In Darkness: The Werewolf by L. Diane Wolfe

Souls shrouded in darkness…

On her own in England, Vicki trains at a prestigious fencing school. Face marred by a birthmark, she’s suspicious of Nicholas’ attention. A dinner date reveals his genuine interest and they begin to connect. Nicholas is attractive and she wonders why he’s so shy and reclusive.

Then one evening she happens upon him changing into a lycan. Every werewolf legend is shattered by the gentle, fearful creature before her. Vickie accepts his secret, but Nicholas knows he’s an unpredictable beast. Can they trust love enough to overcome their physical challenges?

My Review

 I didn’t enjoy this short story as much as the others I have read. The writing felt very dull in the beginning, and the way the paranormal is introduced and explained wasn’t very interesting. The characters themselves were hard to connect with as they had no real standout qualities. The short story ends well but doesn’t have many standout moments. 

Vicki is a fencing student at The British Academy of Fencing. She is very self-conscious about her birthmark. Her internal monologue suggests she is interested in the landlord’s son, Nicholas. Still, how this book is written is throwing me off a little. We go from too much info in the first few paragraphs that we must piece together to very elementary conversations and ideas. 

Reading this book thus far is like reading Brahm Stoker’s “Dracula.” You know the storyline is coming despite the slow, meandering writing. I do find it intriguing that we switch characters’ povs. Maybe this will help with the thoughts. Nicholas comes off as very unsure and second-guessing his internal monologue is almost as bad as Vicki’s. Both main characters in this book are self-conscious, and each action is analyzed. 

The paranormal gets introduced finally into this story, and not quite the way I expected, but it wasn’t a surprise either. Vicki reacts like any normal sane person would to that encounter. Curiously, we get introduced to Nicholas as a hybrid.

Each chapter is like a snippet into a moment, not necessarily ending with a rhythm of it being the end of that conversation or scene but then jumping to the next moment. I know this keeps the short story shorter, but it is confusing between the chapters when there isn’t a clearly defined end or breaking point. The short story ends okay but didn’t stand out to me in any way.  

If you want to read In Darkness: The Werewolf by L. Diane Wolfe you can find this short story on Amazon. As an Amazon Assocaite, I earn on qualifying purchases.