ARC Review: Rended Hearts by Riza Curtis

From The Blurb:

After a life on the run, witch Gabriel just wants to enjoy having a home. He’s perfectly happy pottering around his garden and using magic to quietly help people. Then the Alpha of the local wolf pack is attacked by a member of the local coven, and everything changes. There’s no love lost between the witch and the wolves, but Gabriel saves the life of the Alpha in an attempt to keep the peace. 

Simon finds his mate in the witch that saves his life, but the coven is coming for Gabriel, and they don’t care who gets in their way... 

This novel is intended for adult audiences only, and contains violence, swearing, and graphic sex scenes. There are also mentions of off-page past suicide.

Karen's rating:

Just a little touch of different going on here...

When I read the blurb for this one I was intrigued. While I'm not a huge fan of the paranormal everyone once in a while something will catch my eye and get me to step outside of my little comfort zone and that's what happened with 'Rended Hearts' it held just that little something different for me it was honestly the fact that this was a story that didn't have the usual werewolf/vampire match-up. In 'Rended Heart' we're given a witch named Gabriel and an Alpha werewolf named Simon.

But what really added an  interesting twist was the history between wolves and witches and their origins and no, I'm not spilling the bean on that it's definitely an integral part of the story that made the fact that Gabriel and Simon were mates all the more intriguing for me.

I really liked Gabriel. He struck me as being someone who was comfortable with his abilities but  not overly confident. He'd spent his life in hiding from the covens who had taken his family from him and just wanted to live his life quietly in his small village serving the community as a healer.

While Simon was the alpha of his pack he really wasn't your typical alpha in that like Gabriel he was confident in his abilities but I never felt his character to be overly confident let alone arrogant. Again a character that I liked.

Simon was definitely the pursuer in this pairing with Gabriel being interested but for his own reasons feeling like a relationship with Simon wasn't in the cards for him. Until circumstances made him see that running from what he feared was no longer an option and that it was time for him to stand and fight for not just his freedom but for the safety of the community he's come to care about.


I really liked this story. It wasn't hugely bizarre or unusual, which granted can be a fun thing but it held subtle details that created a story that was just that little bit of different that made it fun...like the ending and how Gabriel resolved things...that was not what I was expecting and I liked it.

As for the sexy times they were there and I was good with the fact that they weren't blown into big graphic events. In fact there was more than one instance of the romance in this story slipping to the back burner while the conflict between Gabriel and the the coven's got center stage. So while there was definitely a romance going on here for me this was as much a paranormal mystery/thriller at time more of one than it was a paranormal romance which for me kept the relationship development from feeling rushed.

All in all there was more about this story that I liked than didn't and I would honestly like to see more of Gabriel and Simon as a couple maybe with a little more focus on their relationship development. The other thing that I enjoyed about this story is the potential...for me it felt like there was so many possibilities for the author to give us further stories about Gabriel, Simon and his pack, opportunities to create an even more fleshed out world...expanding on not just the relationship between Gabriel and Simon but to expand not just on the events of the past but the present and future as well...I think that's my subtle way of saying that I'd be happy to see the author expand this into a maybe a trilogy? or a series? Sometimes less is more but sometimes more can be better.

*************************

An ARC of 'Rended Hearts' was graciously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Buy the book:

Reading gives us someplace to go, when we have to stay where we are.  (Mason Cooley)

Buylinks are provided as a courtesy and do not constitute an endorsement of or affiliation with this book, author or booksellers listed.