Covet by Melissa Darnell
Series: The Clann #2
Published by Harlequin Teen
Publish Date: September 25, 2012
Source: Publisher
Find it here: Goodreads / Amazon
Dangerous to be together. Painful to be apart.
Savannah Colbert knows she broke up with Tristan Coleman for the right reasons. Most of all, to keep from killing him with her new vampire abilities. But try telling her heart. Now, lost in a sea of hostile Clann faces, Sav tries to come to terms with what she’s becoming and what that means for her future. And that someone is doing their best to bully her into making a terrible mistake.
Tristan can’t believe Sav won’t even talk to him. If being apart is her decision, fine. Just don’t expect him to honor it. But even as he prepares to fight for the girl he loves, forces beyond their control take them both in directions neither could have foreseen or prepared for.
Covet by Melissa Darnell begins smoothly where the first book leaves off. From the very beginning of this book, Savannah and Tristan have problems with their relationship, now that everyone knows that it exists and pretty much nobody approves of it. In order to protect Tristan and to keep positive relations between the vampires and the witches, Savannah makes a deal to stay away from the boy that she loves. She breaks up with Tristan even though she doesn’t want to; they’re both very much in love with one another. (Despite its importance, it is clear that this break-up is destined to be unsuccessful.)
For a large part of this book, Savannah and Tristan are basically mourning their break-up. They both make semi-decent efforts at trying to move on, but neither of them make any real progress. All the two really accomplish is making one another jealous and making assumptions about each other, which causes problems between them. After reading the first book in this series, it felt like there was more in the way of silly drama in this installment, which bogged the story down for a little while. I think that is why it took me a month to read it. I did not dislike this story and I wasn’t disinterested in it – I got a little bit bored with the petty jealousy and childish behavior; it went on for what felt like many pages. HOWEVER — I was happy when the two were able to move on and get back together because then I felt like the story began to progress.
And progress it did.
Things picked up at a certain point: there was more about the paranormal creatures interactions-on-thin-ice and a little less about the romance aspect. I loved this shift of focus. New characters were introduced, which I loved, and I’m hoping that this new part of the story carries over into the next installment. Also, some new conflicts and issues came to light that created a ton of great tension in the latter part of the book – it was very exciting. Additionally, some characters do not live to make it into the third installment and this could potentially create a shift in power among one or both of the groups. Now, will these parts of the plot continue in the final installment? I don’t know, really, because something pretty huge happened with Tristan and I’m assuming it changes the entire trajectory of the series, and it will likely also involve Savannah.
What will happen now? I DON’T KNOW.
Despite the drama between Savannah and Tristan early on, I still really like them as characters. Savannah is working toward living safely as a vampire (aka controlling her bloodlust) and Tristan is just an all-around good guy. I like these two together as love interests. I also like Savannah’s friends, and I super-duper-love how her father has really stepped up his parenting game in this book. (I have my eye on Tristan’s sister!)
I forgive the slow-moving first portion of the book with the relationship drama because the latter portion more than makes up for it. I’m all geared up to to begin Consume, the next installment of this series, to see what happens next, now that (scroll over to read if you want: spoiler alert!) Tristan is a vampire and the Clann leadership is in chaos. I really want a happy ending for this couple and I also want these groups of creatures to be able to coexist and get along. Will this happen? No clue. I’ll never get tired of these types of stories, though. I’m excited to find out what is next.
I recommend Covet by Melissa Darnell for readers that enjoy young adult paranormal stories with romance.
Romance: No triangle.
Alternating POV’s
More by Melissa Darnell:
DUUUUUUUDE! I forgot to keep up with this series, but I was obsessed with it. Thank you for bringing it to my attention again, lol.