Wolves, Alpha betrayed, outcast wolf, fated mates - it all comes together with revenge, strength, and new trust! Some popular tropes done well in a fast romantasy read (<300 pages!). Book is just the right length, tired of 500+ page epics all the time, nice to have a story with all the action and slow burn that wraps up nicely and can read in a couple days.

Worked for a light read. The concept and story plot were interesting. The writing was very repetitive and could be more detailed. The characters were interesting. It would have helped to have been given closure on the general concept of the silencers. Overall it could be great if rewritten and polished.

Rating: 2/5
Spice: Closed Door (kissing scenes but nothing further)

I went into this hoping for a slow burn, shifter romance with an enemies to lovers banter, but instead, I got an underdeveloped, disjointed story that had potential but fell flat.

The Rogue King's Mate follows an alpha who’s been betrayed by his pack and beta, framed for crimes he didn’t commit. With no other choice, he removes his “silencer,” a move that marks him as a rogue and a so-called "beast." From there, legends of his ruthlessness spread—he becomes a figure of fear, whispered about like the boogeyman or grim reaper.

Then we meet Minha, the pack's outcast. Born without a silencer, she’s seen as an abomination because of this, and the pack bullies and isolate her. Eventually, they betray her too and offer her up to the rogue king himself.

The story was promising, but the execution fell flat. There were several questionable moments, and the writing lacked polish. Scenes often felt rushed or underdeveloped, and some character actions didn’t line up with how they were portrayed. For example, I liked that Minha decided she wasn’t going to be the punching bag anymore, but it made no sense for her to suddenly be the one initiating intimacy or falling so fast for someone who took her. Her shift felt unearned and the MMC hardly did anything to earn her affections. The MMC was also inconsistent. He’s supposed to be a terrifying rogue with a reputation that puts entire packs on edge, yet he's this 'hard on the outside, soft on the inside,' emotionally unavailable love interest who projects his feelings on her.
It didn’t add up. I was told one thing but shown a different thing.

Overall, the story lacked structure and quality. I was able to read it pretty quickly and found myself interested in the relationship between the FMC and MMC, but even then, the MMC kept playing mind games and rejected any efforts of the FMC. With a story where the main plot is a romance between characters and it still doesn't hit the mark, then there isn't much of a story at all. I thought this was going to be a slow burn, and it was, but then I found out that there weren't any spicy scenes, just a handful of rejected kissing scenes.

Would I recommend? No, save your time and energy and read a different shifter romance book.

Just okay. It was nothing ground breaking but was a nice paranormal palate cleanser. The tension between the FMC and MMC was well done. Thank you NetGalley and the author for the ARC.

The Rogue King's Mate contains some solid new material for the world of werewolves that is bogged down by the explaining/telling of all details and characters instead of showing.

There are many examples of this but it would be hard to show without telling some spoilers. In vague terms, we are repeatedly told that the MMC is scary and ruthless, but it is only shown maybe once. We are told the MMC and FMC have dark chemistry, but never see it build, and quite suddenly, we are told the pack loves the FMC when they have hated her for the last 200 pages. We need to read these things without being told them. To feel them in the way they interact with each other and other pack members. It felt like the characters did a 180 instead of natural character development. The climax that the story and the MMC's (Rydan) life have been building to is swept away within 10 pages, and the resolution falls flat.

Okay, the ending redeemed the entire book for me. I wasn't expecting my heart to squeeze like that at all. I wasn't sure what to expect, walking in, but I'm so glad I gave this book a chance. I do have a few issues that were knocking around in my mind but I'm not so sure they were all that negative.

For some reason, I wasn't expecting a wolf to think "oh my god" but it still shocked me. It was at the end of the book but still. lol I was expecting the wolves of this book to have their own pantheon of gods or something, not this. lol Not that this is necessarily a detraction.

I also wish we had gotten some smut but we didn't. Every other wolf book I've read with an A/B/O setup has smut to the nth degree. This one only had kissing, which shocked me quite a bit. I don't know why it shocked me but here we are.

I also found the MMC to be INFURIATING. Like, he fought his feelings for the FMC so hard, I wanted to knock his skull around a bit. I wanted to ask him why he was acting like such a fool. After reading the book in its entirety, however, I see why this was set up the way it was. I get it now.

