BITTEN

A newbie wolf from St. Augustine, Florida, is out for revenge.

Vanessa and her best friend, Celeste, are out celebrating Vanessa’s 17th birthday when Celeste is murdered by a werewolf and Vanessa is bitten by another one. After her transformation, a heartbroken and angry Vanessa is presented at the Wolf Queen’s Court, which is ruled by the cunning Queen Sybil of the North American Court. These magical wolves possess powers beyond the ability to change at will between human and wolf bodies. Vanessa turns out to be the first known wolf to have purple eyes, and the queen is very interested in how she can use her powers to the court’s advantage. Even as Vanessa tries to solve the mystery of which wolf is responsible for Celeste’s death, she develops a budding romance with Prince Sinclair Severi, the queen’s son. But his interest in her could be dangerous to Vanessa: His engagement to “mean girl” Princess Evelyn Lee of the Asian Court is in the works, and Vanessa must determine whether there’s anyone she can trust in the brutal inner circle of the royal court. Debut author Gray’s worldbuilding is layered and intricate, and the action moves at a brisk pace although some of the dialogue is repetitive and stilted. Vanessa’s single-minded vengeance reverberates throughout, and while some of her choices may frustrate readers, the story is utterly enjoyable. Vanessa and Sinclair read white.

An intriguing paranormal thriller.