Given to the Wolf King: Faeted to the Clawed Throne I

by Adalynd Grayves

Two kingdoms share a single curse. Can a princess and a king come together to save their people?

Facing trial for a crime she didn’t commit. Aoife knows she must put her duty as the fae princess before her own freedom and leave Erainn- the home she so fiercely loves and wants to protect.

A darkness is infecting both fae and human kingdoms alike. Only by accepting her father’s command to live with the Wolf King in Nairn can she discover what or who is causing it. Wanting to escape the castle, she unexpectedly develops feelings for the king and decides to remain.

Cullen knows the alliance between Erainn and Nairn protects his people, but many say the fae cannot be trusted. With hatred growing between the two kingdoms, he does what he thinks is right and takes Aoife as his ward. While there is no hard evidence to prove her crime, he sees a darkness in her, but this doesn’t stop his budding feelings for the fae princess.

Faced with plotting enemies, and the curse spreading. Can Cullen and Aoife set aside their differences to bring their kingdoms together in peace? Will they give in to their true feelings?

Content Awareness. This is a slow burn, enemies to lovers’ romantic fantasy that addresses darker themes with a guaranteed HFN (Happy for Now). This story takes place in a fantasy world of the author’s making.

note: originally published in the Faeted Mates anthology. This edition has 3 more chapters than the anthology edition.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy, Fantasy Romance, Ebooks

248 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 13, 2022

About the author

Adalynd Grayves writes cursed romantasy full of feral kisses, fated mates, and emotionally intense stories about monsters, magic, and the bonds that save us — whether forged in blood or built by choice.

A cozy cryptid with sharp teeth, she lives in Arizona and thrives on tacos, books, and chaos-fueled creativity.

Reviews

[Lella]

DNF @ 16%

The editing in this was really poor. Lots of missing punctuation, incorrectly capitalised speech tags etc.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a very clean and easy read. No much build up or story telling. Lots of jumps to weeks later. Not up there as a great read but an easy pallet cleanser.

[Ariel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given to the Wolf King has a lot of similar elements to Beauty and the Beast without being a blatant re-telling.

It is a clean romantic, fantasy story mainly about fae, humans, and wolves.

Aoife, our main protagonist, is a faery woodland warrior. More akin to a confident Snow White. She makes the mistake crossing the border into human territory chasing a great evil that is poisoning the forest and must atone by becoming a ward of the human kingdom to keep the peace.

The writing was pretty solid. There was some clunky dialog, but it still worked enough to keep the story going. The story was simple, but still interesting. The main dilema of Aoife and King Cullen finding common ground is solved, however it was left open for a second story.

[Aisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

cute

This was a cute little story but you will be left wanting at the end. The end seemed abrupt very abrupt. I wasn’t really a fan of the writing either at time it seemed almost child like.

[Michelle Fritz PA · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entertaining tale that ends with the promise of even more danger and intrigue as the different realms battle a curse. The characters in this are delightful and so very likable. It's easy to be immediately drawn into the mayhem and madness. I loved the fae and shifter aspect and the magical touches. This is beautifully covered.

[Jennifer Platt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two Rash and Stubborn Protagonists

Fae vs. humans vs werewolves with a King Theodin and Grimma Wormtongue vibe. Fabulous world building. Some implied foul language. Just the beginnings of a romance

[●Gina● · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is phenomenal however the story and characters are dull and one-dimensional.

The "danger" seems to take place in the background, not really affecting anyone throughout most of the story. We hear of this evil ravaging the land but Aofie is forced to stay inside so we don't really see how their land and kingdom is devastated. We basically have to take the author's word for for how bad it is.

The villain is exactly who you think it is because they're slimy and suspicious from the very beginning. I met this character and heard them say two lines of dialogue and thought "yep, this is the guy". The book didn't do much to keep that a secret yet tried to treat it as a plot twist near the end. It was underwhelming.

While we're talking about not-so-secret secrets, Calling King Cullen the Wolf King and trying to hide the fact they're werewolves until the ending battle... I literally read this because I knew there were would be shifters in it. I was actually excited to read how a faery and a shifter would mix in a romance, but the fact they're werewolves was supposed to be a secret?! I'm flabbergasted. I knew they were shifters before I began reading - how was this supposed to be a secret plot twist?! Especially when there are wolves depicted all over the freaking castle?!

I was also not crazy about the back and forth between character names and their nicknames. When I read "Efie" I thought it was a different character altogether, not Aofie's nickname. And when we first meet the humans, I seriously thought King Cullen and the Wolf King were two different people for a few pages until I finally figured it out. Maybe I'm slow but the shift between names was very confusing.

It was also full of typos, some actually pretty funny. The writing is very well done so I'm surprised to see so many typos.

