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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
DESTINY is the first book in The Academy series, and we start off with Jamie leaving her job and life in the city to return to the town she left so abruptly several years earlier. You find out about her feeling trapped and the circumstances behind that, as well as about the situation with her job and boss. Upon her return to town, she tries to mend fences with her ex-boyfriend and ex-best-friend, and there is also Wren to contend with.
Whilst I enjoyed the story, I can't say as I was enthralled by it. Jamie seems like she runs on something other than logic or feelings. I don't even know what. She makes major, life-changing, decisions without thinking them through, as well as ghosting people because she can't deal. Then she swings like a pendulum from Liam, the ex-boss/boyfriend, to Wren. She sleeps with both and yet says she is taking things slowly.
Apart from Jamie (which admittedly is a big part of the book!) I enjoyed the story. I liked the back story of the Lady in the Woods and the Wolf Spirits. I want to know more about the prophecy, about Wren, even more about Jamie's mum and Edward. But most of all, what I really want, is for Jamie to choose Wren and leave Liam behind. Although he's done 'nothing' wrong, the author has written this to make you have doubts about him. He's simply too good, considering how he was before. I don't like him, so there! LOL
As the first book in a series, I expect to have questions left unanswered, and I am looking forward to continuing with this series to find them out. I really hope Jamie makes her mind up soon. I do recommend this book but will also give a love-triangle warning if that's not your thing.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Whilst I enjoyed the story, I can't say as I was enthralled by it. Jamie seems like she runs on something other than logic or feelings. I don't even know what. She makes major, life-changing, decisions without thinking them through, as well as ghosting people because she can't deal. Then she swings like a pendulum from Liam, the ex-boss/boyfriend, to Wren. She sleeps with both and yet says she is taking things slowly.
Apart from Jamie (which admittedly is a big part of the book!) I enjoyed the story. I liked the back story of the Lady in the Woods and the Wolf Spirits. I want to know more about the prophecy, about Wren, even more about Jamie's mum and Edward. But most of all, what I really want, is for Jamie to choose Wren and leave Liam behind. Although he's done 'nothing' wrong, the author has written this to make you have doubts about him. He's simply too good, considering how he was before. I don't like him, so there! LOL
As the first book in a series, I expect to have questions left unanswered, and I am looking forward to continuing with this series to find them out. I really hope Jamie makes her mind up soon. I do recommend this book but will also give a love-triangle warning if that's not your thing.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
this book was an absolute joy to read and i’m so so thankful to the author & booksirens for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review…
and i honestly loved it.
it had tension, it was spicy, there is enemies to lovers & add in a little bit of jealousy and you’ve got an excellent book.
i’m so excited for the next one, because the cliffhanger this one left on has me HOOKED; no spoilers! but the cliffhanger is one you see (and hope) is coming and it still got me.
jamie is someone that i find frustrating & relatable at the same time. but that makes her human and likeable. she felt real. her life drama was interesting without being unfathomable. her dating life was spicy and littered with mistakes.
and wren!?! hello, new book boyfriend! steamy and sexy and protective. i can’t wait for a little more of their dynamic, i am so so excited to see where this book goes.
i’m gushing, for heaven’s sake! fans of twilight & the vampire diaries! hear my call and read this book!
and i honestly loved it.
it had tension, it was spicy, there is enemies to lovers & add in a little bit of jealousy and you’ve got an excellent book.
i’m so excited for the next one, because the cliffhanger this one left on has me HOOKED; no spoilers! but the cliffhanger is one you see (and hope) is coming and it still got me.
jamie is someone that i find frustrating & relatable at the same time. but that makes her human and likeable. she felt real. her life drama was interesting without being unfathomable. her dating life was spicy and littered with mistakes.
and wren!?! hello, new book boyfriend! steamy and sexy and protective. i can’t wait for a little more of their dynamic, i am so so excited to see where this book goes.
i’m gushing, for heaven’s sake! fans of twilight & the vampire diaries! hear my call and read this book!
*insert fanning gif here* Is it hot in here or is it just me?
