Cowboy Wolf Outlaw (Seven Range Shifters #6)

Kait Ballenger

Blurb:

Grey Wolf assassin Malcolm Grey is set on revenge, and no one can stand in his way. With the pack facing their most challenging battle yet, his mission is simple: locate the perpetrators and destroy them. Malcolm will do anything to keep his pack safe, especially when sassy, southern belle Trixie Beauregard makes a proposal he can't resist.

Trixie knows a few things about the dangerous cowboy sitting at her bar. One, he's a wolf shifter. Two, his wolf pack is in jeopardy. And three, despite all his growling, this dark-eyed cowboy wolf wants her. But Trixie has problems of her own, and she knows better than to run with the wolf. The smart thing to do would be to stay away. Too bad she's always had a taste for trouble...

Themes: Paranormal, Shifters, Witches

Rating: 4.75 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

The end has finally come for these amazing shifter and their friends and I never thought it would be so heartbreaking and tear inducing. This story has been coming for a long time now and readers that have followed the series have watch Malcolm deal with some major loses, first his mate Bo and then recently his best friend, but now he is confronted with a lot of change as enemies are coming from all sides. A series finale is always a little bittersweet for me, but I have to say that this one left me melancholy for a while and it took me a day to recover enough to start my next read (which is truly rare) and shows how much this story touched and impacted me. Malcolm Grey is set on avenging his loved ones and lost packmates as the final battle with the Seven Range Shifters’ enemies is fast approaching. But he is drawn again and again to the sassy witch that works the local bar despite knowing that Trixie Beauregard is trouble in heels. Trixie is trapped in service to the demon that holds her debt, a stupid mistake that she made in the name of love, and she knows that Malcolm can never be more to her than a fling. But when she is given a new assignment, one that she can’t refuse, it puts her directly into the line of fire, forcing her to betray the shifters she calls friends and the man that has held her interest for far too long. Soon Malcolm and Trixie are ensnared in a mess and find their hearts entangled a web that neither of them can escape, even if they wanted to. Can two people so beaten down by life and circumstance find a way to trust and love in order to move on together, or will their enemies separate them forever and leave them solitary and broken? So just to reiterate this story broke my heart and had me in tears a lot, but despite that I loved every moment. Trixie was the type of anti-heroine that we all love to hate, in the beginning she is just such a bitch and we get the impression that she is just out for a good time and to cause trouble, but as we get to know her and learn her motivations, her soft spots, we see she truly is a victim of her circumstances and one that hasn’t had a lot of choices in life for many years. Not to say that she didn’t land herself in her troubles with a bad decision, but sometimes a decisions shouldn’t lead to such long term consequences. I loved seeing her softening as she lets Malcolm show her she doesn’t have to be so hard with him, as he cracked her outer shell and let her true nature emerge once again. She was caring and showed loyalty even at the expense of her own life to those she’d come to love, and I truly believe she is the only woman that could have brought Malcolm back from the edge she’d found after his loses. Malcom is certainly drowning in anguish as he grieves (or fights grieving) his lost loved ones, and he had decided that he will do what is needed to protect his pack and he doesn’t much care if it costs his life, until Trixie finally changes his mind. I hated watching his heartache but seeing him swimming to the surface as he accepted Trixie’s love and healing was a beautiful experience. He was dauntless as he healed, loving and sensual even as he had his dark and intense moments, but even when he was an ass he tried his best to protect those around him from his darkness. There was just so much one-step-forward-two-steps-back as he found his way out of the darkness that in the end when he and Trixie got their HEA and lifting love my tears of happiness were almost an ugly-cry. I hated seeing this series end because I really enjoyed each installment of the series, but the ending was certainly one that came with a bang and the spin-off prequel series that is coming next is one to look forward to for sure. Can’t wait for more from Kait and hope to maybe spot glimpses of familiar names. IF you are looking for a light and fluffy romantic read, definitely look away because Cowboy Wolf Outlaw if s a gritty, dark, and sensual story of two shattered characters coming together in darkness in order to find their way into the light.