Genre: Paranormal, Romance
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Serena
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About The Book
All werewolf Tobias Rogan ever wanted was to live a quiet life with his destined mate, vegan werewolf Kyle Slidell, in the smallest pack in the United States. The pack Tobias once ruled as its Alpha. He never wanted to be a leader, but fate keeps throwing him into the role, first as Alpha and now as Arkhon, the leader of the Northeast Region’s werewolves. And he isn’t done. The Anax, ruler of all werewolves in the United States, is threatening the very existence of their world and must be removed from the rank. Only Tobias is strong enough to challenge and defeat him.
But the Anax knows Tobias’s intentions and co-opts one of Tobias’s employees, a human man who threatens Tobias with silver bullets. To save Tobias’s life, Kyle kills the man, a violation of shifter law. And when Tobias and Kyle travel to California for the annual gathering of all werewolf alphas and regional leaders in the country, the Anax’s men take Kyle into custody.
Tobias has allies in his bid to defeat the Anax–but the Anax has Kyle’s life in his hands. With the fate of the country’s werewolves at stake, Tobias must choose: Save the world, or save his mate.
This book was originally published in 2014. This version has been revised, re-edited, and expanded from the original. It contains on-page violence between humans and between werewolves, including the on-page death of a human; mention of gun violence; references to past abuse and sexual assault and threats of those things; and depictions of PTSD. This book was previously published in 2014. This edition has been moderately revised and re-edited and includes a newly-written ending.
The Review
As the final book in the original ‘Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat’ series, this story begins and ends with a bang. The suspense in-between is palpable, never lets up, and had me turning the pages as fast as possible. Even though it was clear to me since the last volume that Tobias would have to challenge the Anax to stop the guy’s insanity leading to a war, getting the actual details and feeling the tension the author created made everything much worse. Not that this is a bad thing in fiction! Please read the books in this series in order. Each book builds on what happened previously; also, be warned that this review contains spoilers for the first four books.
Tobias, as was made clear when he became Arkhon, never wanted to rule anyone. He is the most dominant wolf in the United States, at least according to his mate Kyle, but he is not after power. Tobias does believe in justice, though, and doing the right thing for everyone has always been his key motivation. Even though the Anax uses several extremely unfair and sneaky ways to try to stop Tobias, including keeping Kyle a prisoner, Tobias is determined. With the Anax clearly out to destroy the werewolf world, maybe even let humans find out they exist, the old werewolf must be stopped.
Kyle stands by Tobias, as always. Even though he spends most of the book in a prison cell, the mate bond between him and Tobias allows him to stay in touch with what is going on. He has useful information to offer, as always, and is unwavering in his support of what Tobias has to do. He even manages the odd snarky remark and sassy joke! It’s a good thing the food he is given is vegan, otherwise I am not too sure he’d stayed in his cell… With Kyle you just never know!
This is a great book! Tobias and Kyle have matured in their relationship, they manage to get support from old and new friends, and their love grows even in deplorable circumstances with both their lives threatened. As always, the supporting characters are great, except for the ones who fall under the Anax’s spell and end up hurting/killing innocents. Mikey, the kid with psychic abilities whose father was turned, helps by talking about his premonitions. Other Arkhons come out of the woodwork in support of Tobias. More revelations about were law make things more interesting and enrich the world Karenna Colcroft has created.
Want to find out how Tobias and Kyle get out of the mess they have been in practically since book one? Grab this series. Stubborn werewolves and suspense-filled stories that don’t let you go. I am certainly glad the author decided to write more books in this series and cannot wait to dive into the next book.
The Reviewer
I am a writer and reviewer for Rainbow Book Reviews and other sites. I currently live in Ireland, sharing my house with a vast collection of books. I like reading, traveling, spending time with my nieces and listening to classical music. I have a passion for science and learning new languages.