The 29th book I read this year was Lycans and Lattes, the 3rd book in the Maple Hollow series by Ali.K.Mulford and K. Elle Morrison.
I was lucky to receive an arc copy of this book and as a big fan of Ali K Mulford/ A.K.Mulford, I always warn that these reviews are a little biased!
You can read my review for earlier books in the series:
Book 1: Pumpkin Spice and Poltergeist
Book 2: Curses and Cold Brew
A summary attempt
This series is set in a small town full of supernatural beings who embrace Halloween tourists, putting on a big show that no-one knows is real.
The Pumpkin Spice Cafe is the town’s coffee shop, owned and run by two humans sisters, one of which was the MC for book 1. Over the last two books we’ve seen Willow and Wyatt dance around their crush on each other, but for some reason they’ve never gotten together.
Well, that reason is now looming, as the pressure on Wyatt to take his place a pack leader is getting worse, however, every pack leader is usually crowned with his wife and mate at his side. The problem is… Wyatt has never told Willow that she’s his mate, fearful about ruining their friendship, of putting too much pressure on Willow by forcing a human to become essentially Queen of the local wolf pack. He did a deal with a demon to put a sigil on his skin that prevents him from transforming, because if he transformed, his wolf would want to seek his mate out.
Wyatt’s doing his best to let his relationship with Willow develop in it’s own natural time, despite this pressure. Just as things start to finally get moving after years of will-they-wont-they, the pressure becomes a ticking time bomb. The demon’s deals (our MC from book 2!) are slowly being undone by some unknown force and when his sigil is removed, Wyatt is given no choice about having to face his responsibilities and step up as pack leader by the next full moon. Which means he needs to convince Willow to marry him in under a month and convince the old fashioned wolves to accept a human queen, but how can he do that without putting unfair pressure on her?
My thoughts
I enjoyed this book, it’s kind of set alongside the events of book 2 and so we get to see those events from a different perspective. The setting is colourful, like a Halloween spooky version of the town from Gilmore Girls. The conflict in this book was a different kind of twist, because it was the male main character trying to protect his human mate from the pressures of being a pack leader. So there’s lots of yearning and spice, but no silly miscommunications. These books are very cosy and low stakes, they are great easy read to get into the Autumn/ Halloween spirit!
