Review: Sick!  I hated this book.  Destroyed the prior 2 for me.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 06 8, 2013
I enjoyed the 2 prior books and rushed to buy and read this one when I saw it come up.  I wish I hadn't.  IMHO, this book is sick.  *************SPOILERS AHEAD**************I hated this book.  The one thing I liked about this series was how independent and feisty Michaela, the fox, is.  I like how she has managed to stay away from wolves until she meets Lara.  Well, none of that appears to be true in this book.*************LOTS OF SPOILERS AHEAD**************The independent fox seems to have some form of Stockholm Syndrome.  She is tortured, disrespected, kidnapped, abused and every other thing you can think of . . . all in the name of tradition by the wolves who claim to love her.  Despite all she suffering she had been through with wolves--and everyone recognizes she has PTSD--they still subject her to a barbaric pre-wedding tradition.  A tradition no one bothered to explain to her, all the while demanding that she just trust them and then love them while they torture her.  At one point in the story she's hung upside down and spun around while her hair is twisted, almost breaking her neck.The fox is forced to submit to the most abominable things imaginable . . . while the wolves claim it is fun.  They beat her and then ask her if she is mad at them or if she loves them.  Can you say domestic abuse?  When is that ever fun!  ARGH!They kept telling Michaela that this torture what is important for the alpha and that the alpha wants this or that.  The alpha and the pack will just be oh so proud of Michaela just accepts a little more torture.  The pack never thinks about Michaela's background, customs or traumas.  Never bothers to see if this wolf custom would exacerbate the fears of a fox who is already afraid of wolves.  The woman is going to therapy several times a week, but I guess they did not bother to check with the therapist to see if this "custom" would break her.  They took no steps to ameliorate any harm to her psyche.The whole book is about turning the fox into a wolf, completing vitiating all that makes this character special.I cannot imagine why the fox, Michaela, would want to be with Lara or even in this pack.  Seems as if what happened to her at the purported bridal shower is as bad as a fox hunt.  She should be afraid of all of them, not only their behavior but their decision making.  Not once did these folks take her into account.  She was forced to trust them in order to survive.I loved the other books.  This one was just sick.  I cannot imagine why an author would write this s.*.*.*. in the hope that the fox somehow proves she deserved to be part of this psychotic group.  Or to see how much torture and disrespect she will accept?It would have been palatable if someone, especially her lover, Lara, or the head Enforcer, Elizabeth, had told her ahead of time what to expect.  Then, she would have had a choice.  If you want someone to respect your customs, perhaps tell them of the customs first.Mostly, I felt disgusted reading this.  The lack of communication on barbaric customs and then expecting the little fox to just take it, is vile.  Shameful and even more so because it's women doing this to other women.Michaela, of course, has a break down after the custom torture.  She tells them about her awful traumatic history with wolves that go far, far beyond what she told them before.  She killed lots of wolves, hunted them even.  She's SUPER FOX who lets people beat her for fun!  ??????  Seriously ridiculous.  And who lets a group of teenagers pierce their ears and boobs?  No one sane!  LOLAfter she has her psychotic break, with hidden weapons all over the house, and tells them that she has killed hundreds, I can't imagine why she would trust wolves or they would trust her.  Her back story makes the whole thing unbelievable.  Here, we learn she's killed/hunted hundreds of wolves, in contrast to the fox who has stayed away from wolves and has survived fights based on fox tactics.  Now, we learn she's been horribly victimized, turned into a sadist, and was a successful wolf hunter.  Then somehow forgot it all when she moved to Wisconsin.  But, oh yeah, she managed to kill several more wolves while in Wisconsin.But, it's all okay.  Everyone trusts everyone and everyone loves every one.  No healing time.  No time to think over the disclosures.  No time for Michaela to not be insane.  She has a psychotic break and it's all over and done with in hours.  "I'm crazy, I've been crazy, I can't remember hiding weapons everywhere, I tried to kill you, and Let's get married."  Seriously?  Very very shoddy!  The author should have taken some time to show how everyone could deal with these disclosures and trauma.  But she did not.  There is disclosure and then nothing else on thisAnd another thing, Lara, the alpha, is not really trustworthy.  She lies and cheats in order to force the fox's submission even on simple things like who choose Michaela's wedding dress.  She constantly demands that the little fox give up something but yet she gives up so little.  A horribly unbalanced relationship.And the end?  They do not tell her about another custom . . . they get to torture her again on the 1st anniversary since she did not do so well last time.  Though they promised to tell her ahead of time about these customs, they don't.  ~eye roll~  Of course she agrees to more torture?  Who does that?  Just say no to the domestic abuse.This becomes the top of my list of hated books.  It left a horrible taste in my mouth on how a woman can write about denigrating another woman this way . . . all in the name of love and acceptance.  The back story just makes the other books ridiculous.  Michaela is not a likable person.  Her snazzy attitude now just seems psycho as if she is a horrible victim who keep getting victimized, now by the ones who claim to love her.  Awful!  The alpha, Lara, seems like a selfish control freak.  All the friends and pack members seem seriously crazy and using these customs as a form of fox hunt because the end result is that they get to torture Michaela without penalty.  Too bad other wolves can't figure out how to get their fox hunt on . . . just tell the fox you love them and they'll let you and every one in the pack beat the senseless!All of these characters are unpalatable.  The author tries to make domestic abuse and group violence palatable.  It made me want to throw up.This book ruined my enjoyment of the prior 2 books.  The author made Michaela a completely different beast than she was portrayed to be in the prior 2 books and the alpha made no progress as a mate.Ugh!  I hate this book.  The psycho things people thing to do to women seeking love and family amazes me.Did I say how much I hate this book?  I seriously, SERIOUSLY hate this book.  It's awful.