Shannon C‘s guest review of Last Wolf Standing (Bloodrunners, Book 1) by Rhyannon Byrd
Paranormal romance released by Harlequin Nocturne 1 Mar 08

Rhyannon Byrd’s Blood Runners series will not be new to anyone who’s read paranormal romances for any given amount of time. The series features fated mates, blood bonds, a group who needs to hunt down rogues, and plenty of sequel-baiting.

The book tells the story of Mason, who discovers his lifemate, Torrance, while he’s in a coffee shop. Almost immediately, Torrance finds herself embroiled in an adventure for which she is unprepared with a sexy man she can’t get out of her head. But she wants more from Mason than just his body, desiring a commitment he can’t give her. Soon Mason must decide how much he wants Tori, and the wrong decision could tear their bond apart permanently.

I liked the fact that Mason wasn’t entirely sure what he was supposed to do about Tori. As he says early on, her scent is complicated, and he doesn’t need or want complications in his life. This is because he’s a Blood Runner, a werewolf who hunts down rogue werewolves. A rogue, of course, enjoys snacking on people like you or me. And our chief rogue here is a werewolf named Simmons, who is kind of cute in his cartoony sadistic evilness.

Unfortunately, I didn’t pick up much that was complicated about Torrance. She was Blandy McBlanderson. She has a bland job and she even has a bland best friend who runs an occult shop. (Am I seriously the only person ever who has gone to an occult shop run by kindly elderly grandma types? Because according to romancelandia, occult shops are all run by quirky, inexplicably wealthy young women who act as best friends.)

Anyway, my major issue with this book was that I’ve read stories like it before. I suppose if a reader was new to paranormal romances, they might find this more entertaining than I did, but I saw just about every plot twist coming, and I can pretty much name the heroes in at least the next six books. For all that, though, it’s a pleasant enough story, and it’s a quick read.

Grade: C

Read Devon’s review here.

     Five seconds ago, Mason Dillinger would have sworn that it could never happen . . .

     That a woman who was his perfect match even existed. And that he’d find her in a bustling café. Yet just the scent of sweet, mortal Torrance Watson ignited a driving, explosive need to claim her that he knew his Pack would never sanction. . . . Worse, the rogue werewolf he’d been hunting had sensed that attraction and made Torry his prey. Forced to safeguard her from this ruthless assassin who already posed a threat to his Pack, Mason now faced the ultimate challenge. Does he have the courage to cross the line by sealing the blood bond that will make Torry his alone-a disloyalty few of his kind ever survived-or live an eternity without love?

     Read an excerpt here.

Other books in this series:

Read more from ShannonC at her personal blog Flight Into Fantasy.

Devon’s review of Last Wolf Standing (Bloodrunners, Book 1) by Rhyannon Byrd
Paranormal romance released by Harlequin Nocturne 1 Mar 08

Soul mates, fated mates, life mates…just the mention of the device is enough to strike horror in the hearts of some readers and sighs of delight in others. The idea that there is someone out there meant for one of us, someone with whom you can have a bone-deep connection, is very romantic. However, the soul mate premise, so often used in paranormal romance, usually means that romantic and sexual tension is slim to none. There is no “will they-or won’t they,” no delicious drama where two disparate souls come together, because it’s all auomatic and “just because”. So when half-breed werewolf Mason Dillinger spots Torrance Watson across a crowded café and knows she is his, I was a little leery.

Last Wolf Standing was an entertaining shapeshifter romance. Ms. Byrd makes it clear that a chemical connection is not enough to sustain life mates, which I liked. I looked forward to seeing their connection fulfilled, but I was a bit disappointed in how it played out. A lot of this was due to Mason. He’s your standard broody, tough paranormal hero type, and although he craves Torrance sexually, and wants to know everything about her, he refuses to believe that he can love.

I hate that, it seems so contrived to produce tension. That “I refuse to fall in love…I’m just obsessed with you” crap. Whatever, dude. Here’s a quarter, buy yourself a clue. When he had his stunning revelation that he was in love, it was too little too late for me. Sigh. On the up side, Mason’s fellow Bloodrunners (half-breed werewolves that hunt rogue werewolves) showed far more personality than he did. I hope they get books, because I’d like to know more about each.

Torrance was the better character. Kind of timid, plagued by childhood fears, she was brave and strong when the chips were down. A likeable heroine, she deserved a more interesting hero than Mason. I also found the overall plotline intriguing. It was left open-ended, and I assume it will develop further in future books. I am definitely interested in how the storyline will play out.

Although I was disappointed in Mason and the development of his romance with Torrance, this was an action packed, fast read, with enough of interest that I will definitely read the next in the series. Worth a go for werewolf fans, and those who enjoy love on the run. The next two are out back to back, this April and May. (Squee! I want!)

Grade: B-

     Five seconds ago, Mason Dillinger would have sworn that it could never happen . . .

     That a woman who was his perfect match even existed. And that he’d find her in a bustling café. Yet just the scent of sweet, mortal Torrance Watson ignited a driving, explosive need to claim her that he knew his Pack would never sanction. . . . Worse, the rogue werewolf he’d been hunting had sensed that attraction and made Torry his prey. Forced to safeguard her from this ruthless assassin who already posed a threat to his Pack, Mason now faced the ultimate challenge. Does he have the courage to cross the line by sealing the blood bond that will make Torry his alone—a disloyalty few of his kind ever survived—or live an eternity without love?

