Wolf's Bane by Ash Krafton

Description:

When life gives you lemons, all you can do is try to avoid paper cuts.

Since becoming oracle to the demivampire two years ago, advice columnist Sophie has battled werewolves and survived a vampire attack (or two). However, not only was she powerless to save her lover Marek when he slipped to the brink of evolution, she also witnessed his transformation into a falcon, the symbol of Horus United.

Sophie’s quest to save Marek is further complicated when rock star Dierk Adeluf – who also happens to be the king of the Werekind – invites her backstage after a concert. Just when it seems she will find respite from heartache, Sophie is bitten by a werewolf and Dierk decides she is destined to be his queen.

Sophie is caught between the demivamps she loves and the Were who commands her to love him. Throw in his jealous wanna-be girlfriend and an ambush by witches, and there you have the big mess that Sophie calls her life. And, hello? Her soul mate is still a bird.

She’s supposed to be the girl with all the answers, but Sophie needs more than a little advice--she needs divine intervention.

Review:

Wolf's Bane by Ash Krafton

5+ out of 5

So let me tell you how much I LOVE this book, and this series!  I've been hooked since the beginning, and I can't help but love everything about it.  And this book was soo good, that I was sneaking it into work and other places where e-readers were banned... I couldn't help it!  A book this good is worth the consequences of getting caught!  Which I did... Several times... And it was SO worth it!

BEST HAPPY ENDING EVER!  That is what this book has.  I didn't see it coming, and it had me jumping up and down, wanting to text friends about how happy I was with just happened in the book (at which point some of my friends kindly tried to remind me that it was just a book.  I'm going to have to teach them that they aren't just books :-) ).  

So, about the rest of the book... 

The prologue just broke my heart for Sophie.  I think she is seeking help for an impossible situation in the wrong place.  Instead of accepting and mourning the loss of Marek, she is in denial... Which is one of the worst stages of grief in my opinion.  But even with all the denial and grief, I still have hope.   Because the Sophia is hope.  Period.  

But on the subject of grief, this book covers the gamut, and I approve.  Ms. Krafton hits the nail on the head about grief, and as the reader I can very much relate to Sophie's grief in the loss of Marek.  I think the grief is worse for her because the lost the person in only a part.  I relate this best in how I've lost my dad that I knew to a stroke.  He is still alive, but he isn't the man I knew and loved before the stroke... He is missing.  And that is what it is like for Sophie.  Marek is still alive, but is a gyrfalcon... And for her the grief is even worse because of the looking for a cure, the hope of a cure.  

ON A HAPPIER NOTE:

Can I just say that the concert/festival sounded really cool.  I mean, I knew no good could come from it, but still... I wish I could have been there... 

What is up with Rodrian?  I mean, does he have a crush on Sophie?  Is he hoping to be the man in Sophie's heart, in place of Marek?  I kind of felt sad for him, and didn't know whether to cheer him on, or want to boo him out of the book.  

A soul-bond with a Were when you are the Sophia for the DV sounds like it would potentially be an epic disaster.  And really most of the book keeps pointint that out.  What else, its sad that Sophie can't give Dierk a chance because of Marek!  I kind of liked Dierk (I'm a Were fan, so shoot me :-P)....  

Okay, the idea of the Leni sounds kind of cool.  Except I didn't like not getting all the information up front.  I felt that the Weres were sort of treating Sophie like she was some idiot, not giving her all the information upfront and honest like.  

Yay!  Finally, we get to look at the Were culture through a Were... Everything we've gotten in the other books has been colored by DV prejudices.  Now that we have a clean slate and have gotten to learn about them, I'd like to see more Were stories!  

Oh, the frustration!  To think the whole time about becoming a Were, and then suddenly there is a BIG twist that happens, and it is NOT what you were expecting, and WOW!  Again, loved that I was still able to be surprised.  

I loved getting to see Shiloh, Dahlia, Toby, and Fraidy.  Characters that I have loved from the other books, it was great to see how they have progressed, grown, and are still characters that I love.  

Overally, this is a great book, an awesome series, and if you haven't read it yet, you must!  I highly recommend it!


Happy Reading!

Cana