The twist on shifters you didn't know you needed!
Phase of Fate
Phase Mountain Pack
Paranormal
June Publishing
April 21, 2022
EBook, Audiobook, Paperback
277
I was the average daughter. The troublemaker. The side character in my sister's story.
My sister was a Prodigy, endowed with exceptional skills and bonded with a guardian. In a world where all leaders, scientists, and artists are selected and pledged to shifters, she was born for greatness.
I was born to live in her shadow.
In a moment of rebellion, I trespassed on pack lands and an alpha guardian shifter, Theo, bonded to me. Tragedy makes me reject the pairing.
They say I am a Prodigy now—someone special.
I think they’re wrong.
Theo is protective, overbearing, and gets under my skin. He knows me better than anyone else. It takes everything I have to keep the wall around my heart built up.
I refuse to ever trust a shifter.
I refuse to fall in love with my rival.
But fate comes in phases.
Once a nobody, now a hero.
Once an enemy, now my forever.
It feels safe to say that anyone who was into books as a teen has read some sort of werewolf book in their life. It’s also safe to say that we’ve dabbled in a little bit of shifter romance as we matured. While they can get a little prescriptive, CoraLee June’s Phase of Fate manages to break out of that formula while still maintaining the framework that we’ve grown nostalgic for. Obviously, by framework I’m referring to a broody guy who’ll do anything to keep her safe and happy. Oh, and I guess turns into a giant wolf.
“I want to make you smile. I want to hold your hand through the hard times. I want to be better for you, and I’m trying. I think I’m pushing you away because…because this prodigy bond intimidates me at times. I’ve never been so consumed by someone.”
This book wastes zero time throwing you right into a series of action-packed first chapters. In this world, people from all over journey to meet the shifters of Phase Mountain in hopes of finding their guardian – and status as a Prodigy. Upon meeting their shifter guardians, a mark appears representing the bond the two will now share and the fact that the Prodigy is meant for greatness. This greatness can take on many forms but generally indicates that said person is destined to be one of society’s movers and shakers. Halle, our MC, is the little sister of a violin Prodigy whose status shaped their lives. When her sister is killed by the very shifter meant to protect her, Halle is consumed by her grief until she develops a Prodigy mark of her own. It turns out that new prodigies haven’t been found since her sister’s death and guardians are going feral and killing their wards. Halle and Theo are the first new successful bond and are tasked with finding a cure for shifters everywhere, while pretty much every powerful member of society breathes down their necks.
While at first I found the semantics around the Prodigy stuff to be a bit confusing, I grew to really enjoy this setup. The concept of a shifter needing to protect a damsel isn’t new. The prodigies all having a borderline supernatural skill that makes them impactful to society evens out the power dynamic in a way I like. That being said the bonds shared are platonic, with shifters and humans actually forbidden to form romantic relationships (Yeah, you know something shady is going down when they’re talking about wanting to keep a group pure). I really appreciated how June gave these characters pasts that really affected their motivations. Theo is an alpha that shouldn’t have ever been a guardian, meaning his years of training and plans for his life have now been dashed. Halle saw her sister murdered by a shifter and that trauma has hardened her heart and often leaves her immobilized by fear. These pasts are things that they can simply shrug off when they’re bonded. Instead, we get to see them be tentative. A slow push and pull that forms trust and could lead to even more. I’m particularly grateful for this slowness on account of the potential more. For Halle to be traumatized and Theo to be completely goal-oriented, full-on love would’ve been the most out-of-pocket move ever.
CoraLee June is a master in character development. Delilah, for example, a character who doesn’t appear until late in the novel is presented in such a way that we understand what hurt her and how those experiences shaped her. Her motivation and her heart feel completely clear in a way that has me hopelessly invested. Even better is the fact it’s done so artfully that you never feel as though you’ve just been hit in the face with a brick of exposition.
CoraLee June has got me wrapped around her little finger for the time being, and I can’t wait to see what she does next!
Gabi grew up moving around the world with her family, making books in English a bit of a luxury that had to be rationed. Nowadays she lives in East London, where books can be read as voraciously as she likes. Fantasy books will forever be her first love, and she’s always looking for the next series to consume both of her brain cells. Her days generally consist of working as a software developer, squeezing in a chapter at her desk, and pining after the Picadilly Waterstones.