All in all, I would recommend this book, especially if you're looking for a monster romance without the monster smut. This book is right up your alley. However, I'm not sure if the others books in this series have smut since this was the only book I've read in this series.

I struggled with this, the main characters motivations are one dimensional and the romance is based on very little. There was just lacking any world building or expansive plot. If you're looking for a quick fun read this is for you, but unfortunately it wasn't for me.

“claws unfurled”. Claws … don’t work like that. They’re not a roll of carpet or a bolt of fabric rolling out with a flourish.

“My wolf was restless, agitated, languished.” One of those words doesn’t belong, one of those words isn’t like the others, and one of those words doesn’t mean the wolf is angry and ready to fight but instead weak and feeble. Dictionaries are our friends. People should read them.

Wolves in this world are born with magical symbols on the back of their neck — and you’ll never forget where those silencers are, on the back of the necks, because it gets mentioned. A lot. — and I have no idea why. And if a Silencer is meant to limit a wolf’s abilities, why would being born without one make our main character viewed as weaker rather than stronger and more dangerous? So the pack bullies her knowing she has no restraint on her strength or temper for no other reason than to make the main character a victim.

Almost every point the book thinks is important is repeated several times in a chapter, in case you hadn’t picked up on the point in the first, second, or third time it was mentioned, such as Mihna’s lack of reaction to being sacrificed by her people. And how she was sacrificed. And she has no emotions even though she’s sacrificed. And surely someone who is sacrificed would have more emotions. This book is so heavy handed I think it gave me bruises.

Minha’s pack just ignores the threats of rogues — as well they might since they’re easily bribed — and does nothing about the wolves living right next door to their territory. I’m assuming their neighbors since Rydan’s pack doesn’t move on after picking up Minha, nor does her old pack move on after tossing her out. Likewise the evil pack is within a day’s walking distance from both Minha’s pack and Ryden’s for … reasons? Probably just to make it easier for Rydan when Minha is kidnapped. Don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s stupid that all of these packs live so close together — for resources if nothing else — but at least waging war on your neighbor is easy when he’s only a mile or so away.

Minha is utterly passive. She does nothing, reacts to nothing, she is just carried along by the plot like a limp, listless leaf on a slow, lugubrious stream. She’s boring. She’s bereft of character. She is an energy vampire. Rydan, on the other hand, is the faintest pencil sketch of a character, but that’s at least something! Yes, he’s based one every other alpha trope, yes his two emotions are confused or angry, but compared to Minha he stands out like a lighthouse in the night. It’s just … not enough.

There is an attempt here that almost works. The pack dynamics were almost interesting, but the author never followed anything to its conclusion. The rogues are more violent, fighting often for rank and position … and? Nothing is done with that. Minha defeats one, so how does that change their opinion of her? Oh, because it’s Minha, she has to be a victim, so they have no opinion of her. A human walks into camp, so will we learn about the relations between humans and wolves? Nope.

Any of these things could have been fleshed out and turned into something, but the story was so dead set on trying to set up a romance between the main couple that it ignored anything and everything so we could see Minha become a victim again. There are Tshirts and IVs, and yet wolves live in tents. Humans exist, but that’s all that I know about them.

What I do know for a certainty is that this book is a solid pass. I do not recommend this. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book was an easy read, I read this within a few hours. The book did have some heart tugging moments.

Minha is thrown out of her pack and becomes prisoner or the rogue king, it’s a forced proximity/enemies to lovers romance.
Minha shows her inner strength and stands up to him Rydan loves to challenger her. I felt Minha was too forgiving and Rydan needed to change his behaviour and attitude. He does realise in the end how he loves her and can’t be without her however.

Entertainment pure and simple! Every page gave you a scene that grabbed your emotions and wrung them dry! Chaos, miscommunication, mischief and misconduct run amok with love and romance struggling to find its niche and succeeding admirably!

2.5 stars for The Rogue King's Mate by Aria Wolf. I so wanted to love the characters in this book, but I just couldn't get there. The writing was great, but the depth of the characters just wasn't quite there. They did not pull me in, and therefore, the risks and consequences just didn't hit as hard. But if you are looking for a quick read, this is a good one to pick up! Thank you to netgalley for the gifted eARC

Initially, I wasn't sure what to expect since I have not read any works by this author before, but I found the description intriguing.