     Read an excerpt here.

Other books in this series:

Teddypig’s review of Cascadia Wolves: Standoff by Lauren Dane
Paranormal romance ebook released by Samhain on 4 Mar 08

[Ed Note: WARNING: HERE BES Spoilers, A.K.A. the End of the Book.... Proceed With Caution.... Also, we moved this post to show up once the book was released.]

First off, let’s get one thing straight here. If you have read the most excellent Cascadia Wolves eBook series, you are gonna buy this book. No question! You will get this book and read it because Enforcer and Tri Mates was Werewolf Romance crack.But, then I am left trying to explain my allergic reaction to reading this last entry in the series. That is where I ran into the proverbial brick wall. I love Lauren Dane. I love her families and I love her complex worlds and I like her not making her characters too omnipotent and rich and spoiled, because when she writes normal everyday characters with warm families, and difficult but reasonable limitations and life experiences, she so rocks.

So why did I not like this book?

After sitting on this review for a while I can only summarize it felt to me like Lauren undermined her own strengths here for the sake of writing a straight forward romantic story with simple actions and a pat ending, that’s why! This final book called for acknowledgment of all she had created in the course of the series and it just seemed to fail in that regard.

Grace Pellini, the most evil villain Warren Pellini’s sister, turns out to be Cade Warden’s fated mate. This is a damn good setup for the big finale here – in theory. I still like the drama of my own idea better – Lex Warden dies and Cade is left to take care of and mate with Nina – but I am a dark dark horrid Pig that thinks younger brothers make great targets.

Anyway, Lauren’s idea here does not bother me so much. In fact, putting Cade on his own away from Cascadia to handle the Warren Pellini problem and then introducing his mate is an excellent choice with a lot of potential that gets him off balance and makes things more intense.

BUT!

What actually happens… Cade meets Grace. Cade jumps Grace. Cade drags Grace back to Cascadia. HUH!?!?!?! With Nina preggers and stuck in bed? WTF!?

Cade tells Lex and Nina the good news on the phone and they turn into these strange alien harpies I did not know. They started acting totally out of character making absolutely no sense with their reactions. Cade is their Alpha right? They act like nasty spoiled children. Very un-family like and WTF?!

So here we go down a path I was totally uncomfortable with…

Why put pregnant Nina in danger by dragging Grace back to his Cascadia house, thus making everyone there great big targets?

Why was Lex, a life long werewolf and Cade’s brother, so down on Cade for mating with Grace? When he knows from his own experience MALE WEREWOLVES HAVE NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER!?

Why was the threat of the Pellini organization kept so remote to our heroes? Half the time I was reading this book, I felt they were all sitting around watching CNN and talking about the latest Pellini attack, like we all do about the Iraq War. In other words, they had no personal involvement until the end, when Warren Pellini’s minions finally show up to threaten Grace at the airport.

Why was Warren Pellini, who Lauren expertly made into a very evil and unstoppable corruptive force, so easy to take out in a one on one duel the end? I mean Lauren pointed out several times that Warren was not a “real” alpha. She also shows how he runs the group even here in this book:

Warren’s spies were everywhere, she trusted absolutely no one, not even her own parents.

To me this type of enemy is complex and very dangerous because you could take out Warren but his organization makes the next in line just as evil and just as dangerous. In other words, not only would every rogue werewolf be in the pack hierarchy, but also “only there for their own benefit,” making it not only an unstable organization, but also unstoppable and highly adaptable evil-wise.

So at the end Warren Pellini poisons the Mega Alpha which forces Cade to go one on one with Warren. Why did it take so long for this to happen if this was all that had to be done? The aftermath being Cade becomes this Supreme-ruling-Alpha and everyone plays nice THE END. ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Don’t get me wrong. I hope Lauren takes all her strengths she has shown in the Cascadia series, lists them out, perfects each one, and then mixes them with the stuff I loved in the Chase series. I would so be drooling over reading about blue collar werewolves in small towns trying to just make a living and find true love. I know I am sorta suggesting perfecting a formula out of all this. But you know what? A good formula can be so worth the effort especially if it makes for a juicy series of books.

Grade: D

Blurb:

Cade Warden has put his Pack first for most of his life and now Warren Pellini and his thugs threaten everything he holds dear. Into that life of intense focus and increasing loneliness walks the woman he’s been waiting for.

Grace Pellini isn’t just Cade’s mate, she’s the sister of his greatest enemy and she’s been putting herself in grave danger to gather information to aid the Nationally Allied Packs. Cade is everything she could have hoped for in a man even if he is overprotective and pushy at times.

Against the backdrop of their increasing passion and deepening bond, they race against time to find a key to stop Pellini’s biological weapon. And then the stakes rise again when Pellini calls an ancient Challenge. It’s up to Grace to stand by and let her mate risk everything for his people. And his life is in her hands.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series.

Read more from Teddypig at The Naughty Bits.