ICYMI: Alanea Alder's Bewitched & Bewildered series

Graziella Sigaya
Sep 7, 2020
4 min read

Updated: Aug 22, 2021

In case you missed it; Alanea Alder is a best selling author of paranormal romance. She is best known for her books Kindred of Arkadia, Bewitched & Bewildered, and The Vanguards. Para ka nakon nga superfan ka romance novels and all things supernatural, sampat gid dya nga barasahon... Sa mga book series ni Alder, I very much gravitate sa Bewitched and Bewildered, just check out the book covers! Karne, karne everywhere! Kag amo lang dya nabasahan ko bi, nabudlayan ako mangita ka The Vanguards series that also shared the same B&B universe.

Bewitched and Bewildered series is a paranormal romance revolving around a Warrior Compound on the outskirts of a Shifter village. The men have fallen into a routine of completing missions, protecting their people and living a carefree life. A few of the residents have living parents from founding families and they are concerned about the lack of the next generation. They approach the witch elder serving on their council to determine if their sons have mates. He confirms that many of them have mates out in the world and that some of them are human. Fearing that their future daughter-in-laws will end up dead before being claimed and providing them with grandchildren to spoil, they convince their own mates that something must be done. After gathering all of the warriors together in a fake award ceremony the witch Elder casts a spell to pull the warrior’s mates to them, whether they want it or not. (If you want to know how it all started, please check out the short story A Spell Is Cast sa official website ni Alanea Alder.)

Amo dan ang premise ka book series. Kun matingala ikaw nga insa nag-irimaw ang "shifter" (shape shifter = fictional being nga makatigbaliw into anything, usual shapeshifters can change into only one animal) kag witches sa isa ka village... pasugti ako nga ipakilala kanimo ang fantastic realm kang Bewitched and Bewildered... basi pa lang magtalang ikaw to. Ang anda kalibutan (which is totally hidden from mortals like us) is composed of four realms: Lycaonia (the shifter village), Noctem Falls (pillar city of the vampires); Èire Danu (kingdom of the fae) and Storm Keep (kingdom of the witches). Sa series lang nga dya naga co-exist ang mga shifters, vampires, fairies, witches kag humans. Ang kada realm may warrior unit that protects it which is composed of two shifters, a vampire, a fairy and a witch. Just imagine kun paano ma "head over heels in love" ang mga warriors nga dya, nga hangkilan sa inaway (and look at those abs!), kang makilala nanda ang anda mga "destined mates"! Mag-umpisa ikaw basa, you will be introduced first to the Alpha Unit sa Lycaonia to which the mates are to be sought. As the stories unfold, so do the characters evolve and develop to match the turn of events in each scene.

Each book will revolve around a unit warrior member finding their destined mate and the challenges and dangers they face in trying to uncover the reason why ferals (reanimated "dead" paranormal) are working together for the first time in their history to kill off members of the paranormal community. Their story builds on the next as each couple finds their HEA (happily ever after). Each book can be considered stand alone, however, Alanea strongly recommends reading them in order to enjoy the story in it’s entirety.

And read them all, I did! When I discovered this series (as recommended by a good friend & fellow literary omnivore), ika-10th book (My One and Only) dun ang na release. As of the writing of this post, available dun ang ika-12th (My Warrior). Ang nanami-an ko sa series is the witty banter kag hilarious situations in which the characters entangled themselves in, despite the very serious threat (and mystery) kang anda away with the ferals. Light reading lang gid dya with fast-paced plot and endearing characters. Huod gid lang eh, after 5 books invested kaw run sa lives & loves nanda kag ang fate kang anda world. On-going pa dya nga series hay daw lab-uton ni Alanea sa 20 books ang series. Ang una nga 5 books is set in Lycaonia, books 6-10 sa Noctem Falls, book 11 & 12 (till book 15 guro) is in Èire Danu and the last five will be in Storm Keep.

Kun naganyat ko ang imo interest, here's a blurb (a short description for promotional purposes) of the first book:

My Commander (Bewitched and Bewildered Book 1)

Aiden McKenzie is adamant that he doesn’t need a mate and that she would only get in the way. He doesn’t have time to coddle a female. He likes his world run with military precision. Little does he realize, Fate is sending him his mate first! He meets his destined mate Meryn Evans and things go downhill from there. She is the embodiment of chaos. In the first twenty-four hours she kicks, screams and knocks her bear shifting mate unconscious.

Eventually they discover that life before finding each other may have been good, but life afterwards is perfect, even if it involves super soaker battles and accidentally discharging hand grenades.

Unfortunately the joy of their mating is overshadowed when Aiden and Meryn find themselves embroiled in a missing persons case assigned to Aiden by the Lycaonian Council. By assisting Aiden, Meryn finds herself the focus of a demented killer.

Can Aiden and the elite warriors from the Alpha Unit keep Meryn safe? Or did Fate bring her to Lycaonia to die?

And here's the reading order of Bewitched and Bewildered: