This book was a strong 5 star rating for me until the disappointing & frankly ridiculous climax before the very end of the book. Why do authors persist in building up a supposedly strong, spirited, intelligent heroine only to have them act like a two year old having a tantrum?
I was completely loving the feel of this book. I loved it taking place in Italy, I loved Marco, the handsome Alpha of his Pack, the writing, the plot. How the author described surroundings, homes, locations, etc without overdoing it.
Of course Marco was a complete chauvinistic dominant Alpha wolf that would spank & punishment his mate (once he found her) as he deemed fit. I had no problem with that, I expected it.
Catherine, a human & unbeknownst to her, Marco's fated mate fights him tooth & nail with everything she's got, but alas her body wants his dominance & control even if her mind doesn't. Again, I had no problem with that, I expected that too.
The author also took time to lay the character foundations for both Marco & his Catherine, the reader gets to know & understand them both, well, at least we think we do.
So as Marco & Catherine maneuver their way through their relationship: what he is, what she can become, her missing sister, Catherine's repetitive & increasingly ridiculous lapses of emotional control caused this reader to lose any respect for her character.
This was supposedly a mature woman, not a teen, she had been in charge of the building up, razing of, & takeovers of many companies; she completed 4 years of college after deciding the corporate world didn't satisfy her artist needs to paint or restore masterpieces. An independent accomplished, extremely talented & intelligent woman who as soon as she is mated to Marco apparently reverts to a 5 year old. Catherine repetitively does exactly the SAME thing over & over that she KNOWS she will be punished for: swearing, sarcasm, disrespect, tantrums & each time begs not to be punished, she's sorry & will never do it again. I realize she's human & wolf shifter domestic discipline is a hard & alien concept, but truly, it seems as though she is incapable of understanding cause & effect. Even that was just a minor irritation to me, but the culminating action she takes near the very end of the book for me simply destroyed every single thing she was presented to be: Queen to Marco's Alpha, to help protect & love & care for their Pack, intelligent, mature, aware.
The action she takes is completely shoot from the hip & without ANY appreciable thought as to what she is planning to do. She devotes literally one thought to the planning (& the plan is ludicrous w/a capital L) & off she goes BY HERSELF to implement it. And later it comes as a HUGE SHOCK to her that she placed her life, Marco's life & the lives of many Pack members in potential deadly harm.
I suppose the author intended this action by the heroine was to illustrate she was brave, blah, blah, blah. To me all it did was portray her ultimately as a woman who is supposedly capable but who goes off half cocked & endangers multiple lives without thought.
So, overall the writing form was good, the plot very good but rapidly (for me) coasted then careened wildly into a disappointing climax. I did like Marco, Griffin, Luca, Tony, Valentina & Sera's characters though.
So a big letdown for me, but many may like it.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.