The Lair of the Wolven Book 1: Claimed by J.R. Ward

The Lair of the Wolven Book 1

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, others require even more, with no guarantees. Is she destined to have true love... or will a soul-shattering loss ruin her forever?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55711656-claimed

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My Review: 5/5 Stars

J.R. Ward has hinted for a long time about the wolven and finally we get the first book of the wolven series! Like a lot of Ward's books in the Black Dagger Brotherhood world, there is always more than one story going on that will even connect in unexpected ways. The main heroes of our story are Lydia and Daniel. Lydia's main goal and her job is to protect wolves in their natural habitat. But with a hotel being built right smack in the middle and wolves dying because they are being poisoned, she is having a hard time doing her job. So she takes things into her own hands. The Wolf Study Project may be falling apart the more she looks into helping the wolves, but she won't stop until she has answers. No matter the cost and no matter what she might find. She won't be frightened off. Then there is Daniel. A drifter who winds up looking for a job at Lydia's job as a gatekeeper. Daniel is the definition of mysterious. There is too many unknowns about him. Lydia and Daniel end up working together when they discover some leads about who is hurting the wolves. Their journey together leads to the most unexpected places and of course romance between the two. Meanwhile, the other part of this story Xhex. A beloved character in the BDB world and she is having a rough time. Nightmares she thought she finally put behind her have remerged and they are getting worse as each night passes. And when V gives her one word: wolven, everything changes. I will say it took me a little bit to get into this story. I mostly wanted to get to Xhex's part of the story! But you can't help that when you see familiar characters. But I will say by the time you hit near the end of the story there are so many unexpected twists that I just didn't see coming. And I definitely want to know more. This felt like a beginning and with that end of the story, I definitely can't wait for book two!