Wanted: A Look into Dark Themes and Complex Characters

Wanted by Lauren Biel

Wanted is a DARK GRAY romance novella with high spice and low plot. This home invasion story will leave you questioning if you should leave your door open at night.
I’m wanted.
On the lam, running from the law and my mistakes. The house tucked into the trees seems safe—an excellent place to hide out.
Once inside, I find something unexpected. A nurse that can do more than heal my wounds. But the longer I’m awake, the more reality starts to blur, and I can’t tell what’s real and what’s not anymore.
Plagued by ill fantasies and temptation, I try to keep her safe from me. It works until the lines between us also begin to blur.
Vanessa, like her home, will never be the same once I get inside.
Wanted is a dark, spicy novella with a plethora of content advisories. It’s part of Lauren Biel’s “after dark” collection, and warnings on LaurenBiel.com should be taken seriously.

Around the 25th May, I realised that, unintentionally, I had read every day so far this month and decided to challenge myself to do a full month of reading every day. So, here I was on the 31st, sitting there, realising I had finished my book yesterday and would lose my challenge with myself unless I read today. I wanted a book that I could read quickly, as I was tired and I didn’t want to start it in May and finish it in June. I don’t know why I’m weird like that; whatever month I start my book in is the month I need to finish it. So, I went to Amazon and searched for “Dark Romance Novella,” and I saw this one. I have read a few of Lauren Biel’s books and knew I liked her writing style, so I bought the ebook.

This novella follows Cole who is off his rocker on meth and breaks into someones house, however he doesn’t expect them to be home and kills them. He then runs away and decides to hide out at a secluded house where he meets Vanessa, who is a nurse. He doesn’t want to hurt her, but he keeps her captive in her own house, knowing he is about to go through withdrawals. Through his delirium, Cole has fantasies of taking Vanessa by force. He does not act on these. When he is sober, he then does act on them, however, saying that he was listening to Vanessa’s body. Vanessa admits at the end that she does want him but she can’t let herself want him because he is a killer and so he is right that her body is saying yes. (if any of that makes sense lol)

I love dark romance, I love erotic horror, I love pitch black and morally grey. This one for me however, didn’t hit the mark. I think that is because I usually find a charming or redeemable quality to the “villain”; I couldn’t find that with Cole. He turned to drugs because his wife was cheating, a lame excuse to be honest. He has broken into countless houses and killed a couple, and on the same night, he keeps Vanessa hostage. I know it is a novella, but a better back story for Cole may have made a difference. I’m not sure. I enjoyed the writing style, I just didn’t vibe with the characters, and that’s okay. As readers, we aren’t always going to vibe with every character an author creates. I didn’t vibe with Cole and Vanessa, but you may love them; reading is subjective.

Will I read more Lauren Biel? Fuck yeah I will. I rated this one 3.5 stars.