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A review by wordsbychiara
Defiant by Ann Denton
4.0
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
DEFIANT is by far one of the steamiest books I’ve ever read. Before I dive into this review, however, I do want to point out that this book has trigger warnings and you should read the author’s note before diving into it. Triggers include dubious consent, kidnapping and forced marriage.
Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you a little bit about this spicy werewolf dark romance! Defiant follows the story of Elena, a twenty-year-old shifter who has been waiting several years for her wolf to manifest. When Elena feels her wolf for the first time, she’s overcome by the need to run to the forest and revel in her first shift, but when she does she crosses paths with Black Maddox, the alpha of the Lobos Pack. The Lobos are Elena’s pack, but Black doesn’t know it because she’s never been allowed to join the pack events. She has all the characteristics that Black is drawn to: she’s beautiful and half his age , and for that reason he believes she may be a spy from a rival pack sent to mess with his head. Despite Elena’s claims to the contrary, Black chases her down and captures her, locking her up in his basement until further notice. He quickly discovers Elena is telling the truth, but refuses to free her regardless. Elena is an omega wolf—a rare kind who is particularly appealing to alphas. Black is determined to mate and keep her for himself, but doing so may start a conflict between wolf packs as he isn’t the only alpha who wants Elena. How will this unfold? You’ll have to read the book to find out!
As this is a character driven story, the strength of the narration relies heavily on the characters and their relationships. The three main players are Elena, Black Maddox and Jonah, a beta of the pack who is also Elena’s friend (with benefits). Elena was the sort of main character I love. Her strong attitude and confidence made her immediately likeable to me. She’s not a woman who’s afraid to admit what she wants and has complete ownership of her body and sexuality. I really appreciated her strength throughout and—at least for now—she was my favorite character.
Things are a bit more complicated with the boys. In the author’s note, the author states that the series will end with a MFM relationship, so while Elena isn’t meant to be the peak of a love triangle, I couldn’t help but compare her relationship with both men. Black Maddox is meant to be the kind of character that I usually obsess over: big, dark, arrogant, a bit wild…I usually throw myself at men like him. Jonah—by far more submissive toward Elena, kinder, softer, is usually the one I give the friend treatment to. And yet, despite Black and Elena’s relationship is the one explored the most, and despite the fact it was extremely spicy, I couldn’t warm up to Black. Maybe if there had been more time to explore their bond as people and not merely alpha and omega, I would have been more involved. With Jonah, on the other hand, we get to see a lot more emotion. He doesn’t see her as an omega, but as the strong, reckless woman he’s falling in love with, and I was far more curious to explore that relationship (and my wishes may just come true with the second book!)
Overall, this was a very quick and enjoyable read. I definitely recommend it to fans of werewolf fiction—especially the spicy kind—but again, check your triggers because it’s quite dark!
Thank you to the author for gifting me a copy to review. All opinions are my own.
DEFIANT is by far one of the steamiest books I’ve ever read. Before I dive into this review, however, I do want to point out that this book has trigger warnings and you should read the author’s note before diving into it. Triggers include dubious consent, kidnapping and forced marriage.
Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you a little bit about this spicy werewolf dark romance! Defiant follows the story of Elena, a twenty-year-old shifter who has been waiting several years for her wolf to manifest. When Elena feels her wolf for the first time, she’s overcome by the need to run to the forest and revel in her first shift, but when she does she crosses paths with Black Maddox, the alpha of the Lobos Pack. The Lobos are Elena’s pack, but Black doesn’t know it because she’s never been allowed to join the pack events. She has all the characteristics that Black is drawn to: she’s beautiful and half his age , and for that reason he believes she may be a spy from a rival pack sent to mess with his head. Despite Elena’s claims to the contrary, Black chases her down and captures her, locking her up in his basement until further notice. He quickly discovers Elena is telling the truth, but refuses to free her regardless. Elena is an omega wolf—a rare kind who is particularly appealing to alphas. Black is determined to mate and keep her for himself, but doing so may start a conflict between wolf packs as he isn’t the only alpha who wants Elena. How will this unfold? You’ll have to read the book to find out!
As this is a character driven story, the strength of the narration relies heavily on the characters and their relationships. The three main players are Elena, Black Maddox and Jonah, a beta of the pack who is also Elena’s friend (with benefits). Elena was the sort of main character I love. Her strong attitude and confidence made her immediately likeable to me. She’s not a woman who’s afraid to admit what she wants and has complete ownership of her body and sexuality. I really appreciated her strength throughout and—at least for now—she was my favorite character.
Things are a bit more complicated with the boys. In the author’s note, the author states that the series will end with a MFM relationship, so while Elena isn’t meant to be the peak of a love triangle, I couldn’t help but compare her relationship with both men. Black Maddox is meant to be the kind of character that I usually obsess over: big, dark, arrogant, a bit wild…I usually throw myself at men like him. Jonah—by far more submissive toward Elena, kinder, softer, is usually the one I give the friend treatment to. And yet, despite Black and Elena’s relationship is the one explored the most, and despite the fact it was extremely spicy, I couldn’t warm up to Black. Maybe if there had been more time to explore their bond as people and not merely alpha and omega, I would have been more involved. With Jonah, on the other hand, we get to see a lot more emotion. He doesn’t see her as an omega, but as the strong, reckless woman he’s falling in love with, and I was far more curious to explore that relationship (and my wishes may just come true with the second book!)
Overall, this was a very quick and enjoyable read. I definitely recommend it to fans of werewolf fiction—especially the spicy kind—but again, check your triggers because it’s quite dark!
Thank you to the author for gifting me a copy to review. All opinions are my own.