Review: Wanted

Wanted by Amanda Lance
Age Group: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: May 1, 2013
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

Considering she’s a girl who calculates everything, Addie Battes knew the statistical probability of being abducted in her lifetime—too bad she never analyzed the odds of falling in love with her captor.

While stopping at a crowded rest area one summer night, seventeen-year-old Addie accidentally catches a truck hijacking in progress. Desperate to rid the crime of its only witness, one of the thieves kidnaps Addie. Yet surprisingly, when a renegade thief attempts to silence her for good, Addie is saved by the very man who abducted her. Now, forced on board a cargo ship in the middle of the ocean, Addie finds herself surrounded by international smugglers who want nothing more than to throw her overboard.

All except the artistic and intriguing Charlie Hays, whose strange protectiveness convinces Addie to trust him, even when common sense tells her otherwise. Yet, despite her doubt, and his unrelenting temper, their relationship develops into something much more. But, Charlie’s scorned colleague has stowed away, and as he seeks revenge against his coworker, Addie and Charlie are forced to put their new love—and lives—at risk.

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It’s probably wrong that I love the guy who is sort of the bad guy…right? That probably says some pretty bad things about me as a person. Wanted by Amanda Lance was a happy surprise. I had no idea I would enjoy the story as much as I did. Originally I chose to review this book because the cover is stunning and the blurb was interesting and I’m so glad I did because it surpassed any expectation I could have had for it.

Wanted follows 17-year-old Addie who is kidnapped by a group of thieves on the way back from dropping her brother off at an army base. Addie is smart, strong-willed and snarky, my favorite qualities in a main character. I really admire her curiosity in this story and her steal cojones. I swear she pushed the limits with the guys who took her, but her obvious connection with Charlie was probably my favorite part of this book.

Charlie…Oh Charlie. Technically he’s one of the bad guys, but really he’s so much more. I love how Lance developed his character, we learn a lot about him during his late night chats with Addie and all her questions. I love that he is so hot headed and protective of her and I really love that Addie seems to be the only person who can get through to him.

Charlie is a complex character and we learn a lot about his actions throughout the story. The bond he develops with Addie is intense and happens quickly. The only think that I didn’t particularly love was the age difference between the two. It’s just a personal preference I suppose, but I sort of just pretended Charlie was only like three years older than her rather than twelve.

What can I say, I’m weird with ages. But other than that I really enjoyed the action in the story. I enjoyed Addie sort of invading the group of thieves and their world. It was interesting, fast paced and filled of adventure. This was different than anything else I’ve ever read. I’m definitely looking forward to more books by Amanda Lance.

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Author Bio:

A native of New Jersey and lifelong nerd, Amanda Lance recently completed her Master in Liberal Arts at Thomas Edison State College after her BA in English Literature and AFA in creative writing. As an avid reader of all genres, some of her favorite authors include Hemingway, Marquis de Sade, Stevenson, Bukowski and Radcliffe.

When she isn’t writing or reading, Amanda can found indulging in film noir or hiking with her other half and their extremely spoiled dog. She is obsessively working on her next book and trying to tame her caffeine addiction.

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