Review: Cornered by J.A. Belfield

Cornered by J.A. Belfield
Series: Holloway Pack #5
Published by Indie
Published on: May 30, 2016
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Werewolves
Pages: 339
Format: eARC
Source: Author

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Daniel Larsen is playing a dangerous game, and he doesn't even know it.

A two-wheeled speedster. A little redhead in a bar. Evenings spent away from his pack. Innocent enough for most, but for Danny, the combination leads down a path of destruction and straight to a hell he doesn’t even see coming.

Entangled in a nightmare that started with his own brother and the cat he brought into their home, Dan’s driving himself toward a solitary existence—except for the curvaceous Olivia Fanella. Seduced by his new companion, and happy to ignore the divide growing between himself and the pack, Danny is oblivious to the trap being laid out for him.

Before long, Danny's integrity gets questioned. His loyalty gets questioned. Hell, he even questions himself.

On top of that, just when he believes life might be going a little better, he gets served the roughest shot he could never have imagined—not even in his worst nightmares—and Danny has no idea how to come back from a hit like that.

**Cornered contains scenes that some readers might find upsetting**

I was really eager to jump back into the HOLLOWAY PACK universe after a two-year hiatus, and having previously enjoyed Kyle Larsen’s story in book 4, UNNATURAL, the odds of me gelling with the younger Larsen brother as well seemed good. Regrettably, Danny came off as a petulant child incapable of understanding that there’s no “I” in team, and consequently CORNERED offered next to no character growth, and a second rate HEA.

The plot aligned somewhat with the preceding installment, so I was happy that Ethan, Brooke, Kyle and Gabe finally got some closure even though the means was kinda inadequate given the level of torture that they, and now Danny have endured. This was probably the darkest tome of the series, and other than boasting one impressively long lovemaking session, I found that the pacing was more sluggish than I would have liked.

Larsen was a walking disaster in this novel; from the immature way he dealt with his brother’s matehood, to his substance abuse, to his selfish refusal to follow his alpha’s orders which subsequently endangered the entire pack, to his irresponsible sexual relations. I wish I could say that he realized the error of his ways in the end, but it was more of a case of him left with no choice after painting himself into a corner.

There’s one graphic scene that some readers might find offensive however personally, after everything that Danny did in this volume, I was appeased that he suffered severe consequences for his actions. There were also a number of inconsistencies in this title; the protagonist pleaded ignorance a lot, but he’s a werewolf, how did he not smell the drugs in the cakes? Or that the blonde was a supe? Or that Liv was View Spoiler »ovulating « Hide Spoiler?

CORNERED wasn’t the best that the HOLLOWAY PACK has to offer.

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