Friday, May 25, 2012

Madly & Wolfhardt by M. Leighton ~ Review

So before I review Madly & Wolfhardt, I want to do a mini review on the little novella that comes before that book.  This book introduces us to the world of the Mer and to Madly James.

Source:  Purchased the eBook for only $.99

Summary from Goodreads:

Madly is your average nearly-eighteen year old girl—for a princess, that is.

Madly James is thoroughly enjoying her internship in the small town of Slumber when the unthinkable happens—there’s a prison break in Atlas, the magically-protected home of Madly’s race. A traitor has set free eight Lore, the spirits of what humans know as fairy tales, and they are making their way to Slumber to awaken their descendants.

In order to save her home, the lives of her family, and all of humanity, Madly must learn to wield her exceptional powers and recapture the Lore before it’s too late and all is lost. But Madly’s only help are her two best friends and the Sentinel, Jackson Hamilton, that threatens both her heart and her destiny. Madly has loved Jackson as long as she can remember, but he is the one thing even a princess can’t have. Can she resist love to become the queen she was fated to be? Or can she find a way to have both?

This novelette introduces you to Madly and prepares you for the quest of a lifetime



My Thoughts:

This is a short little introduction to the world of Madly and the mer people.  Madly - love that name btw - is of royal blood, princess in line for the throne.  She is strong willed and determined, not willing to sit back and wait to be taken care of by her sentential guards.  I like that about her.  She has a great friendship with Jersey - another fabulous name - and an interesting relationship with her soon to be fiancee, Aiden.  The cast of characters are complete with Jackson, the head sentential in charge of protecting Madly AND the crush Madly has had since age 15.   

Only the second mer story I have read, I'm enjoying them more and more.  Why haven't been reading them sooner?  Good question.

I must say that this is the back story for the really fabulous read, Madly & Wolfhardt but I highly recommend that you start with this one.  Madly & Wolfhardt does stand on it's own, but I wanted that little bit of extra story that you get from reading this one.  Check it out for sure.










Madly (Madly, #1)
 
Now let's look at the main event, shall we.

Source:  The wonderful Heather Self lent me the kindle version, but I may have to purchase my own copy.

My Summary:

Madly is supposed to be concentrating on capturing the escaped lore so that she can rescue her parents in Atlas, but Jackson's return to her life has her very distracted.  He's there to protect her, with his life if necessary - something he is very willing to do.  She's the princess in line for the throne.  A relationship between them is not only inappropriate it's also forbidden.  Madly knows all of this but she can't stop thinking about him sleeping a mere feet from her.  In the mean time, Aiden - Madly's soon to be fiancee - is falling for the human descendant of the very lore they are hunting.  If the relationship issues weren't enough drama, the seers are acting weird.  Can Madly pull it together soon enough to capture Wolfhardt and have a chance to save her parents, or will her heart prevent her from succeeding?

My Thoughts:



4 stars - Sizzling hot romance & fun fishies in this one

As I said, this is only my second venture into a mer story and I'm wondering why I haven't read them in the past.  Thanks so much to Heather, who got me hooked on this one very quickly.  I needed something light and fast to get me past some pretty weighty books I've read lately.  This one fit the bill perfectly.

I love the forbidden love between Madly and Jackson.  There is no real love triangle going on here, which frankly was refreshing.  Aiden is around but he's never really a love interest.  Madly expects to be mated with him in the future but she has no feeling for him beyond brotherly love.  And Jackson?  Well he's the somewhat brooding hunk of a guy who puts his duty above everything else, except perhaps Madly's safety.  His mysterious anger adds to the very male vibes he's throwing off.  I loved the dynamics between them.  So hot and so much fun to read.  If you missed it, here's my Swoon Thursday from last week featuring none other than Madly and Jackson.

I really loved Jersey's silly personality.  Her goofy antics are just what Madly needs a lot of the time, even if the bell is gonna drive her over the edge.  Jersey is Jackson's sister.  She knows her brother's heart and that's important information that she's NOT sharing with Madly - Jersey may have some clam in her! 

Aiden is supposed to be Madly's fiancee very soon but that doesn't seem to be working out too well.  I really enjoyed his humor and the great relationship that he and Madly share.  It was so nice not to have a pouting male as the third wheel.

The story was fast paced and had a unexpected twist or two.  I could have read it in an afternoon but I decided to go back and read Madly before I finished this one.

If you love the YA urban fantasy scene, then this one is a must read!

Madly and Wolfhardt

3 comments:

  1. These sounds really good. I love the covers too. They are so cool!! Thanks for the great reviews chick!!

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  2. I'm so glad you liked them. The Jersey-Aiden-Madly banter is some of my fav parts, besides any scenes with Jackson ;)

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  3. Have not read either one. Love the beautiful cover art. I mentioned you on my blog today. http://fuonlyknew.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/one-lovely-blog-award/
    Have a great weekend.

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