You hear about people that have OCD, but this book smacked me in the face with reality. I’ve thought multiple times that I have a small form of OCD, and I might, but Natalya has a whole other level and it is crazy. Throw in the fact that she is werewolf and her pack sees her as weak and BAM I’m done like Christmas dinner. In the beginning I felt like her OCD took the front seat to her life, but as I kept reading I realized that that was the point. It was over taking her life, and it wasn’t until a couple of chapters in that you learn more about Nat and start to see her wanting to change. I wasn’t 100% sold on Nat at first because she is very submissive and does not stick up for herself, but that is something that comes as a side-effect to her condition, thankfully it does start to change when she realizes the things that are important in her life. And she tries to change for her own good. She goes on an extremely awkward date, invites an old friends into her home, and gets completely confused by her ex-boyfriend. That’s ok cause he confuses the heck out of me too. Many times while I read this novel I questioned whether or not Thorn actually liked her or if he was just conflicted because of his responsibility to the pack. Oh, Thorn…you’re pretty hot. I can tell. Oh, and then she starts to get funny feelings from Nick (another supernatural creature who is very persistent-me likey). I feel a love triangle come on. So, that being said the characters were awesome and interesting, but the writing was very awkward and hard to follow in this novel. That is the only thing that made me give it a four out of five. For one, I felt like things didn’t really get explained very well. Some things did, but unless I’ve missed something I felt like it as never really explained why Thorn left five years ago and never came back. I also found her relationship with Aggie to be confusing at first. She seemed cold to her at the same time she said she as thankful that Aggie was at her door, and I also felt like it was never really explained how her and Aggie lost touch (I’m assuming it was because Nat moved from New York). Then there is the transformation. I got very very confused about when people were in wolf form or not, and near the end of the novel it stated that only older powerful Werewolves could stop the transformation in the middle of the change, so sometimes when she was talking about her claw, pouncing, sniffing, and nipping at people’s heels then stated that the same person talked or was in human form I had to re-read a page or two to make sure I hadn’t missed something. Otherwise, if it wasn’t for the confusing non-explanations and writing style I really enjoy this novel. Good: Nat—She really grew on me and I’m proud of her. A fictional character…I know, I know. Thorn—He’s interesting and I want to know more Nick—I like Nick. He makes me smile and I think he might be good for Nat. Aggie—She’s funny. The Cover—I know, I know a weird thing to like, but to be honest that is exactly how I picture them! Sometimes you read a book and you realized that the cover characters were not exactly how you pictured them…well, I had no complaints this time. That is Nat, and that is Thorn to me. Bad: Thorn—I’m confused of his intentions. I don’t know if maybe that is what Shawntelle Madison wanted, but she got it. The writing—A lot of things we not explained, or explained correctly (although I hear the reason behind Thorn leaving is in her Novella, I may have to check it out). And many times I was confused about what exactly was going on. Overall (Writing style, story line, and general): Overall the book was enjoyable. It felt like a mixture of Sookie Stackhouse (the brother, and multiple different Sups after her), Alpha & Omega (a scared and damaged female wolf), and Mercy Thompson series (an independent and lone wolf). Its definitely a good story and one I plan on continuing with (in fact I’ve requested an ARC of Kept), but I hope the explanations and writing gets better in the second book because it sort of did drive me a little crazy. View more of my review and others at my blog: www.mynotsovacantshelf.blogspot.com