Destiny and Deception by Shannon Delany

This is the fourth book in the 13 to Life series by Shannon Delany.

My review of #1: 13 to Life.
My review of #2: Secrets and Shadows.
My review of #3: Bargains and Betrayals.

In book 3, we ended with all of the werewolves in Junction taking the cure after Pietr's mother dies from drinking the cure.

With his mother's death still fresh in his mind, he takes a risk and decides he doesn't want to be a werewolf anymore. Life doesn't seem worth it after all of the planning they went to getting her out of her prison for the past 2 years.

But after he takes the cure, Jess sees a drastic change in him. Instead of being focused on Jess like he used to, he's more interested in school work and video games. It's like Jess isn't even there anymore.

Jess doesn't know what to do. She doesn't want to be needy, but she feels misplaced and unwanted now that the change has happened.

Then, a new pack comes to town. Their leader, Marlaena, is just trying to survive and keep all 13 of them safe. But she finds out that there is a Russian man that can give them the things they've always wanted: warm place to sleep, food, clothing, etc.

She just has to do a few favors for him...

When Marlaena tries to talk to Pietr and the other Rusakova's, they tell her that they are no longer werewolf anymore and that their pack and stay wherever they like, as long as they leave their family and friends alone. But Marlaena doesn't believe them. She can still smell wolf on them, even if they deny it.

Things at the high school aren't getting any better, either. More kids are committing suicide, the food is making the kids to unusual things, and it's more of a ghost school now than a high school. But when one of Jess's friends gets sick from the food, Alexi decides he will help her, even if it means going to another high class, money grabbing authority.

Will things go well for the residents of Junction? Can Jess and Pietr get back what they used to? And what is Marlaena's fascination with the Rusakova's, especially Pietr? Read Destiny and Deception to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Sigh. I really hoped things would have gone better for Jess and Pietr. I think I was just as disappointed as Jess was when Pietr grew more distant from her.

I really wished that Delany would have wrote a point of view through Pietr. That might have made me understand, even if I wouldn't have liked what I found out. He's definitely a frustrating mystery in this novel which made me frustration and aggravated throughout most of this novel.

This time there are 3 point of view narrations. We still have Jess and Alexi, but now we had Marlaena's point of view and what she thinks when she's with her pack.

So, this was kind of a disappointing, slow, uneventful novel. I think so far it was my least favorite book of the series.

I really, really hope that the end wraps everything up the way I want it to. Unfortunately I have to wait until it comes to the library to figure out the ending to this series. (The book just came out August 7, 2012 so most libraries don't have it yet...)

Overall, I don't have too much to say about this novel. Like I said, there wasn't too much that happened. A lot of whining from Jess, a lot of whining from pack members of Marlaena's pack, and a lot of potential heroic opportunities from Alexi.

And yes, like all of her novels from this series, Delany left us with a cliff hanger. Probably the best one yet and I don't have the book to read it right away!

Even though I'm not having the best time with this series so far, I still think that others will enjoy it, so if you like werewolves and a torturous love cycle, this book would definitely be up your alley!