Love Notes Book Blog: Review: Blood and Bone by C. C. Wood

Blood and Bone

by C. C. Wood

4 stars

****

This was a good book! I had not read anything by Ms. Wood before, but I won this book from a giveaway and it sounded really good. This was a wolf shifter book, and it ranked right up there with my favorite shifter books by Suzanne Wright.

This is Chloe and Ian Lachlan's book. Chloe lost her parents and left her pack because she was suspicious of their deaths, but the pack didn't want her investigating. She joined another pack and found a home there. When she arrived she met Ian, who had recently lost his mate and was wasting away. She knew right away that he was her mate. She helped nurse him back to health, and fell in love with him, but never told him he was her mate, and he never recognized it. Now, 18 months later, Ian is healthy and they are friends, but she has given up hope that he will ever move on from losing his first mate and recognize her as more than a friend. So she leaves the pack to return to her old pack to try to secretly investigate her parents' deaths. When Ian finds out, he is worried for her so he follows her to her old pack. They agree that to keep Chloe safe, he will pretend to be her mate and help her investigate under the guise of "visiting" her old pack. Someone begins threatening her and danger lurks around them. Ian begins to see he is attracted to Chloe as more than a friend. Though he feels guilty at first, he soon realizes that his mate would have wanted him to move on after her death. He gives into his attraction and asks Chloe to help him move on. As they spend time together and are attacked by evil packmembers, Ian realizes he loves Chloe and wants to be with her forever, regardless of whether she is his mate. When Chloe's life is threatened, he realizes they are actually mates. They are able to solve the mystery of her parents' death and have their HEA too.

"Finding one's true mate over the course of a lifetime was amazing. Surviving their death even more difficult. But to have a second mate, it was a blessing beyond comprehension. It was rare."

I really liked Chloe and Ian. Often times the "dead ex" trope doesn't work for me, but I never felt like Ian really saw Chloe as second best. He was very sweet with her. They had great chemistry and hot sexy times together. I felt bad for Chloe because she doubted that Ian would ever take another mate and was still willing to accept whatever time he gave her before he moved on. But Ian never tried to make her feel that way; it was more her own fears and insecurities talking.

I was a little confused about how mating works in this world. It seemed like more of a choice to accept a fated mating bond, where in other books I've read, if you do not accept a fated mating bond, you go crazy with lust and die. So I wish there was a bit more clarification on that. Also, I wanted a bit more conversation from Ian at the end where he actually told Chloe why he loved her or what he loved about her. I would have also liked a jump ahead epilogue so we could see what their lives were like together back at their own pack. There is an epilogue, but it focuses on the next couple in the series.

Overall, though, I did really enjoy this book! I liked seeing Ian and Chloe's relationship develop. I will definitely be reading more from this series and Ms. Wood in the future!