DESCRIPTION:

The full moon is their mistress. They are predators of pleasure and pain. Feared by humans, envied by werewolves, the Dire Wolves are immortal shifters, obeying no laws but their own bestial natures. Once they were many, but now only six remain, a dangerous wolfpack forever on the hunt…

Rifter leads the pack, embracing the lifestyle and ethics of an outlaw biker even as he battles an ancient enemy who has become a new, powerful force. But with his Brother Wolf raging inside him, howling to be unleashed, he needs to satisfy his hungers. And when he meets a drop-dead gorgeous blonde drinking alone in a bar that caters to both human and inhuman, Rifter’s primal instinct is to claim her.

Gwen has her own desires, long unfulfilled. She hopes a passionate night with the leather-clad, Harley-riding biker will ease her suffering. The seizures that have wracked her body her entire life are incurable—and they’re killing her.

But none of that will matter if Rifter can’t stop the growing threat to them all — trappers who are determined to enslave humankind and use the Dire wolves as part of their nefarious plan.

REVIEW:

I picked this book because of the combination blurb and cover. Does that picture of the hero make you want to find out more? (Or try and take a peek under that jacket? Yum!) The book took off with a packed first chapter, and I eagerly devoured the words. Pages flipped by faster and faster as the tension and action increased. I couldn’t get enough of the story! Both characters fascinated me. Stephanie Tyler managed to balance the action and heat in a way that the romantic in me sigh in pleasure and the tom-girl cheer for more.

I even liked the secondary characters. Each felt fully alive, and I loved learning more about them. This is a very hard talent to learn without giving the readers a feeling you were cheating on your main characters. It was a little after midnight before I set the book down. Unfortunately, that was where I found the problem. I went to bed with thirty pages left to read. If you’re a reader, you know you can suck those last few pages down. They are supposed to be the best pages of the book, but I could already tell that I wasn’t going to get my last big fight scene.  So disappointed! Everything was too tame! All the action had vanished. The last few pages were all set-up for the next book! Ugh.

And I did happen to notice, as did a few other reviewers, that this book resembles another brotherhood book that deals with vampires. I wasn’t turned off by this fact. If the book had managed to wrap up the last fight scene, I would have given it five stars. As it stands, even with the outstanding first half, I can’t give the book any more than four stars.

Will I pick up the next book? I’m not sure. I loved the writing. I loved the characters. I want to know how everything ends, but I’m not sure if I can go through another unsatisfying ending. Sigh.

Prequel in the series: