Just Finished Reading: Fated (Dark Protectors #1)

Fated by Rebecca Zanetti

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I should likely begin by saying that I'm not one who spends a lot of time in the romance genre. The covers rarely captivate me enough & neither do the summaries. This looked interesting to me so I gave it a try.



Oddly enough, I found the parts in this book that I liked the most were the secondary characters (all the Kurjans, Katie, Talen's brothers, Emma) the science & the action sequences. All of that was intriguing & really where I think the story shines. The romance between Cara/Talen was minimally decent. Honestly. it wasn't so much romance as clinical-type conversations interspersed with sex. I will give that some of their most relevant emotional connecting took place during sex & that was credible to me as a sort of romantic bonding. Since they're "Fated" I guess they don't need to waste time on things like getting to know one another or foreplay. Cara was a bit bland when she was around Talen, in general & came off as never having bothered to figure out who she was as a person before he arrived in her life. It's not necessarily bad, but I need better than that from heroines that speak to me & make me cheer. Talen was a bit bland because... I don't know why really. He's perfectly handsome, way alpha-possessive, will protect until his last breath & is crazy-expert when it comes to sex. M'kay. Not surprising given the genre but he didn't captivate me in the wish-fulfillment department. It probably didn't help that Cara vacillated between arousal & fear of him & I'm not into the "I didn't do as he instructed & now he's really pissed & I'm afraid he might actually hurt me & I'm all into the danger of it" thing. To be fair to the story, it is made clear that Cara has abusive Daddy issues, so maybe that's part of it. I don't know. I liked it when he had moments to impart his family history & all that was going on between the different factions. None of that ever came off as an info-dump by the author. It was well executed & quite enjoyable. I don't usually have much tolerance for precocious & "specially destined" children but I did warm to Janie. She's still no Alia Atreides. I did find it rather ridiculous that Cara could be away from her child for weeks at a stretch but when she's finally reunited with her daughter for a mere hour, she's all craving, needy & missing Talen. I'm not a mother but as a woman all I could say was "What?!" & also "Girl, Please! Get a damned grip!"



I will definitely read the next in the series to see what's next (cause it's already waiting for me on my Kindle). Maybe I'll find more depth & enjoyment in the mains & lots more on the secondaries. Overall, I think it was an okay book. It kept me turning the pages & whenever I was ready to give up ("stars exploding" euphemisms, overkill of eye color descriptions, the word "mate" used ad infinitum as a term of endearment until it creates a bindspot in the reading & way too much post-sex blushing/flushing from Cara, especially after weeks of the deed with Talen (gmab, please)), I was pulled back in by something interesting & cool (hierarchy, treachery, faction/family histories & genetics chatter). I'm all in for the world the author has created.



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