However - the daemon is very interesting and mysterious. Well done with this character! We meet glimpses of this daemon in the beginning and end and personally, I thought the execution was brilliant. Kept the daemon mysterious and menacing. It could honestly be enough to get me to read the second book when it comes out.

[Ivett · Rating 2 out of 5]

—⭐️2 stars⭐️—
— Spice: 0 —
A tail popped out of his backside....
(description about a man changing form to wolf)



This was one of the weirdest book I've read in the past two years. It has loads of potential, and none of them are met. It wasn't a bad book, like the bad ones I DNFed previously, but it was...wierd.

Did you have a feeling in the past, that you wished for more conversation between characters? To get to know them? - So in this one, I wished for the opposite. It is full of too cordial, artificially polite sentences.

The sentence structure was wierd, sometimes I didn't know who is talking to who. The characters were flat, no chemistry at all, not even between friends, there was no way to bond either of the character. Aoife (FMC) spent MONTHS in the human kingdom, and there was absolute no happening. We didn't know anything about the curse, the lands, spreading wildfire (?) where Cullen (MMC) spent a month to solve the problem, who the hell is the daemon and what it's want (oh, expect at the last chapter he came back and says to Aoife: I've marked you, I told you I will find you anywhere. You are mine." and then he left - What the actual duck?! 🦆)

The ending was abrupt...One moment Aoife got healed by the unicorns and she decided to go back to the human land to help them with the cursed lands, and the next (2 weeks later) they have a conversation about cold winter, layered clothes and if the fae will wear fur AND snowball fight.
And that is The End.

There are good things in the story, which I HAVE TO mention:
- interesting world building - different kingdoms
- dark fae - I LOVE dark faes, drows
- magic - which is different if you are fae or human, I loved the healing light idea
- unicorns can talk to anyone through their mind - like...
- the fairy godmother - she is a the most mysterious character in the story
- the curse which affects the land, the creatures, the werewolves, and its spreading

[Positively Book Mad · Rating 3 out of 5]

My full review can be found on my blog: Positively Book Mad

Now we all know I love Fate and what a scheming minx she is, and so far, Adalynd Grayves has me very intrigued by how she will play Fate for Cullen and Efi. So I will be reading the next book in the Faeted to the Clawed Throne series at some point, but I’m not chomping at the bit. This is due to how subtly the author set up the next book in the series; it almost dampened my enthusiasm for it. This has, of course, affected my star rating of this book, as has my opinion of the pacing problems. Sometimes it was perfectly paced, the action had you completely immersed in the scene, or the feeling of the characters had you connected deeply to them. Then, at other times, it felt like there was too much filler that added very little to the overall plot of the book. For example, the slow days of Aoife getting through her days, walking around the castle, etc. I know this is to show how different her life is now and give you insight into her feelings, but Efi is already written in such a way that you can easily understand her emotions. Therefore, I found the frequency of these filler bits to be too often and too long, and I subsequently found myself rushing through them. Due to this, I will be rating Given to the Wolf King Three out of Five Stars.

I would recommend Given to the Wolf King to anyone who loves fantasy books full of all things magic, unicorns, curses, and fae/human rifts. This book is more fantasy-heavy than romance-heavy, but not overly world-building-heavy. I wouldn’t class it as romantasy as, from reading book one, I believe it will be a slow-burn series, but it had me grinning at points as the tension rose very slowly. If you love a strong, protective, and rather stubborn FMC and an equally similar MMC who is more worldly with a hidden wildness, then give this indie author’s series a whirl.

[Lora · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series has a potential, but needs a lot of work.

Lets start with the plot - fae princess given to the Wolf King for the crimes she didn't commit. It has a little bit of beauty and the beast vibes especially in the middle of the book, the whole chase in the forest etc.
I would like to know more what happens when with the forest what is going on with the shadow Fay or whatever they were called. The plot has a lot of potential what is lacking is the writing style and mostly the condensation of the plot. Some scenes were so close together that it made the book giving a feel of being very fast-paced - It is below 200 pages and still manage to squeeze a lot of narrative with some information that was not really properly discovered or properly written about in a way that me as a reader had a field at the book was actually focusing on the plot.

The book is tagged as slowburn and kinda enemies to lovers vibes with some good hot scenes but at this point I didn't see anything if this sort.
I would say that from all of the issues that I found within the book the most lacking is the chemistry between the MFC and the MMC. This book has a very strong vibe of telling not showing stuff. The dialogues are long in the situations where they should not be and very short in the moments when you could actually have a dialogue with somebody.
Throughout the book I had a feeling that I am reading the final draft of the book but not the book itself. And I also think that looking at all of that's happening in the book it could be 100 to even 200 pages longer with good plot distribution a little bit more dialogue a little bit more skimming and sneaking around by the main villains etc.
You may be wondering why have I given this book a 3 stars out of 5. The review might be a little bit harsh but I really was interested in the plot and I like the whole idea and if the next book comes up I will read it especially to see what progress the author made.

