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Shifters & Seers #1
Fragile Brilliance
Return to the world of Shifters and Seers with the first book in an exciting new series from the bestselling author of the Timber Wolves trilogy...Maggie McCray has worked her whole life for the opportunity to attend Sanders College. It’s her one chance at becoming a world-renowned artist, and she’s determined nothing will get in her way. But when a murder brings Maggie and her powers to the attention of the Alpha Pack and the tragically handsome Charlie Hagan, her carefully planned future hangs in jeopardy.Charlie Hagan isn’t happy when the Alpha Female assigns him as Maggie McCray’s personal bodyguard. Just being near the Thaumaturgic threatens to unleash the primal instincts he’s been suppressing for so long. Charlie knows if the coyote is uncaged, then the person he’ll most need to protect Maggie from is himself.
341 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 21, 2013
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November 26, 2013The book in which Charlie finally gets the love and attention he deserves.
November 30, 2021
The thing that many writers of contemporary romance novels don't seem to get is that the best part of the story is the chase. The "how did they fall in love" and all the painful tension and agonized wondering that goes along with that process. It's that part of the story telling makes me actually care about the characters and want them to get together. If well told, sexy/racy parts can fall to the side because they become private moments for the characters that I don't need to intrude on and the nervous whisper of the first kiss can be just as thrilling as any of the mommy porn floating around (please note I also enjoy m.p.).
Tammy Blackwell absolutely succeeded in making the love story come alive wrapped in a world of shifters, seers and thurma-things. Great book.
Tammy Blackwell absolutely succeeded in making the love story come alive wrapped in a world of shifters, seers and thurma-things. Great book.
October 24, 2013
Smoothly written with likable characters and a nicely balanced mix of romance and action--this is a winner! I loved how it expanded on and gave further glimpses into the Timber Wolves series' world, but forged its own path, with a more new adult/supernatural romance than YA/coming of age feel. As in that series, the biggest strength to me here is in the precisely rendered setting and well crafted dialog. This isn't a genre I read, and the author is a friend of mine. Nonetheless, good storytelling is good storytelling, and I feel confident in saying that Blackwell's many fans are going to love this one and start bugging her immediately about the next one.
June 2, 2018
Deze recensie is als eerste geplaatst op Carpe Libra
De Timber Wolves Trilogie is een van mijn favoriete series. Het verhaal, de wereld, de romantiek, Scout en Liam... Die combinatie is gewoonweg episch! Ik heb alle drie de boeken dan stuk voor stuk verslonden en was best wel teleurgesteld toen ik het laatste deel uit had. Geen Scout en Liam meer :( Toen hoorde ik dat Tammy Blackwell een Spin-Off serie aan het schrijven was, waarin al mijn favoriete personage weer terug kwamen! AAAAA! Ik werd zelfs nog enthousiaster toen ik de twee teaser hoofdstukken had gelezen. Fragile Brilliance beloofde zo'n goed boek te worden!!!
De eerste keer dat ik Fragile Brilliance las werd ik helaas teleurgesteld. Het kan zijn dat door mijn torenhoge verwachtingen, haar eerdere boeken waren immers fantastisch, ik dit boek een beetje vond tegenvallen. Ik had meer verwacht. Meer verbondenheid. Minder langdradigheid. Meer actie. Meer romantiek. Minder verwarring. Het was nog steeds een vermakelijk verhaal om te lezen, maar het miste de awesomeness van haar eerdere boeken. Ik miste Scout en Liam en kon me daardoor ook niet echt vinden in Charlie en Maggie...
Achteraf gezien was ik er nog niet aan toe om over andere personages te lezen. Het verhaal van Scout en Liam had ik nog geen plekje kunnen geven en als “afgehandeld” bestempeld. Zij waren nog te vers en te levendig in mijn geheugen om open te staan voor andere personages. Om nieuwe personages een kans te geven. In plaats daarvan was ik een beetje aan het mokken dat Scout en Liam zo weinig aandacht kregen. Wat eigenlijk belachelijk is, want het verhaal draait deze keer ook niet om hen!
Nu ik het namelijk voor de tweede keer heb gelezen, het laatste deel van deze trilogie is onlangs verschenen en ik wilde mijn geheugen opfrissen, ervaar ik alles anders. Nu pas kan ik Fragile Brilliance waarderen zoals het hoort te worden gewaardeerd. Als een andere serie, waarin Scout en Liam weliswaar voorkomen, maar niet de spelers zijn waar het verhaal om draait. Nu sta ik open om nieuwe personages te ontmoeten, om Charlie en Maggie te leren kennen. Nu kan ik er oprecht van genieten en wil ik meer! Ik snap niet dat ik de vorige keer zo negatief over dit boek was. Ik bedoel, een boek dat met een opening als dit begint kan niet anders dan geweldig zijn of niet?
By the second day of college, Maggie McCray was already bored with naked people. She found this more than a little surprising since she hadn’t actually seen a naked body besides her own until she moved into the dorms last Friday.
Ik kreeg gelijk, ik vloog door de pagina’s heen, genoot van de opbloeiende romance tussen Charlie en Maggie en vond het heerlijk om me dieper in de wereld die Tammy Blackwell heeft gecreëerd te kunnen verdiepen. Ik leerde meer over Thaumaturgics, iets wat in de vorige boeken alleen werd gementioned en werd opnieuw getrakteerd op een super spannend en meeslepend verhaal.
Eigenlijk precies wat ik ondertussen van Tammy Blackwell ben gaan verwachten. Ze is echt een meester in het vertellen van verhalen, opzetten van intrigerende werelden en het creëren van geweldige personages. Ik hoop echt dat ze na het laatste deel van deze trilogie, Whispered Visions, niet stopt maar doorgaat. Ik ben zeer benieuwd waar ze nog allemaal mee op de proppen komt!
Ook al vond ik Charlie en Maggie twee hele leuke personages en konden ze het verhaal goed dragen, ik miste toch wat. Ze waren net niet “vlezig” genoeg naar mijn smaak, ik had gehoopt dat ze iets meer ontwikkeld waren. Niet dat ze nu tweedimensionaal aanvoelden, zeer zeker niet! Maar in vergelijking met Scout en Liam halen ze het toch net niet. Oké ik ben overduidlijk een beetje bevooroordeeld, maar ik heb gewoon een speciaal plaatsje in mijn hart voor Scout en Liam en aangezien zij ook in dit boek voorkomen, en ik dus best wel veel aan hen moest denken, kon ik niet anders dan gaan vergelijken. Nou ja vergelijken… Eigenlijk is het gewoon muggenzifterij van een groot fan die moeilijk afscheid kan nemen van haar twee favoriete personages. Voor de doorsnee lezer weet ik zeker dat Maggie en Charlie prima bevallen.
Als laatste nog even een opmerking over hoe ik dit boek heb ingedeeld: een new adult. In Nederland zijn we inmiddels gewend dat New Adult romantische verhalen zijn over jongvolwassenen waarin bedscènes ruimschoots aanwezig zijn. In Amerika is het toch wel anders. Daar gaat het meer om de leeftijd van de personages dan dat het altijd om boeken gaat met steamy scenes, ook al komen die dikwijls in New Adults voor. Om die reden heb ik Fragile Brilliance ook als New Adult bestempeld, maar voor de mensen die New Adult associëren met "rode oortjes": zo’n boek is dit totaal niet. Er zit geen enkele bedscène in, wat dat betreft is het niveau van de romantiek nog heerlijk young adult. Wat op zijn tijd ook zijn charmes heeft ;) , maar romantisch is het zeker!
