Fateful (review)

When she boards the RMS Titanic, maidservant Tess Davies has big plans for her arrival in America: after saving up for years, she will finally be able to resign from her post under the despotic Lady Regina (also aboard) and make a life for herself as a free woman. Unfortunately, her intentions do not take into account the giant iceberg that she and fellow passengers will soon become acquainted with, nor does she make accommodations for the fact that there appear to be werewolves onboard. Yes, you read that correctly—werewolves on the Titanic, and yes, somehow it works. All the standard romance tropes, both paranormal and mundane, are here: girl (Tess) meets impossibly beautiful boy (Alec), boy turns out to be monster, girl and boy are inextricably drawn to each other and then viciously torn from each other by various machinations outside their control. Here, these obstacles happen to be, firstly, a sadistic Russian count (also a werewolf) who’s intent on bringing Alec under the control of the Brotherhood (the dominant mind-controlling pack) and, secondly, a rather large piece of frozen water. The plot is notably formulaic, but the chemistry between Alec and Tess is nearly flooding off the page, giving Kate and Leo a run for their money as Titanic’s most ardent couple. An admittedly kooky premise is nicely executed, as Gray delivers both an impressively detailed piece of historical fiction with nods to significant aspects of class and station as well as a swoonworthy romance sure to seduce lovers of all things were, vamp, and the like.