Lunar Court

Alpha Girl #8

by Aileen Erin

From USA Today Bestselling Author Aileen Erin

Chris is the guy Cosette always wanted.

Fun. Funny. Lighthearted and sweet. Chris always manages to find beauty and laughter, even when fighting a chapel full of demons. He's exactly what she needs. Except he's a werewolf and she's a member of the Lunar Court — the only fey court that holds sway over the werewolves. Even on his best day, Chris isn't strong enough to last a few hours in the Lunar Court without becoming a slave. No matter how much Cosette's heart wants him, she knows she has to let him go.

But when Chris goes missing, Cosette realizes how much she has to lose if the worst happens. Except her mother — the Queen of the Lunar Court — won’t let her go after Chris. Being forced to stay at court is dangerous for Cosette. Assassins keep coming after her, and unless she accepts a mate, it’s only a matter of time before one of them kills her.

Cosette is the girl Chris has always dreamed of.

Chris sees through the tough facade to the girl exhausted from a lifetime of fighting off assassins and court politics. She needs a true friend, someone who she can be herself around, and craves solitude. The same solitude that Chris craves. But he knows he'll never be enough to survive in her world. So, when Eli — a mysterious archon — requests his help, he figures why not? The guy might be a little shady, but he needs every distraction he can get.

But when Eli says that Cosette’s in trouble, Chris is more than ready to play by Eli's rules. At least until Eli takes him to the Court of Gales. Chris knows he’s about to play a very dangerous game. Bargaining with the fey is something only a desperate person would do. But what wouldn’t Chris give up to save Cosette’s life?

"These books go by so very quickly, with the pacing making me think I just started reading. I could gobble up a dozen of these novels!” – Carrie Reads a Lot

"Aileen You did a great job as usual and I’m so excited for Invocation and Lunar Court .” - Lenniland


Binge the complete Alpha Girls series now!

Book 1: Becoming Alpha
Book 2: Avoiding Alpha
Book 3: Alpha Divided
Book 4: Bruja
Book 5: Alpha Unleashed
Book 6: Shattered Pack
Book 7: Being Alpha
Book 8: Lunar Court
Book 9: Alpha Erased

Get ready for Off Planet , the biggest and boldest adventure yet from the mind of Aileen Erin. It's perfect for fans of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games , Claudia Gray's Defy the Stars , and Maura Milan's Ignite the Stars !

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Werewolves, Paranormal, Fiction, Fae

330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 11, 2019

About the author

Aileen Erin is half-Irish, half-Mexican and 100% nerd-from Star Wars (prequels don’t count) to Star Trek (TNG FTW), she reads Quenya and some Sindarin, and has a severe fascination with the supernatural. Aileen has a BS in Radio-TV-Film from the University of Texas at Austin, and an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She lives with her husband, daughter, and mischievous mini bernedoodle in Texas, and spends her days doing her favorite things: reading books, creating worlds, and kicking ass.

Reviews

[Moony (Captain Mischief) MeowPoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I as many others has gotten this ARC from Netgally! yay!
Also, i didn't know this was a series before...i added it on GR? i think?
But i also believe this is ok to read as a standalone so to speak since we get information here and there, throughout the book.
Sometimes this book had me groaning and wanting to just nope the hell out, it was alot of hate going on here, hate for her mother, hate for the lunar court hate hate and being pissed off... But then she became happy...and i became happy, you feel me?
I kinda fell in love with Christopher, he was just a fresh breathe of air. Most guys in these kind of series are assholes and just meh. He was just adorable and determinded.

Plus Eli and Van were fun to 'be around' so to speak C: I think that Van also deserve his happy ending and i hope that it will happend for him in the future! I shall look for the next installment!

[Katherine Paschal · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Review can be found at https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/*

After fighting the fight of their life and outing all the supernatural creatures, the battle is still not over for Chris and Cosette. Cosette is required to return to Lunar Fey court and take her place as princess, leaving Chris and all their unspoken feelings behind. But Chris is not ready to say goodbye, and he knows that Cosette is in danger, a danger he wants to protect her from. But what Chris doesn't know is that Fey is even more dangerous than he anticipated and both Cosette and he and just pawns in someone else's game.

Aileen is queen of the heart-wrenching story! Every book of her's that I have read usually makes me feel like I need to curl up and cry and one point or another during the story, but I think Lunar Court takes the win- there were so many times I felt like I needed to hug the book, be it present time or during the flashbacks. This is the perfect example of Star-crossed lovers, move over Romeo and Juliet, Cosette and Chris are here now. Gawd, poor freaking Chris! I loved getting to really meet Chris here even though his back story was the most depressing, it helped to make me really connect to him and appreciate him so fully. The fact he can be cheerful and positive even after all he went through was remarkable and made him that much more endearing to me- I can see why Cosette loves him.