Het is niet aan te raden om over nieuwe personages te lezen als de oude nog te vers in je geheugen liggen en jij je er nog niet bij hebt neergelegd dat hun verhaal is afgelopen. Hierdoor was ik aanvankelijk veel te negatief over Fragile Brilliance, terwijl het nu juist zo’n leuk verhaal is! Geheel in Tammy Blackwell's stijl, oftewel boordevol actie, spanning, heerlijke romantiek en Scout en Liam. Een aanrader voor fans of mensen die een hele leuke wereld willen ontdekken. Ik raad toch aan om eerste de Timber Wolves te lezen, want ten eerste is die trilogie gewoon te episch om niet te lezen en zo begrijp je de wereld en het verhaal ook beter.
January 2, 2014
Fragile Brilliance by Tammy Blackwell is the start of a new series set in the same world as her Timber Wolves books. This means more awesome werewolves, werecoyotes, and Seers, plus new characters and college :D. I read Fragile Brilliance at the perfect time since it’s pretty heavy on the romance and I was very much craving happy relationship feelings ;-). I like that Blackwell is branching out from her original style and I think that Fragile Brilliance will appeal to YA readers looking for more of a paranormal romance feel with witty writing and female characters with backbones (shocking right??)! I very much recommend that you read the Timber Wolves series before Fragile Brilliance though, since otherwise you really won’t have a good grounding in all the heavy events the characters are dealing with.
Note: I received Fragile Brilliance from the author in exchange for an honest review. I read an advanced copy and some things might be different in the final version.
Fragile Brilliance by Tammy Blackwell (Shifters & Seers #1)
Published by Author on Nov 26th, 2013
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, YA
Length: 339 pages
Book Depository - Goodreads
Purchases made support this blog
Maggie McCray has worked her whole life for the opportunity to attend Sanders College. It’s her one chance at becoming a world-renowned artist, and she’s determined nothing will get in her way. But when a murder brings Maggie and her powers to the attention of the Alpha Pack and the tragically handsome Charlie Hagan, her carefully planned future hangs in jeopardy.
Charlie Hagan isn’t happy when the Alpha Female assigns him as Maggie McCray’s personal bodyguard. Just being near the Thaumaturgic threatens to unleash the primal instincts he’s been suppressing for so long. Charlie knows if the coyote is uncaged, then the person he’ll most need to protect Maggie from is himself.
Strengths:
Maggie is our new MC and I loved her so much. It’s great to see a POC as a lead character first of all, but Maggie is so much more than her ethnicity obviously. She has her own fashion style, loves her grandmother, is an amazing artist, and, oh yeah, has magic powers :D. She’s also strong in her own way, too smart for all the rich kids at her college, and determined to make her own way in life. Love this girl!
If you’ve read the Timber Wolves books, you’ll know Charlie is a severely broken person at this point. Even if you haven’t read the other series, Fragile Brilliance makes this clear right away. While at first he freaked me out a bit, I quickly transitioned to wishing so badly that I could help him somehow. Blackwell captured the profound lack of emotions that goes along with deep depression quite well. I enjoyed the fact that all the characters from Timber Wolves, including Charlie, were obviously deeply affected by previous events and didn’t just get over it all, which seems to happen in a lot of series.
We’ve heard very little about Thaumaturgics previously and we finally get to find out more in Fragile Brilliance :D. How you ask? Mwahahaha, just wait ;-).
The feels! Fragile Brilliance has a very central romance plot line and while I’m normally not all that into romance-heavy stories, I ate this one up! Charlie and Maggie felt like friends of mine and at times I just wanted to lock them in a room together, but it was that connection that made me happy to boot up my eReader and sink a couple more hours into their story each night. Maggie is a very different character than Scout and I loved cheering her on.
Speaking of Scout! Scout is of course in Fragile Brilliance as a side character and she still is always able to entertain me. There is a whole lot going on for her given the events of the Timber Wolves books and it was interesting to see her new life from an outsider’s perspective. I hope things work out *sniffles*.
I freaking love ceramics for the record. When I realized that Maggie was a ceramics specialist, there might have been some bouncing. I have only gotten to throw pots once in college, but it was a lot of fun reading about Maggie’s studio work and living vicariously through her work >.>.
Weaknesses:
I normally enjoy Blackwell’s pop culture references, but there were a few too many for me in Fragile Brilliance and I feel old because I didn’t get some of them >.>.
Fragile Brilliance is much more of a romance story than the Timber Wolves series was, so just be warned that it has a different feel than those previous books. I hadn’t quite been expecting this, so I don’t want others to be blindsided.
I get kind of annoyed when all the characters are beautiful…. At one point when Maggie is first encountering all the shifters and seers, she’s describing all our old friends and basically declares every single one beautiful. Is this a shifter and seer thing? I mean, I love that Tally isn’t model thin and is still considered beautiful by Maggie and everyone else, but can’t we have some not gorgeous characters that are awesome for their strength and charisma?
Summary:
Fragile Brilliance is an excellent paranormal romance in that it has a romance-heavy plot but still introduces us to new aspects of this world and has a deep and disturbing mystery to solve. I really enjoyed being in Charlie and Maggie’s heads while they figured things out, though I’m hoping that we get to find out more about Maggie and her family in the subsequent books. Definitely pick up Fragile Brilliance if you enjoyed the Timber Wolves series, but be in the mood for a romance ;-).
Note: I received Fragile Brilliance from the author in exchange for an honest review. I read an advanced copy and some things might be different in the final version.
Fragile Brilliance by Tammy Blackwell (Shifters & Seers #1)
Published by Author on Nov 26th, 2013
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, YA
Length: 339 pages
Book Depository - Goodreads
Purchases made support this blog
Maggie McCray has worked her whole life for the opportunity to attend Sanders College. It’s her one chance at becoming a world-renowned artist, and she’s determined nothing will get in her way. But when a murder brings Maggie and her powers to the attention of the Alpha Pack and the tragically handsome Charlie Hagan, her carefully planned future hangs in jeopardy.
Charlie Hagan isn’t happy when the Alpha Female assigns him as Maggie McCray’s personal bodyguard. Just being near the Thaumaturgic threatens to unleash the primal instincts he’s been suppressing for so long. Charlie knows if the coyote is uncaged, then the person he’ll most need to protect Maggie from is himself.
Strengths:
Maggie is our new MC and I loved her so much. It’s great to see a POC as a lead character first of all, but Maggie is so much more than her ethnicity obviously. She has her own fashion style, loves her grandmother, is an amazing artist, and, oh yeah, has magic powers :D. She’s also strong in her own way, too smart for all the rich kids at her college, and determined to make her own way in life. Love this girl!
If you’ve read the Timber Wolves books, you’ll know Charlie is a severely broken person at this point. Even if you haven’t read the other series, Fragile Brilliance makes this clear right away. While at first he freaked me out a bit, I quickly transitioned to wishing so badly that I could help him somehow. Blackwell captured the profound lack of emotions that goes along with deep depression quite well. I enjoyed the fact that all the characters from Timber Wolves, including Charlie, were obviously deeply affected by previous events and didn’t just get over it all, which seems to happen in a lot of series.
We’ve heard very little about Thaumaturgics previously and we finally get to find out more in Fragile Brilliance :D. How you ask? Mwahahaha, just wait ;-).
The feels! Fragile Brilliance has a very central romance plot line and while I’m normally not all that into romance-heavy stories, I ate this one up! Charlie and Maggie felt like friends of mine and at times I just wanted to lock them in a room together, but it was that connection that made me happy to boot up my eReader and sink a couple more hours into their story each night. Maggie is a very different character than Scout and I loved cheering her on.
Speaking of Scout! Scout is of course in Fragile Brilliance as a side character and she still is always able to entertain me. There is a whole lot going on for her given the events of the Timber Wolves books and it was interesting to see her new life from an outsider’s perspective. I hope things work out *sniffles*.
I freaking love ceramics for the record. When I realized that Maggie was a ceramics specialist, there might have been some bouncing. I have only gotten to throw pots once in college, but it was a lot of fun reading about Maggie’s studio work and living vicariously through her work >.>.
Weaknesses:
I normally enjoy Blackwell’s pop culture references, but there were a few too many for me in Fragile Brilliance and I feel old because I didn’t get some of them >.>.
