TITLE: Wolf’s Bane (Moon Marked 1)
AUTHOR: Aimee Easterling
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
WHERE TO PURCHASE:
At Your Favorite Reailer (Kobo, Apple, Amazon, B&N, etc.)
Also Available in Audiobook
I haven’t started and finished a book on the same day for quite some time. But, I did with this one. I was sick with Covid, and instead of sleeping, the story kept pulling me back to it. I love stories that feature mythology from other cultures, and this one didn’t disappoint.
Mai is Japanese-American with a secret. She’s a kitsune, which is a Japanese fox shapeshifter. In this world, the kitsune are hidden and besides their shapeshifting ability, they have a “star ball.” They are able to manipulate the energy of the ball to form various weapons. Mai makes her living teaching Japanese sword fighting in her sister’s private academy, and under the table, she does cage fights. Her parents are both dead, leaving her as the caretaker of her little sister Kira. All her life, Mai has been taught to fear werewolves and hide from them. Suddenly, Gunner, the brother of the territory pack alpha, is popping up and sniffing around her. Something supernatural is hunting in her city, and he thinks it’s linked to her. After losing her teaching job, she reluctantly accepts working for Gunner to solve the mystery. But how does she keep her kitsune secret from him and the rest of the pack, especially when her little sister is kidnapped and she needs his help?
This is a well-written story with intrigue, mystery, and danger. I liked that the slow-burn hinted-at-romance between Mai and Gunner was a subplot and didn’t take over the main plot of the story. The world building and star ball magic of the kitsune was unique and interesting. The story wraps up the initial mystery of what is happening to her dead mother’s possessions, while opening a new mystery for the next book. I’m intrigued enough I want to read more.