Wolves and Roses by Christina Bauer isn’t your average fairy-tale, it’s so much better.
About ‘Wolves and Roses’ by Christina Bauer:
Seventeen-year-old Bryar Rose has a problem. She’s descended from one of the three magical races — shifters, fairies, or witches. That makes her one of the Magicorum, and Magicorum always follow a fairy tale life template. In Bryar’s case, that template should be Sleeping Beauty.
“Should” being the key word.
Trouble is, Bryar is nowhere near the sleeping beauty life template. Not even close. She doesn’t like birds or woodland creatures. She can’t sing. And she certainly can’t stand Prince Philpot, the so-called “His Highness of Hedge Funds” that her aunties want her to marry. Even worse, Bryar’s having recurring dreams of a bad boy hottie and is obsessed with finding papyri from ancient Egypt. What’s up with that?
All Bryar wants is to attend a regular high school with normal humans and forget all about shifters, fairies, witches, and the curse that Colonel Mallory the Magnificent placed on her. And she might be able to do just that — if only she can just keep her head down until her 18th birthday when the spell that’s ruined her life goes buh-bye.
But that plan gets turned upside down when Bryar Rose meets Knox, the bad boy who’s literally from her dreams. Knox is a powerful werewolf, and his presence in her life changes everything, and not just because he makes her knees turn into Jell-O. If Bryar can’t figure out who — or what — she really is, it might cost both her and Knox their lives… as well as jeopardize the very nature of magic itself.
‘Wolves and Roses’ by Christina Bauer review:
Right from the get-go the synopsis of Wolves and Roses had me hooked on finding out where this story was going to go. I will say that it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, I thought it would very much be about fairy tales. In reality, the book is so much more than that.
The book was packed with lots of action, adventure, and more romance than I was expecting from a YA novel. It actually reminds me of paranormal romance, which I love. There’s also plenty of emotional issues that Bryar has to deal with once she finds out just how much of her life has been kept a secret from her.
When the book starts, Bryar is being forced to attend the Magicorum Teen Therapy Group by her aunties (who also happen to be fairies). With Magic starting to disappear from the world, they’re trying to save it and that means helping out those who are failing to follow their templates. Bryar is supposed to be the sleeping beauty template, except that she hates the guy that’s supposed to be her prince.
“In other words, my life is the fairy-tale equivalent of the Island of Misfit Toys, and it’s all thanks to a spell cast on me by the powerful fairy colonel Mallory the Magnificent. Jerk.”
Something else that’s bothering Bryar, is her unexplainable fascination with the pyramids and papyri which haunt her dreams. This causes her to break into the LeCharme building in order to get her hands on them, but is caught and ends up meeting Alec LeCharme and his friend Knox (who she finds extremely attractive).
Not only does this lead Bryar to agree to take an internship helping them decode the hieroglyphs on the papyri, but it starts her on a journey to discover the truth behind her sleeping curse. As well as a part of her that has been dormant for a long time but starts to come out the more time she spends with Knox.
As Bryar starts to learn more about the mysteries surrounding herself, her life is in real danger and she’s not sure who she can really trust. Despite needing help from Knox, Bryar is no damsel in distress. She’s quite capable of taking care of herself and those around her. Even with a curse on her, Bryar kicks butt as she forges her own path.
“And yes, there’s that raw magnetic something that seems to vibrate around him. I want to throw my arms around his neck and rub myself all over him. It’s really disturbing, actually.”
Wolves and Roses also has some nice touches of humor, mostly thanks to Bryar’s best friend Elle (as in Cinderella). Who happens to be hiding from her family and also likes to steal from others for good causes. She brings a bit of an edge to the book and was great to break up some tension in the book.
My only complaint about the novel was that it felt like the climax happened with the big battle and then the story continued on for a bit too long. Even with the timing of the end off I still enjoyed the book overall!
Wolves and Roses by Christina Bauer will be released on October 31! Pre-order now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or iBooks. And don’t forget to add it to your Goodreads!