Fragile Brilliance is much more of a romance story than the Timber Wolves series was, so just be warned that it has a different feel than those previous books. I hadn’t quite been expecting this, so I don’t want others to be blindsided.
I get kind of annoyed when all the characters are beautiful…. At one point when Maggie is first encountering all the shifters and seers, she’s describing all our old friends and basically declares every single one beautiful. Is this a shifter and seer thing? I mean, I love that Tally isn’t model thin and is still considered beautiful by Maggie and everyone else, but can’t we have some not gorgeous characters that are awesome for their strength and charisma?
Summary:
Fragile Brilliance is an excellent paranormal romance in that it has a romance-heavy plot but still introduces us to new aspects of this world and has a deep and disturbing mystery to solve. I really enjoyed being in Charlie and Maggie’s heads while they figured things out, though I’m hoping that we get to find out more about Maggie and her family in the subsequent books. Definitely pick up Fragile Brilliance if you enjoyed the Timber Wolves series, but be in the mood for a romance ;-).
November 29, 2013
4.5/5 Stars
This review and many others can be found on my blog - Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I so enjoyed Fragile Brilliance! While the story was compelling and the paranormal world was intriguing, it was really the characters and the romance that made this a fantastic read. I LOVED Charlie and Maggie!
The synopsis describes the book well, so I'll skip right to what I did and didn't enjoy.
The negatives:
Not a lot of paranormal activity.
For a paranormal romance, there actually isn't a ton of paranormal in Fragile Brilliance. Blackwell has created a very interesting werewolf/coyote society, but we don't see them in action much. And Maggie has a power, but we don't see that at all until about 75% of the way through the book. Luckily, I was so wrapped up in the relationship that was building between Charlie and Maggie that honestly didn't mind the lack of paranormal happenings.
Not really book #1 in the series.
Okay, I have to say that this can definitely be read without having read Blackwell's other books. I actually didn't realize that this series was connected to another series until I went to go write this review. Knowing that, though, I feel a little teensy bit cheated. I definitely think I would have had a deeper understanding of the Shifters and Seers if I had read the Timber Wolves series first - I just bought the whole trilogy so I can read it now!
What I loved:
Charlie and Maggie.
I was thoroughly enchanted with both Charlie and Maggie throughout this entire book. Maggie has an artistic spirit. She's passionate about her art and serious about her future and she's not going to let a silly little death threat get in her way. Charlie is equally focused, but his only goal is to keep the Alpha Pack safe. Charlie has been through so much pain in his life that he has completely turned off his emotions. I absolutely loved Charlie and Maggie together. I spent the entire book waiting for Maggie to completely break through Charlie's shell. I have to admit that I was a bit worried at first that this was going to be another case of instalove - there was definitely an instant attraction between Charlie and Maggie that bordered on being a little too much. So, I was very pleasantly surprised when the relationship developed slowly, first as a friendship and then progressing to something more. I was definitely invested in the romance between these two!
Biting humor.
From the first line of this book, I was pretty sure I was going to love it, and I wasn't wrong. There were so many times when I found myself laughing out loud at the sarcastically wit in this book. I highlighted a ton of fun lines on my Kindle!!
Mystery and history.
While the central mystery of the book wasn't a complete surprise (I had a good idea of who the perpetrator was - at least partially), I still found myself wrapped up in a lot of the smaller mysteries in the book and in the history of the Shifters and the Seers (which I would have known about more if I'd read the Timber Wolves trilogy). How was Maggie connected to the Alpha Pack and what was her power? Why was someone out to kill Maggie and the Alphas? I wanted to know!
Fragile Brilliance is an excellent paranormal romance with compelling characters and an interesting story. I can't wait to read the Timber Wolves series now so that I can learn more about the paranormal world that Blackwell has created! 4.5/5 stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***
This review and many others can be found on my blog - Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I so enjoyed Fragile Brilliance! While the story was compelling and the paranormal world was intriguing, it was really the characters and the romance that made this a fantastic read. I LOVED Charlie and Maggie!
The synopsis describes the book well, so I'll skip right to what I did and didn't enjoy.
The negatives:
Not a lot of paranormal activity.
For a paranormal romance, there actually isn't a ton of paranormal in Fragile Brilliance. Blackwell has created a very interesting werewolf/coyote society, but we don't see them in action much. And Maggie has a power, but we don't see that at all until about 75% of the way through the book. Luckily, I was so wrapped up in the relationship that was building between Charlie and Maggie that honestly didn't mind the lack of paranormal happenings.
Not really book #1 in the series.
Okay, I have to say that this can definitely be read without having read Blackwell's other books. I actually didn't realize that this series was connected to another series until I went to go write this review. Knowing that, though, I feel a little teensy bit cheated. I definitely think I would have had a deeper understanding of the Shifters and Seers if I had read the Timber Wolves series first - I just bought the whole trilogy so I can read it now!
What I loved:
Charlie and Maggie.
I was thoroughly enchanted with both Charlie and Maggie throughout this entire book. Maggie has an artistic spirit. She's passionate about her art and serious about her future and she's not going to let a silly little death threat get in her way. Charlie is equally focused, but his only goal is to keep the Alpha Pack safe. Charlie has been through so much pain in his life that he has completely turned off his emotions. I absolutely loved Charlie and Maggie together. I spent the entire book waiting for Maggie to completely break through Charlie's shell. I have to admit that I was a bit worried at first that this was going to be another case of instalove - there was definitely an instant attraction between Charlie and Maggie that bordered on being a little too much. So, I was very pleasantly surprised when the relationship developed slowly, first as a friendship and then progressing to something more. I was definitely invested in the romance between these two!
Biting humor.
From the first line of this book, I was pretty sure I was going to love it, and I wasn't wrong. There were so many times when I found myself laughing out loud at the sarcastically wit in this book. I highlighted a ton of fun lines on my Kindle!!
Mystery and history.
While the central mystery of the book wasn't a complete surprise (I had a good idea of who the perpetrator was - at least partially), I still found myself wrapped up in a lot of the smaller mysteries in the book and in the history of the Shifters and the Seers (which I would have known about more if I'd read the Timber Wolves trilogy). How was Maggie connected to the Alpha Pack and what was her power? Why was someone out to kill Maggie and the Alphas? I wanted to know!
Fragile Brilliance is an excellent paranormal romance with compelling characters and an interesting story. I can't wait to read the Timber Wolves series now so that I can learn more about the paranormal world that Blackwell has created! 4.5/5 stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***
February 8, 2017
2.5 Stars
Maggie is a Thaumaturgic...but I don't think it's ever really explained what that is or what she can actually do. Charlie is a coyote shifter who is emotionally unstable after a tough life and most recently the death of his brother. He is drawn to Maggie which at first causes him to act like a complete jerk to her. But he gets nicer and they develop an painfully slow burn relationship...which was one of the only things I enjoyed. While all of this is going on they are trying to figure out who has murdered a few shifters and seems to be stalking Maggie.
I wanted to like this a lot more but I just had a few issues...
-So I know that this is a spinoff series but I felt that there could have been a little bit more explained about the shifter/seer world and the alpha pack.
-I didn't need to be reminded that shifters have really good hearing EVERY time someone whispered.
-When Charlie takes it upon himself to stay the full moon with Maggie everyone is legitimately concerned. However when Scout just assumes that Maggie was up to no good and started calling her names behind her back. I just couldn't be convince that this was someone who was a respected leader who earned loyalty...more like a spoiled brat who is used to everyone doing exactly what she wants.
-When we are first introduced to Maggie she mentions that she is the daughter of a half Japanese half Scottish mother and an African American father. Later when she is joking with Charlie he says that she is African, Chinese and Scottish. Not the biggest deal in the world but...meh.
-I felt that it was glaringly obvious who the bad guys were and the so called alpha pack was more like a bumbling Mystery Inc. than a group of people who should be in charge of anything.
