Coveted

Natalya Stravinsky may be a werewolf but her life is ruled by her obsessive compulsive disorder. Shunned from the pack, she lives as a rogue, surrounding herself with holiday ornaments, carefully packed away in boxes. When her ex, Thorn, returns to town and to the local pack, panic starts to set in and Natalya returns to her magical therapy sessions where she meets others who she can relate to. But trouble is on the horizon, the Long Island pack is in town and they plan to pick off the local wolves, one by one, starting with the weakest. Yes you guessed it, Natalya.

It’s interesting to see a supernatural character with such a human condition. We are so used to strong, independent women in urban fantasy and I loved that Shawntelle Madison chose a different take. Often people poke fun at OCD but Natalya’s condition is dealt with in a mostly serious manner. There is still humour now and then but not directed at her mental illness. At first, I felt she was annoyingly fussy until I realised that the story was going to deal with her issues.

I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t much around how her wolf side dealt with the OCD. I can only assume that when she’s a wolf, it overrides her anxieties. Wolves can hardly keep everything sterile and she even eats a rabbit at one point!

Thorn was a little underdeveloped as a character but fortunately romance wasn’t the main plot point. He was a little too stereotypical nice-guy-alpha-in-training yet obviously not prepared to defy the pack in favour of Natalya. I’m hoping the second book, Kept continues on her friendship with the wizard, Nick. There were some great bit part characters too and I think the world has potential to expand.

Coveted is published by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, in the US and is currently available in paperback and ebook editions. A low priced ebook edition is also published in the UK by Piatkus Entice. Thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy for review via NetGalley.

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