To Heal a Wolf (The Raven's Daughters #1)

To Heal A Wolf (The Raven's Daughters book 1), 2024.

by Joyce Gee

Find out more here: Joyce Gee's Linktree

A cozy-ish steamy romantasy featuring poly-couples, queer and neurodivergent main-characters, physical disability, and lots of healing, set in an non-cozy, epic fantasy world.

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I'm such a fan of Joyce Gee's writing and the world she creates! This book sets in the same world as her epic fantasy The Altira series (which I believe is under editing for a second edition due to some publisher issues - I can't wait for the re-release!), but in To Heal A Wolf the epicness takes the backseat and the focus is on romance and healing (and sexy time).

It starts off dark with a terrible war that forces Princess Silaine (youngest of three sisters) to run for her life and hope to find aid to help rescue her older sister still stuck in enemy claws. Silaine is of a humanoid species with long lives, magic, and shifter powers (Silaine can change form to a wolf - nudges to the title), and she runs to get help from powerful creatures who used to fight for the gods. Now, however, they are mortal and not interested in endangering themselves to help another's war.

Silaine finds herself "stuck" in the home of a bloodmage and her fairly hot husband who are nurturing her back to health and strength after her strenuous flight. There are magical ties between them that quickly creates bonds of love and longing, and it's very obvious that it's not just the wolf that needs healing. Everyone here has a dark back story and there's much lore of wars between gods that has created the characters.

However, Silaine's story is a soft journey of acceptance and self-discovery that's founded in positive reinforcement, consent, and patience. She struggles with her desires and duty, as much as her sexuality and self-worth and it's a slow climb from doing what she thinks is expected to what she might want and need. It's fueled by a desire for her two caretakers who guide and love her from the very go. It's polyamorous goodness from the very start with a healthy dose of demi-sexuality.

Joyce's world is so well crafted an immense full of lore and history that makes you crave even more. It's neatly tied together and by the end of To Heal A Wolf there's even some appearances from The Altira series that made me stupidly excited and I'm now craving that series even more!

She writes healing and love seamlessly between darkness and hurt and it's all twisted together nicely with little pockets of sex-positive scenes.

I really enjoyed this softer tale in her epic world and will most definitely be reading To Free A Magpie (book 2) about the oldest sister to Silaine.

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