-Then you have the alpha Male and Female who are happy that they won't have to carry out the death penalty on people who will obviously remain threats to their pack in the future. Again, not too people that seem like they should be in charge.
The reason it got the 2.5 stars were because I actually liked reading about Maggie and Charlie. I enjoyed the development of their relationship and I appreciated that for the most part they didn't jump to conclusions at every miscommunication.
Maggie is a Thaumaturgic...but I don't think it's ever really explained what that is or what she can actually do. Charlie is a coyote shifter who is emotionally unstable after a tough life and most recently the death of his brother. He is drawn to Maggie which at first causes him to act like a complete jerk to her. But he gets nicer and they develop an painfully slow burn relationship...which was one of the only things I enjoyed. While all of this is going on they are trying to figure out who has murdered a few shifters and seems to be stalking Maggie.
I wanted to like this a lot more but I just had a few issues...
-So I know that this is a spinoff series but I felt that there could have been a little bit more explained about the shifter/seer world and the alpha pack.
-I didn't need to be reminded that shifters have really good hearing EVERY time someone whispered.
-When Charlie takes it upon himself to stay the full moon with Maggie everyone is legitimately concerned. However when Scout just assumes that Maggie was up to no good and started calling her names behind her back. I just couldn't be convince that this was someone who was a respected leader who earned loyalty...more like a spoiled brat who is used to everyone doing exactly what she wants.
-When we are first introduced to Maggie she mentions that she is the daughter of a half Japanese half Scottish mother and an African American father. Later when she is joking with Charlie he says that she is African, Chinese and Scottish. Not the biggest deal in the world but...meh.
-I felt that it was glaringly obvious who the bad guys were and the so called alpha pack was more like a bumbling Mystery Inc. than a group of people who should be in charge of anything.
-Then you have the alpha Male and Female who are happy that they won't have to carry out the death penalty on people who will obviously remain threats to their pack in the future. Again, not too people that seem like they should be in charge.
The reason it got the 2.5 stars were because I actually liked reading about Maggie and Charlie. I enjoyed the development of their relationship and I appreciated that for the most part they didn't jump to conclusions at every miscommunication.
November 19, 2013
I was completely over joyed when I saw that this book was coming out because this was one of my favorite series and it had just been sitting on my Kindle collecting dust. I. Always wondered what happened after Liam and Scout took over, if everything went ok or if they had more problems. We'll look no further this book gives a little bit of a story right after everything happened but then jumps about 2yrs ahead from Scouts storyline. We get our first taste of an "impossible" character who takes front and center of all the drama in this book. We get a better look into what has become of Charlie over the years, and all the demons he fights since the loss of Toby and his near death injury. A new threat rises against the Alpha Pack, and they are going to have to pull together to find the source before one of their own ends up dead. As I always do and say in all of my reviews I don't believe in giving away spoilers, if you have read the first 3 books and 2 novellas (yes I said 2) then continue on the journey and keep reading. If you have not read any of these books then you have missed out on 5 awesome books so you had better catch up so you can read this one!
Only negative that I found to this and it is easily corrected by not reading it at 2am after you have taken your sleeping pill is that it gets confusing to know sometimes who is talking or who's POV it is in. It sometimes changes quickly and I was not sure right away who was in control of the paragraph. I will still give it 5 stars because I don't think it bothered me enough to really drop it a whole star. Enjoy and keep reading!
Only negative that I found to this and it is easily corrected by not reading it at 2am after you have taken your sleeping pill is that it gets confusing to know sometimes who is talking or who's POV it is in. It sometimes changes quickly and I was not sure right away who was in control of the paragraph. I will still give it 5 stars because I don't think it bothered me enough to really drop it a whole star. Enjoy and keep reading!
December 22, 2013
Although this is a new series, it starts 2 years from when Fate Succumbs finished and includes many of the characters from that series including the delightful Angel who continues to be the bane of Scout and Jase’ lives (although her appearance in the book is fleeting). Jase and Talley are mated as are Scout and Liam who are the new Alpha Female and Male of the Alpha Pack. Although this series follows on from The Timber Wolves series, there isn’t too much recapping which is a pet hate of mine.
The burgeoning romance in this book is between Charlie Hagan, a coyote shifter and Maggie McCray, a thaumaturgic who is in hiding, or at least she thinks her secret is safe when she first meets Scout. Scout and Talley take Maggie to the ranch to introduce her to everyone, believing that she is a dormant seer. They quickly discover that she is in fact, a thaumaturgic, around the same time a dead body is found on the ranch, and so the suspense begins…
The Alpha Pack have relocated to Fenrir Farm and a dead body turns up the same day that Maggie is there, making her suspect number one. That is until her face and that of the murder victim appears on a painting that has been left next to the dead body. Despite reservations, they decide that Maggie is an intended target and as such, requires the protection of the Alpha Pack. Again, as with previous books, the ending of the book seems almost rushed, but don’t let that put you off. I will definitely be buying the next book the series.
The burgeoning romance in this book is between Charlie Hagan, a coyote shifter and Maggie McCray, a thaumaturgic who is in hiding, or at least she thinks her secret is safe when she first meets Scout. Scout and Talley take Maggie to the ranch to introduce her to everyone, believing that she is a dormant seer. They quickly discover that she is in fact, a thaumaturgic, around the same time a dead body is found on the ranch, and so the suspense begins…
The Alpha Pack have relocated to Fenrir Farm and a dead body turns up the same day that Maggie is there, making her suspect number one. That is until her face and that of the murder victim appears on a painting that has been left next to the dead body. Despite reservations, they decide that Maggie is an intended target and as such, requires the protection of the Alpha Pack. Again, as with previous books, the ending of the book seems almost rushed, but don’t let that put you off. I will definitely be buying the next book the series.
October 29, 2019
I really like that Charlie got his own book and love interest. I also loved the leading lady, Maggie. Unfortunately they kinda both got a bit grating by the end of the book. I just wanted to yell at Charlie to get his head out of his arse and was silently begging Maggie to play a little bit hard to get!
I’m also not loving the angsty relationship we are getting a glimpse of between Scout and Liam. I mean, they’ve had their story and it all worked out. Now all of a sudden there are these relationship problems that miraculously get resolved by the end of the book, but we don’t get to read about what happened? Huh.
Unfortunately, the characters didn’t really feel like the original personalities we got to know previously. In particular, Scout wasn’t all that loveable in this instalment. I will admit though, that this could have been intentional by the author, as a lot of the book is from Maggie’s POV and she is majorly jealous over Charlie and Scout’s history....
All in all a good plot though and I loved getting a glimpse again into the Timber Wolves universe. I’m still keen to read the rest of the new series and have my fingers crossed that the good vibes will return. There just seems to be sooo much that could be done with this though and it kinda fell a bit fiat for me as a whole....
I’m also not loving the angsty relationship we are getting a glimpse of between Scout and Liam. I mean, they’ve had their story and it all worked out. Now all of a sudden there are these relationship problems that miraculously get resolved by the end of the book, but we don’t get to read about what happened? Huh.
Unfortunately, the characters didn’t really feel like the original personalities we got to know previously. In particular, Scout wasn’t all that loveable in this instalment. I will admit though, that this could have been intentional by the author, as a lot of the book is from Maggie’s POV and she is majorly jealous over Charlie and Scout’s history....
All in all a good plot though and I loved getting a glimpse again into the Timber Wolves universe. I’m still keen to read the rest of the new series and have my fingers crossed that the good vibes will return. There just seems to be sooo much that could be done with this though and it kinda fell a bit fiat for me as a whole....
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2021
Here's the main issue: This book claims to be the first installment of a series. There's no warning label about another series taking place in the same world. There's no mentioning that you might want to read the other series first. Why is this important? Because I felt like I was constantly missing information. Characters, their motivations, their past, their actions, nothing made sense a lot of the time, and the entire wolrd-building was very limited. Now, if I had known that there was another series that takes place before the events of this book, I might have given that one a go first, so I'd maybe have a better understanding. But I find it quite disappointing when you buy a book that is the first installment of a series and then you're just left hanging on so much information because the author already explained that in another series.
