It’s not quite a 4.5. This is a good conclusion to the series. Ending did not feel rushed and there were some really great moments.
There were a lot of things that I appreciated about this third book. Stop reading if you don't want spoilers.
One. We finally have Eli telling his dad about the crap that Brock’s done. As I predicted, Nick was horrified and livid. I just wish that Nick would’ve given him a beat down.
Two. The love declaration moment was just so good. If I ever have a husband, this is the kind of relationship I want to have with him. What I mean by that is that there was mutual respect and admiration. He continually respected her boundaries and he always had a positive spin to what she did. That’s not to say that they didn’t argue, nor is that to say that he never called her out for some of her choices/actions (because he did). What I am saying is that he always had her back and gave her the benefit of the doubt.
Three. We got some good brother moments. I absolutely loved them. The moment where Remus saw Brock and just told him to get out. That was so sweet. (Brock is Eli's horrid stepfather who bullied and abused him throughout his childhood.) How he kept his word with his brother and didn’t reveal Eli’s secret but waited to let Eli tell it. So sweet. How they really became brothers, not just half brothers, people joined because they share dad.
Four. Iris’s realization that she has a pack. That sense of belonging.
Five. Maverick. I really hope she writes another trilogy with him as the center. That would just take the cake. This man. I love how loyal he is, how levelheaded he is, how brave he is. And watching just how much it meant to him that Eli had his back, that Eli considered him family. (Oh my eyes are watering up a storm!) I’m really glad that he didn’t die and that he got a home. And that the home was close enough to Remus, that that alpha didn’t have a problem with his past in the military and in fact respected him for his choice. So good.
Six. The threat of the brotherhood was settled. That’s a very good thing. I don’t think that the organization that was hiring/using the brotherhood has been taken care of, so hopefully Maverick's series will see them taken care of. It’s still a little hard for me to believe that the General was Gage. (At least I caught it before it got revealed.) I just can’t see Gage being that much of a tactician. But that comment he made. “You didn’t think there was only one General did you?“ It makes me really wonder if there’s someone else out there that was calling the shots. And that’s some fodder for an additional book series!
I can see that working really well, dealing with the organization behind the brotherhood and tying it in with Maverick. Particularly because he has all those international connections. I can see it being a challenge for him because he was shot and he's having to deal with the fact that he’s not as strong as he used to be. That’s some good storytelling gold there. Plus, I’d like to know what happened to the feral wolf, if he recovered in anyway. That could get worked in two. I’d also like to see that moment where Maverick gets welcomed back into Longbow. Oh! I really want her to write this.
Here’s what’s keeping me from giving this a 4.5 out of five stars:
1) Gage is the General. No matter how it sort of got explained, it just doesn’t fit. His behavior up to that point, particularly his failed coup, makes it really hard to believe that he’s this guy that planned so much so perfectly. (It’s also a bit freaky that the head of the organization was based out of the Longbow pack.) When was he supposed to have been recruited? I mean, he was a *beta.* How did *a beta* get into a position of authority over all these *alphas.* Something's really fishy here.
2) The villain monologuing that they did at the end. It just made them much more pathetic than how the story characterized them up to this point. Plus, Brock died really easily. And a boneless bag of garbage!
3) We don’t really get Nic’s reaction to discovering just how badly he overlooked things. I mean, it’s got to be a big burden, knowing that not only did he not protect his son from Brock, he also missed what his brother was doing, resulting in the death of hundreds of wolves. That’s got to cause some guilt.
Oh! I she could use Nic's guilt as part of Maverick’s redemption arc. That would be super sweet. I really want her to write this trilogy.
All in all, a great book and a great series.
(I do have a small gripe with this cover. It seriously looks like they pasted the guy’s head on somebody else’s body. It just doesn’t look completely natural. It’s how it joins his neck.)
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