Since I haven’t had a chance to read the first novel in Shawntelle Madison’s Coveted series, I wasn’t sure what to expect from her second novel, Kept. While I do believe I missed out on a few key worldbuilding points, with her different take on werewolves, I was still interested enough in the story and I was able to enjoy it all the same.
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.
Since I hadn’t read Coveted, I had some catching up to do when I started Kept. I admit I felt a little lost trying to pick up on the story line; apparently there was a LOT of world-building and character building (relationships between various characters, both good ones and bad ones) that was done in Coveted. So I would recommend reading Coveted before jumping into this series.
Thank goodness, I finally got into the groove of the story line and was able to (mostly) fill in the gaps. Something I wasn’t overly fond of with Kept was the main the heroine, Nat. Her attitude, while mostly her self-esteem, was awful. She was whiny, and I can’t stand whiny, but I do get why she has such a sucky self confidence issues. Nat and her family were apparently estranged and she had been thrown out of her pack (I wonder if this information was given in Coveted). However that didn’t stop her family and other pack members from being flat out mean and hateful/spiteful. So, when I say Nat was whiny, it was mostly in regards to how she saw herself from her family’s point of view. When push came to shove and Nat had to step up…to help not only her family, but a fairy “child”…she totally came alive and was pretty tough. I just wish she could have seen that, and in the end she kind of did. I can’t mention why I say “kind of”. After a battle scene she makes this aside to herself and it was what was contained in this aside that was again self-deprecating. But to tell you what she said would spoil something that is pretty darn major, I think. Sooo…you’ll just have to read *wink*.
Once I was able to get up to speed on the characters and the overall storyline, the plot flowed pretty nicely. The pacing could be a bit faster but then again I really like fast fast fast in a story, otherwise I get kind of bored and wander. I’m weird, what can I say? *shrug* Overall the writing was decent. The last 1/4 seemed to really flow well. You get to this big battle that you think will end the story, but nope…it doesn’t and there’s more :). To be honest, I’m not real sure why there was this extra bit that led to a whole different battle, but hey, more action is never a bad thing.
Something I’m wondering is whether there is a third book to this series. The ending of Kept could technically wrap up the overall arc, but I could also be missing something. Not quite sure to be honest. Just another reason I’d highly recommend reading Coveted first. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we? *G*
Overall I liked Kept. It was a decent UF story. Not something I’d necessarily run out and get and put at the top of my TBR mountain, but if you’re a newbie to UF in general, Madison’s series is probably a good place to start. Not too dark and gritty but not overly light or heavy on a romantic plot line (there is one btw, it’s just not the focus). If you’re not new to UF but in the mood for something not as dark as some other novels on the market, Kept is a good choice.
Great review Nicole! I wanted to really like this series, the synopsis of Coveted sounded great but i DNF’d it about 70 pages in. I started this book awhile back, but like one thing you mentioned, I couldn’t warm up to the main character Nat. Everything you mentioned about her, and the self-depreciation reasons were reasons why I didn’t continue with the book. For example, in the first book she let a 10-year old disrespect her, and didn’t say anything bout it…then more family/pack hating. I just wished she stood up for herself more…:/.