September 6, 2014
Tammy Blackwell does it again! Writes perfect (maybe too perfect, but I don't care) characters that always find a way to make me laugh! She should really write for TV shows.
I like the direction these books are going. Although the meat of the plot wasn't too exhilarating (I guessed who the bad guys were really early, and therefore got pretty frustrated), I like that we are getting to see the very realistic conflicts the Alpha Pack is having to face as young and immature but incredibly powerful Shifters. And the romance is so sweet. I loved how Charlie was written in this book, his pain and healing. It's all very exciting, and I hate to wait another whole year for the next one!
I like the direction these books are going. Although the meat of the plot wasn't too exhilarating (I guessed who the bad guys were really early, and therefore got pretty frustrated), I like that we are getting to see the very realistic conflicts the Alpha Pack is having to face as young and immature but incredibly powerful Shifters. And the romance is so sweet. I loved how Charlie was written in this book, his pain and healing. It's all very exciting, and I hate to wait another whole year for the next one!
March 4, 2016
I loved the first series but didn't really enjoy this book anywhere near as much. The angst dragged on for me. I didn't really like the main characters. Charlie made a comment near the end of the book that he hasn't kept up with his friends lives at all for about 6 months, and I think that said a lot about who he'd become. Maggie was just blah. There wasn't as much of an actual story to keep me interested. So different from the first series.
Want to read
October 29, 2013Loooooovvvveeeee the sound of this!! I need it!! LOL.
September 2, 2017
Oh wow
Was shocked to come across this one, I had been done the story before this one and was hoping there was more! And yay there is, and it seems the story isn't over, awesome! Love the Scout story and really happy for Charlie always loved Charlie and hoped he a scout would be together but that didn't happy, but I am happy she has Liam, Alex's brother
Was shocked to come across this one, I had been done the story before this one and was hoping there was more! And yay there is, and it seems the story isn't over, awesome! Love the Scout story and really happy for Charlie always loved Charlie and hoped he a scout would be together but that didn't happy, but I am happy she has Liam, Alex's brother
February 2, 2019
Love!!
I love this book! The romance is perfect and the story is paced so stinking well! Maggie is probably one of my favorite characters of all time, and it’s so much fun seeing all the old characters from the timber wolves books too. I could never get enough of Scout & Liam! This is the 5th or 6th time I’ve read this and I HIGHLY recommend it!
I love this book! The romance is perfect and the story is paced so stinking well! Maggie is probably one of my favorite characters of all time, and it’s so much fun seeing all the old characters from the timber wolves books too. I could never get enough of Scout & Liam! This is the 5th or 6th time I’ve read this and I HIGHLY recommend it!
November 29, 2017
3.5
Esperaba más del libro de Charlie.
No me gusto mucho
Esperaba más del libro de Charlie.
No me gusto mucho
July 5, 2020
3.5 stars
August 26, 2015
I'm not big into werewolves / shifters. At all. I've never seen the appeal in a person that can change into an animal. It has always felt like some strange form of beastiality to me. But I gave the story a chance because I was given the opportunity when I signed up for the blog tour. The summary sounded like a cute little YA book so I thought.. well heck, I gave Twilight a chance, didn't I? At least this sounded like a cute story.
I was so unprepared for how much I enjoyed reading this story. It didn't even matter that the story was about shifters. It didn't even matter that I wasn't in the mood to read a paranormal type of story. As I read this book, the only thing that caught my attention was how much I absolutely fell in love with every single one of the characters. Every single person in the Alpha Pack made me want to jump into the story and hug them.
Maggie was one of the strongest people I've read about lately. Not only did she grow up in less than pleasant conditions, she wasn't bitter. She wasn't hard-hearted. She still showed her emotions in her every action and she gave everyone a chance. Even her annoying roommate who wasn't afraid to have sex with her boyfriend while Maggie was in the room. She was constantly giving them chances to redeem themselves, or overlooking past misdeeds. All she wanted was to prove that she was just as capable of being a good student at her obnoxiously rich and pretentious college as the kids who had grown up set to inherit more money than she would ever seen in a lifetime.
And when she is thrown to the lions, or wolves as the case may be, she still stood her ground. Despite how scared she may have been, Maggie stood up for herself against the one pack member who could turn off his emotions with the flip of a switch.
Charlie... Charlie broke my heart. On more than one occasion. The guy had been through so much in all of his twenty years that it was no wonder he was so emotionless. Until Maggie starts weaseling her way under his skin. And I'm so glad she did because a happy Charlie nearly killed me. He was perfect. How nobody else had managed to get under his skin to show the world what an amazing guy this was is beyond me. I wanted to jump for the joy every time he smiled.
But more than I loved the love story between these two characters, I loved that the story wasn't completely about that. The murder and intrigue aspect of the story was what really got me interested. Somebody wanted this Pack dead, and they weren't making it easy to figure out who it was doing the actions. I have to say that I did have it guessed very early in the story.. but while that usually takes away from the story because I'm so annoyed that the characters in the book can't figure it out, it didn't seem to diminish my feelings at all. I was enraptured.
Overall, it was a fantastic read, with a fantastic writing style. The writing flowed so nicely it made me question a few times whether it really was a YA novel. So thank you, Rachel Marks, for bringing this story to my attention. I can't wait to read the next story and find out what's coming next.
I was so unprepared for how much I enjoyed reading this story. It didn't even matter that the story was about shifters. It didn't even matter that I wasn't in the mood to read a paranormal type of story. As I read this book, the only thing that caught my attention was how much I absolutely fell in love with every single one of the characters. Every single person in the Alpha Pack made me want to jump into the story and hug them.
Maggie was one of the strongest people I've read about lately. Not only did she grow up in less than pleasant conditions, she wasn't bitter. She wasn't hard-hearted. She still showed her emotions in her every action and she gave everyone a chance. Even her annoying roommate who wasn't afraid to have sex with her boyfriend while Maggie was in the room. She was constantly giving them chances to redeem themselves, or overlooking past misdeeds. All she wanted was to prove that she was just as capable of being a good student at her obnoxiously rich and pretentious college as the kids who had grown up set to inherit more money than she would ever seen in a lifetime.
And when she is thrown to the lions, or wolves as the case may be, she still stood her ground. Despite how scared she may have been, Maggie stood up for herself against the one pack member who could turn off his emotions with the flip of a switch.
Charlie... Charlie broke my heart. On more than one occasion. The guy had been through so much in all of his twenty years that it was no wonder he was so emotionless. Until Maggie starts weaseling her way under his skin. And I'm so glad she did because a happy Charlie nearly killed me. He was perfect. How nobody else had managed to get under his skin to show the world what an amazing guy this was is beyond me. I wanted to jump for the joy every time he smiled.
But more than I loved the love story between these two characters, I loved that the story wasn't completely about that. The murder and intrigue aspect of the story was what really got me interested. Somebody wanted this Pack dead, and they weren't making it easy to figure out who it was doing the actions. I have to say that I did have it guessed very early in the story.. but while that usually takes away from the story because I'm so annoyed that the characters in the book can't figure it out, it didn't seem to diminish my feelings at all. I was enraptured.
Overall, it was a fantastic read, with a fantastic writing style. The writing flowed so nicely it made me question a few times whether it really was a YA novel. So thank you, Rachel Marks, for bringing this story to my attention. I can't wait to read the next story and find out what's coming next.
January 15, 2015
A good spin-off book to the Timber Wolves Trilogy.
