Cassandra Reads

The Kingdom's Bad Five (Hatter, Gerard, Wolf, Jinni & Hook) have a year to find their mates or they will die. Their fairy godmother, Danika, knows who each of them will end up with but she has to find them since knowing a name isn't the same as knowing which woman with that name is the right one.

The Mad Hatter is the first of the Bad Five to find his mate. He's always been a little crazy, a little kooky but it's gotten worse without someone to ground him. Alice is the one he's meant to be with but he's given up after the parade of Alice's that have come to Wonderland. Some have been greedy, wanting the magic of Wonderland for themselves, while others haven't come out of their room for the three days they are given.

Alice Hu is the right Alice, but there's a problem. There's been another Alice Hu in the Hatter's life and she said she loved him, although she was just one of the greedy ones. This problem is made worse by this Alice, the right Alice, being the 'Evil' Alice's great-granddaughter. (Was I the only one that thought that was creepy?) They even look alike, so much so that the Hatter assumes that the right Alice is the Evil Alice at first.

Alice has loved the Hatter since she read Alice in Wonderland when she was ten. She's met the Hatter before, although he doesn't remember.

I could have done without the instant love these two have. It's not completely instant but you can't fall in love in three days and that's all Wonderland give them. Danika says something about soul mates just knowing, but the Hatter is stubborn and isn't willing to give Alice a chance at first. When he does give her a chance, he goes hot and cold on her so much that she's not sure what's upsetting him so much. Any time she says something, she's got about a 50/50 chance of upsetting him in some way. It all works out in the end (no surprise) but it takes Alice leaving Wonderland and almost dying for the two of them to work out.

I really like this world so far and will read at least the next two books in the series (since I got the series collection that has the first three books in it for free as a kindle book). I'm glad this book explains a little at the start instead of jumping right into Alice and the Hatter's story. I think I would have been lost without the Bad Five being explained and Danika's POV at the start.