The main character Minha is particularly interesting. At first, she appears timid, but as the story unfolds, we discover that she possesses a backbone of steel, which she expresses in the kindest ways. No matter how poorly she is treated, she remains true to herself, and I really admire that about her character.

On the other hand, Rydan's bitterness stemming from betrayal and his sometimes brutal demeanor adds an intriguing element to the story. However, I can see how Minha's influence could lead to a transformation for him and bring back the man/wolf he once was.

Overall, I found the story to be both engaging and enjoyable.

The Rogue King's Mate quite honestly just didn't do it for me. There didn't seem to be any real reason why the love interests were interested in each other. As far as I can tell they aren't even explained to be fated mates, they just hate each other until they don't with no real reason behind it. The fight scene we spent the whole book building up to was incredibly anticlimactic and all just happened behind the scenes without any description of it. Two stars because I finished it, but not without wanting to DNF a few times.

Of course it’s a cliche name for the book so I was not expecting nothing spectacular. But this was not my cup of tea at all which is funny because I love a rogue book. I dnf’ed about 40% in and that’s that.

I went into The Rogue King's Mate expecting a steamy werewolf romance—and it delivered that and so much more. The story centers on a fierce, resilient heroine who’s been betrayed by her pack and offered up to the infamous Rogue King, a brutal and enigmatic alpha who commands an army of outcasts. She’s not the type to submit easily, and watching her clash with the king was electric from the start.

What I loved most was how layered both characters are. She’s been through hell but refuses to break, and he’s more than just a monster—he’s a man shaped by betrayal and loss. Their connection is intense, dangerous, and undeniably fated, but it’s the emotional tension that hooked me. The enemies-to-lovers dynamic is done so well, with just the right balance of heat, heart, and high stakes.

I couldn’t put it down.

I was looking for a fun werewolf romance, and the description of this book, fit that description. And while I could see where the author was going with the story and what they were trying to do, it just fell flat. The romance wasn't romancing. The reader didn't get to see the relationship building. Even within the rogue pack, none of the wolves liked the FMC including them jumping her in the forest, but then a few pages later they are ready to go to war for her. Maybe it's the good ol' "only we can hurt her" thing? The relationship building in this story needed a lot of work.

Thank you #NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 🌟 rounded
Spice: none
Format: ARC

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

While this didn't blow me away, it wasn't all together bad. I think as a debut (as far as I can tell) it's a great starting point. It's just missing something. I usually prefer for mg shifter books to have dialog with their inner wolf. We got one mention of Rydans wolf wanting Minha, but I think more interaction with that side of our characters could have really added to the story. The end is a tad bit rushed and their relationship needed way more fleshing out before magically declaring their love. Overall I enjoyed the story and would give the author another shot.

It's a really bad written book. it was stilted, prosey, and did not really have a storyline.

#netgalley #TheRogueKingsMate

2.5⭐️ Minha is a wolf-shifter who has always been an outcast in her pack due to not having a Silencer. Due to this, she is sacrificed to the Rogue King when he is threatening her pack. This was a fast-paced enemies to lovers werewolf romance. I thought the characters and the revenge plot were interesting but unfortunately this book just didn’t hit for me. It felt underwhelming and the storyline was underdeveloped especially in the middle of the book. It just felt like we had the same conversation/conflict multiple times. I feel that if the middle was a bit more fleshed out it could be a good book.

I found this werewolf romance to be an engaging and fast-paced read, making it easy to breeze through chapter after chapter. As my first ARC, it was a fun experience overall. However, I didn’t quite connect with the story on a deeper level. While the pacing kept things moving quickly, I felt that the characters and plot sometimes lacked sufficient development. For example, the shift from being “enemies” to confessing love happened so abruptly it felt rushed and unearned.

Personally, I prefer slow-burn romances that allow the emotional connection and character growth to unfold gradually, which helps me feel more invested in the story. Because this book didn’t follow that style, I struggled to fully connect with the romance.

That said, fans of fast-paced paranormal romance might really enjoy this one!