Friday 3 June 2011

REVIEW: Rush of Pleasure (Primal Instincts #8) by Rhannon Byrd

 
Author: Rhyannon Byrd
Series: Primal Instincts
Pages: 384
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: HQN Books
Rush of Pleasure was provided to me by Netgalley

Synopsis:

With his sinister good looks, Noah Winston is the one man—a human with Casus ties—who Willow Broussard has never been able to resist. Once enemies, then lovers, Noah broke her heart. Yet the powerful witch and paranormal private investigator can’t turn him away when he needs her help in protecting his family, him—and the world—against their enemy…

As Noah and Willow work together, the secrets of their turbulent past are slowly exposed, each startling revelation drawing them closer. But when the enemy finally makes a move, Noah will need more than witchcraft and magic to survive. He’ll need his friends, one hell of a plan…and the undying devotion of a tenacious witch whose love is eternal.

REVIEW: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Rush of Pleasure is the eighth book in the Primal Instinct Series by Rhyannon Byrd. This story picks up from the ending of Rush of Darkness and is a satisfying conclusion to this brilliant series.

Noah Winston is part of the ‘formerly named’ Watchmen, a highly skilled organization of shifters whose job it is to keep watch over ancient non-human races; Noah is human with a Casus bloodline and since being bitten by Calder has noticed an increase in his abilities.

When Noah returns to the place of his youth, he never expected to run into Willow Broussard, a Chastain witch and his teen crush although with the ongoing conflicts that were happening between their families they weren’t meant to be so he left without fully explaining why, breaking her heart and leaving her holding a grudge.

Their initial meeting was tense but their quest to find Willow’s sister Sienna who is now thought to be working with the evil Casus leader Anthony Calder as well as find a Demon to read the death spell to put a stop to the carnage being caused by the Death-walkers and of course stopping Calder who has his sights set on Noah to inhabit his body, forced them into discussing their past as well as present attractions and feelings.

I felt the first half of the book was slow paced and seemed more about their angst and anger over what had happened in their past, I wanted more action which I have come to enjoy and love in the other books but it seemed to take a back seat. I also wish we knew of Willow’s secret and of the prophecy earlier on in the story.

The conflict between the Watchmen & Death-walkers was anti-climatic and over way too quickly and the smex scene I felt was inappropriate at this time, Willow played her part by supplying her blood but both were absent from the main fight and we are only told what had happened; I would have preferred to ‘be’ there and have what was happening explained not just what they were advised to do & then knowing it was done. It seemed to lack emotion. I felt the same with the final showdown against Calder; I wanted to feel ‘more’.

I liked Noah and Willow as characters, they were strong-willed, determined and extremely stubborn; Byrd did a great job portraying their passion with the growing sense of caring and love which I enjoyed. I loved the reappearance of the other watchmen and their partners as well as the Grainger Brothers. Damon the Demon was wonderful! He bought humor to the story and I would love to read a story based on his character.

All in all, an enjoyable read but felt it was more about Noah and Willow’s relationship and the romance rather than the conflict surrounding them.

I loved the name they came up with for their organization! It suits them perfectly.

I feel it is best for this series to be read in order; Byrd explains enough in order to get by but to fully understand the back-story it should be read from book 1, Edge of Hunger.

I love Byrd’s writing style and the Primal Instincts series is one of my favorites. I look forward to reading more from this wonderful author.

Books in order:

  1. Edge of Hunger
  2. Edge of Danger
  3. Edge of Desire
  4. Touch of Seduction
  5. Touch of Surrender
  6. Touch of Temptation
  7. Rush of Darkness
  8. Rush of Pleasure
 

3 comments:

  1. I love getting stuck into a book series. Thanks for sharing this and for visiting my Tuesday Teaser.

    P.S Love the man candy :)

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  2. I love this series , but it sounds like it won't be as good as the previous ones. After all the leading up to the big fight against the Casus and we you don't see it first hand? Not cool. But i'll definately be reading this. Being the last book its sad to see the series end.

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  3. Thank-you KB :)

    Hi Tyraa, this is definitely my least favourite in the series; it was still good but didn't rate as high for me as the others.

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