Review: An arranged werewolf marriage
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 23, 2013
In this third book of this series, we meet Elise and Kane. Kane was briefly mentioned in book one when he was in college, but now is the Alpha of a Lycan pack in the Pacific Northwest, having been challenged by, and defeating, his brother for the position. In order to cement allies and expand friendly borders, Kane seeks a mate from a neighboring pack. Elise is the youngest daughter of the neighbor Alpha and is the right age to marry. Her father and Kane do all the negotiations, and Elise is informed that she has three hours to get ready for her mating ceremony. Despite her growing attachment to a male in her pack, Elise goes through with the alliance mating ceremony because it's what she's been raised to do.Kane is a good alpha and a good man, even if he sometimes forgets he has a wife. Elise meets some new friends and is made to feel very welcome by her new pack, mostly . It becomes clear, though that there are problems; a guard is shot while on patrol, traps are found along the edge of the pack's lands, areas are contaminated with oil spills, the old Alpha died under mysterious circumstances and an oil company wants to buy pack lands and isn't taking "no" for an answer. With all these pressures, it's hard for a newlywed couple to spend time together, but Kane and Elise try to make the time to get their relationship off on the right foot.The problems start to point to Kane's defeated brother, Ryne, as the culprit, but this news devastates Kane. He can't believe his own brother fought him for the Alpha position and then would sabotage his old friends and family like this. Elise can't believe it either. Something just doesn't add up for her. Maybe it's because she's an unbiased newcomer, maybe it's because she's starting to fall in love with her husband, but whatever the reason she starts poking around. When the real saboteur realizes someone's onto them, how long will Elise stay safe? Will Kane listen to her suspicions, or will their relationship be another thing broken by whoever's undermining the pack?Kane and Elise have a very hard row to hoe with their relationship. Both of them are young but are in positions of great authority and are supposed to be and act wisely.That would be hard enough if they knew each other, but they had an approximately fifteen minute courtship. They're still learning what the other person likes to eat, much less governing a pack in a time of crisis and Elise learning how to have sex. There is a lot of growing and compromising on the way in this story.As always, this author does not charge for her books, asking readers to instead make a donation to a local animal shelter or food bank.Heat factor hot.