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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
Cara Paulson is very busy with her very normal life as a single mother and a plant biologist when a man crashes into her house and seems to kidnap both her and her daughter. Talen has no intention of falling for or mating the strange little scientist but fate has other plans for them.
So… this was my first ever PNR! I have never really been drawn in by this genre and so have mostly avoided it out of habit. So when I rolled onto a fated mates challenge in Romanceopoly I figured I might as well start here!
Let’s start with Talen. Who knew that a three-hundred-year-old vampire could be awkward as a teenager and struggle with expressing himself?! He is very Alpha and bossy but is also so gentle and considerate at other points. I struggled a bit more with Cara. I really wanted to shake the Heroine who was this close to being too stupid to live. I love a strong heroine - but Cara doesn’t seem to have any logic or realize that maybe she is in over her head until it is too late.
Their somewhat forced marriage and then romance is adorable and just this side of believable and made me want to keep reading. I did wait for the huge conversation where they confess undying love yada-yada - and I kept waiting until literally the last pages and it wasn’t as much as I wanted. I will say that the world-building by Zanetti makes me curious about other books in the series. There was definitely heat in this book but it wasn’t graphic in the bedroom. This is the beginning of the series and no previous world knowledge is necessary.
So… this was my first ever PNR! I have never really been drawn in by this genre and so have mostly avoided it out of habit. So when I rolled onto a fated mates challenge in Romanceopoly I figured I might as well start here!
Let’s start with Talen. Who knew that a three-hundred-year-old vampire could be awkward as a teenager and struggle with expressing himself?! He is very Alpha and bossy but is also so gentle and considerate at other points. I struggled a bit more with Cara. I really wanted to shake the Heroine who was this close to being too stupid to live. I love a strong heroine - but Cara doesn’t seem to have any logic or realize that maybe she is in over her head until it is too late.
Their somewhat forced marriage and then romance is adorable and just this side of believable and made me want to keep reading. I did wait for the huge conversation where they confess undying love yada-yada - and I kept waiting until literally the last pages and it wasn’t as much as I wanted. I will say that the world-building by Zanetti makes me curious about other books in the series. There was definitely heat in this book but it wasn’t graphic in the bedroom. This is the beginning of the series and no previous world knowledge is necessary.
My super quick review/recap:
➵ Heroine: 4 (Cara is so darn brave. I loved how she stood her ground with the bossy vampire but OMG did she make some bad heroine-in-a-horror-movie decisions)
➵ Sexiness: 5++ (Yes, absolutely sexy. There was no doubt these two burned up the pages)
➵ Feels: 5 (all them: thrilling excitement, intense passion, some sweetness, lots of love and family loyalty)
➵ Plot/Pace: 5 (unputdownable)
➵ Hero: 4 (Yikes, I think I'm going to be somewhat alone with this one. I did like Talen. A lot. But it came to a point where it really rubbed me the wrong way every time Cara demanded not be treated like a possesion and he used their attraction "against" her. So even though the loved her deeply, the feminist in me just doesn't agree with the way he handled things)
➵ Overall rating: 4.6
Amazon -> https://amzn.to/2Xk3NO6
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➵ Heroine: 4 (Cara is so darn brave. I loved how she stood her ground with the bossy vampire but OMG did she make some bad heroine-in-a-horror-movie decisions)
➵ Sexiness: 5++ (Yes, absolutely sexy. There was no doubt these two burned up the pages)
➵ Feels: 5 (all them: thrilling excitement, intense passion, some sweetness, lots of love and family loyalty)
➵ Plot/Pace: 5 (unputdownable)
➵ Hero: 4 (Yikes, I think I'm going to be somewhat alone with this one. I did like Talen. A lot. But it came to a point where it really rubbed me the wrong way every time Cara demanded not be treated like a possesion and he used their attraction "against" her. So even though the loved her deeply, the feminist in me just doesn't agree with the way he handled things)
➵ Overall rating: 4.6
Amazon -> https://amzn.to/2Xk3NO6
Stalk me on FaceBook * Instagram * More reviews
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
let me act like a moron with the dude protecting them……………really?? Really?? Over all though it was a good read there’s just some tropes that make me go uugh lol.
