Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
"There can only be one alpha.

Bryn is finally settling into her position as alpha of the Cedar Ridge Pack—or at least, her own version of what it means to be alpha when you’re a human leading a band of werewolves. Then she finds a teenage boy bleeding on her front porch. Before collapsing, he tells her his name is Lucas, he’s a Were, and Bryn’s protection is his only hope.

But Lucas isn’t part of Bryn’s pack, and she has no right to claim another alpha’s Were. With threats—old and new—looming, and danger closing in from all sides, Bryn will have to accept what her guardian Callum knew all along. To be alpha, she will have to give in to her own animal instincts and become less human. And, she’s going to have to do it alone."- summary from Amazon

Barnes has done it again- this series is fantastic and I just love it. The pages were really flying with this one; 6 hours after starting it (and with a couple long breaks), I was already 130 pages in. These characters and situations are just so compelling that, at times, the book is impossible to put down.

The story told within is so complicated and Barnes really has a good handle on the Pack Law for the werewolves in her world. I kept wondering how Bryn was going to get out of this mess because there's just obstacle after obstacle thrown in front of her and she has to figure out the right way to do it while staying within the confines of Pack Law. When it's all revealed, it was like "Woah." for me. Barnes is a spectacular storyteller, weaving together so many things and in the end, everything falls into place and makes sense. There are some really unexpected things happening throughout the book.

I loved revisiting these characters and I enjoy reading about all of them- flamboyant Devon, the romance between Bryn and Chase, fierce Lake, and all the rest. The relationships between them all are tested and you can see why they're so loyal to each other through their interactions. It's really wonderful characterization.

I could go on and on about this book but I'll stop here. If you haven't already started this series, do so! I'm excited to see where the characters go next in the third book out next summer. Also, an excerpt from Barnes' next book Every Other Day (out this Dec) was included in the ARC and I assume it'll be in the hardcover too. I read it and it sounds really interesting- all about demon hunting.

FTC: Received ARC from Jennifer at Goodman Media. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.