BOOK REVIEW: Mated to the Werewolf King, by Alena Des

Rated three stars out of five by reviewer Iris Chacon.

I received a free ARC of the book in order to provide an honest, unbiased review.

Lovers of paranormal romance will find plenty of romance, some sex (between two monogamous, committed adults), and plenty of paranormal creatures. The thread of romance between the narrating heroine, Belle, and the Alpha Wolf King, Keith, is engaging and emotional. Readers are immediately intrigued by the reluctant couple, and soon we are pulling for them through one life-changing adventure after another.

Werewolves are a given, of course, but witches, vampires, demons, umbras, gods and goddesses, fairies, and even a few humans become part of the story. The action is relentless, moving from one crisis to the next with the increasing intensity of a Spielberg movie. The author’s imagination and creativity are impressive.

With occasional vulgar language and several steamy bedroom scenes, this is definitely a novel for adult readers. For that reason, I was concerned about the youthful, unsophisticated, often amateurish syntax. Even allowing for the pre-editing errors one expects to see (and overlook) in an advance copy, the sentence structure and vocabulary at times resembled a first draft written by a student in a creative writing class. At times the text was difficult to comprehend because of inaccurate word usage.

Even when I was distracted by the unrefined nature of some of the prose, I felt compelled to keep reading because of the fast-paced, inventive, emotional nature of story events. Author Alena Des is to be commended for crafting a story original and exciting enough to overcome many technical flaws. Presumably, with editing, the published book will contain few or no technical problems when it is actually released.

Bonus materials at the end of the book hint at future stories soon to continue the saga begun by Mated to the Werewolf King. I predict that paranormal romance fans will be eagerly awaiting the additional books in this series.

Recommended for adult fans of paranormal romance, not suitable for readers under age 18.