I am really sad about where this all went.
As usual, some of the small weaknesses, that initially in a series you can do away with as minor, pile up over time into an incoherent net that rips open bigger and bigger plotholes everywhere.
Furthermore, plot convenience takes a bigger and bigger role over time and general plot building becomes increasingly sloppy as the series progresses but at the end of the day, the whole leader thing just killed it.
The entire thing was such blatantly forced drama of the cheapest sort I couldn't believe my eyes while reading it.
Justifications before sometimes were already a bit thin in places but all in all it held together enough.
I can see how she might be overrun by all this leading the coalition stuff (which probably was intended) as she has no prior experience in politics but the laughable reaction of milord was just inexcusable. He should've been able to see through a blatantly obvious manoeuvre like that. Just a few pages before he apparently knows her so well and understands her motivations and personality. He should be able to spot the political pressure as well as her reasons for getting trapped in it. Not only that but they can communicate telepathically for god's sake. The whole rushing her into it to prevent any kind of time to explain should've been impossible and anyway, how is she supposed to be this strong and canny natural leader if she can be bullied into ending her own relationship as well as being steamrolled into not even being able to resolve the entire thing with Corrigan?
This entire thing is all a huge contradiction wrapped into more contradictions.
It's not even about the relationship itself for me. It's about the blatant disregard for consistent character personality especially because that was the only thing the series had really going for it for a while now.
Well, I guess that was just the last straw for me.
dnf ( )

So good human Aubrey was hilarious.
I freaking hate what the summer queen and arch mage did to Mack.
Broke my heart... probably Mack's and Corrigan's too... ( )

Still immature and still knows nothing.

I don't know what kind of relationship Mack and Corrigan will have given their personalities. ( )

What happened? I was enjoying this series and especially this book, until that last chapter when Mack allows herself to be manipulated by the other Otherworld leaders.This hard headed,hot-tempered woman allows herself to be railroaded by these others. It was just stupid.I've read the other books in the series back to back, and thought they were certainly entertaining,despite some pretty glaring grammatical issues. I loved head-strong, hot-tempered Mack and could even understand her feelings of guilt, her fear of rejection etc., but she seemed to have worked through some things by Blood Politics. I certainly enjoyed the additional characters like Aubrey, introduced in this book and I was happy to see that the relationship with Corrigan had reached a new level, but then the last chapter happened. Corrigan finally thought things were working out between he and Mack, then she publicly humiliated him (he is,after all, the Alpha lord), and I thought it was out of character for Mack to be pushed into this situation. In his mind, he loves her...this head strong, stubborn, pain in the ass, and she just throws him away.I'd be more then a little upset. I hope they will get together again in the last book, but I think I will wait a while before I jump in again. The ending just pissed me off. Come on Mack, get with it... he's your soulmate, not the others who are only interested in their own ends.
Jack Murphy ( )