I was pretty sure he loved me back, and I wasn’t sure if that made things better, but it definitely made them harder.

I have always been intrigued by Cosette and her role in this world, how she just seems to pop up at all the right times but was never really part of the group. I feel like I really understand her now, know her motivations and the hard choices she has had to make over the centuries of her life. And can I just mention how it is awesome that she was the Knight in Shining armor to Chris all those years prior? Oh and Van is pretty interesting, I would not mind him getting his own book sometime... (hint hint)

This was another stellar installment in the Alpha Girl series. I started the series years ago because I am always on the look out for new werewolf books, but I stayed because I love the characters that Aileen has created and how detailed and complicated the world is. I can easily say that this is one of my favorite Urban Fantasy series and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for dangerous paranormal situations, court intrigue, conniving fey, with all kinds of supernatural creatures- and a nice dollop of romance. I can't wait for the next book now!

I reviewed a complimentary copy of this title.

[Sue 🧡 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really is an amazing series of books, the writing is superb from the minute you to start reading the first page to the very last. The characters grab you into their world, can’t wait for book 9.

[Sabrina Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I can honestly say I was super hyped for this book as soon as I finished the previous one in the series. Then time went by, because the author was not yet ready to release this book. So when I finally got approved for this book I was as pumped as I should have been. Oh was I wrong, this book was so good. I missed not getting enough of my other characters but getting more of Van, Chris, and Cosette, and oh a lil Eli was awesome. I hit one portion of the book and I had to go back to work and was like NO what WAIT, I can't stop now! Finally got back to it and I was so happy. This is a great side book to this series. I also didn't know there was going to be another book and to get the preview at the end. WOOO HOOOO!

[Heavenly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg omg OMG. I just love this series. Aileen is a genius and I am so lucky to have been asked to review it.

I want to say what the book is about. I really do but I feel that I will take the fun and mystery from the reader. So therefore grab book one and binge reading it. It’s amazing. Thank me later. You are welcome dear reader.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

FULL DISCLOSURE: I had NO IDEA that this was the 8th book in this series. NONE!!! I saw the cover and description and was like, "heck yeah, I wanna read this!" Thank goodness the author didn't make me feel like I missed...EVERYTHING...I actually followed along really well and enjoyed this!!! Please keep this in mind when you read my review...I'm pretty sure my opinion on characters will be different than others.

Chris is a werewolf. Ok, obviously there's more to that statement. He's a damaged werewolf. He was beaten, treated like absolute poo by his pack and pretty much left for dead. Until he was rescued by Cosette and Van. After roaming the forest, hiding and trying to come to terms with his wolf, he found himself extremely comfortable around Cosette more so than any other being. But was that because he's a werewolf and she's a Fey from the Lunar Court, or because there is true chemistry between them?

Cosette is technically a princess of the Lunar Court. And although most people know what she is, she's more than that. Acting as a spy for her Queen/Mother for decades has provided more information about the other "beings" than she could count, but after making deals, she's can't exactly do much about a few of them. That is until her mother gives her an ultimatum. Knowing her time is running out, it's time to find a husband before her mother chooses one for her. Too bad Chris isn't an option....or is he?

I'm not gonna lie, there were times when I was a little bit confused and KNEW that there had to of been more to the story, but then I remembered I've missed SEVEN BOOKS!!! LOL

I really enjoyed this one. Learning about how Chris and Cosette met and fell for each other was super sweet. Although following the different Fey and their "ways" was a bit confusing, I still found it fascinating. I was completely pulled in to this story and couldn't get enough. I'm actually a little mad at myself because I feel like I can't go back and read the previous books, but that doesn't mean I won't try. :)

[Sarah TheAromaofBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last summer I read and weirdly enjoyed Aileen Erin's Alpha Girl series, so when I had an opportunity to read the latest installment in that series as an ARC, I took it, despite the fact that I rarely read ARCs (way more pressure/commitment than I'm usually interested in).

So yes, these are werewolf books. I don't do a lot of paranormal reading because most of it tends to be too angsty/sexy/plain creepy, but sometimes you find a series that works, and I feel that way about Alpha Girl. I really like the characters and the world-building. I reread the series to work my way back into Lunar Court, and found myself liking Tessa and her friends all over again. The first five books are basically all one big story - while they do a good job of having each book wrap up some small lines, the overarching plot continues throughout and is done really well. From there, while the books are still closely connected, each one reads more individually.