Destiny is the first book in the paranormal romance series, The Academy. I enjoyed this book so much! Since the first pages, I could picture the setting and events as if I were watching a movie. Indeed, if this were a movie it would be one of those beautiful and addicting romances I could see myself finding on TV and ending up completely obsessed two hours later.
The protagonist is Jamie, who returns to her hometown after running away from a disastrous relationship and a job that was suffocating her. The mountains of Accalia, Colorado, were calling her back, and she heeded their call. Back at home, she finds her old friends, with whom she’d lost touch for the past seven years. While she works in sorting the mess in her life and rebuilding those relationships, she meets Wren, a handsome and mysterious ranger to whom she feels inexplicably attracted to. It’s immediately understandable that something’s up with Wren, and Jamie finds herself drawn to him even though her mind is telling her he’s dangerous.
What I loved most about this book was the small-town atmosphere I breathed in while reading and the mystery surrounding the deaths in the woods. (And of course, the romance element, but I’ll talk more about that later.) Accalia seems like the sort of place I would love to live in—minus the attacks on hikers, obviously. I also enjoyed the characters. Mark and Tollen were my favorites among the secondary characters. I could be friends with people like them. Liam, Jamie’s most recent ex, was also an interesting character because he confuses me. My instinct tells me not to trust him, but he makes it difficult not to like him. Compared to Wren, he feels really normal, but is he? I won’t say too much to avoid spoilers.
Wren, and by extent his relationship with Jamie, deserves his own paragraph. What sparks between Jamie and Wren is far from insta-love, but there’s certainly an instant attraction that drives them closer. It’s evident than it’s not normal human attraction, because there’s this pull that Jamie cannot explain. I really loved the (hot!) chemistry between them, although there were several instances where Wren’s attitude grated on my nerves. There were moments I loved his intensity, but others he was broody almost to the point of being rude, like walking away from her without saying a word. I do feel like this impression will change once we’ll get to know him better in the following books. Jamie has an interesting dynamic with Wren that I’m curious to see, but she’s got a good thing with Liam, though again, I don’t fully trust his intentions. (Personally I’d go more for a Mark, who is kind and caring and really sweet.)
I’m really curious to continue this story in the following books, where we’re definitely going to be finding out more about the magical aspect of this story. The premises were very interesting.
Thank you to the author for sending me a copy!
Destiny is the first book in the paranormal romance series, The Academy. I enjoyed this book so much! Since the first pages, I could picture the setting and events as if I were watching a movie. Indeed, if this were a movie it would be one of those beautiful and addicting romances I could see myself finding on TV and ending up completely obsessed two hours later.
The protagonist is Jamie, who returns to her hometown after running away from a disastrous relationship and a job that was suffocating her. The mountains of Accalia, Colorado, were calling her back, and she heeded their call. Back at home, she finds her old friends, with whom she’d lost touch for the past seven years. While she works in sorting the mess in her life and rebuilding those relationships, she meets Wren, a handsome and mysterious ranger to whom she feels inexplicably attracted to. It’s immediately understandable that something’s up with Wren, and Jamie finds herself drawn to him even though her mind is telling her he’s dangerous.
What I loved most about this book was the small-town atmosphere I breathed in while reading and the mystery surrounding the deaths in the woods. (And of course, the romance element, but I’ll talk more about that later.) Accalia seems like the sort of place I would love to live in—minus the attacks on hikers, obviously. I also enjoyed the characters. Mark and Tollen were my favorites among the secondary characters. I could be friends with people like them. Liam, Jamie’s most recent ex, was also an interesting character because he confuses me. My instinct tells me not to trust him, but he makes it difficult not to like him. Compared to Wren, he feels really normal, but is he? I won’t say too much to avoid spoilers.
Wren, and by extent his relationship with Jamie, deserves his own paragraph. What sparks between Jamie and Wren is far from insta-love, but there’s certainly an instant attraction that drives them closer. It’s evident than it’s not normal human attraction, because there’s this pull that Jamie cannot explain. I really loved the (hot!) chemistry between them, although there were several instances where Wren’s attitude grated on my nerves. There were moments I loved his intensity, but others he was broody almost to the point of being rude, like walking away from her without saying a word. I do feel like this impression will change once we’ll get to know him better in the following books. Jamie has an interesting dynamic with Wren that I’m curious to see, but she’s got a good thing with Liam, though again, I don’t fully trust his intentions. (Personally I’d go more for a Mark, who is kind and caring and really sweet.)
