Avoiding Alpha: Alpha Girl, Book 2

Once again I am pleased with this series. Tessa and the gang are back to stir up the pots and have us sitting on the edge of our seat waiting for a moment we can blink and not miss anything. I am so very happy that I came across this author and this series!Tessa has accepted her mate and is in a comfortably happier, steadier place now. It's been almost 2 months since she was bitten and things have settled into a routine for them all. Meredith, Tessa's best friend and suit mate tries to get her to tell all of her dirty little secrets but she really doesn't have any, yet. They are thicker than thieves and its still all new to Tessa to have a friend that actually accepts her as she is. Hopefully after the Full Moon Ceremony this coming weekend Tessa and Dastien will be even stronger together. Meredith finally gets her to speak of her fears, only to have Dastien over hear them. But then that gives them something to work on. He knows she is scared but is there to help her in any way.The next morning when Meredith gets sick... she panics. Were's don't get sick, ever. Thankfully they are able to tranq her to keep her settled but with her wolf waking up it is fighting against the curse the witches coven cursed her with years ago. The two sides, the wolf and the curse are killing her. She starts to fade fast. Tessa has to find a way to save her. Selfish as it maybe she can't lose her best friend. Meredith never talked much about her curse. No one knows much about it, just that it happened. As Tessa thinks over what has happened she decides to go to the coven and ask them to pull the curse back, to save her friend. Both her mother and Dastien tell her no, she can't go its too dangerous. But does that stop her? Urm, hell no.Tessa gets Chris to go with her, so she isn't alone in case she gets into trouble. 'Casue this is Tessa after all. She always finds trouble. When they arrive at the little 'town' the coven lives in they seek out her cousin's first. Seems not everyone is happy with the way that Luciana, the coven's leader, is running things. She is unhinged in a way. Even her son thinks that. The cousins can't help her but they tell her she can ask Luciana to take back the curse but come on that won't work. The meet and greet between Luciana and Tessa doesn't go quite as planned. She of course says no to retracting the curse. She is anti-wolf and has been for years. Something passed between them as they stand off against each other, face to face and it takes Chris pulling her away and shoving her into her car that gets them away. Her wolf wanted to rip Luciana a new one. I can't say I blame her.Then panic takes over Tessa, she starts to freak out but it isn't her panic she feels it's Dastien's. Seems going on the coven land cut off their bond. He panicked thinking she was dead. Well that just sucked. When they got back to school her friends were waiting on them, as was Dr. Gonzales. Meredith;s condition was still bad. Getting worse by the minute. They all divided up the books her cousin's had given her to try and find a way to save her. A spell, anything. Tessa even tried to use her 'sight' to see if she could get into Meredith;s head and see what started the curse. Anything would help them to get her back.The longer they took to form a plan, the worse Meredith;s condition was getting. As Tessa dove into Mer's mind she was able to connect with Donovan. Seems they (Meredith and Donovan) were true mates like she and Dastien were. So she was able to talk to him as she pulled power through her mate and the pack. Donovan said 'she' could break the curse. She had to mix witchcraft.. and the message was lost when Dastien and her friends broke her hold on the pack power. Seems she was pulling power form Mer and she didn't have the power to lose. When her looking into her head didn't work, they moved to plan B. Finding the wright spell that mixed witchcraft with something.After a call to her brother, a trip to see their (her and Axel's) great aunt she had the ingredients she needed to do the spell that would hopefully help save Meredith. Also, her aunt was able to pull a spell off of her that Luciana had cast upon her during her visit to see the coven. That was the reason she was so irritable and on edge. Luciana did it to get her to come back to her so she could 'control' her wolf.Right. Not happening. So when she and Dastien get back to the school later that evening they only have a few hours to finish off the spell that Adrian and Chris had been left to get started while they got the other pieces. When all was ready they went to the schools roof, minutes before midnight and Tessa performed the spell. Meredith was awakened but only for mere seconds. The spell didn't work. But she couldn't figure out why. She had failed but had no idea why.The next day her only choice was to go back to the coven and make a deal with Luciana. She'd do anything she could to get Meredith out of this pain and dying. She needed to keep her alive. The only way to go to the coven was with Dastien. As a mated couple he would be their to protect her and keep her under control. He would also be safe. They'd never do anything to her or him if they wanted her to be one of their coven. But as shitastic as her luck is Tess ran into a roadblock at the coven. Luciana was not budging on what she wanted; Tessa to join the coven and to let her use a spell to block out her wolf. But during their little argument Luciana gives Tessa enough of an idea on how to save Meredith. They leave in a hurry and Tessa has Dastien call the school and to get all the wolves they can into the courtyard. She would need to use her witchcraft and her Alpha power to free Meredith's wolf.Was it a long shot? Hell yes but she had to try. Meredith had mere hours left to live, not time to waste. It took Tessa no time to get into Meredith's head this time. She knew what she was looking for, she just had to find it. Falling into the deep dark cavern of Mer's mind. Tessa found Mer's wolf chained down. Using her gift, her power and her ability to pull the chains, making them break, painfully slowly but it was working. As the wolves in the courtyard started to shift and howl as she gave out the Alpha orders to shift. Finally she was kicked out of Meredith's head. When she opened her eyes she saw her beautiful white wolf. Meredith had done it. She had shifted. She was saved, the spell was broken.But before she could rejoice a power ran through Tessa. She doubled over in pain, fighting her own change. The power that overtook her was Donovan. He finally made it to the school. He ordered her to change, but as Tess is good at she fought it more and more until he slammed enough power into her that she shifted. Spinning around on four legs. She did it, she was herself again. She felt calm and in control for the first time in weeks, years even. Her wolf settled her.Her and Dastien went off running... hours later shifting back to two legs and heading back to the school. Her wolf was settled into her now, she was balanced, which made her and Dastien more balanced. His worry for her lessened. Now, all they had to do was get ready for whatever was thrown at them next.So, I am off to book 3.. God if it's as good as this one, and I totally know it will be I may die waiting for May of 2015 for book #4. Gah. (huffs and laughs)