I liked this story about Charlie and appreciated getting to see more of his character as well as the other main characters from the Tiber Wolves series. Maggie was also an excellent new addition and I was glad to finally get the opportunity to find out a bit more about Thaumaturgics and their place in the shifter world. Unfortunately, there weren’t really that many details about that kind of stuff throughout the book other than learning they can manipulate the energy associated with a particular element. The story in this book instead focused on a sinister plot to eliminate the Alpha pack and their newest associate, Maggie, a Thaumaturgic girl they stumbled across at college and mistook for a Seer. After one shifter shows up dead and mutilated, Charlie takes on bodyguard detail for Maggie and it isn’t long before the eccentric artsy girl with an affinity for dirt has Charlie remembering more of the person he used to be. I didn’t realise Charlie had so much baggage from the little of his character that was shown in the original series. This book really brings a lot more of that to light and includes the additional toll his brother Toby’s death has taken. Maggie seems to bring a lot of light back into Charlie’s life and I liked the way she never let life get the best of her even though she had it harder than most. Charlie was pretty much a stubborn idiot for most of the story, but I guess I could understand where he was coming from carrying around that much baggage. I just wish it didn’t take him so long to figure out his relationship with Maggie as it was staring them both in the face for most of the book – yet Maggie was the only one who actually tried to do anything about it.
Anyway, frustrating relationship-related angst aside, this book was a pretty good read that I enjoyed. I’d recommend it if you’ve read the original Timber Wolves trilogy and are looking for more stories about the main characters. There is a good (but slightly obvious) plot to the story, a bit of action, a bit of romance, and of course, a large chunk of humour tied up in enough pop/geek culture references to keep most people (including myself) happy. I enjoyed reading this book and am already starting on Infinite Harmony, the second instalment of this spin off series.
I liked this story about Charlie and appreciated getting to see more of his character as well as the other main characters from the Tiber Wolves series. Maggie was also an excellent new addition and I was glad to finally get the opportunity to find out a bit more about Thaumaturgics and their place in the shifter world. Unfortunately, there weren’t really that many details about that kind of stuff throughout the book other than learning they can manipulate the energy associated with a particular element. The story in this book instead focused on a sinister plot to eliminate the Alpha pack and their newest associate, Maggie, a Thaumaturgic girl they stumbled across at college and mistook for a Seer. After one shifter shows up dead and mutilated, Charlie takes on bodyguard detail for Maggie and it isn’t long before the eccentric artsy girl with an affinity for dirt has Charlie remembering more of the person he used to be. I didn’t realise Charlie had so much baggage from the little of his character that was shown in the original series. This book really brings a lot more of that to light and includes the additional toll his brother Toby’s death has taken. Maggie seems to bring a lot of light back into Charlie’s life and I liked the way she never let life get the best of her even though she had it harder than most. Charlie was pretty much a stubborn idiot for most of the story, but I guess I could understand where he was coming from carrying around that much baggage. I just wish it didn’t take him so long to figure out his relationship with Maggie as it was staring them both in the face for most of the book – yet Maggie was the only one who actually tried to do anything about it.
Anyway, frustrating relationship-related angst aside, this book was a pretty good read that I enjoyed. I’d recommend it if you’ve read the original Timber Wolves trilogy and are looking for more stories about the main characters. There is a good (but slightly obvious) plot to the story, a bit of action, a bit of romance, and of course, a large chunk of humour tied up in enough pop/geek culture references to keep most people (including myself) happy. I enjoyed reading this book and am already starting on Infinite Harmony, the second instalment of this spin off series.
November 29, 2013
Normally anything that Tammy Blackwell writes gets an automatic 5 big stars, but this book was slightly different than her previous series with Scout and Liam. Without Scout narrating we lost some of the humor from her sarcasm. The narrators were Charlie Hagan is so very broken and a new addition to the group: Maggie McCray. Because of this the tone of the book is different. Not bad…just not what I had come to love. Of course if it was the same I would be thinking, “Ok, so all your characters have the same personality huh?” So Tammy can’t win with me is what I am saying…
This book takes off with the Alpha Pack having a headquarters in Kentucky in a university town. Scout is going to Sanders University and ends up sitting next to Maggie. She knows Maggie is something supernatural and assumes she is a Seer. She invites her to a hustings, but Maggie doesn’t show up. Scout and Talley then find Maggie on campus and convince her to come to a picnic. The picnic is interrupted by something terrible that lands Maggie in the company of the Alpha Pack until it is resolved. This is when she meets Charlie…and Charlie immediately doesn’t like or trust little Maggie and makes this known. He is assigned her bodyguard as she continues with her classes on campus and the pack continues the investigation into the crimes that keep happening. I am thinking that the next book has Joshua in it and I am looking forward to this.
Maggie just wasn't as likable as I wanted her to be. I think it was very real to make her jealous of Scout, but knowing what Scout went through and what Scout and Charlie went through it was distasteful that Maggie had animosity towards her. I am sure that if I was Maggie I would have those same feelings towards Scout. I know...once again poor Tammy can't win. Charlie was Charlie and I enjoyed reading about his growth and thought processes. They made sense just like Maggie, but perhaps the Hagans just can't do any wrong. I really did love reading about the Liam/Scout saga. It wasn't quite enough to satiate me, but it was more than I thought I would get. Beggars can't be choosers.
For more Tammy Blackwell reviews or for other book suggestions visit my blog at: http://bibliobibulireviews.blogspot.com/
This book takes off with the Alpha Pack having a headquarters in Kentucky in a university town. Scout is going to Sanders University and ends up sitting next to Maggie. She knows Maggie is something supernatural and assumes she is a Seer. She invites her to a hustings, but Maggie doesn’t show up. Scout and Talley then find Maggie on campus and convince her to come to a picnic. The picnic is interrupted by something terrible that lands Maggie in the company of the Alpha Pack until it is resolved. This is when she meets Charlie…and Charlie immediately doesn’t like or trust little Maggie and makes this known. He is assigned her bodyguard as she continues with her classes on campus and the pack continues the investigation into the crimes that keep happening. I am thinking that the next book has Joshua in it and I am looking forward to this.
Maggie just wasn't as likable as I wanted her to be. I think it was very real to make her jealous of Scout, but knowing what Scout went through and what Scout and Charlie went through it was distasteful that Maggie had animosity towards her. I am sure that if I was Maggie I would have those same feelings towards Scout. I know...once again poor Tammy can't win. Charlie was Charlie and I enjoyed reading about his growth and thought processes. They made sense just like Maggie, but perhaps the Hagans just can't do any wrong. I really did love reading about the Liam/Scout saga. It wasn't quite enough to satiate me, but it was more than I thought I would get. Beggars can't be choosers.
For more Tammy Blackwell reviews or for other book suggestions visit my blog at: http://bibliobibulireviews.blogspot.com/
February 24, 2014
Lets just clarify that Tammy Blackwell can do no wrong!
I loved this one! I've pretty much over looked Charlie...
which isn't really his fault, I'm content with the current Alpha -Liam, and Scout is distracting in her own right! Anywho --
You meet Maggie a girl working hard in College to be something-- someone important, to get the education she deserves without the blessing of a family with silver spoons and pockets lined with hundred dollar bills. Her life ends up smack dab in the middle of Scout Donovan's and that's when things become confusing.
The Alpha Pack holds a target on their backs.
Duh.
Other Pack Leaders aren't happy with Liam and Scout, their newly minted thoughtful approach to solving issues at the annual gathering didn't help matters.
A string of attacks, murders and deception ensue...
It's obvious she's more than a human, and Scout doesn't see her as a threat (to Liam's dismay) and orders her safety. Charlie is in charge of keeping Maggie safe as she falls deeper into the Alpha Pack than she ever desired. Charlie is fierce, strong, and capable of proving a point. Maggie isn't ready to back down,she refuses to miss class because of the chaos!
Both won't go down without a fight!
I keep remembering Charlie telling Maggie how he can never be what she needs, what she deserves...
my fan girl swoons!
Can we just talk about how incredible it was to see Liam, Scout, Jase and Talley! I wanted to witness their success, the management of being Alphas! Its a satisfying re-cap to the characters that took a slice of my book-loving heart!