I’m really curious to continue this story in the following books, where we’re definitely going to be finding out more about the magical aspect of this story. The premises were very interesting.
Thank you to the author for sending me a copy!
I’d forgotten how much I love a good shifter romance, but DESTINY was a wonderful reminder!
The story follows Jamie, a young woman who returns to her home town in Colorado after a failed career move and the end of a relationship. Here, as she rekindles old friendships and tries to find order in her life again, she has a fated encounter with Wren, a mysterious, handsome ranger who always seems to be around at exactly the right time. There is more to Wren than meets the eye, however. He seems to be connected to a wolf residing in the forest and as time passes, Jamie finds it harder and harder to resist her attraction to him, even if something tells her that he may be dangerous. Is Wren dangerous? Is there more behind these strange happenings? Well…you’ll have to read the book to find out!
The small town setting is one I especially enjoy, maybe because I myself come from a small town…that is nothing like the ones I love in the movies. The sense of community, the often rural scenery that is linked to them, the wilderness and mystery they harbor…I just love it, even if I see it in movies more than I do in books. Maybe falling in love with the town of Accalia will change that!
Of course, being this a romance fantasy, I must talk to you about the romance…and I have conflicting feelings about it. On the one side, I loved the way the relationship develops. I know insta-love is a controversial trope, but I find I don’t mind it much when there’s solid ground to base it upon. I felt like this was the case with Wren and Jamie’s story. Feeling instantly attracted to someone is natural, and the added supernatural element enriched the feeling. The reader can easily guess that there is something “other” going on between them, and it made the unfolding of the relationship all the more enticing. Add that their interaction were often sweat-inducing, you definitely have my attention. However, I wasn’t always the biggest fan of Wren’s behavior. The possessive/obsessive, intense alpha attitude didn’t always sit well with me and I often hoped Jamie would just slap him or walk away. He wasn’t always helped by the fact there are other men that could easily veer my attention…like the handsome and normal-but-are-you-really Liam, Jamie’s ex boyfriend. We shall see where D.D. Larsen decides to take me with the next books!
I highly recommend this book to fans of supernatural romance and fantasy. Thank you so much to the author for sending me a copy of the book to review!
Paranormal romance has always been a top fave genre for me, but I rarely connect with stories that focus on wolves. Destiny proved to be a remarkable exception to this! This book gripped me from the first page and I found myself binging it so I could uncover all the mysteries plaguing Jamie her and sleepy hometown.
Larsen’s writing style struck me as extremely compelling. Although the narrator is in the dark about her town’s secrets, the reader can start to puzzle things out from all the clever little clues that are placed throughout. I truly felt involved in the mystery and could not put this book down it I got all the answers!!
And y’all—those spicy scenes! Jamie quickly finds herself caught up with a few old flames—her high school sweetheart, the rekindling of a forbidden love affair, and an unexplainable tumultuous connection with a super sexy enigma of a man. Plus there’s a beautiful reconciled friendship between Jamie and her bestie, as well as strong familial relationships throughout which was fun and sweet and definitely relatable!
Fast-paced, full of surprises and steamy scenes, I thoroughly enjoyed this book in all its suspenseful, mysterious glory! I cannot wait for book 2, Journey, which releases 07.27.21!! I will definitely be reading more from this author!!
Larsen’s writing style struck me as extremely compelling. Although the narrator is in the dark about her town’s secrets, the reader can start to puzzle things out from all the clever little clues that are placed throughout. I truly felt involved in the mystery and could not put this book down it I got all the answers!!
And y’all—those spicy scenes! Jamie quickly finds herself caught up with a few old flames—her high school sweetheart, the rekindling of a forbidden love affair, and an unexplainable tumultuous connection with a super sexy enigma of a man. Plus there’s a beautiful reconciled friendship between Jamie and her bestie, as well as strong familial relationships throughout which was fun and sweet and definitely relatable!
