Covet

Introduction

Covet is the third installation of Tracy Wolff’s Crave series and was published on March 2nd, 2021, by Entangled Publishing company only six months after the release of Crush. I am hoping to have the December reviews come out quickly now that my fall semester is over, but I know better than to make any promises. As always with my big series reviews, the Spoiler-Free Thoughts section will be safe for those who haven’t read this book, but previous books in the series are fair game for discussion. The Thoughts section will delve deeper into the events of this book. I love having conversations about these stories, so please leave comments on these posts or messages in my DMs with your own opinions.

If you want to keep up with Tracy Wolff and the rest of her work, visit her website https://tracywolffauthor.com and follow her on Instagram @tracywolffbooks.

Plot

With graduation nearing and an eternal prison sentence iminent, Grace, Hudson, and Jaxon work against Cyrus and attempt to fix their knotted bonds.

Spoiler-Free Thoughts

I’ve mentioned it before on this site, but my least favorite trope in books is the “miscommunication trope.” Conversations are never finished and problems or confessions that could be solved or given the first few times around take the entire book wrap up. I could tell that Hudson and Jaxon were holding back from Grace, and she wasn’t necessarily being forthcoming with them either, but at least they all had their reasons. I also appreciated the short conversations. They usually weren’t complete, and I did find myself wanting more out of them, but slow progress is still progress, which is more than I usually get with this trope.

Grace might be holding back with the Vega boys, but not with her other friends, and it’s so refreshing to not have a main character be completely oblivious. Macy went through some serious trauma in the previous book, they all did, but seeing her so dull is a huge contrast to her previously bubbly personality, and I felt that grief with them for all they had lost. Flint has secrets of his own that Grace is finally picking up on. He has become a grounding character in addition to the comedic relief he was already providing. He has to be one of the most dynamic characters in this series, and I have really grown to love him.

I enjoyed what this book brought to the table, but something I am noticing with this series is that they are packed from cover to cover with story. This is very engaging, but it definitely makes my job harder when I go six months between the read and the review, and then have to attempt to separate the events of the six books from one another. The ending of this book didn’t feel quite as impactful as the ending of Charm, but the questions it left me with did set up the next book well. All in all, I liked this book, and I would rate it an 8.5/10.

Thoughts

The previous book, Charm, left us off with Hudson announcing that he and Grace were mates freshly after her revival and the shattering of her mating bond with Jaxon, so I was ready to see what happened next. I think I can sum it up by saying that my first note when reading this book was “This Vega nonsense is such a mess, and I’m eating it up.” Jaxon was safe for her - comparatively - in that they complement one another very well, so I absolutely feel for him. However, Hudson and Grace actually challenge one another, which I really do tend to prefer in these book couples.

As mentioned above, I typically dislike the miscommunication trope, but I found this one tolerable because I could tell that Hudson was holding back because he thought that he was giving Grace what she wanted. I was really glad to see the complex nature of the mating bond explored because sometimes I do worry that fate chooses wrong, or it’s a cop out to get beyond difficult issues because they’re supposedly “meant to be.” I didn’t get that impression here, and as the book went on, I thought that Grace’s relationship with Jaxon felt forced, and hers with Hudson was difficult but more genuine and natural. Not only that, but people change. Maybe Jaxon was a good match for human Grace, but not gargoyle Grace. She became someone different, which isn’t anyone’s fault, but it changed the nature of their relationship. I will say, when Hudson confesses to her that he loves her and she hesitates to return the sentiment, I was not thrilled.

The plot of this book was loaded, like both of the ones before it, but the part that stood out to me most was the prison. The new characters of Remy and Calder are wonderful, and they do take the edge off of the prison environment, if only slightly; however, they couldn’t take away from the depths of Hudson’s trauma, which are deeper than even Grace knew, but seeing it turn him into a shell of the man we know was devastating. Then add to that not only Jaxon losing his soul because of the shattered mating bond, and Flint’s mom being the one to save him by giving up her Dragon Heart for the sake of her son’s happiness, and it became a full circle moment.

Flint’s mother appears to be as grounded as her son but lacking in his sense of humor. Nuri really is just a more mature version of him, and that really shows in her meeting with Grace. As ridiculously unrealistic as it would be for everything to go perfectly, it is just as unrealistic for every plan they have to fail miserably, so their conversation going reasonably well felt like a breath of fresh air. They also both made excellent points, which was a relief. Selflessness and love for those you care about will win a war, but so will grounding yourself in the smaller picture. Speaking of the impending battle, the end of this book left me with several questions. What’s going on with the Crown? What is Grace’s green string? And how will only eleven people win a war?