Brynn Brentwood has spent the whole of her life protecting the Talon Pack through terrors only she will ever know. She’s never asked for more in life other than to live to take her next breath and to ensure her family is safe. Regardless of her selfless wishes and the atrocities the former Alpha committed, she has always known that fate would provide for her as it had countless others. Fate is what has carried her through with one exception—upon meeting the one wolf who could be hers, he doesn’t feel their bond.
Finn Jamenson has been broken more than once, left beaten and half dead—and that was before he was an adult and Heir of the Redwood Pack. When called upon to work with their allies, the Talons, he finds himself intrigued with a woman who his wolf doesn’t claim as his own. Though he knows there could be something there, he refuses to tempt himself with a wolf who could never be his when his own mate could waiting for him.
The world changed in a blink of time and now the two wolves must fight as one—ignoring the burning temptation between them—when their people are threatened. With one wrong move, their homes could be destroyed and its up to Finn and Brynn to save them all…if only they could save themselves.
An Alpha’s Choice, by Carrie Ann Ryan
I’ll be honest: I probably wouldn’t have read this book if I hadn’t picked up the bundle with the first three books of the Talon Pack series. The first book was solid enough but didn’t leave me desperate for more. Still, inertia is a heck of a thing, and it was easy enough to continue reading when I finished the first book and the second was right there.
We got to know Brynn fairly well in the first book, since she is the dominant female in the Talon Pack. It’s a bit of a strange dichotomy, since that role is normally held by the Alpha female, but Brynn’s brother Gideon is mated to a submissive wolf. Brynn has been happy to support her brother’s mate, even as she continues to struggle with a problem she hasn’t told anyone about: she’s met her mate, but he doesn’t seem to recognize her as his.
Finn Jamenson was nearly killed as a baby during the events of the Redwood Pack series (from what I’m able to tell) and it was only through the immense efforts of the pack healer that he survived. Now he’s a young adult and heir to the Alpha of the Redwood Pack. Still, he can’t understand why Brynn seems to hate him so much. Unfortunately for Brynn, Finn and Brynn are the now-public faces of Packs, a result of their exposure to the world at large during the final battle in the first book. Their job is to appear in public together, trying to convince the world that shifters are just as human as the rest of them.
Predictably, bigotry rears its ugly head and there are several incidents that force them closer together until Brynn can no longer keep it secret from Finn: he is her fated mate. That’s when Finn is forced to confront the truth he’d ignored for years: that while he might have been healed, his bond with his wolf has remained broken. While he can shift, all emotions from his wolf are far more muted than they should be. Now he’s forced to face the reality that if he wants the woman who should be his, he needs to make a terrible decision.
This book was both good and frustrating. The same repetition that I noted in the first book shows up here again, and if anything it feels like reading the story of the Redwood Pack is even more important as backstory here. There are also hints of things in Brynn’s past that are never really explored, which is a personal pet peeve of mine — if you hint at a tragic past, you better have the character discuss it or even think about it in detail so the reader has some idea of what that tragic past is. It felt like it was simply an add-on and not relevant to the story in any way.
On the other hand, I definitely liked Brynn’s take no nonsense attitude and her inner strength. Finn seemed more than ready to be her match and yet was willing to give her the space she needed. It wasn’t simply a case of insta-lust between them. That’s probably what made the issues in the previous paragraph stand out even more to me, because it’s definitely a well-written book. If you’re a fan of the genre, I’d recommend this — but I’d probably also recommend going and starting at the beginning with the Redwood Pack series, because that seems to be pretty important.