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bonded

Book Review of Nicky Charles’ Bonded

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I’ve been working my way through the Law of the Lycan series, by Nicky Charles. You can find reviews of the previous books under the reviews tab above. I grabbed Bonded from Smashwords. Hint: It’s free if you’re interested.

Description from Smashwords:
Reno’s a tough Enforcer for Lycan Link who finds himself drawn to Brandi but duty rules his life. Brandi, just on the edge of starting her career as a Disaster Control officer, falls for Reno at first sight, but are they really meant to be? Is it love or lust and does it really even matter? Enforcers and DCs don’t get along…unless fate forces them to. Bonded precedes The Mating. 

Review:
When reading a lengthy series it isn’t uncommon to have things start to fall apart 3 or 4 books in. Not the case with the Law of the Lycan series. Though this book is numbered 0.05, it is apparently the fourth one published and is every bit as good as the first. [I’ve some how gotten out of order and read it third, but I think I’ll live.]

Reno and Brandi are a heart wrenching couple. If ever there was someone you wanted to kick and then scream, “Come on, figure out their feelings already…and your own too, while your at it” in their face these two are the ones. Both try hard to do right by the other and suffer for their efforts. But I also had to respect that mutual sacrificial attitude. It also just served to make the conclusion more moving, though it did feel just a tad rushed by the time it all finally came together. I liked that Reno was strong and sexy but also inherently flawed, both in his own estimation and as a character. He felt fragile despite his strength. You don’t see that too often. Brandi was ever exasperated, but you could relate to her difficult position. I really liked Damien too and can’t wait for the next one about him.

I’ve noted a clear change in the wolves as the books progress. In book one the human and wolf were as one, with no noticeable difference in persona. By book two the wolves were exerting influence on their human counterparts, and here we find that the wolves are distinctly separate characters. They and their humans discuss problems, fight for control, and argue over decision. I’m undecided if this is an improvement or not. Be that as it may, I’m enjoying the series and intend to continue with it.

Book Review of Nicky Charles’ The Keeping

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I quite enjoyed Nicky Charles‘ The Mating, so I grabbed the sequel The Keeping.

Description from Smashwords:
Ryne Taylor was a sexy bad-ass Alpha set on establishing a new pack. Melody Greene was a journalism student researching his work as a photographer—or so she said. But could Mel really be trusted or had she stumbled upon his secret? And if she knew, could Ryne save himself and the pack he’d left behind without enacting a deadly ancient law known as The Keeping? 

Review:
Charles has penned another zinger with The Keeping, sequel to The Mating. This one follows Zane’s brother Ryne as he attempts to form his own pack in the wilds (or at least small town) of Canada and battle his dangerous attraction to Melody Greene, who inadvertently threatens everything he holds dear.

I enjoyed Ryne’s internal power struggle with his inner wolf. [I know that sentence if a little redundant, but you know what I mean.] The wolf part of the human-wolf combination that makes a werewolf seems to have a more distinct influence on their people in this book than the first. He was of course dominant, arrogant, and dead sexy. It would be hard to complain about any of that. I did have a little trouble imagining him as a photographer. He didn’t strike me as the artistic type, but oh well. Melody was spirited and showed enough back bone to make me like her, but not enough to become a bitch [pun intended]. Their virolent repartee was amusing and you couldn’t help but root of them as a couple.

I liked the twist on Mr. Greyson as a likeable bad guy and the small reveal concerning the secretary at the end was subtle and well placed. It sent a shiver down my spine. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of her yet. All-in-all I really enjoyed The Keeping and am working on Bonded as I write this. Nicky Charles is quickly becoming one of my new favourites and it never hurts that all of the Law of the Lycan books are free on Smashwords. Highly recommend picking them up.

Book Review of Nicky Charles’ The Mating

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My acquisition of Nicky Charles’ The Mating (Law of the Lycans, #1) is a bit of a mystery to me. I found it on my desktop one day. Almost certainly I downloaded it. I mean, who else would be downloading books to my desktop, right?  I can’t find any emails from the author in my inbox to suggest to she actually sent it to me and it’s free on Smashwords, so I’m fairly sure that’s where it’s from, but I have NO memory of it. It feels like it just magically appeared one day. (Sorry Ms. Charles if I’ve just forgotten communicating with you, but I suspect that I didn’t. I put it in my review pile just in case though.)

Description from Goodreads:
Elise had no idea when she came home that day that she’d end up mated to a complete stranger. A new Alpha and the need for an alliance between packs have made her a pawn.

Review:

I thought this was a good werewolf story. It was well written, well edited, and had characters I could connect with. I really enjoyed reading it. I found bits of it really frustrating though. Some parts were exceedingly predictable. I mean, who didn’t see Marla coming? Who didn’t want to absolutely wring Elise’s neck for trusting her even a little bit? I think this was also a little unrealistic. I’m fairly sure most women wouldn’t have after their first initial meetings. Same thing goes for Elise’s frequent Scarlet O’hara moments. If you have something THAT important to say, let alone multiple important things to say you find a time, you don’t wait for tomorrow over and over again. There were an unreasonable number of interruptions. But these are just gripes really, part of the overall story, not any sort of comment on the value of the book. It was well worth reading. I’ve got the sequel (The Keeping) and will be reading it too.