^ Sums up my internal feelers. GO HAWKS!
Anyway, if you don't read the Timber Wolves Trilogy, I don't see you enjoying this book as much, since those who have can recognize the relationships and character building without too much head scratching!
I just hope we get to see more of this Alpha Pack, and the trials they face!
I loved this one! I've pretty much over looked Charlie...
which isn't really his fault, I'm content with the current Alpha -Liam, and Scout is distracting in her own right! Anywho --
You meet Maggie a girl working hard in College to be something-- someone important, to get the education she deserves without the blessing of a family with silver spoons and pockets lined with hundred dollar bills. Her life ends up smack dab in the middle of Scout Donovan's and that's when things become confusing.
The Alpha Pack holds a target on their backs.
Duh.
Other Pack Leaders aren't happy with Liam and Scout, their newly minted thoughtful approach to solving issues at the annual gathering didn't help matters.
A string of attacks, murders and deception ensue...
It's obvious she's more than a human, and Scout doesn't see her as a threat (to Liam's dismay) and orders her safety. Charlie is in charge of keeping Maggie safe as she falls deeper into the Alpha Pack than she ever desired. Charlie is fierce, strong, and capable of proving a point. Maggie isn't ready to back down,she refuses to miss class because of the chaos!
Both won't go down without a fight!
I keep remembering Charlie telling Maggie how he can never be what she needs, what she deserves...
my fan girl swoons!
Can we just talk about how incredible it was to see Liam, Scout, Jase and Talley! I wanted to witness their success, the management of being Alphas! Its a satisfying re-cap to the characters that took a slice of my book-loving heart!
^ Sums up my internal feelers. GO HAWKS!
Anyway, if you don't read the Timber Wolves Trilogy, I don't see you enjoying this book as much, since those who have can recognize the relationships and character building without too much head scratching!
I just hope we get to see more of this Alpha Pack, and the trials they face!
April 5, 2016
I will always love the wittyness, the snarkyness and the humor of Tammy Blackwell's characters. They're so fun to read. Especially those sarcasm throwing contest between the Donovan siblings. I mean, with only Scout and Jase it's one hell of a storm, add Angel to the scene and it will become a catastrophe. The little Munchkin is so Scout-Jase combined.
The bond between Scout, Talley, Jase and Charlie, always makes me in awe. I love how their friendship has been portrayed. Whenever there were flashbacks and reminiscing of their childhood mentioned in the book, I felt like they're so intact. The sibling-twin love between Jase and Scout, the bestfriend-sissy love between Scout and Talley, the awkward-turned-romantic love between Talley and Jase, the bestfriend-cousin love of Jase and Charlie, the friend-motherly love of Charlie and Talley AND the romantic-turned-Im-offering-my-life-for-you-bodygurad-thngy love between Charlie and Scout. Your pick! The package is there.
With the girl protagonist in this book - yeah, I only said protagonist, not heroine, cause Scout will always be the heroine fo me - Maggie. I don't like her character that much. I know I'm being bias here, but for me, Scout will always be the queen for Charlie. Not that I don't like the Liam-Scout tandem, I love them, to be honest, much more from when Alex is still existing (Oh Alex, the ache of losing you will always be there). It's just that, I felt like Scout will always be the first priority for Charlie. Either if they're in a romantic situation or if they're only in their oh-so-very-friendly kind of thing. They're bond is just so sweet and definitely so unbreakable.
And Jace will always be my favorite, though Joshua is not too far behind. :)
The bond between Scout, Talley, Jase and Charlie, always makes me in awe. I love how their friendship has been portrayed. Whenever there were flashbacks and reminiscing of their childhood mentioned in the book, I felt like they're so intact. The sibling-twin love between Jase and Scout, the bestfriend-sissy love between Scout and Talley, the awkward-turned-romantic love between Talley and Jase, the bestfriend-cousin love of Jase and Charlie, the friend-motherly love of Charlie and Talley AND the romantic-turned-Im-offering-my-life-for-you-bodygurad-thngy love between Charlie and Scout. Your pick! The package is there.
With the girl protagonist in this book - yeah, I only said protagonist, not heroine, cause Scout will always be the heroine fo me - Maggie. I don't like her character that much. I know I'm being bias here, but for me, Scout will always be the queen for Charlie. Not that I don't like the Liam-Scout tandem, I love them, to be honest, much more from when Alex is still existing (Oh Alex, the ache of losing you will always be there). It's just that, I felt like Scout will always be the first priority for Charlie. Either if they're in a romantic situation or if they're only in their oh-so-very-friendly kind of thing. They're bond is just so sweet and definitely so unbreakable.
And Jace will always be my favorite, though Joshua is not too far behind. :)
November 27, 2013
I am a little conflicted about this book. I loved the Timber Wolves books and I was overjoyed to find out that this new series was going to take me back to the characters I have enjoyed reading about. However, It wasn’t quit what I had expected. There wasn’t as much action and tension as the previous books and I pretty much knew who the “bad guys” were right from the start. It was definitely more predictable than the other books. With that being said, I still really liked this book. I am so glad that we finally get to see something good happen for Charlie. I liked Maggie too. She is a great new addition to the series. I also liked that her abilities are different than the ones we have seen before. I hope that the author keeps introducing us to all kinds of new abilities. It makes it more interesting. It was also good to see how the alpha pack was doing after some time had past and to see how they were interacting with all of the other shifters and seers. I was surprised to see that some of the previous alpha pack members were part of Liam and Scout’s alpha pack. There are also a couple of other shifters that I was surprised Liam and Scout allowed back into their lives.
I really love the way Tammy Blackwell writes. Her books read like real people actually inhabit the pages. You start to care about them like they are old friends. I also like that she can leave out the trashy parts and have a great book without it. I will definitely be reading any other books she publishes.
I really love the way Tammy Blackwell writes. Her books read like real people actually inhabit the pages. You start to care about them like they are old friends. I also like that she can leave out the trashy parts and have a great book without it. I will definitely be reading any other books she publishes.
January 4, 2016
This book really brought me back to the cringe-worthy rollercoaster of YA romance. The pack member that gets highlighted in this one is Charlie. He’s suffered a lot and has generally been referred to as “broken” in one way or another since Alex’s death. Obviously you should not read these stories out of order, and if this is your first – I’m sorry. Seeing Charlie’s development and growth into the man he is today was part of why this book was so worthwhile to read.
Maggie has some pretty lofty goals, but has the dedication to achieve them all. Her life plan appears to be working out until she meets the dreaded Scout. She’d be willing to live with her nudity loving roommate and her grumpy boyfriend, but she can absolutely not accept being kidnapped by the alpha pack. Her background as a thaumaturgic makes it an even worse situation. Luckily, when she puts her foot down about dropping out of college, Charlie ends up being her bodyguard. While these two really clash (or rather, Charlie can’t stop lashing out at her), the passion is definitely there from the start.
Maggie is the free-loving artist that Charlie absolutely needs in his rigid, depressing life. Where he is focused on the bad, Maggie is focused on the good. They balance each other out in ways that might not immediately be apparent to them, but was fun to watch. This story was tough and hurt to read, but the ending made it all worth it. I wish this world would stop beating on Charlie more often and let us see him truly happy.
Maggie has some pretty lofty goals, but has the dedication to achieve them all. Her life plan appears to be working out until she meets the dreaded Scout. She’d be willing to live with her nudity loving roommate and her grumpy boyfriend, but she can absolutely not accept being kidnapped by the alpha pack. Her background as a thaumaturgic makes it an even worse situation. Luckily, when she puts her foot down about dropping out of college, Charlie ends up being her bodyguard. While these two really clash (or rather, Charlie can’t stop lashing out at her), the passion is definitely there from the start.
