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.
KEEP YOUR TEAM
CLOSE AND YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER...
