Book Review: Volition by Shawn Kirsten Maravel

 Genre: Young Adult  (Paranormal Romantic Thriller)

Volition is the first book in the Volition Series written by Shawn Kirsten Maravel. On a night out with her friends, college student, Charlotte Rush, found herself in a dark hotel room with a mysteriously familiar and handsome man after being drugged. He claimed to have rescued her, and from something deep within herself, she believes him. Together, they try to figure out who drugged her in the first place. Through it all he maintains an air of mystery around himself by never giving her direct answers as to who he really is. She begins to re-think her trust in him and wonders if he is really the hero she wants to believe he is and soon finds that there are more dangers after her. 

Volition has everything you'd want in a forbidden romance. There is the chemistry between the characters, the mystery surrounding the handsome stranger, the unexpected dangers, and the humor. Watching the relationship between Charlotte and Joel grow had a magnetism that kept me wanting more. I figured out pretty early what Joel was, and even though I thought it should have been pretty obvious to Charlotte as well, I was still unsure of his true motives. Themes are discussed such as rape that may be suitable for a more mature young adult audience depending on parental preference. This is a serious real life topic, and I thought the discussions were conducted very tastefully with minimal detail. The situations some of the women survived in the book may even offer comfort and support to women who have had similar experiences in real life. This was a highly entertaining and addictive story. There were twists and turns all along the adventure that was reading Volition. Even the ending will leave you with an unexpected twist that will have you running to read Severance, the second book in the series.

 Shawn Kirsten Maravel wrote Volition during the year her husband was deployed in Iraq.To learn more about this author and her books, visit her blog. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter. 

This book was sent to me from the author for review. The opinions are my own.

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