In Lunar Court the story focuses on Chris and Cosette. Chris is a werewolf, and has been one of my favorite characters throughout the entire series. Cosette is fey, an area of world-building that Erin has been slowly developing throughout the last few books, especially in Shattered Pack, where we learned a lot more about how their culture works. There are a lot of obstacles between Chris and Cosette becoming a couple, and overall this book was a lot more romance-focused than the earlier books. As such, there wasn't quite as much action.

My favorite part about this book was the dual POV. The rest of the books in the series have had a single POV, which worked for what was happening in them, but being able to know what was happening with both Chris and Cosette, since they spend a lot of the book apart, really worked here. I'm on Erin's mailing list, and she's mentioned that she enjoyed the dual POV so much that she's thinking of using it for her next book in the series as well, so hopefully she sticks with it.

Overall, this was a 3.5* read for me, which is slightly below the 4* average I would give the series as a whole. The pacing felt slower in this story - it didn't quite drag, but some things definitely felt repetitive. It also had a darker tone than earlier books, with themes of long-term physical and emotional abuse and manipulation. There are still way more f-bombs in these books than I find necessary - one of my biggest complaints about this series as a whole. Finally, while overall this series has done pretty well skirting around the religious aspect of paranormal, the involvement of archons in this story (who aren't angels except they kind of basically are angels??) meant that this story was edging over the line of theological complications that made me more uncomfortable than the earlier books' theme of "don't mess with demons."

Still, the story itself is well done. I really like Chris and Cosette and totally ship them. I enjoyed watching them overcome the obstacles so that they could be together. Hopefully Erin continues this series, as there are still a lot of characters to explore. If you're looking for some slightly-angsty paranormal, I totally recommend this series.

[Livvy Nicklaus · Rating 4 out of 5]

***BOOK REVIEW***
Lunar Court by Aileen Erin
(Alpha Girl #8)

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
I love these characters so much, the interactions and character development were absolutely on point. The world building was also outstanding however I found the plot a little lacklustre and slow to climax. I could have done with a little more excitement earlier on.
When I requested this book I didn't realise that it was part of a series, fortunately the story within was clever and thorough enough to read as a standalone. I am intrigued by this world and the author's writing enough that I am going to go get the first book in this series to read from the beginning. I need to know everything. ★★★★


See below for synopsis:

Chris is the guy Cosette always wanted.

Fun. Funny. Lighthearted and sweet. Chris always manages to find beauty and laughter, even when fighting a chapel full of demons. He's exactly what she needs. Except he's a werewolf and she's a member of the Lunar Court — the only fey court that holds sway over the werewolves. Even on his best day, Chris isn't strong enough to last a few hours in the Lunar Court without becoming a slave. No matter how much Cosette's heart wants him, she knows she has to let him go.

But when Chris goes missing, Cosette realizes how much she has to lose if the worst happens. Except her mother — the Queen of the Lunar Court — won’t let her go after Chris. Being forced to stay at court is dangerous for Cosette. Assassins keep coming after her, and unless she accepts a mate, it’s only a matter of time before one of them kills her.

Cosette is the girl Chris has always dreamed of.

Chris sees through the tough facade to the girl exhausted from a lifetime of fighting off assassins and court politics. She needs a true friend, someone who she can be herself around, and craves solitude. The same solitude that Chris craves. But he knows he'll never be enough to survive in her world. So, when Eli — a mysterious archon — requests his help, he figures why not? The guy might be a little shady, but he needs every distraction he can get.

But when Eli says that Cosette’s in trouble, Chris is more than ready to play by Eli's rules. At least until Eli takes him to the Court of Gales. Chris knows he’s about to play a very dangerous game. Bargaining with the fey is something only a desperate person would do. But what wouldn’t Chris give up to save Cosette’s life?

[Diane Lynch Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aileen Erin’s LUNAR COURT is a creative addition to the Alpha Girl series. Cosette searches for Chris after he goes missing at the end of book seven. The two have feelings for each other, but a relationship between them would not work, because he is a werewolf, and she is a princess of the Lunar court. Chris would be enslaved by the Lunar Court fey who have the power to control the moon, unless he can find a way to break his lunar tie.

The characters are well developed. I really like Cosette and Chris. They both suffered violet childhoods but didn’t let it jade their lives. They both really care for one another and would make sacrifices for the other. You want them to be able to have a happy life together. I enjoy Van’s character. He is a wonderful friend and guard for Cosette. I would like to see a book with him as the focus in the future.