This is the second book in the Alpha Girl series. I enjoyed the first enough I had this on my pre-order list. By the time it arrived I remembered the first book but the details were vague. Once I started back in the story came back. If your interested in this series, my advice is to read the first Becoming Alpha. As in all series you need that background, the world building, family structure, and of course character building. This story, Avoiding the Alpha expands that knowledge.I'm not a fan of Young Adult stories of any type but once in awhile I hit on one I enjoy. This is one of them. The setting is at a school but it's an academy for werewolves. The students board there. Tessa's room adjoins her best friend Meredith's. As the story progresses it's all about saving Meredith from a curse and Tessa's fighting her wolf's emerging. Yes I saw a lot of growth in Tessa and her dealings with her powers, both witch and wolf. She was forced into helping Meredith. I bet half of what she accomplished couldn't have been done without that push - of being there and helping her friend. And while Meredith and her condition were a big part of this story. . . As a reader I wasn't as invested in Meredith as Tessa. IE: I wasn't as endeared to Meredith. Her character building wasn't enough to push me to her cause. But Tessa was adamant in her quest in saving Meredith was never ending and all encompassing. She even let her mate bond with Dastien slip into the back of her mind, not giving him the time or head space. But even that was a learning experience for her so we do see some maturity growth. All this and it's only 2 months since her turning.There is no sex in this book. Strictly YA. No language. A very clean read for the younger teen crowd. There was some jealousy but no love triangles, no betrayals, an evil coven leader but she has little page space but her actions and impact on their society do play a big role.I would have liked the Tribunal to happen. Everything hinges on that Tribunal and it's such a concern for Tessa and Dastien that to not have it in this story was a crime. At least to me! With 50 more pages the Tribunal could have been touched on, set up, allies set, and still be a decent read. The follow up book could have been more on the coven and what Tessa does with that, her role once she graduates from the academy, etc. Ah well, but an author writes as the muse takes. . . I was just disappointed. No Tribunal. And I had this story on pre-order for months. !!I was disappointed in the page length. There were a few themes touched on that were suspicious and a foreshadowing of difficulties for Tessa, but no cliff hangers. Avoiding Alpha was a good read, easy, no fighting, mainly problem solving and relationship building along with a seventeen year old maturing. -- Dan's Wife

Hmm, not sure what exactly to say about this one. I did enjoy it and this one focuses more on Tessa being bruja than werewolf. The thing I like the least about this is the principle of it. The first book is a full length novel, the second (this one) is a novella and the third book is also a full length novel. Shouldn't they all either be full books or novellas?? I started reading this but I didn't think it was going to make much of a difference. That is until you get to about 80% of the book. Then there is a huge part regarding Tessa. I feel like the main part of this regarding Tessa could have easily been put into one of the other books, with a bit of twigging. As this book was a lot about helping Meredith I believe that maybe this could have been from her or Donovan's point of view and been a spin off. This would have made the book more enjoyable. The way it is written is like the first book so all is good there and I'm I didn't enjoy it because I did. I just feel it could have been more effective as a spin off.

I read the first book because I've started to read just about anything , and I am not a lover of werewolves and the like, but I have to say once again there are some really good fantasy stories out there ,and books 1 @ 2 of this series has got a grip on me .I enjoyed them very much ,they are a little girly ( Romantic ) , but overall they are a very good read , so if you like fantasy/ romance , and general excitement ,buy the books ! .

The second book in the series is as good as the first. Tessa learns more about her maternal family and the magic they hold. We also learn why her best friend cant shift. Tessa finally comes to terms with what she is and becomes at one with her wolf. There is some mild sexual content and language.

The second book of the series and another good read. Refers back to the first book which I enjoyed but if you haven't read the first one it gives you some background to relate to. Will have to get the next one as it had piqued my interest which not all authors manage.

It has been a long while since I read a book that I couldn't put down this series is amazing. Im no teenager ither I'm a grand mother so there are no age typical audience well worth giving these books a read if you like a little excitement with a touch of romance.