Claimed

The Lair of the Wolven, Book 1

By: J. R. Ward

Narrated by: Jim Frangione

Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

A heart-pounding new series set in the Black Dagger Brotherhood world, with a scientist fighting to save the timber wolves - and getting caught in a deadly trap herself.... 

Lydia Susi is passionate about protecting wolves in their natural habitat. When a hotel chain develops a tract of land next to the preserve, Lydia is one of the most vocal opponents of the project - and becomes a target.

One night, a shadowy figure threatens Lydia’s life in the forest, and a new hire at the Wolf Study Project comes from out of nowhere to save her. Daniel Joseph is both mysterious and someone she intrinsically wants to trust. But is he hiding something?

As the stakes get higher and one of Lydia’s colleagues is murdered, she must decide how far she will go to protect the wolves. Then a shocking revelation about Daniel challenges Lydia’s reality in ways she could never have predicted. Some fates demand courage, while others require even more, with no guarantees. Is she destined to have true love...or will a soul-shattering loss ruin her forever? 

©2021 Love Conquers All, Inc. All rights reserved (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved

⭐️⭐️ 3.5 Stars ⭐️⭐️

I feel like we have been teased about the Wolven for so long. I love the direction this series is going but I really felt like this book was just a HUGE prologue. It took the entire book just to show us what this series is going to be about. I enjoyed it but was expecting different I guess from JR Ward.

You call this a werewolf book???

There is only 1 werewolf in this story and they don’t appear until the last half hour of this 11 hour book. The romance is luke warm and the story has more plot holes than Swiss cheese. This book definitely does not measure up to the JR Ward of the past. A sincere disappointment from one of my favorite authors. Bummer

Disappointing and confusing.....

I was looking forward to this new series. I found this audio book confusing and disjointed. Too often I had to rewind, thinking I'd missed something important only to realize I hadn't missed anything. The plot seemed incomplete. I wondered if an over achieving editor took out too many important details. There are so many plot holes you can drive a semi through. I liked the characters but don't understand what motivated them to do the things they did. Sure there's a small amount of resolution but not nearly enough for a satisfying ending. The tie in to the Black Dagger Brotherhood is flimsy at best and doesn't make sense in the story context. As an intro into the Wolven this book does more to frustrate and drive readers away than pull them in. I didn't enjoy listening to this story. I struggled to the ending and it felt more like work than entertainment. IMO there wasn't enough substance to look forward to the next book. The only saving grace was Jim Frangione's performance. Even his excellent narration couldn't save this story. I'll be returning this title.

I. Am. Beyond. Annoyed.

First, the narrator was great, as usual. I’m glad they were able to get the same narrator for this new series that has performed for several of the author’s other books.

Now, let’s get on to the book itself.

After 52 chapters I expected most questions to be tied up with a neat bow while giving clues about the next book.

NOPE!

There’s a large cast of players and we don’t find out until the last two minutes of the book that one of them might actually be related to another. But that’s not the biggest issue.

The issue is that according to the hero, this book spans three weeks. In that time everyone is either dead (secondary characters), dying (the hero), almost died (heroine) or in danger of dying (secondary cast from The Brotherhood that we know very little about).

There are so many loose ends flying in the wind, and after 50+ chapters the author tied up NONE OF THEM. Didn’t answer a single freaking question. It’s downright frustrating.

Being strung along for 52 chapters (especially when the female lead doesn’t get really interesting until the final 35 minutes of the book) doesn’t make me want to invest that much time into the next book because now I’m wondering if it’s just going to be a series of unanswered questions.

Not interested enough to find out.

SKIP IT... if you are a BDB fan.

No! This is thrown together and not reflective of the great work that J. R. Ward has provided in the past. I do realize that this is a test/introduction of a new group within the BDB universe, but NO. I feel let down by the lack of storyline and the absolutely lifeless characters. There was no one to "love to see appear" or "hate to see go" in this book. I felt as if this was a throw away to settle some sort of requirement instead of a work of her passion. I would rather know about the life of Havers instead of waiting for this this "Preordered" book. I have listened to Claimed twice to make sure I didn't miss vast amounts of important details. I did not miss anything. Mr. Frangione's reading was the best part of the experience. I wish that the BDB was at the forefront of J. R. Ward's attention by dedicating more books per year to those storylines rather than these other avenues (Burbon series, Angel's series, Fireman series).

Struggled to finish

Struggled to finish. Not on the same level as BDBH. I know JR had to lay the foundation for the new series but this one was slow and I found myself drifting off and having to rewind. The pinnacle of the story left me scratching my head. On a positive note, the performance was spectacular, as always. Jim Francine is a master storyteller, imo. Hopefully book 2 will round out the confusing storyline and be more BDBH-ish. STILL a JR fan and will continue to support her work.

A little disappointed.

The book left a lot of questions and situations unanswered and unresolved. The book left frustrated and confused.

Nice intro to meet the "Wolvens"!

The Warden has opened the world of BDB in a nice way. IMO it's great how she is introducing all the other characters living in her BDB world. This time we meet the Wolvens and as always the story set's you up for the next chapter. Can you say cliffhanger? This one is just like all the others, it's a cliffhanger but it's well written and entertaining. We will see some old friends we love from the BDB and I can't wait to see how they play into the whole of the story.

Lydia Susi is a very passionate researcher who champions the wolves on protected land. She is against the hotel development that is building a new resort right next door and want's to "protect" their future guess by killing off the wolves. They feel that the wild wolves will endanger the lives of the people they expect to visit. Lydia just wants them gone! She sees the value of the wolf's life as more than just an animal.

Daniel Joseph comes to the WSP, (Wolf Study Project), as a new hire, and the attraction between the two is evident from the beginning. There is an undeniable animal magnetism that can't be ignored and they soon find themselves in a romance. The problem between them is the fact that Daniel is a supposed drifter, but turns out to be something totally different. Lydia is attacked in the forest preserve one night and Daniel saves her life. Wolfs are being poisoned and a fellow worker has been killed so together they set off to discover who is causing this trouble.

Lydia and Daniel both hold a big secret that they can't share and must decide who they can really trust. There are some side characters that leave you with unanswered questions and the story is set up for the entry of a few BDB members. When the main crux of the story hit I found myself sitting with my mouth hanging open. What a surprise and an unexpected twist! For me, it was very enjoyable and I look forward to seeing how J.R. brings it all together.

This is a spin-off into the BDB world, so I didn't really expect it to read like the BDB books concerning the brothers. I enjoyed it for its own possibilities and I look forward to the next read.

Jim Frangione does a great job as always and makes this listen another 5 star rating!

Great new series still within the greater Brotherhood

I was hoping there would be a overlay with the Brotherhood and yeah I got it! The best part is that I did not guess it was Lydia who was the wolven. Looking forward to seeing how Hex’s background will play out within this new series and how they may help Daniel with his cancer diagnosis. Additional characters were excellent. Wondering if the sheriff is a wolven himself based on the picture of him/his father at the high school. JR Ward always leaves good strings to speculate with.

Perfect!

Love Jim, narrator! Absolutely love the story and the connection to Nyx. Perfect just perfect.

Don’t listen to anything others are saying! This is good!

I was wary of listening to this because of some things I was hearing in the BDB fan sites, but I really liked this. Chex may not be my favorite character, but i don’t hate hearing more about her. And I love Lydias character! I like the addition of the wolves…. I just liked this book!

JR Ward is a favorite and the BDB is a favorite…. And Jim Frangione? I could listen to him read the phone book I think.

I read what others are saying…. And I’m asking you to not pay attention to that and decide for yourself.