As the rest of the lands go to war, the wolven folk are keeping to themselves, with the king sitting amidst his pack on Death Mountain. Fallenmoore is about to find war approaching whether it’s ready or not.  THE FORBIDDEN WOLF KING is Axil Moon at this time, who bested his brother in a trial and now commands the packs. Even a shapeshifter needs a wife, and it’s time for the young king to wed.

The Queen Trials are reminiscent of the Hunger Games, more than anything else in this Kings of Avalier series. The brutal trials will kill off the twenty contestants until there’s just one, who is deemed worthy of the king. Zara of the Mud Flat Pack gets a summons to attend. She doesn’t want to die, but she doesn’t want to marry the king either. I don’t see how any society could survive killing off the strongest women of each generation, so perhaps this was a medieval way of ensuring only the king’s pack grew stronger and all the others grew weaker. High time the archaic laws – there are plenty of them – got changed.

Zara had a teen summer romance with Axil some years ago, but he dumped her when his family disapproved. I really think she would be over it by now, but it seems not. Anyway, that’s why he’s forbidden to her – but that’s about to change if she can win the trials.

Meanwhile, in the big world of Avalier, the dragonfolk, elves and fae are beset by the armies of Queen Zaphira of Nightfall. They need every ally they can get, and the queens of these lands are sent to try to talk King Axil into coming down off his mountain. When their lands are overrun, they declare that Zaphira will come to Fallenmoore next. 

Having read the three earlier books, I was excited for the outcome story, and the wolven shapeshifters and grand battle scenes didn’t disappoint. It would be possible to read this story as a standalone, but much better to know the characters and their unique powers as they march on stage and summon whirlwinds or turn into dragons. The romance didn’t seem up to the earlier standards, but that’s because Zara and Axil don’t get to spend much time together, other than in front of a baying pack—enough time for what the story requires. You’ll need to read THE FORBIDDEN WOLF KING to see if Queen Zaphira gets her comeuppance and to round off the exciting fantasy romance quartet. I think this would make a fine RPG, especially if players got to roleplay every character type in turn.