[Reads_Must · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given to the Wolf King
Faeted to the Clawed Throne #1
Fantasy
Adalynd Grayves
⭐️⭐️⭐️

• ᴅᴜᴀʟ ᴘᴏᴠꜱ • ᴅᴇᴍᴏɴꜱ • ᴍᴀɴɪᴘᴜʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ •

The pacing in this book was ok, but sometimes the timeline would jump suddenly.

The characters were good, but Aoife seemed to act spontaneously without considering any of the consequences, and it got frustrating for me. I liked her connection to nature and her surroundings, though, especially her bond with the unicorns.

The mark she received from the demon early on in the book was forgotten about until much later on and she didn't tell Cullen what his father had said when she had the chance, in fact she never told him.

It was obvious from the very start who the villain was, so it wasn't a surprise at all when it was revealed.

The plot was interesting, and the book definitely has potential, but some of the weird dialogue and errors meant that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I should've

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book sets the pace for some interesting beginnings.
However, both the MC and the Wolf King are not fully likable characters. I felt the MC could act very juvenile at times stubborn, while the Wolf King was interchangeable in mood and the way he dealt with the MC. Both of their actions seemed to be at odds with what they wanted to achieve.
For example, the Wolf King wants his people to be kinder and work together with the elves but he will treat the MC with distrust and prejudice. The MC wants to prove herself as trustworthy but doesn't want to follow rules or share all information.
The villain was easily identifiable and so it was more of a waiting game to see when they would make their move.
It did have some interesting backstories into the war-torn realm and some magical creatures who worked alongside the elves I wonder if this becomes a series the is better with each book.

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover of this book is beautiful!! I also loved the similarities the author chose to use to make this a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Unfortunately, that is where my love of this book ends. The world building had a decent start, but needed more information placed into the story. I also felt like the characters lacked depth, and consistency. They had some characteristics that were told, not shown, and like the world building, I just needed more. The idea is definitely there, and with some reworking this could be great, but it read more like a book I would beta verses a finished product. This isn't to say that the writing is bad, it's more like the information is in the authors head, not on the pages.

[Beatriz Gonzalez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first fae fantasy book and I’d say it was a pretty good starter book for me! Had slow burn, no spice and hints of attraction… I guess since this is the first book of what I’m assuming will be a series, it’s mostly just setting up the larger plot.

I will say, I knocked off a star because I always tend to notice grammar mistakes. Some punctuations were left off, and some of the writing just had weird fragments of sentences. I’m obviously not an English professor by any means, but unfortunately, those things do bother me.

[Kelli Komerous-Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short fantasy

Cute, short fantasy. Very little romance. Aiofe is a wonderful character that starts to grow and change, and we start to see more into Cullen as the book goes on.
Dylan and Riordan are by far my favorites in this series and i hope to see more of them!

This story has so much potential! I wish that it was longer, and we got more detail into what's happening. I enjoyed the book, but felt like I was reading something almost half written. I'm excited to see what this author does with the rest of the series, and how they grow through their work.

[KateJoanna]

Had promise in the premise and I liked the cover, feels lovingly if not professionally made. With beautiful chapter art, a map and nice format.
It’s all very stiff and does not flow well. Potentially an enjoyable short read if you care more for characters and a good fantasy story and can ignore errors or immature writing. The writing isn’t that bad but it needs a lot of editing to make it cohesive, and does just feel like a cheesy fanfiction.

[Lirio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new twist on fea and shifter! This is not a HEA or even an everyone get along book, but definitely entertaining and keeps you engaged from start to finish. I am not a cliffhanger reader so the author did really well with leaving wanting for more. Hoping it’s not too long of a wait. This has some smolder, but mainly action and world building.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a freebie on the 2023 stuff your kindle day. I really liked the alternative Celtic approach on a wolf king and the fae, but a lot of the story points were lacking and I wasn’t getting the build up to the excitement. I think maybe if there was another 100 pages of story building it would have hit harder.

[Ishbel Macleod · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept but let down by the writing: poor sentence structure, clunky dialogue and typos (e.g. ‘the bird caulked its head’ instead of ‘cocked its head’).

Not sure if it was self-published and therefore not proofread/edited.

[Elena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, after the last few fantasy flops, I fear I'm really just going to have ditch all other fantasy books, because I can't handle the stupidity the characters bring in said fantasy books, along w/the predicable outcomes, dialogue, nature pretty much everything in it.

[Kate]

DNF

[Sara Bush · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meehhhh

The story was all over the place with some parts not making any sense at all. I can only hope the next book in the series is better thought out and written.

[Rhonda Noseworthy-Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good story

This was a good story although it ended and I wanted to know more. Hopefully there is a second book to complete the story.

[Caroline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf

[Ja F · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had some weird writing.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.