ARC Review: Between Bloode and Wolf (Between the Shadows #4)

Between Bloode and Wolf (Between the Shadows #4)

by Marie Harte

Blurb:

What do a missing artifact, a lycan war, a sexy vampire in hot pursuit, and a sorcerer casting illegal death magic have in common?

Just another day at the office for lycan berserker Riley Foster.

Berserker Riley Foster rescued her cousin from vampires chasing after her pack’s stolen artifact. Not long after, she’s forced to work alongside the powerful vamps to find said artifact—for their goddess?

Vampires don’t worship anything but themselves, but Kraft of the Night Bloode has been sent to recover a weird little wolf statue for his patron—the goddess, Hecate. Unfortunately, the lycans are playing games.

Kraft demands to work with their powerful berserker, who intrigues him to no end. She’s strong, beautiful, and lets no one push her around. Except her pack, who insists she mate before her hundredth birthday in just a few more weeks.

She’s on a deadline she doesn’t want to meet.

He’s falling for a “lesser being” who shouldn’t be anywhere on his radar.

When it comes to their common enemy, they’ve got even more problems. A rogue sorcerer is bent on creating something horrible with the artifact, and it’s up to Kraft and Riley to stop him before he brings forth monsters that even vampires and lycans dread. Riley will have to make a choice, between her future with her pack and her future with Kraft, a vampire who isn’t long for this world if she doesn’t make the right decision. Fast.

Themes:  Paranormal, Wolf-shifters, Demons

Rating: 4.25 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

The world is still in danger, the darkness has been pushed back but only for the moment, and the newest danger to the world comes in the most unlikely of forms in this new installment of the dramatic Between the Shadows series by Marie Harte.   This series has become increasingly convoluted and interesting with each new storyline and each new couple that has found their HEA, but I have to admit to being partial to this story between a sexy vampire that shifts into a wolf and his berserker Lycan mate. Marie Harte has a skill with making her characters just that tiny bit insane enough that they are even more intriguing and make us love their insanity more, and she outdid herself with Kraft and Riley for sure.  I have been dying for this story since we got inklings of their coupling in the previous story, but I had no idea what was coming to say the least. I cannot wait for the next book in the series, when Khent will finally meet his match and be humbled by the love that has come for his kin and made them into better males and powerful enough to defeat their enemies. I can see this series will end with an epic explosion and the final story in the series is sure to blow our minds.

Kraft is on a mission to recapture their wayward prisoner, the Lycan prince Max, who knows the whereabouts of a mystical statue that the Goddess Hecate has told him will be needed in the coming battle.  But he also has his own personal mission, to find the sexy female Lycan that broke Max out of their home and nothing is going to keep him from claiming his prey. Riley has finally returned to her pack, with Max in tow, after breaking her idiot cousin out of the prison of the vampires, but she has the sinking feeling they didn’t get away clear, and when the vampire Kraft suddenly appears in their village she knows trouble is on the way.  Forced into the working with the vampires, Riley and Max soon find themselves dealing with a world they never imagined they’d find themselves in and on top of it all the crazy vampire won’t leave her alone or give her any peace.  Kraft is determined to keep Riley safe and claim her as his own, especially when he comes to understand that she is his mate and there is nothing that will come between this vampire and his mate. But with a deadly sorcerer on the loose, working with untold numbers of rouge Lycans, the tables are turning against Kraft and Riley quickly.  They have to come to terms with their true meaning to one another in order to get through the danger and find a chance at a future together, or not only their lives but the lives of all their kin could be forfeit.

Kraft is the youngest of the Night Bloode clan, but definitely my favorite of the vampires.  His sense of humor and ability to maintain his lightness despite all the darkness around them makes him enjoyable to learn about and get to know, even if some of it is a ruse.  We can see he has had a lot of issues with his family in his past, but he hides it behind a smile and with a hard-fought calm, otherwise his rage and pain could cause untold levels of danger to those around him.  His sarcasm and smart-ass comments endear him to you while as the same time you want to remind him that he will get himself killed if he doesn’t lay off the craziness.  He was so sweet, in the most unexpected ways, to Riley as they “courted” and found their way into a mating.  Their relationship was definitely in no way traditional but it was perfect for the two of them.  Getting to know more about him and see him kick ass in the name of those he loved was fabulous and I loved watching him in action.  I also loved how he was able to offer Riley the support she’d always assumed no male could give her, the support she truly needed from a mate in order to find her match. Riley has had a rough life, losing her parents, and having to live with the berserker and the duties that come with that title, and of course a looming forced mating when she hits a certain age.  I loved seeing her fighting back against Kraft, keeping him in line and making him understand that she wasn’t there to be his “little woman” while also allowing him to care for her and showing him her vulnerable side.  She has never been able to share or lean on anyone, always the one others counted on, and so having that support showed her that Kraft might just be the male for her, despite the craziness of that thought.

I am sad to know that this series will be coming to an end soon, with the sixth book (and sixth vampire), but at the same time I am dying to see what comes of the next two stories and where it will go next.  This series has introduced so many interesting and new characters, species, and historical twisting references that I can honestly say I am never able to put the stories down.  Riley and Kraft's story is filled with laughs, tears, gasps, and passion as these two work together with the Night Bloode to defeat the newest challenge they face.  The biggest challenge of course being another vampire fighting against finding his mate and falling in love, but nothing new there.  Kraft portrays himself as a big dumb battle-loving warrior, but underneath his love of danger and battle he is sensitive to the needs of his mate, cares about his kin, and is much smarter than he'd like people to know. Riley is so much more than just a berserker, but that title has been her whole life until Kraft comes into it, showing her that there truly is a male out there that is strong enough to offer her the shelter, the home, her heart has yearned for.  The heat and passion between these two often comes out in the oddest of ways as they argue and fight against their pull to one another, but once they fall into bed together there is no turning back and that heat is volcanic. I am definitely dying for Khent’s story next and have an inkling who he will be faced with as his mate, and if I’m right that is going to be a crazy pairing for sure.  Marie does it again with two wolves circling one another until they find a way to offer their submission in the sexiest of ways to one another.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.