COVETED, Shawntelle Madison's most unusual take on the
werewolf genre
opens in Toms River, New Jersey with Natalya Stravinsky
getting ready to have lunch on her work break, carefully
preparing to eat in the same booth she'd eaten in the day
before, having the same order, wearing an outfit identical
to the clothing she wore the day before and, as usual,
being
the lowest ranking wolf in the building.
She is getting used to being an outcast, surrounded by yet
not part of her pack. The symptoms of her obsessive
compulsive disorder are impossible to hide completely yet
the largest symptom is hidden within the walls of her
scrupulously tidy home. Her overwhelming need to adopt any
holiday ornaments she comes across and give them a good
home. Except she is running out of home to share.
When her ex-boyfriend Thorn Grantham, son of the pack
leader
moves home it is impossible to ignore the feelings that
they
share but she knows he is meant for mating another. Still,
that issue fades when she becomes targeted by Long Island
wolves. When, in a last-ditch effort for protection she
asks
Thorn's father to allow her within the pack again she is
refused, left alone and defenseless against the enemy
seeking to take over the Toms River wolves territory. It's
not enough to save herself, outcast or not, she loves her
family and feels loyalty to the pack that shunned her.
I really liked COVETED. I think first and foremost I
appreciated the delicate and compassionate way Madison
dealt
with the issue of OCD. Another author might have made a
farce of the issue, playing off common misconceptions. The
book has elements of humor but Natalya's pain over how her
life is controlled by her illness was marvelously
realistic.
The other part of COVETED I enjoyed was the well-played
mystery. There were twists and turns to the story line as
well as a huge revelation in one of the penultimate scenes
that had me cheering.
When you add in the peripheral yet fully realized
characters
like her boss at the antiques mall (a goblin named Bill,)
her wacky Russian relatives and the members of her magical
support group (a mermaid with a water phobia... brilliant!)
COVETED becomes a keeper. Book two in the series, Kept, is
due out September 2012.
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. Toss 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.
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