Wilds of Wonder
Stolen Crowns
Fairy Tales, Folklore
M&F Books
September 12, 2024
Ebook
372
A cursed land. A mysterious rival. A deadly game of survival.
I’ve spent my life raised to be a wife. My husband has no clue about my secret hobby. I hunt for magical and rare artifacts, hoping that one day I can join the esteemed Academy of Historians & Scholars.
When the unthinkable happens, I’m given an opportunity to find a divine relic belonging to one of the ancient seven spirits, a lightning bolt with deadly powers. Finding it could be my ticket to joining the academy. The catch? It’s been stolen by the bone collector, a nemesis who also has a penchant for collecting historical objects—and who crosses over into a mysterious land with the bolt in tow.
Now I have to follow him into this wonderland of death, where nothing is as it seems, most of all the bone collector. To survive and get out, I must do something I never thought I would. Work with him. Mystery and intrigue surround us, and what we begin to discover not only unravels everything we thought we knew about our world and our magic . . . but even more terrifying, about ourselves.
Wilds of Wonder is book four in Stolen Crowns, a series of steamy standalone but interconnected fairytale retellings. This Alice in Wonderland retelling is perfect for fans of banter, (very) snarky heroines, and slow-burn romance.
A Wonderland for Adults Who Like It a Bit Hot
Tee Harlowe’s fourth book in the Stolen Crown series, Wilds of Wonder, made me feel like a kid again, watching the prim and proper Alice let her curiosity get the best of her and fall down the rabbit hole. After reading Harlowe’s reimagining of Snow White, Peter Pan, and Tangled in the previous three books, I’d have to say that, so far, her Alice in Wonderland-meets-Indiana Jones has the best world-building yet. Harlowe really let her imagination run wild with this one!
The central figures are Emory Growley, a lady of the Frost Court trapped in an awful marriage to a Sky Court ambassador, and Maverick von Lucas: academic, fire elemental, and historical advisor to the Frost Court’s queen. Both are unhappy with their present circumstances and yearn for a life filled with adventure and passion. Assuming aliases—Emory as the White Rabbit and Maverick as the Bone Collector—they begin to seek and recover lost artifacts from the era of the Seven Spirits and the Old World.
When the White Rabbit and the Bone Collector come face-to-face, Maverick suggests a game. They decide to meet annually at various historical locations to search for an artifact. The rules are simple: no magic and no disclosure of identities. It’s purely a contest to claim the treasure and the year’s bragging rights. Over six years, their rivalry turns to banter, they outdo one another, and sometimes even rescue each other from life-threatening situations. Through these annual challenges, they uncover a friendship and attraction that is undeniable.
Theirs is the relationship that drives this romantasy. While not my favorite romance within the Stolen Crown series, it still had plenty of tropes I adore and spicy scenes, including:
- Secret identities
- Fire and ice elemental magic
- “Who did this to you?”
- Nemesis-to-lovers
- He falls first
And, of course, quotes such as these that melted my heart:
That got a smile out of her. The first smile I’d ever seen from Emory. It lit up this entire damn forest. It lit me up. Forget the fire. Forget food. I just needed her to keep smiling like that, and it would be enough to sustain me for all my days.
My favorite part of the book was Harlowe’s unique take on Wonderland. Emory, Maverick, and Driscoll (yes, Driscoll returns, fans!) become lost in the Wilds, which is later revealed as the ruined Star Court and cursed with all things curiouser and curiouser. Envision trees with watchful eyes, winds that heed whispered commands, lakes reflecting one’s future, and blood beetles humming tunes from the Mad Hatter’s tea party. It’s wildly imaginative. It’s compelling. And it kept me flipping through the pages until the final chapter. I can only imagine how much fun Harlowe had writing this book.
Tee Harlowe’s Wilds of Wonder is a standalone story, but I’d highly recommend reading any book that you can from the Stolen Crown series.