Fast-paced, full of surprises and steamy scenes, I thoroughly enjoyed this book in all its suspenseful, mysterious glory! I cannot wait for book 2, Journey, which releases 07.27.21!! I will definitely be reading more from this author!!
This was a quick read and I felt that I have read many stories very similar to this one. The book overall was okay, but I am not interested enough to continue the series.
Jamie's world is about to get flipped upside down! She comes back home after being gone for 7 years and feeling like she has hit rock bottom. Leaving a job and being dumped by her boss, Liam, she comes home and runs into Wren. I appreciate a good shifter story, but this one is struggling to get there for me. I like the backstory of how the wolves came to be and the role of the Academy. But Wren runs hot and cold and is so cryptic it's enough to drive you crazy. I struggle so much with Jamie. She's likeable, but at the same time she's not the brightest bulb in the box. She doesn't ask questions, cries a lot and likes to avoid things. With her life changing as much as it does, I'm really hoping she finds a backbone, let's her intuition take over and be the strong woman that everyone seems to think she is. It's a good story line and I will for sure be reading the next one.
For a book about shifters and being paranormal, which I always love, this one just didn't seem to get started until the very end. It felt more like a normal world romance than a shifter one. It did hook me though, and I constantly wanted to learn more about the wolves, it just didn't happen so hopefully in book two we will learn more after this huge cliffy. I will definitely read book two, even though I wasn't the biggest fan of this one, it still made me curious enough to want to keep reading and that does it for me. I did like it though! It's just not really paranormal until the ending. Can't wait to see more wolves and get more of the story.
3.5 stars.
3.5 stars.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This book feels a lot like a monologue on the intro. The history is excellent, but the single-person point of view is slightly dull. Although it is great to see the small town from Jamie's perspective. I know questions that the talks she has to fill my head as she relives her past. But not everything is thoroughly explained. Chapter 4 gets a lot more exciting and definitely piqued my curiosity. The school in her hometown and wolf sighting are interesting. I'm not yet sure how this relates to the intro of this book. But definitely curious enough to keep reading. The academy is mysterious and so unexplained in what little they do cover at the beginning of the book. I can completely relate to the character's stubborn attitude, mainly being grown and despising being told what to do. I love that this is expressed in the book. It gives so much depth to Jaime. The love triangle is very intense in this book. So many things are revealed toward the end. I'm waiting for the shoe to drop Or someone to make it less complicated. I loved the quote at the intro of the book, "For all those who need a push to follow their dreams." This quote really intrigued me about what this book would entail, and I am not disappointed.
This book ends with you on the edge of your seat.
This book feels a lot like a monologue on the intro. The history is excellent, but the single-person point of view is slightly dull. Although it is great to see the small town from Jamie's perspective. I know questions that the talks she has to fill my head as she relives her past. But not everything is thoroughly explained. Chapter 4 gets a lot more exciting and definitely piqued my curiosity. The school in her hometown and wolf sighting are interesting. I'm not yet sure how this relates to the intro of this book. But definitely curious enough to keep reading. The academy is mysterious and so unexplained in what little they do cover at the beginning of the book. I can completely relate to the character's stubborn attitude, mainly being grown and despising being told what to do. I love that this is expressed in the book. It gives so much depth to Jaime. The love triangle is very intense in this book. So many things are revealed toward the end. I'm waiting for the shoe to drop Or someone to make it less complicated. I loved the quote at the intro of the book, "For all those who need a push to follow their dreams." This quote really intrigued me about what this book would entail, and I am not disappointed.
This book ends with you on the edge of your seat.
Destiny is the first book where our protagonist Jamie finds out who she really is and what she means to a new community. She moves back to her hometown after several years and starts to put her life back together only to run into part of her past. Add in a bad guy that is trying to kill her and you get a total page turner and one that I easily fell in love with.
I assumed this book would have more spice to it but was let down when I realized it is a fade to black type of book. I still love the book and will be getting the next book in the series for my next read.
I assumed this book would have more spice to it but was let down when I realized it is a fade to black type of book. I still love the book and will be getting the next book in the series for my next read.