The Kingdom of Askara has been torn apart by conflict for centuries, where humans exist as subservient beings to their werewolf masters. Legend says it will only be able to heal itself when an Alpha King and a pure omega are mated and crowned together, but a pure omega hasn’t been born in over a thousand years.
Luca is an Alpha-heir eagerly awaiting the choosing ceremony on his twenty-fifth birthday and the gifts granted by whichever omega he mates. His small pack is destitute due to the decisions of its ruling council, but being only an Alpha-heir, he has no authority to challenge them. Not until now—this moment he has waited a long time for.
Kit grew up as a street-rat, an unlicensed human who would never be more than a slave for whichever master owns him. Then one day he came across a young Alpha-heir, attacked and dying of poison, and found out their fates were suddenly entwined.
Luca needs to take over his pack and save his people. He cannot afford to be distracted. But when he meets Kit, he develops abilities indicating he is not just a pack Alpha, but the King his world has needed for a thousand years.
Is Kit really the cause of Luca’s newfound power, the true mate he needs? How is it possible when the young man isn’t even a werewolf, and as merely a human, a mating is not only forbidden, but for Kit, a sentence of death?
Title: The Alpha King (Kingdom of Askara #1)
Author/s: Victoria Sue
Publication Date: January 2017
ASIN: B01N351BQS
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Maria's Rating: ★★★★
Author/s: Victoria Sue
Publication Date: January 2017
ASIN: B01N351BQS
Buy it from Amazon
Maria's Rating: ★★★★
I've never read a standalone Victoria Sue novel prior to this, but I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised! All I've ever read of her are her co-authored books with Shannon West, but I can definitely say Victoria Sue can deliver a kickass story on her own.
I thought the idea of alpha kings was an interesting twist, quite different from the per territory alpha that I often see in other shapeshifter books. I think what I like the most about it is how the pure omega and the alpha king are supposed to rule as partners - something that definitely elevates the status of the omega in this particular universe. In other books, omegas usually have some power that can trigger the alpha's, but the leadership is almost always left to the alpha, with the omega sidelined as soon as they are mated. I wouldn't say I've been frustrated with that kind of take on things because it's just so common, but now that Victoria Sue created a new norm, I think I prefer this much better.
I liked both main characters, which is quite rare for me; usually I would prefer one over the other. I found Luca to be an inherently good alpha and mate and brother. I liked how his newfound power never made him forget the values he had before becoming the alpha king. Considering he was practically blindsided and became the alpha king out of the blue, I thought he managed to get his shit together pretty quickly and adequately. Sometimes I would get the urge to smack him upside the head for his bad calls and ridiculous lack of talent at communicating with his new mate, but I think everyone can agree that the universe just dumped the responsibility for the entire territory on him as the new alpha king, so we can all cut him some slack. He was a good alpha and he had the best interest of the marginalized population at heart, and I think that was what counted the most.
On the other hand, Kit proved himself just as strong and stubborn despite being a human omega. I loved the prologue which showed how the two of them met; I found it overall bittersweet how Kit made the choice to allow himself to be caught in order to make sure that Luca would survive. At first glance it's easy to say that that was obviously the best choice to make, but I think it should be remembered that Kit was running away from all the abuse and the beatings at that time - which means he sacrificed what would have been a better, easier life for the sake of ensuring Luca's safety. It can be argued, of course, that if you look at it from a long term perspective, Kit benefits more if Luca survives and becomes the alpha king. But it's not exactly easy to see benefits in the long run when you're fighting to stay alive today. So I adored it and I think that gave more depth to their relationship.
I think my biggest complaint about this book is that it has too much of everything. It has true matings, mpreg, antagonistic mother, human alliance against wolves, secondary characters who are star-crossed lovers, evil twin, and alpha king coronation all in one go. I felt that the story could have been told much better had they split it into multiple arcs: (1) alpha king and pure omega mating; (2) breeder conflict and mpreg; and (3) evil twin and the journey for the coronation of the alpha king. Some things happened too fast when they could have been dragged out for much longer. For example, the whole alpha king and pure omega mating. I think this arc could have made for a single book and would have established the romance between Luca and Kit much better. It could have also been a way to better present a clearer view of Askara and the territories that make it up.
The second arc could have been about the problem of having an heir, which would have set up the perfect stage for Luca's hostile mother and the greedy omega breeder that they found. Personally, I feel that Luca and Kit should have had more time to spend together just by themselves. Maybe it's just me, but having a baby thrown into the mix makes me think that the incentive of staying together gets a bit more complicated in such situation...
