Series Review: Wanted by Amanda Lance

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Synopsis for Wanted (from Goodreads):

Considering she’s a girl who calculates everything, Addie Battes knew the statistical probability of being abducted in her lifetime—too bad she never analyzed the odds of falling in love with her captor.

While stopping at a crowded rest area one summer night, seventeen-year-old Addie accidentally catches a truck hijacking in progress. Desperate to rid the crime of its only witness, one of the thieves kidnaps Addie. Yet surprisingly, when a renegade thief attempts to silence her for good, Addie is saved by the very man who abducted her. Now, forced on board a cargo ship in the middle of the ocean, Addie finds herself surrounded by international smugglers who want nothing more than to throw her overboard.

All except the artistic and intriguing Charlie Hays, whose strange protectiveness convinces Addie to trust him, even when common sense tells her otherwise. Yet, despite her doubt, and his unrelenting temper, their relationship develops into something much more. But, Charlie’s scorned colleague has stowed away, and as he seeks revenge against his coworker, Addie and Charlie are forced to put their new love—and lives—at risk.

SERIESous’ Top Book Series: Favourite Freebie Series 2014
Series: Wanted
Author: Amanda Lance
# of Books: 2 (Wanted, Conviction)

The book, Outlaw, is Wanted retold from Charlie’s POV

Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Dark, Crime, Suspense
Heat Rating: warm
Point of View: First Person, Single
Publication Dates: April 2013 – October 2013
Source & Format: Own–eBook

Why I Picked It Up?

One of my favourite books is a novel called Stolen by Lucy Christopher. It’s about a girl who gets abducted by a boy and the novel is told as a letter to her captor. It was so intriguing and unlike anything I have ever read and it’s always in the back of my mind. So when I saw the premise for Wanted one day when browsing the free bestseller’s list on Amazon, I immediately grabbed it (and eventually its sequel when it was available for free as well).

My Review:

I’ve read a lot of crappy free books but this wasn’t one of them. The writing was well done (though it would be nice to have some page breaks when things change to keep things straight) and Ms. Lance does a great job describing the scene and how Addie is feeling. I really liked Addie as a character and I enjoyed the rest of the cast as well.

I was worried about the romance between Addie and Charlie but I have to say it really grew on me. I saw their connection and liked how they interacted. But, I didn’t like how quickly everything happens (but I’m not surprised because it is an extreme situation and things always escalate quickly in those situations) and the age difference between them. Addie is extremely mature for her age (even before the whole abduction thing) but she is only 17 and I think I would have had an easier time with things if she was 19 years old instead.

I was excited to see where Conviction was going to go and I quickly dove into it. I didn’t love it as much as I liked Wanted but I did enjoy it. I just didn’t find it as exciting and suspenseful but it does pick up near the end. And while I was more accepting of their relationship in Wanted, I found myself a little uncomfortable with their relationship now. The inner psychologist in me found a few things unsettling and I just didn’t like Addie as much as I used to. But, don’t let that discourage you from reading the series because it does compliment the story well.

I will be picking up Outlaw because I’m intrigued to read why Charlie does what he does in Wanted so I’m looking forward to that.

–August 24, 2018– Book #1.5: Outlaw

**I stopped reading at 30% (middle of Chapter 6)**

It’s been a long time since I read the full novels in the series but I find that usually doesn’t matter for an alternative POV sequel. And that was the case here for the most part–only I’m not sure how much of this material was new vs rehashed.

The reason I DNF’d this though was that it was awfully repetitive within itself. Charlie runs the same inner monologue for the first quarter of this book and there is very little interaction with Addie. Charlie’s POV is exactly what I imagined it would be (slang, grammatical errors) but it was also hard to read for an extended time.

Series Rating: 3.5/5

Wanted 4/5 | [Outlaw DNF] | Conviction 3/5

This series isn’t for everyone and I think a lot of people will have a hard time accepting the relationship between Charlie and Addie. It isn’t the normal everyday relationship between a heroine and a hero and that is why I liked it, but I know others won’t.