By: Cait Marie
Blurb
Faelynn
Being the youngest alpha female in the Aruna pack has its perks, but picking her mate isn’t one. Faced with a political mating, Faelynn sneaks away from the annual Gala intent to find a quiet corner where she can escape into a book. While reading, she overhears a plot that involves her, her blood, and her line.
Panicked, she runs from the Apollo pack’s guards and seeks shelter in a bookstore. While hiding, she meets up with a wolf who she hasn’t seen in five years. The very wolf who ruined her for other men isn’t dead like she assumed.
Raff
Finding his fated mate standing in his exiled prison has Raff seeing red. Stripped of his title and position to protect Faelynn, he has nothing to offer her.
He’s now faced with a choice to claim her as his own or walk away. But whatever he choses will change the course of fate for both of them. With the clock ticking until Faelynn is forced to mate another, Raff will need to use every ounce of power he possesses to save his mate and put an end to the corrupt alpha’s reign.
Review
This is a prequel novella set a few generations before the main books of this new series, and I actually read book one first, so I backtracked to read this one because I enjoyed it a lot. It was great getting the backstory of this world and the different packs.
I really love Faelynn and Raff. They had great chemistry, and the spicy scenes were well done. The world building is intriguing and there’s a lot going on (in a good way). I liked getting a deeper glimpse at how things work.
That being said, it felt like it all could have been developed a little bit more. I know it’s just a prequel novella, and it serves its purpose well, but there were certain aspects of the story that felt like it was missing something. For example, Raff was exiled for five years, and it’s made a huge deal, but we never really find out why exactly. The reason was hinted at in the beginning, but toward the end, a comment was made that had me questioning it. There were also a lot of side characters who were thrown in without much of a story. It almost felt like we should have already known who they were, but because this is the only book set in this time (at least, right now), we’re just meeting everyone.
I’m also slightly confused on the setting and when this takes place. The language and such makes it feel like modern times, but the first book also feels like modern times, and I thought this took place like a century or more before.
The story left me wanting more because I had so many questions. It might just be a personal preference thing; I say this about most short stories and novellas. Some of the things are addressed in book one, and I’m assuming more will be in other books, but I doubt I’ll get to know more about Faelynn’s brother and why he did what he did, for example.
Again, this might just be a me thing. The book was a great introduction to this world, and it was a fun-but-intense short read that was easy to get into. Though, it could use a good edit. But that’s coming from an editor; the average reader probably won’t notice the missing commas and such. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It just hooked me on to these characters, and now I want more, but the main books aren’t about them. 😅
Functionally Fictional 