member of an order dedicated to exterminating the wolfbreeds, who are considered demonic. Torn between Darien, the wolfbreed she believes she belongs with, and the man she loves, who has vowed to exterminate her kind, Maria is in danger. This action-packed, muscular historical romance is a stand-alone companion to Wolfbreed (2009).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)