Rating: 3.75🌈
It’s been a while since I read the first book in the series, Hexes and Horns, so getting back into this universe needed prompting from the author for necessary foundation work.
There’s some really good elements here and some I feel need better explanation or more detail to feel complete.
The characters are terrific. The mixed pack of shifters trying to pull it together on the edge of an uneasy otherworldly boundary situation is a great element. It adds so much natural tension and believable shifting pack dynamics that I wish we’d had more of this aspect of the story. From Grammy, CJ, and various other pack members, the rawness and energy of this stressful scene came through perfectly.
Especially with its Alpha, Angel Velasquez, who has his own struggles to overcome, along with the otherworldly dealings and beings to deal with to ensure that the pack is safe. That includes murky agreements with one of the Fae over someone Angel has agreed to give sanctuary to.
That’s the mysterious Dafydd. His story and background very slowly reveals itself, almost too slowly. We figure out pretty quickly what type of being he is but not why he’s in danger.
That background is extremely difficult to understand and too complicated for the events that follow. It’s not well laid out narratively nor are all the vague clues as to his species history or strangely mysterious individuals that are important to this aspect of the story but without any firm foundation.
It’s frustrating that we get great characters but holes in the storylines and universe building when needed.
Like an unacknowledged mate bond. Why not just go ahead and cement that aspect of their relationship? It made no sense to leave it as one more cloudy element .
I enjoy this author and find she very imaginative and entertaining. This book has many good elements, enough to make it an enjoyable read.
Into the Wyldewood:
Hexes and Horns #1
Hunted #2
Buy link
Hunted (Into the Wyldewood Book 2)
Blurb
Keeping their distance is the safest path, but sometimes magic and the heart make other plans.
For pack alpha, Angel Velasquez, every day is a struggle to keep his head above water. Between running his bar, paying back a mountain of debt, and protecting his pack from dark witches, the Fae, and anyone else just waiting for a sign of weakness, he already has more than he can handle. The last thing he needs is a refugee from Faerie dumped in his lap, no matter how sweet and sexy he might be. But when an elven prince calls in a debt, refusal is not an option.
Dafydd hates keeping secrets almost as much as being seen as a burden. A dragon is supposed to be fierce, proud, and self-reliant. Betrayed by those he thought he could trust most and forced to run from the only home he’s ever known, he isn’t feeling very dragonly. Is it any wonder Angel can’t see him as an equal, someone worthy of his time and possibly his affection?
As Halloween approaches and their bond grows despite every reason it shouldn’t, what will they risk to protect each other when the real hunt begins?
Hunted is an over 100k slow burn romance featuring a cinnamon roll of a dragon, a grumpy alpha, meddling pack, mysterious neighbor and a guaranteed HEA. Each book of Into the Wyldewood can be read separately but are best experienced in order.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 