Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Wolf’s (Un)Lucky Fae
SERIES: Fortune Favors the Fae
AUTHOR: Michele Notaro
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 340 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 6, 2024
BLURB:
Call it fate, call it luck, but when a powerful wolf shifter walks into my life, everything changes.
Bel
I’ve made some stupid decisions in my life, and one in particular keeps coming back to haunt me. When I keep running into a handsome stranger, I know I should push him away, if only to keep him safe from my mess, keep him safe from me. But something inside of me—my heart, my magic, or my soul—keeps pushing me toward him, offering to make all my secret dreams come true. And I don’t know how to stay away.
Remi
When I travel across the world to open a new business—and get away from my overbearing family—the last thing I ever expect is to find the most beautiful and alluring fae I’ve ever met. I’m drawn to him, and I’m pretty sure if he lets his guard down, he’ll admit he’s drawn to me too. All I want to do is pull Bel into my arms and protect him from whatever he’s hiding. But he’s skittish and suspicious, and I just want to prove to him that he can trust me.
Fate, and a bit of luck, brought us together, and I’m not going to let it or anything else tear us apart.
The Wolf’s (Un)Lucky Fae is a part of the multi-author series, Fortune Favors the Fae. From spicy to sweet, zany romps to epic adventures, there’s something for everyone in this mystical series. Discover destiny and true love and follow the coin on its fickle journey to the next world and a new magical adventure.
REVIEW:
This is the first full novel in this multi-author series loosely tied around the magic of a mysterious coin. It turns out that this novel also is sort of a spin-off/related world setting of the author’s previous series, The Ellwood Chronicles and the Brinnswick Stories. I had not read those, but I wasn’t lost reading this story of Remi and Bel. It seems those stories centered around Remi’s dads and extended family, so although they are secondary background characters, they don’t figure that much into the relationship/romance of Bel and Remi.
The story starts off with the mysterious magical coin bringing together Remi and Bel in an unusual way. Bel and Remi are opposites in many ways, but Remi is so drawn to Bel, he can’t let it go. The coin also seems to want them to be together 🙂 This land where Remi is setting up his business is not a very good society though. The fae are treated horribly and many are homeless, including Bel. His halfling cousins are barely scraping by and it’s heartbreaking to see how badly Bel is treated and how poorly he views himself and his people. Remi isn’t having it, but there are lots of barriers to break down. He has to take things slowly because Bel is unsure and fearful about Remi’s true motive and how he’ll be able to deal with being truly on his own again.
Bel is under obligation to an evil fae Purtham Luynore and he hates it. But he’s got no choice. He is unhappy with the tasks his obligation forced him to do, but when things get personal, well he’s got to figure out a way to free himself or betray the one he loves. He’s in a no win situation and things are getting dark. But Remi knows he loves him and is determined to figure this out so that they can be together.
I enjoyed this story and I’m kind of excited that there are going to be more stories in this world featuring some of the secondary characters – including Bel’s family and Remi’s friends. The world building was solid enough that I didn’t really feel like I’d missed anything not having read the previous series from this author, but I’m guessing it would help lay a lot of the groundwork for Remi and his family and how they fit into the larger context here. There are many secrets still to be discovered in this world though it seems. Things dragged a little in the middle for me, but then around 75% things really got going again. I so wanted Bel to be free from his past and gain his happiness. The MCs were so good together and their respective protectiveness over each other was sweet and endearing. Recommended for fans of fantasy especially.
RATING: 
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