Mundie Moms

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Book Review

  Wicked

By: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published by: self published
Released on: December 8th, 2014
Source: book from author 
Rating: 5 Stars - I Loved It!
Purchase it from: Amazon | Barnes and NobleiBooks | Kobo
Add it to Goodreads

 Things are about to get Wicked in New Orleans. 

Twenty-two year old Ivy Morgan isn’t your average college student. She, and others like her, know humans aren’t the only thing trolling the French Quarter for fun… and for food. Her duty to the Order is her life. After all, four years ago, she lost everything at the hands of the creatures she’d sworn to hunt, tearing her world and her heart apart. 

Ren Owens is the last person Ivy expected to enter her rigidly controlled life. He’s six feet and three inches of temptation and swoon-inducing charm. With forest-green eyes and a smile that’s surely left a stream of broken hearts in its wake, he has an uncanny, almost unnatural ability to make her yearn for everything he has to offer. But letting him in is as dangerous as hunting the cold-blooded killers stalking the streets. Losing the boy she loved once before had nearly destroyed her, but the sparking tension that grows between them becomes impossible for Ivy to deny. Deep down, she wants… she needs more than what her duty demands of her, what her past has shaped for her. 

But as Ivy grows closer to Ren, she realizes she’s not the only one carrying secrets that could shatter the frail bond between them. There’s something he’s not telling her, and one thing is for certain. She’s no longer sure what is more dangerous to her—the ancient beings threatening to take over the town or the man demanding to lay claim to her heart and her soul. 

It's not often I promote anything other than YA on Mundie Moms, but sometimes I feel the need to cross promote books from my other blogs, and today I'm cross my promoting a NEW ADULT book from my Grown Up Book Reviews blog. NA fans and older YA fans of Jennifer Armentrout's will love her newest NA release, WICKED.

Take everything that I've loved about Jennifer Armentrout's characters, add in some Southern charm, a hauntingly perfect Southern setting and mix that with awesome paranormal elements, and you've got yourself the newest Jennifer Armentrout masterpiece. WICKED takes everything I've loved about Armentrout's books, and ups them to a new level. 

This book is deliciously WICKED read!  Jennifer Armentrout proves yet again why she is one of my all time favorite YA & NA authors. WICKED has it all. Fabulous writing. An exciting paranormal world. Action scenes, danger, and great characters. Of course it wouldn't be an Armentrout book with out snarky comments that make you laugh out loud, and romance that will make you swoon. As well as a cliff hanger that will leave you wishing TORN, Wicked's sequel, was already in my hands. 

If you take everything I loved about Seth from Jennifer's The Covenant Series, and combined that with everything I loved about Daemon from the Lux Series, and mixed in bits and pieces of what I have loved about each of Jennifer's other male characters, it would give you a glimpse of Ren. Yep, just a glimpse. Ren is everything I've loved about each of Jennifer's characters I've read about so far, and then some. Like a lot of some. Ren has secured his spot as my favorite Jennifer L. Armentrout male character. 

Oh my Jennifer Armentrout fangirl heart. How do I even go about describing Ren? He's tall, dark and green eyed handsomeness with a lot of southern charm. He's patient, kind, and dare I say sweet... yeah he's definitely sweet. His patience with Ivy make him sexy, among many other of his attributes. The man is not deterred by Ivy or the amount of time it takes for her to figured out that he is who she wants. From the get go, he's wanted her, and he's not scared to let that be known. 

He is blunt, snarky, sweet, and he can be a wicked gentleman. No punt intended. He doesn't hide what he's thinking or um, feeling, especially when it comes to Ivy. Neither Ivy nor WICKED readers have to worry about what he's thinking. Well, he does still have his secrets  but other than those he's direct and upfront.He's not afraid to go after what he wants, when he wants it. Believe me, that wanting is Ivy. I love the way he treats Ivy. He knows what she wants, before she even knows what she wants, or is willing to let herself have. There's a reason for that. 

I loved getting to know Ivy. She is one heck of a fierce, fearless, independent, loyal, intelligent, beautiful girl. I don't think there was anything I didn't like about her, flaws and all. She's also my new favorite Jennifer Armentrout female. She is everything I love about a strong lead character. She's the perfect character, but yet she's not perfect herself. She's flawed, has known her share of heartache, and loss. She doesn't get close to many people, and allows her fears and past choices fuel her actions at work. The way Ren broke down her walls was so well written. I loved it. 

 Like Ren, Ivy is tough, strong, smart, and for the most part takes life as it is. I also liked that Ivy owns her mistakes, as does Ren. She can take care of herself, and isn't afraid to handle business on her. In this case, her business is being apart of the ORDER. A secret group who's job it is to protect humans by hunting down and taking out the fae. Being in the Order can be lonely, especially when you've dwelt with the kind of loss both Ivy and Ren have. I loved that the two of them found not only comfort in each other. They give each other something the other hasn't had for a long time. Hope and trust. And possibly love. 

Reading about these two is like watching my favorite movie. I wanted to grab a bowl of popcorn, and a drink and sit back and watch the sparks fly. And fly they did, the whole time. This wouldn't be a true Armentrout book if there wasn't snark, hot character chemistry, some sexy times, and those moments where you find yourself yelling at the the characters to shut up and kiss already. Trust me, they do.... Leading up to that point was fabulous. One of the things I love about Armentrout's writing is how she allows her character's relationships to gradually grown vs rushing them. It hooks me and leaves me wanting so much more when she does that. 

The paranormal world Armentrout created is brilliant. I love the mix of real life with a bit of the "what if". New Orleans was the perfect setting for this book. It provided a rich back drop for the book, and the world Jennifer created. Now that she introduced me to it, I want more! I love that with all the paranormal books we have in the YA world, Jennifer has created one for New Adult fans to devour. Trust me, when you start this book you will not put it down.

* I would recommend this book to any of Armentrout's fans who are 18 yrs and up. There is language, and sexual content in this book not suitable for younger readers.

Labels