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Dark Wolf Returning (2000)

by Rhyannon Byrd(Favorite Author)

4.18 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Romance

series

Bloodrunners

review 1: Final book in the Dark Wolf mini series and just as good as the second (I'm not sure I ever finished the first one). I absolutely ADORED Carla and how she can (and does) kick some serious backside when the situation calls for it. Eli ... ahh, poor Eli. He really loved his family, just had the typical male inability to communicate and made assumptions that he shouldn't have.The two's incompletely formed bond made a different turn on the "soul mate" idea, and I enjoyed seeing whether or not they would actually finish it (well, of course they would, I knew that, but still...the author made you wonder just how it was gonna get pulled off). I totally believed in their relationship and the fact that they would stay together forever by the end. I also really liked Eli's growth in... moreto accepting Carla for all that she could offer, rather than continuing past the point of idiocy to "keep her safe".I liked seeing the Silvercrest pack deal with the Whiteclaws and other prospective enemies, along with the ongoing issue of the super drug that gave some wolves the ability to shift even during the day.Awesome book, glad to read it!Book provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
review 2: Fantastic PNR Series!I received my copy of Dark Wolf Returning by Rhyannon Byrd through the Goodreads FirstReads program.While this is book 6 of the Bloodrunners series, and the first of the series that I have read, at no time did I feel that I was out of the loop. Clearly some characters had already had page time and experienced their happily-ever-after, and some characters were being set up for future novels, but Rhyannon Byrd dealt with their back stories with such ease and fluidity that it never felt like the much dreaded "catch-up" chapter. Yes, I was baited to want to read their stories, but I didn't feel deprived of the information necessary to appreciate the current situation.Ms Byrd's world building is superb, reminding me somewhat of Larissa Ione's Moonclan Vampire series. There is a long, embattled history between the White Claw and the Silvercrest Lycan communities, which provides the background security/danger element to the storyline. There are also politics at play within the Silvercrest Lycan, with divisions between Shifters and the Bloodrunners of the Alley. It is within this smaller microcosm that Eli and Carla find themselves.The book opens with Carla Reyes, a Bloodrunner, a mixed breed, tracking down Eli Drake and his crew of powerful shifters in a dive bar. Carla and Eli have a past, a tortured past, but Carla had put that aside for the sake of the pack. She needs Eli to return to the community, to his brother and sister and his rightful place in the community in order to protect the Silvercrest from the threat of the White Claw. The bond that has partially formed between them is powerful, but problematic. Eli had been banned and exiled from his pack by his power-hungry, insane father, and opted not to take Carla with him, despite the fact that their mate-bond was partially formed. Living in an agonizing limbo in order to "protect" Carla, Eli joins a pack of mysterious, and oh-so intriguing mercenaries and tries his hardest to live a life away from his mate and his family. Carla, so terribly hurt by Eli's rejection and sure that it has everything to do with her being a mixed-breed, is willing to risk her life in a magically inspired rite to sever the bond between her and Eli, but first has to convince him to come back to the Silvercrest to protect the pack.You can guess what happens next. Guy wants girl, girl puts him off. Guy comes to terms with his own feelings but holds back to protect girl. Sexy stuff happens. Guy knows what he wants. Girl tries to protect her feelings and future heartbreak by steeling her heart. More sexy stuff happens. Guy is damn sexy stubborn and finally convinces girl that he means business and is there for the long haul. HEA ensues ... but its not that textbook. The rapport and banter between Carla and Eli is fantastic and so realistic. Eli doesn't say all the right things. He is a guy, a real guy, who can't really put everything that he feels into the exact right words at the right time for the girl to realize that he really is sincere. Eli screws up, he sticks his foot in his mouth more times than not, but he is a man of action not so much of words. It is the fact that he is there, reliable, dependable, present that works to his advantage. I've got to admit that at times I wanted to club Eli over the head, especially when he declares that NO FEMALE should fight against the White Claw, just because he is afraid that Carla could get hurt, despite the fact that HER JOB IS TO FIGHT!! Yes, he loves her and wants her safe, but come on, she is a badass and knows her way around a battle! At times I wanted to club Carla too, because she was so certain that Eli was going to bolt again, that she couldn't enjoy what was in front of her. Perhaps there was one or two near-misses/dodge-and-runs too many, but the scenes felt real, not prosaic and overly wordy.I have found my new PNR series addiction! less

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