Claimed by JR Ward

 

Title: Claimed

Author: JR Ward

Narrator: Jim Frangione

Series: #1 in The Lair of the Wolven series

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Gallery Books (July 27, 2021) Audio published by Simon & Schuster Audio

Source: Library Find

Rating: ☕☕☕1/2

Synopsis: Lydia Susi is passionate about protecting wolves in their natural habitat. When a hotel chain develops a tract of land next to the preserve, Lydia is one of the most vocal opponents of the project—and becomes a target.

One night, a shadowy figure threatens Lydia’s life in the forest, and a new hire at the Wolf Study Project comes from out of nowhere to save her. Daniel Joseph is both mysterious, and someone she intrinsically wants to trust. But is he hiding something?

As the stakes get higher, and one of Lydia’s colleagues is murdered, she must decide how far she will go to protect the wolves. Then a shocking revelation about Daniel challenges Lydia’s reality in ways she could never have predicted. Some fates demand courage, others require even more, with no guarantees. Is she destined to have true love... or will a soul-shattering loss ruin her forever?

My Thoughts:   I have read 7 books in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series and liked them a lot and was excited to see what this new series was about. Ultimately, I liked it more than average but thought it was a slow start. There isn't a lot of world building as it's set in the Black Dagger Brotherhood universe but there was still a lot of back story to establish. There is a large connection to John Matthew's mate Xhex which I was a bit disappointed in because I'm literally up to Lover Mine in the other series which is JM's and Xhex's story. I knew they would be together, but I wished I'd have read it first.

So this book was a slow start. I enjoyed Lydia's passion for protecting the wolves (I believe in this cause very much). I kept waiting for the big reveal of what exactly Daniel Joseph was considering the BDB world this book was set in. I was very surprised by the twist even though it really took a long time to get to it. The ending was on a To Be Continued note which I hated especially since the 2nd book in the series isn't out yet.

I listened to this on audio and it was narrated by Jim Frangione and I thought he did a good job and his Lydia voice wasn't super annoying either. 

In a Nutshell: I will definitely read the next book when it comes out and it jumped started my desire to pick up the next Black Dagger Brotherhood book as well.