Daring Fate by Megan Erickson

Daring Fate by Megan Erickson

Review by Lauren

source: copy from the author; all opinions are my own

Official Summary: I wake up chained to the wall of a dark cell aware of two things: I failed my sister, and I smell my enemy.

When I’m taken to meet Dare, the alpha of the Silver Tip pack, I’m sure I’m about to lose my throat. The last thing I expect is for the Alpha to recognize me as his fated mate. No way is he going to let me go now, and I still have to find a way to rescue my sister.

As I plot my escape to save her, I find that if I leave, Dare could be killed by power-hungry members of his pack. And now he’s more to me than my fated mate—my heart is involved. With time ticking by on my sister’s life, I have to make a choice I never thought I’d face—my sister’s life or my mate’s? That’s if I can survive the undead shifters intent on killing me first...

Review: I really don't remember the last time I read a shifter novel. I don't mind paranormal stories, and I used to review a lot of them for Romantic Times magazine. However, it's definitely been awhil since I've read one, so I was really excited when I saw that Megan Erickson was looking for people to review the first in her new shifter series. I'm a huge fan of Erickson's m/m fiction and this falls under that, so I was pretty sure I was going to love it, regardless of the genre or overall story line. And I was right.

One of the biggest themes of Daring Fate is family. Reese made plans to leave the place he's called "home" for years, because it's definitely not a safe place to be. He got his brother, Jude out, but when he went back for Selene, he was beaten up and left in the wild. This is where the Silver Tip pack comes in, a group of Weres who are seen as enemies to werewolves like Reese. However, these Weres are not as bad as Reese was led to believe. And it helps that as soon as Reese meets the Alpha of the pack, Dare, they realize they are True Mates. Not everyone gets a True Mate, and Reese only knows about them because his parents were, so it was definitely interesting learning about this along with the two guys. Regardless of the growing bond with Dare, Reese cannot and will not forget about his sister. He's not sure he can trust Dare at first...and then he just doesn't want to hurt Dare's pack by bringing him into his plan.

I don't want to give away too many details of this story, because it was a very unique story of shifters. I've never read a book about Weres, and I assume Erickson created them herself - they are different from werewolves, like Reese and his family, though they do have similarities. I also really liked the various things that come along with being a True Mate too. It was easy to get to know Reese and Dare, and I felt for both of them. Neither know how to react to the other, and while their physical need for each other is apparent, they have a lot to deal with in terms of emotional collections and trust.

This is definitely an adult read in terms of the physical relationship between Reese and Dare, but it very much as an overarching story too, and I loved getting to know the secondary characters, like Bay, Dare's brother. The next book will be following Bay and I can't wait!