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Review: Coveted by Shawntelle Madison (Coveted #1)

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Coveted by Shawntelle MadisonCoveted (Coveted #1)
Shawntelle Madison
Published: April 24, 2013 (Ballentine Books)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: Purchased

Reviewed by: Amanda

Rating (out of 5): 2.5 stars

Natalya’s a little stressed out. The Long Island pack wants to take over the South Toms River pack territory, and both sides have targeted her—the South Toms River pack sees her as the weakest link and want her to leave, the Long Island pack just…wants her.

Her position is made all the more precarious by the fact she was cut off from her pack a few years ago and can’t claim their protection.

I read the back cover blurb for this book and I got all excited. Natalya’s got a bit of an issue—she has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. She deals with stress by hoarding Christmas ornaments and maintaining a sparkling clean home, along with keeping to a rigid schedule. When things get a little too out of control, she heads back to therapy. When it seems like everyone and everything is against her, she doesn’t give up. Basically, the story sounded like it’d be right up my alley.

The execution, though, fell flat.

I had a hard time getting into Natalya’s head, and once I was there, I had no desire to stay. It wasn’t that her disorder made her unsympathetic; she just wasn’t very interesting. She also had a problem standing up for herself, which drove me nuts. Thorn, her ex-boyfriend and the alpha’s son, keeps popping up at the worst times, and making it hard for her to move on with her life. Because of her family’s place within the pack and her own excommunication from said pack, they can’t be together. He also can’t seem to leave her alone and allow her to get over him, which to me was so not cool. The other point on the triangle, Nick, a wizard and fellow hoarder, gets the short shrift. While he was very much a part of the story, and played a crucial role in Nat’s life, I wanted more from him, especially his interactions one-on-one with Nat. It almost seemed at times that his attraction to her was an afterthought.

Despite the looming threat of a hostile takeover by the Long Island pack, there’s not a lot of action. Or it felt like there wasn’t a lot. The writing lacked tension and on occasion was stilted and old-fashioned, pulling me out of the story.

Coveted was a story that I wish I could have enjoyed. So much about it was promising: a heroine with more than her fair share of quirks, a caretaker alpha hero, an intriguing beta hero in waiting, and an action-packed mystery for our heroine to unravel. But every once in a while I come across a book that I don’t like, and I don’t have a good reason for it. Coveted is one of those. It didn’t do it for me.

Sexual content: Kissing

4 Responses to “Review: Coveted by Shawntelle Madison (Coveted #1)”

  1. I had a really hard time with Shawntelle’s first book too but I encourage you to stick with this series; it gets better!

  2. Lashawn says:

    I only made it about halfway through this book. It’s good to know it better, I may go back later since I know the first of a series is often not the best. It took me three tries to get through the first Kate Daniels and now it is my favorite series.

    • Amanda says:

      I have the second book in the series on my bookshelf, so I may still pick it up. We’ll see – my TBR pile is monstrous enough as it is! 🙂

  3. Amber says:

    I agree with Carmel. Book one was a hard read but the series get BETTER!

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