Maggie is the free-loving artist that Charlie absolutely needs in his rigid, depressing life. Where he is focused on the bad, Maggie is focused on the good. They balance each other out in ways that might not immediately be apparent to them, but was fun to watch. This story was tough and hurt to read, but the ending made it all worth it. I wish this world would stop beating on Charlie more often and let us see him truly happy.
December 9, 2014
Oh my goodness! This book is too sweet!
You know those story where the heroine can sometimes have similarities to you and the love interest makes you sigh some much that you can almost visualise its you rather than them? No? Well maybe I'm just weird.
This book was so...(forgive my lack of better words) Sigh- worthy.
the Whole time I had Taylor Swift's love story in my head and I would change the words to:
"You'll be my Charlie and I'll be your new Maggie, It's a love story baby just say yes."
yea i have issues, heck, my issues have issues.
But I digress.
ATTENTION
You need to read the previous trilogy to understand this one!
The first is called Destiny Binds
So you need to read the Timber Trilogy or you'll have no idea whose who and what's going on.
The characters are all wonderfully plotted and have depth, I think this is a great book.
and just saying...Charlie Haggan....oh my....
Yea there's not much I can say without giving important details away, so i guess you'll have to read!
You know those story where the heroine can sometimes have similarities to you and the love interest makes you sigh some much that you can almost visualise its you rather than them? No? Well maybe I'm just weird.
This book was so...(forgive my lack of better words) Sigh- worthy.
the Whole time I had Taylor Swift's love story in my head and I would change the words to:
"You'll be my Charlie and I'll be your new Maggie, It's a love story baby just say yes."
yea i have issues, heck, my issues have issues.
But I digress.
ATTENTION
You need to read the previous trilogy to understand this one!
The first is called Destiny Binds
So you need to read the Timber Trilogy or you'll have no idea whose who and what's going on.
The characters are all wonderfully plotted and have depth, I think this is a great book.
and just saying...Charlie Haggan....oh my....
Yea there's not much I can say without giving important details away, so i guess you'll have to read!
September 13, 2016
I was really, really dissatisfied with this story, and it totally bummed me out!!
I didn't see *any* indication that this trilogy was the continuation of another story. (The main character POV switches from the previous trilogy.) Normally when that kind of information is withheld (whether purposefully or accidentally), it means that the novel can stand alone. But this one can't. It can't!
Without reading the first three books (detailing the history of Scout and Charlie and co.), I felt as though I was watching the story unfold through a pane of dirty, bubbled glass. I couldn't see a lot of what was going on, couldn't make out certain things, didn't understand what was going on half of the time, and it was beyond frustrating!!
For me, the tale felt kind of empty. It was really difficult/impossible for me to connect to any of the characters (quite possibly due to the lack of back story), so I had to force myself to finish the book.
And unfortunately, I'm not sure I'm interested enough in these characters to start at the beginning with Scout's story, it was that disheartening.
I didn't see *any* indication that this trilogy was the continuation of another story. (The main character POV switches from the previous trilogy.) Normally when that kind of information is withheld (whether purposefully or accidentally), it means that the novel can stand alone. But this one can't. It can't!
Without reading the first three books (detailing the history of Scout and Charlie and co.), I felt as though I was watching the story unfold through a pane of dirty, bubbled glass. I couldn't see a lot of what was going on, couldn't make out certain things, didn't understand what was going on half of the time, and it was beyond frustrating!!
For me, the tale felt kind of empty. It was really difficult/impossible for me to connect to any of the characters (quite possibly due to the lack of back story), so I had to force myself to finish the book.
And unfortunately, I'm not sure I'm interested enough in these characters to start at the beginning with Scout's story, it was that disheartening.
July 5, 2014
I read this because I really loved the timber wolves trilogy, but while this lives in the same world and deals with many of the same characters I didn't enjoy it was much.
Maggie was shy and artistic. Maybe I was comparing her to Scout too much, but I found her weak in some areas. We know Charlie from the Timber Wolves Trilogy, but he was totally different in this book. Maggie calls him "Robot Charlie". The reasoning behind his behavior is explained, but even that is a little contradictory. **teeny tiny spoiler** They say that Charlie has been repressing his coyote since he shot himself, but at the beginning of the book his coyote was at the surface growling at Maggie because he thought she was a threat. It was a little confusing. **spoiler over**
Scout, Liam, Talley, and Jase were all there and we got to see how their lives are after becoming the Alpha Pack.
The mystery of was well done, in my opinion. She left it open for another book that focuses on a related case/mystery, but I really hope she picks another couple. Like if she found someone for Joshua that would be cool with me.
Overall, the book was good and will definitely be reading the next one when it comes out.
Maggie was shy and artistic. Maybe I was comparing her to Scout too much, but I found her weak in some areas. We know Charlie from the Timber Wolves Trilogy, but he was totally different in this book. Maggie calls him "Robot Charlie". The reasoning behind his behavior is explained, but even that is a little contradictory. **teeny tiny spoiler** They say that Charlie has been repressing his coyote since he shot himself, but at the beginning of the book his coyote was at the surface growling at Maggie because he thought she was a threat. It was a little confusing. **spoiler over**
Scout, Liam, Talley, and Jase were all there and we got to see how their lives are after becoming the Alpha Pack.
The mystery of was well done, in my opinion. She left it open for another book that focuses on a related case/mystery, but I really hope she picks another couple. Like if she found someone for Joshua that would be cool with me.
Overall, the book was good and will definitely be reading the next one when it comes out.
September 2, 2015
Not sure why I picked up this book to read, but I am so glad I did! It was great. Someone was trying to kill a member of the Alpha Pack or was it Maggie, who was unexpectedly brought into the shifter world, into a world that killed her kind. What was she going to do, especially when Charlie almost attacked her as being the one who murdered the man strung up in the Alpha Pack's gym. Then suddenly he is volunteering to be her body guard.
Maggie and Charlie have such a sweet love story. Charlie has a tragic past, to the point he doesn't feel anything anymore. Then he meets Maggie and at first he mistrusts her, but as he gets to know her and they spend more time together, he knows he can't give her what she wants, he is broken. Maggie just wants Charlie to give them a chance, he keeps rejecting her until that fateful night...
This story has lots of twists and turns. A little heartbreak and enough sweetness to make it an enjoyable love story. I couldn't put it down, I just really enjoyed it.
Maggie and Charlie have such a sweet love story. Charlie has a tragic past, to the point he doesn't feel anything anymore. Then he meets Maggie and at first he mistrusts her, but as he gets to know her and they spend more time together, he knows he can't give her what she wants, he is broken. Maggie just wants Charlie to give them a chance, he keeps rejecting her until that fateful night...
This story has lots of twists and turns. A little heartbreak and enough sweetness to make it an enjoyable love story. I couldn't put it down, I just really enjoyed it.
August 12, 2016
Ms. Blackwell's previous series was one of my first forays into YA books, and the beauty of her books is that I don't feel as though I have to be back in high school to enjoy them. While not mandatory, reading the previous series will help tremendously in understanding all the references and characters in this book.
In a lot of ways, I enjoyed this book even more than the previous series. Maggie is a likable character; she has a sense of humor that's snarky, but not mean. I kept wondering about her abilities - the author didn't let on what those were until pretty late in the book, and she didn't give a whole lot of elaboration even then. Charlie's antagonism to Maggie is pretty scary at first - I worried that maybe Maggie was a throw-away character and was going to get killed off early in the book. Luckily, that was not Ms. Blackwell's intent, and the gradual unfolding of their love story was a fun read.
In a lot of ways, I enjoyed this book even more than the previous series. Maggie is a likable character; she has a sense of humor that's snarky, but not mean. I kept wondering about her abilities - the author didn't let on what those were until pretty late in the book, and she didn't give a whole lot of elaboration even then. Charlie's antagonism to Maggie is pretty scary at first - I worried that maybe Maggie was a throw-away character and was going to get killed off early in the book. Luckily, that was not Ms. Blackwell's intent, and the gradual unfolding of their love story was a fun read.
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