Quick Synopsis – Calla is one of the last Golden Wolves, her and her sister Briar. They’ve spent their lives in hiding, waiting until Briar can fulfill her marriage contract to Prince Grae. But when the time comes, Sawyn the sorceress comes out of nowhere and curses Briar with a sleeping curse. Calla must save her sister and what follows is a story of finding out who you are and what you’ll do to save the only family you have left.

Song In My Head While Reading – Just Fucking Let Me Love You by Lowen

Publication Date – Dec. 05, 2023

Spicy Rating – 🌶🌶🌶🌶

Overall Rating – 3 out of 5 ⭐

Review – I was ready to not really like this book, I really had to push through the first 10 chapters. Everything was so syrupy and covered in tropes. However, once the curse is introduced, the story really picked up for me. As Calla is racing to save her sister, she’s also separating herself from the identity she spent her whole life crafting for herself. Not only does she discover how she fits within the gender spectrum, but she also tackles her own biases against humans.

The Wolves in this universe were supposed to be protectors. They ruled the four kingdoms, protecting lesser, weaker humans from monsters. The more Calla sees of the kingdoms, the more she realizes that maybe the Wolves have become monsters and that forced segregation is not the key. For a romance fantasy book, I thought the author really did a good job describing gender and gender fluidity, as well as what it’s like to have your worldview challenged. The empire of the Wolves is almost like a cult, and as Calla experiences the real world, she realizes that maybe holding the pack above everything else is not the best way to live.

The main storyline is fairly predictable. Calla goes on a quest, Prince Grae follows her, there is love and sex and magic, oh my. The real shining point and heart of the story is the found family storyline with the traveling musical troupe. That is where Calla and Grae really start to figure out the kind of rulers they want to be.

Overall, this was a good start, and I would read the next in this series. The first 10% was rough, and I still don’t love fated mates as a trope (it’s never actually rare and the second it’s brought up, you know the main characters are fated), but overall this story set good bones for a future tale.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the ARC.