Le' Grande Codex

Saturday, 20 April 2013

Coveted #2 Kept

Much better than book 1 but still not amazing. Presenting Coveted #2 Kept by Shawntelle Madison.

Here is the summary of the book:

Fresh from defending her pack in battle, Natalya Stravinsky, a whip-smart werewolf with a lovable neurotic streak, wants a little rest and relaxation. Once an outcast, she’s now eager to rejoin the ranks of her New Jersey pack, and has even gotten a handle on her obsessive urge to hoard holiday ornaments. Yet Nat barely has time to revel in her progress before the next crisis comes howling at her door. Nat’s father has suddenly gone missing, captured by the Russian werewolf mafia. And as Nat steps up to save her dad from a mob boss’s deadly game, two men step in to play another round for her heart: her gorgeous alpha ex-boyfriend, Thorn, and her new flame, the sweetly sensitive wizard Nick. With her life growing more harried by the minute, Nat must stay cool, calm, and collected . . . or else risk losing everything.

Like Coveted, Kept also features a simple storyline to set this second book off. Nat is trying to overcome her hoarding issues and her OCD and just when things were starting to go back to normal, she finds out a debt needs to be paid by her father or he looses his life and her family never regains their honor. So, Nat rescues him and takes his place to fulfill the debt and by that regain her family's honor and rise in the eyes of her family.

Pretty good read this time around. There is much more depth to the characters. Much more action, while still a simple plot at the crux. But still no visible chemistry (to me) between Nat and Thorn. While getting hot and heavy, both blessed with the werewolfy so of good looks..... I still didn't feel anything between them. While Nat and Nick, the warlock.... that felt beautiful..... they shared good rapport..... a sweet love and much more screen space too. But I'm not going to screw the story but I'd like to say this time around this was a pretty good improvement from the first one.

"Much better than the first book..... very likable"

Genre : Urban Fantasy, Paranormal

Publisher: Ballantine

My Copy: Publisher and netgalley

Rate: 3/5 (Liked It)

Saturday, 17 November 2012

Coveted #1 Coveted

Perfect cover but a not so perfect story line. Presenting Coveted #1 Coveted by Shawntelle Madison.

Here is the summary of the book:

SOMETIMES WHAT YOU COVET IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP. For werewolf Natalya Stravinsky, the supernatural is nothing extraordinary. What does seem strange is that she’s stuck in her hometown of South Toms River, New Jersey, the outcast of her pack, selling antiques to finicky magical creatures. Restless and recovering from her split with gorgeous ex-boyfriend, Thorn, Nat finds comfort in an unusual place: her obsessively collected stash of holiday trinkets. But complications pile up faster than her ornaments when Thorn returns home—and the two discover that the spark between them remains intense. Before Nat can sort out their relationship, she must face a more immediate and dangerous problem. Her pack is under attack from the savage Long Island werewolves—and Nat is their first target in a turf war. Nick in a handsome wizard vying for her affection, a therapy group for the anxious and enchanted, and the South Toms River pack leader ready to throw her to the wolves, and it’s enough to give anybody a panic attack. With the stakes as high as the full moon, Nat must summon all of her strength to save her pack and, ultimately, herself.

Full moon, hot and smoldering male werewolf and a beautiful female werewolf with some serious hoarding issues and a tumultuous past. A mixture for a good and an interesting urban fantasy but Madison's Coveted missed the mark by a long shot. With a beautiful cover featuring Thorn and Natalya, Coveted at heart is a very simple tale, the age old territory war, the scheming, the plotting and the killing....A formula that would have won with me but it kept me a little mixed.

Natalya is one hard character to like. At first her hoarding problem seems innocent but sometimes later it becomes plain annoying alongwith her OCD. But instead of being sympathetic to others like, she is judgmental Not cool. Then there is Thorn, hot and smoldering he may be but it seems chemistry they have is none. Every character especially male seemed underdeveloped. Nick and Nat's chemistry felt much more than with Thorn and that's saying something.

Then there is the reason for the story. Till the end it unclear why the Long Island pack wants Nat. Even when it is explained in a small part still has no major impact on it all. COuld have been much more. Just the action scene at the end....that was what I actually liked. Coveted was character driven with Nat's perspective throughout so I hope Shawntelle Madison will do something better in Kept.