When you build a casino on the edge of haunted woods, it’s not just the tourists you’re inviting in.

Pinehaven was supposed to be dying. Instead, Mayor Tala Bearcrane has turned her struggling mountain town into ground zero for a glittering new gamble: Whispering Pines Casino.

Jobs. Money. Hope. It’s everything she promised her people, and everything the dead in the Grove never asked for.

Because Tala isn’t just a mayor. She’s the last Nightshade alpha, newly mated to Steele Pack’s ruthless leader, Dax, and bound to a burial ground full of ghost-wolves who do not appreciate slot machines humming on their doorstep.

When a human hunter starts using the Ridge as his personal shooting gallery, Tala’s bright new beacon becomes a target. Silver bullets, political enemies, and territorial alphas circle closer, while the Grove itself begins to stir, its spectral guardians watching and judging her every move.

Caught between town hall and pack law, living wolves and restless spirits, Tala has to protect her people, her unborn children, and the infuriating alpha who owns her heart… without unleashing the kind of ancestral wrath that can’t be put back in the ground.

Titles in the FAFO Wolves series include:  Whispering Pines Memorial Grove ~ Whispering Pines Casino ~

This story may include language, potential violence, and/or sexual content intended for an adult audience 18+.

Title:  Whispering Pines Casino
Series:  FAFO Wolves
Author:  KC Wilde
Published:  February 4, 2026
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Whispering Pines Casino is the second title in the FAFO Wolves series, and continues Tala and Dax’s compelling journey.  I had not read the first story in this series before starting this one, and while I could pick up the story and enjoy it, I really should have started at the very beginning.  There is background information that would have made stepping into this world a bit easier.  So, if it’s at all possible, I would suggest starting with Whispering Pines Memorial Grove.  Either way, you’ll find a very good  story and a fascinating take on these shifters lives… especially with human hunters stalking, and spirits not at all pleased with Tala or the town.

I enjoyed Whispering Pines Casino.  It’s well-written, engaging, emotional, tender in some parts, steamy in others, and the danger keeps everyone on edge.  While not a true cliffhanger, the story does seem to lead directly into the next one, and I’m really looking forward to where we end up next time.  If you enjoy your Shifter Romance with an edge, characters that will have you fully engaged, and a plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat, then you’d enjoy this one.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

 

This title is available at Amazon