The third and the last arc could have been about the evil twin and the coronation (?) of Luca. This arc definitely could have been told in a book all by itself, since there were a lot of things that happened in this particular part of the story. I think the human alliance should have had more time dedicated to them too, since it also served as the introduction to other couples like Darrin and Sascha and even Asher and Sam. I just feel like this was a missed opportunity. There could have been so much more - and in multiple books, too!
Overall, I think this is a very good read. The characters were believable and they had a charm to them that had me rooting for their happy ever after. Victoria Sue writes well, and I think she has a clear picture of where she wants her story to go. I think with a good editor to look things over and make suggestions on the overall pacing and length of the story/arc per book, her next novels can still be so much better. I'll definitely be watching out for those. In the meantime, I'm giving a solid four stars to this one.
I thought the idea of alpha kings was an interesting twist, quite different from the per territory alpha that I often see in other shapeshifter books. I think what I like the most about it is how the pure omega and the alpha king are supposed to rule as partners - something that definitely elevates the status of the omega in this particular universe. In other books, omegas usually have some power that can trigger the alpha's, but the leadership is almost always left to the alpha, with the omega sidelined as soon as they are mated. I wouldn't say I've been frustrated with that kind of take on things because it's just so common, but now that Victoria Sue created a new norm, I think I prefer this much better.
I liked both main characters, which is quite rare for me; usually I would prefer one over the other. I found Luca to be an inherently good alpha and mate and brother. I liked how his newfound power never made him forget the values he had before becoming the alpha king. Considering he was practically blindsided and became the alpha king out of the blue, I thought he managed to get his shit together pretty quickly and adequately. Sometimes I would get the urge to smack him upside the head for his bad calls and ridiculous lack of talent at communicating with his new mate, but I think everyone can agree that the universe just dumped the responsibility for the entire territory on him as the new alpha king, so we can all cut him some slack. He was a good alpha and he had the best interest of the marginalized population at heart, and I think that was what counted the most.
On the other hand, Kit proved himself just as strong and stubborn despite being a human omega. I loved the prologue which showed how the two of them met; I found it overall bittersweet how Kit made the choice to allow himself to be caught in order to make sure that Luca would survive. At first glance it's easy to say that that was obviously the best choice to make, but I think it should be remembered that Kit was running away from all the abuse and the beatings at that time - which means he sacrificed what would have been a better, easier life for the sake of ensuring Luca's safety. It can be argued, of course, that if you look at it from a long term perspective, Kit benefits more if Luca survives and becomes the alpha king. But it's not exactly easy to see benefits in the long run when you're fighting to stay alive today. So I adored it and I think that gave more depth to their relationship.
I think my biggest complaint about this book is that it has too much of everything. It has true matings, mpreg, antagonistic mother, human alliance against wolves, secondary characters who are star-crossed lovers, evil twin, and alpha king coronation all in one go. I felt that the story could have been told much better had they split it into multiple arcs: (1) alpha king and pure omega mating; (2) breeder conflict and mpreg; and (3) evil twin and the journey for the coronation of the alpha king. Some things happened too fast when they could have been dragged out for much longer. For example, the whole alpha king and pure omega mating. I think this arc could have made for a single book and would have established the romance between Luca and Kit much better. It could have also been a way to better present a clearer view of Askara and the territories that make it up.
The second arc could have been about the problem of having an heir, which would have set up the perfect stage for Luca's hostile mother and the greedy omega breeder that they found. Personally, I feel that Luca and Kit should have had more time to spend together just by themselves. Maybe it's just me, but having a baby thrown into the mix makes me think that the incentive of staying together gets a bit more complicated in such situation...
The third and the last arc could have been about the evil twin and the coronation (?) of Luca. This arc definitely could have been told in a book all by itself, since there were a lot of things that happened in this particular part of the story. I think the human alliance should have had more time dedicated to them too, since it also served as the introduction to other couples like Darrin and Sascha and even Asher and Sam. I just feel like this was a missed opportunity. There could have been so much more - and in multiple books, too!
Overall, I think this is a very good read. The characters were believable and they had a charm to them that had me rooting for their happy ever after. Victoria Sue writes well, and I think she has a clear picture of where she wants her story to go. I think with a good editor to look things over and make suggestions on the overall pacing and length of the story/arc per book, her next novels can still be so much better. I'll definitely be watching out for those. In the meantime, I'm giving a solid four stars to this one.
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