Traitor Wolf by Leia Stone

 I loved this book. This is a hunger games meets shifter/forbidden love type of story. And it also has an another guy who likes the heroine Brynn. In this story Brynn is a girl who grew up dirt poor. She’s one of 7 siblings. Her father died & her mother is left to take of all the kids. Brynn has to drop out of school to help pay the bills. The rich or Elites who by the way have magic of course, keep raising taxes on the magicless. Because of this Brynn’s mom works 3 jobs. And Brynn herself works 2-3. There is very little food where they live and it costs a lot. Brynn and her mother have gone without food for 3 days quite a bit to make sure her younger siblings are fed. When fate singles her out to go through the Arcane trials without magic most say it’s a death sentence. But if Brynn were to win she would get magic for her whole bloodline. And that automatically changes your status to an Elite. An Elite has to sponsor her and the guy that did died so his brother has to take over. Lucky for her he’s not like most Elites. He wants the social hierarchy to change. He like his brother sees the magicless as humans not rats (as the Elites call them.) In order to enter the trials a magical sword has to choose you. The more powerful the sword the better off you are. The last element to the trial is a wolfkin has to choose to bond with you. This is based on the sword you choose & the wolfkins pack status. The wolfkins can fight for the right to bond with you until the most powerful one wins. When they bond with you it’s like a typical shifter bond they can talk telepathically. The sword that chooses Brynn can actually talk too. It turns out the sword she gets hasn’t bonded with anyone in thousands of years. And the wolf that bonds with her is very powerful too. Yet, he’s been branded a Traitor Wolf for killing who he was supposed to protect in these games. So Brynn can’t trust him. Yet, for the first trial her life depends on her trusting Kaeleric because the Elites are trying to kill her in this trial. Cassian warns her not to trust him because of his mark. Yet, when he finds out the Elites plan to kill her he has to convince Brynn to trust Kaeleric or she’ll die. And of course, Kaeleric has a dark past one he doesn’t want to share. Plus Brynn has been taught nothing about wolfkins in school. Only Elites know anything about them. Both Cassian & Kaeleric do what they can to help feed the magicless. But who will win her heart in the end? And will she survive the trials without magic?

Black Hearted by Leia Stone & Julie Hall

I loved Zane through this whole series and felt so sad for him because he was the last to get a mate. He had to stand by and watch his brothers fall madly in love. He was always so funny & charming but he had to wait for the one person made for him. Lorelei was just as sweet, considerate, respectful, and caring as Zane. Both wanted to sacrifice themselves to save both worlds and the thousands of fae. Queen Liliana was a really evil twisted fae. In fact I don't buy the story that shellfish changed after her husband died. He wasn't her mate. I think there's more to it. Anyone who had to kill their mate would be devastated. Whether they only IKEA them for a few minutes or not. I would love to see the authors do a novella about Queen Lilliana's backstory! Princess Lorelei is kidnapped by Queen Liliana. And I thought she was cruel before. The torture techniques she uses are nothing but barbaric. When the princess escapes & gets caught she is severely punished. Not to mention the way the queen siphons off her with the intention of opening the portal. Dawn goes into early labor & we learn just how many babies she is carrying. And there is a surprise when the babies are born in reference to their gender. Lorelei has a secret power that only her family knows about. This power saves her mice by getting messages to Zane & her mother. Shockingly Zane & her mom team up to rescue her. And Zane gains a little sister. He rescues a orphan girl & brings her to the Spring Court with him. The bond the establish softens the Spring Queen & princesses heart. Like I said Zane is special. I don't think Lorelei could've killed anyone. She hates taking plant life to live or heal. I bet she could also cause death with her power too. She just never tried. And it's a good thing Queen Liliana never figured it out. That woman's crazy! Talking about killing her own grandchildren if they had black blood. Who does that? A crazy person!