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
I tried. I really tried. I like spice. I like smut. But the spice wasn’t spicin’ and the plot wasn’t plotting. I love an alpha but it was icky feeling coercion. Also, the changing POV was hard to follow. I loved some of the characters but not enough to endure the MMC and MFC. 😕
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When single-mom Cara and her daughter Janie are kidnapped one night by a mysterious warrior, Talen, Cara has no idea what she’s getting herself into. Because Talen wasn’t there to hurt any of them; evil vampires, the Kurjans, had found out about Cara’s and Janie’s psychic abilities and were on their way to retrieve them. To protect both herself and Janie, Cara agrees to marry Talen and is then dropped right into the middle of a war between the races; the evil Kurjans on one side and the nice vampires, like Talen, on the other.
Liked
The story-line captured me quite literally from the beginning since the action started already on page one and not page fifty. Instead of having a tedious first chapter explaining all the circumstances, the imperative facts where eased into the story when Cara found out about them and page one begins with Talen breaking into their house. The story then continued in the same fast pace throughout the book, making it an enjoyable page-turner.
I also liked that there were some scientific explanations to the vampires, which made it seem more realistic than vampires and supernaturals in books usually are since there most often is no feasible explanation to all the weird stuff going on in the novels.
Disliked
I didn’t enjoy the characters all that much since I didn’t think they were realistic. The one character I was the most annoyed with was actually Janie, Cara’s daughter. Which four-year-old girl behaves, or talks, in that way? If Zanetti hadn’t written Janie’s age I would have probably guessed at ten or something like that, but certainly not four. When it comes to Cara I’m not actually sure what’s wrong with her, maybe it’s simply something missing that I can’t put in words. Talen, on the other hand, is a lot easier to place on the whys since he is the most arrogant, overbearing, possessive male main character I’ve ever encountered. Especially with his incessant use of the word “mate” and his view that he has the right to decide Cara’s every single move like she’s some sort of property of his.
Tags
Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy, Vampires, Shapeshifters, Alpha males
Liked
The story-line captured me quite literally from the beginning since the action started already on page one and not page fifty. Instead of having a tedious first chapter explaining all the circumstances, the imperative facts where eased into the story when Cara found out about them and page one begins with Talen breaking into their house. The story then continued in the same fast pace throughout the book, making it an enjoyable page-turner.
I also liked that there were some scientific explanations to the vampires, which made it seem more realistic than vampires and supernaturals in books usually are since there most often is no feasible explanation to all the weird stuff going on in the novels.
Disliked
I didn’t enjoy the characters all that much since I didn’t think they were realistic. The one character I was the most annoyed with was actually Janie, Cara’s daughter. Which four-year-old girl behaves, or talks, in that way? If Zanetti hadn’t written Janie’s age I would have probably guessed at ten or something like that, but certainly not four. When it comes to Cara I’m not actually sure what’s wrong with her, maybe it’s simply something missing that I can’t put in words. Talen, on the other hand, is a lot easier to place on the whys since he is the most arrogant, overbearing, possessive male main character I’ve ever encountered. Especially with his incessant use of the word “mate” and his view that he has the right to decide Cara’s every single move like she’s some sort of property of his.
Tags
Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy, Vampires, Shapeshifters, Alpha males
Fated is a unique, uber-sexy take on a well-worn trope.
2.5/5
I wish the heroine didn't just roll over and let the hero tell her what she should do/not do, because it was like she didn't have her own free will. The one time she really went against him was the time she nearly killed herself (TSTL alert). But I did enjoy the world and the secondary characters. Her sister sounds more kick ass so might pick up that one.
I wish the heroine didn't just roll over and let the hero tell her what she should do/not do, because it was like she didn't have her own free will. The one time she really went against him was the time she nearly killed herself (TSTL alert). But I did enjoy the world and the secondary characters. Her sister sounds more kick ass so might pick up that one.