The Wolf King (The Wolf King #1) by Laura Palphyreyman

 

Summary (from the publisher): When a princess is kidnapped by an alpha, war rages between the humans and the wolves. But soon, forbidden attraction starts to grow. . .

Princess Aurora longs to escape the castle and the marriage that has been arranged for her.

But on the night before her wedding, at a dog fight where captured werewolves are made to fight for sport, she spares the life of a young wolf. It puts her on the radar of the powerful alpha who was going to kill him. And it changes everything.

That night, when the alpha escapes, he kidnaps her and takes her to the rugged lands north of the border — where the once warring werewolf clans are beginning to unite. He thinks that she is the key to winning the war against the humans.

Only, as they spend time around one another, forbidden attraction starts to grow. And as Aurora learns that not all wolves are bad, the alpha discovers that she is in danger from both his enemies, and those he once considered friends.

With monsters on both sides, a bloodthirsty war between humans and wolves raging, and undeniable passion growing between them — will their story end in love? Or tragedy?

And will Aurora ever get home?

Does she even want to?

Review: I absolutely flew through this book on audio. I was instantly intrigued by Aurora's story, as she is kidnapped away from her unwanted arranged marriage by an alpha werewolf. As time passes, Aurora wonders if she even wants to return home and feels increasingly drawn to the alpha. 

The audio of this was fantastic with duet narration. The alpha's narrator had a Scottish accent, which worked so well with him being from the rugged lands north of the border. His personality and accent was also giving Outlander vibes. The vibes were vibing the whole book honestly, and I was so hooked on this story and where it was going, with the obvious increasing attraction between Aurora and her captor. As the story progresses, it seems clear it is setting the stage for a love triangle in book two and I am so anxious to get to the next book to see what happens next, as Aurora remains torn between her home and the werewolves but also torn between two different wolves. 

It's been a few days since finishing this and I do have a few questions. This was relatively limited in its worldbuilding. That is fine and makes it easy to follow but also makes it feel a bit flimsy in terms of plot, especially the whole part where he wanted to kidnap her and what the whole war is even about. There is also very limited information shared about the werewolves and what makes them different. 

This also felt like ACOTAR but with werewolves?? We will see where it goes in book two but so far it feels very much like the Sarah J. Maas series but with different accessories/props. This is not necessarily a criticism - I loved ACOTAR - but just to say it doesn't feel very original. 

Stars: 3.5