I liked this follow up to The Great Hunt, but I did have a couple of issues with it.

1. Aerity decides to run off to find Paxton so she can sow her wild oats with him before marrying Leif, who she realizes early on in this book has no intention of practicing monogamy in their upcoming wedding.

This happens after new beasts show up to terrorize the land. I’m sorry, but how stupid can you be?! It just doesn’t make any sense. It feels like a big plot device created in order to get Aerity to a specific place in order to move the plot along, rather than something this character is doing because that’s just who she is.

2. The story unfolded in a way that, while fun and readable, was also relatively predictable. I had the same issue with the first book. There were no surprises, and everything unfolded exactly as I knew it would. I still enjoyed the writing, even though the actual plot points weren’t surprising in the least.

3. I didn’t care for Leif in the first book, and I liked him even less here. Yes, he ends up doing the right thing in the end, and we’re supposed to believe that he’s grown, but we don’t actually witness that growth at all in the course of the story.


I know a lot of people don’t like the romantic aspects of this story, but I found myself invested in the relationships. I especially liked Wyneth and Harrison, and wish we could’ve had a little more interaction with them. I would totally read novellas of the three main couples...but then again, I’m a sucker for romance.

I also loved Furball. He was probably my favorite thing about this second installment.

I would probably give the series as a whole a 3.75. I really enjoyed it while I read and found I didn’t want to put it down, even taking my issues with it into account.

I will check out more from this author in the future.