3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars because this is quite good for a debut novel.

I will say that I went into this without checking spice/age range before, but knowing it was a wolf shifter romance.
This is a YA wolf shifter romance, so while there are references to spice, the actual spice is fade to black.
I read all spice levels, so it wasn’t an issue for me, I just went in thinking it was adult because I hadn’t checked.

With that being said, the writing and the characters didn’t feel immature in the way some YA novels come off.

The pacing was well done with action interspersed with personal character moments and introspection. There was only one spot where I wish the time.jump had at least one small scene mixed in, so it didn’t feel as abrupt.
I enjoyed the anxiety representation in the main character. I also like the fight the fated mate males had with their magical/animal instincts of being dominating vs. their intention of not being misogynistic a-holes.
The pack dynamics and shifter powers were well integrated in this world. Many wolf shifter books tend to skip over those pack dynamics, but I enjoyed seeing them at work and having them build up the story.

LOVED the angst. I’m a sucker for a romance where the couple involved has great intentions, but circumstance makes one or both of them tread that moral grey line. That will they mess this up or find a way through it, gets me everytime.

My only qualm, and it’s a little one, was that sometimes the destiny part and the “greater power tells you to do this” overshadowed the characters own internal struggles and decisions in a few places in the book. The third appearance of the Luna and the bit after (don’t want to give spoilers) was where it felt too forced for me. I almost wish the characters had to work a little harder for the information they needed. I wanted that to draw them closer, too. It felt a little too convenient and depended more on exposition than action.

However, I can tell this series is setting up for some more angst and twists. The character development and writing is solid as well. So I’m picking up the next book when it releases.