I really enjoyed this book. The plot was creative with multiple twists. There was never a dull moment. I enjoyed the differences among the Fae courts. The Court of the Gales had a lot of fascinating and mysterious things going on. No one could really be trusted. LUNAR COURT is skillfully written. I love the conclusion of the story. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Man, I wasn't sure how I felt about Chris and Cosette. We've been seeing the push and pull between them for a while, but Fey and Fey Courts? I was wrong. LOVED this story. Completely ripped my heart out at one point. But good story. Ready for the next one.

[Lex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can I say, I love the Archons? Lol.

[Tracy Condie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best paranormal YA book of the summer! This is my first Alpha Girls book and I really enjoyed the "he said, she said" aspect with each chapter. Both characters were so richly developed and you don't have to know the back story to enjoy or understand what is going on. Aileen Erin does an excellent job of set the scene and taking this story all the way through. I was happy and sad, excited and enraged. It was excellently written and enticed me to not only look up the other stories from this series but to also download the first so I can know the complete story.

[Harald Koch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my ghods. The mains are cardboard cutouts. The depiction of the fey is frankly absurd. The plot is literally deus ex machina!! There are better romances on the dime rack at the gas station. Just ... yuck.

[thewoollygeek (tea, cake, crochet & books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Aileen Erin and the alpha girl series, so I was ecstatic this book, 8th in the series is just as good as all its predecessors. The love story between Chris and Cosette is so adorable. I loved getting to know Chris better and was also happy as I hadn’t found Cosette that likeable in previous books, but we really get to know her here and her motivations. Amazing plot, emotional at times and plenty of twists and turns. Another great read from Ms. Erin .


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading more about Cossette and Chris! Definitely recommend this new book and the whole series if you haven't started it yet....what are you waiting for?!

[Lenni Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isn’t it great to realize you’ve been quoted in the synopsis when you didn’t even know it? Ah!!!! I’m so excited! I need the cover!!!!

Update 3/30:
Got the cover!!! OMG it’s so pretty!

Update 5/18:
Just finished❤️😜😭😂👍😘😍 I was a little scared to read this, if I’m being totally honest. A huge part of me thought that maybe Aileen Erin was just hurriedly tying together loose ends. Chris and Cosette had never occurred to me as a possible couple until book 7. I’m so happy to say that they completely worked out!

Getting to know Chris better has been so awesome! I love Chris and he’s actually one of my top three favorite characters in the series after Tessa and Claudia. Knowing his background is so fun! I can’t believe how messed up his past was and how he fought through his past with a smile still intact. I love sarcastic, funny hotties like Chris, they’re probably my favorite personality type of love interests. He and Cosette compliment each other so well!

I also enjoyed learning more about Cosette. I don’t remember much from when she was first introduced to the series. I didn’t think her an important character. Learning more about her past and the crazy world she lived in was exciting. I couldn’t keep myself away from this book when I was supposed to be doing my homework!

I’ve gotta say, though, Cosette was such an emotional mess! Although, I can’t say I would’ve been any better, being in her shoes😂 In fact, I was also a weeping mess near in the last few chapters. Aileen Erin put me in a huge scare.

The secrets and plot twists had my mind going crazy at the end. I was blown away with everything that happened in the last few chapters. I just want more and more of Chris and Cosette! Thank you Aileen Erin for another fantastic book in my favorite series!

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This world is wonderfully engaging. I am in love with all the characters for different reasons. In this book we get to see behind the scenes with Chris and Cosette.

Along the way (and, really, you should start from the beginning), we have seen little hints and teases about Chris and Cosette. Cosette is a secret powerhouse of sorts. She likes to pretend she has less power than she does, but that's kind of the way of life at her court. Her mother is... a nightmare. We end up learning more about her through this book, but it is essentially all bad. Now that Cosette has to go back there, following the events of the previous book, she's forced to fight for her life on a regular basis, or marry someone she doesn't love.

Chris might have even more secrets than Cosette. We learn just oodles and oodles about his past and all the baggage he has accumulated along the way. With each chapter, I fell more and more in love with him. Cosette is super lucky because Chris's super contained wolf has determined that she is his mate. So, this story ends up following Cosette, her BFF/surrogate father/guard, and Chris while they all try to keep themselves and each other alive.

It should really be easy, because Chris and Cosette love each other. Unfortunately, Cosette lives in the Lunar Court, and if Chris came there he would become a slave to their power. Chris (and some divine intervention) push him towards some shady characters who may or may not be able to sever his lunar tie (freeing him to be with Cosette). It is, of course, never that easy. There's so many twists and turns, but we do eventually get there for these two wonderful folks. I was sad to see this one end because Chris is just the best!