Wolf Shunned by Laurel Night – A Reread Review

Posted August 17, 2021 by Booksandblurbs in Fantasy, Reverse Harem, Reviews / 0 Comments

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Wolf Shunned

(The Alpha Queen Legacy – Book 1)

by Laurel Night
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Fantasy (Post-Apocalyptic), Slow Burn, RH
Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

This review was first published in February 2021. With new publications in the series, I have started over and wanted to revisit the first in this amazing saga.

Down & Dirty

Strength and desire meld in an intriguing cauldron of action and mystery – one that changes up the Shifter Mythos in new and intriguing ways. Free on Kindle Unlimited.

What is it about?

(Blurb from GoodReads)

It’s amazing to be a dominant wolf… if you’re male.

When you’re a nineteen year-old girl who can beat the crap out of every wolf in your pack, suddenly it’s not so great. Love isn’t everything, I know; but even the most powerful she-wolf submits to her mate. If you can’t be dominated, you can’t be mated.

And an unmated wolf has no place in the pack.

My one hope is the clan gathering in the Blackwood Forest. Every wolf in the continental Americas attends, and a few seriously sexy wolves catch my eye. I’m bound to find at least one who can match me, right?

Then there’s my other problem: My alpha is a grade-A jerk. After treating me like a genetic freak my whole life, he suddenly decides to stake a claim.

But I can’t refuse the challenge, and my wolf won’t back down. Either I submit to the alpha and become mated to his skeezy pelt, or I win the challenge and my freedom… by taking his place as alpha.

Only no one has ever heard of a female alpha, and if I become one, I’ll never find a mate.

Note from the Publisher:

Wolf Shunned is the first book in The Alpha Queen Legacy, featuring a badass heroine, a dark fantasy world, and loads of sexy wolf shifters. Be warned: This is a slow burn, why choose romance. Once you pick this story up, you won’t be able to stop devouring it until the very last page.

My Thoughts on Wolf Shunned

I am a sucker for a well-written shifter novel, most of which are Werewolves. This one takes that common and well-known stereotype and shifts it a little to the left, introducing wolves as humanity’s answer to a rising threat of their distant past, one that was created by wars and devastation.

It’s a different approach and I appreciate the view. It has all the hallmarks of a typical Were novel; pack dynamics, shifting, hierarchies, etc – but there it stops. The reasons for the shifters, and what they fight, is as fundamental to this narrative as the fact they are shifters to begin with. Beyond that meta plot lays the gender-bending slap to the face of a true Alpha Female, something this society is not prepared to deal with, nor truly feel is possible. Add in an archaic timeline to find a mate, the WAY they find mates and an upcoming gathering – and you’ve got a distinctly unique shifter Reverse Harem.

Perspective:

First Person, Multiple POV

Ending Type:

Cliffhanger

Rating:

Adult – slow burn

Romantic Dynamic:

FMMMMM

Character Age Range:

19+

My Final Verdict on Wolf Shunned

If you love shifter romances, like I do, this is a delightful addition to that genre – one that twists things to suit a new origin and mythos. It’s fast, a bit harsh, and fully entertaining. Free on Kindle Unlimited.