Forsaken Mate
Shifted Fates #1
Vasilisa Drake
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: June 1, 2023
Genre: Paranormal Romance
I thought my fated mate would cherish me. Mine kills me in cold blood.
After a decade of bullying me, the Alpha Heir discovers I’m his predestined mate. But just because he rejects me in front of the whole pack doesn’t mean he’s going to let me go.
When I flee my fated mate, he gives chase. The Alpha Heir would sooner murder me than let me live out of his reach.
Only death isn’t the end for me. The afterlife is a bit more fiery than I pictured, but that’s fine. I’m used to fighting to survive, and literal Hell just might be a step up from what I’ve been dealing with.
Even if that means facing off against minotaurs and murderous mermaids.
Even if, when I find refuge in a seemingly abandoned castle, I find the most dangerous creature in the underworld.
The good news: He agrees to train me, so I’ll never be left weak and at the mercy of another.
The bad news: His training methods involve a variety of unconventional methods, such as infiltrating my dreams and pinning me beneath him when we spar.
The worst news: He’s never going to let me leave his castle.
My thoughts…
I love a good shifter romance, so when I saw that this one mixed shifters with Greek mythology, consider me intrigued.
Since Avery is considered the weakest of her pack, she’s bullied and ostracized on a daily basis. Her hope is that when it’s time for her to go into the mating ritual, she will find a mate that is outside of her pack. However, that’s not what happens and soon she finds herself waking up in hell… literal hell. Now, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. When it comes to hell, so many author’s have their own interpretations of it, and sometimes the complete chaos of it all is hard for me to follow. However, with this story, hell is pretty much just a realm of supernatural creatures that would sooner kill you than invite you over for dinner. So, I was able to wrap my head around where Avery was since it wasn’t all that different from other supernatural books that I have read. With that said, a very small portion of the book, and I mean very small, actually covers the realm. The majority of the story takes place in a castle where Avery trains with another wolf shifter to become stronger.
I do have to admit that I skimmed a bit of the book. I’m not sure what it was about the writing style, but I just was not interested to be in Avery’s head. I was more drawn to the actual scenes than her inner monologue. She seemed rather fixated on Cole’s body and I found it odd given that she’s a shifter, and being naked is second nature to them due to shifting. I get that she was the outcast, but it’s still part of her upbringing and culture. So, the shyness seemed random and like the author was putting that on her.
I honestly thought I was going to like this book a lot more. When it first started I was really into it. However, as the story progressed, I found myself getting a bit bored at the repetitiveness of Avery ogling Cole, Cole being ornery with innuendoes, and them training with Avery ending up all hot and bothered. I wish there was a bit more grit of the afterlife in this one, and maybe that comes later in the series, but I don’t think I will be signing up to read the next book in the series.
