Title: The Wolf and the Woodsman

Author: Ava Reid

In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline—her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king’s blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered.

But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he’s no ordinary Woodsman—he’s the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it’s like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother.

As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Évike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gáspár need to decide whose side they’re on, and what they’re willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.

Evike is taken from her pagan village by the Woodsman who think she is a Seer. There has been a deception however, she has no magic at all.

Along their journey back to the King, trouble brews and Evike, aka wolf girl, finds herself alone with Gaspar, Woodsman and Prince. And they find trouble at every corner!

Things I loved:
~ Enemies to lovers (my fave!),
~ Has a unique storyline,
~ It was quite dark and gory,
~ The drama and treachery,
~ The faith and mythology (the stories that were interspersed were fab).

I guess thats not really the ending I hoped for but it was an enjoyable read and would love to read more by this author.