The Wolf Within

Oh my! I’ve found another ‘<b>MINE</b>’ book!<br /><br /><blockquote> <b>“I look at you,” his words were deeper, darker. “And think...<i>mine</i>.”</b> </blockquote><br /><br />I wasn’t particularly planning on reading this book just yet, but sometimes my finger seems to have a mind of its own. It just clicked open the book so what else could I do, except start reading the first page, then the second, and the third… I couldn’t help but get swept up in this book and I had a hard time putting it down. The story had flowed nicely, pulled me instantly into a world where paranormal creatures lived hidden among human beings.<br /><br />Special Agent Duncan McGuire worked for an elite unit that hunted paranormal entities. Until one day, he was brutally attacked and bitten by werewolves, and that changed him into the thing he hated most, a beast. Then he was sent to Holly, a pretty doctor whom he had feelings for. He didn’t know if he could control his beast inside him so he tried to stay away from her. He didn’t want to hurt her. But this little woman had her own secrets, the ones that she thought Duncan wouldn’t have been able to handle.<br /><br />After Duncan’s transformation, he became an alpha. Other paranormal creatures could hardly beat him. He feared nothing but Holly was his only weakness. He was very protective and extremely possessive of her.<br /><br /><blockquote> <b>He pressed a kiss to her lips. “You’re mine.”<br />And he was hers.<br />“Don’t forget it.”</b> </blockquote><br />Umm… How can I forget that, Duncan? I just lost count of how many times you said ‘MINE’! But don’t get me wrong—I loved that! I loved his possessiveness!<br /><br /><blockquote> <b>To him, she was everything.<br />If anything happened to her, he’d just be…lost.<br />Because the vampire who bit him held his heart in her hands.</b> </blockquote><br /><blockquote> <b>Duncan pressed a kiss to her lips. He loved her little fangs. Hell, he loved everything about her.<br />“I love you,” he said the words against her lips and felt the surprise that rippled through her.<br /><br /><br />Maybe he’d been falling for her from the very first day—when she jabbed a needle in his arm and took his blood.<br />His Holly…always after his blood.</b> </blockquote><br /><br />I loved the way Duncan and Holly attracted to each other. They had ‘something’ in common and it made them a perfect match. The sex scenes were steamy hot, totally blew me away! However, there were intense situations that kept me on the edge of my seat, and I almost forgot to breathe while reading the fight scenes.<br /><br />By the way, this is a very good start to Purgatory series. There were many interesting characters that I want to know more about them. It is by far one of my pleasurable reads.<br />

Cynthia Eden is one of my favorite authors and I'm having a blast reading some of her old books. <b> <i>The Wolf Within</i> </b> was a read that only further cemented her place on my favorites list. Duncan worked for as a special agent, hunting 'bad' paranormals, until one day he gets bit by a werewolf. His transformation comes quickly because he carries a special gene and he isn't just any kind of werewolf - he's an Alpha. Only one person can help him with this transition... and she's got a major secret of her own.<br /><br />Between the hidden themes, the action, the blossoming romance, and the secret agendas of way too many players, I was beyond entertained. Duncan had always wanted Holly and his beast only made his desire stronger. He was possessive, protective, and oh so sexy. He was a hot-blooded 'man' that Holly couldn't resist. Amidst the danger and death, the truths and past betrayals, the reunion of family and the opportunity for brotherhood, we're treated to intense chemistry and inescapable love. With an ending that leads into the next book in the series, I'll definitely be diving back in for more!

4.25 stars!

3.5 stars<br><br>Pretty intense stuff...<br>Werewolves, vampires.... <br>I guess there were no humans, apart from the poor guards, who were killed.<br><br>The gallons of blood MCs drunk from each other...<br>Red Cross would be grateful for this amount to be donated...<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1553696598ra/27274463.gif" width="400" height="230" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><br>It was a time Cynthia Eden wrote good books...

<b> 74% dnf </b><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1463496506i/19125035.jpg" width="400" height="220" alt="crazy" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>I hate it when that happens. Look this is just one of those authors that does not work for me. At all. In trying to create turns and twists and suspense, she threw everything but the kitchen sink at this story. And it got really old. It was good. I enjoyed the read. Then, I was all "Oh hell no, here we go down the street to Crazytown." So, at 74%, I hit the delete button on my Kindle and returned this freebie (god, I hope it was a freebie) to the land of Amazonia.

DNF @ 86%<br><br>I decided I rather stop reading it than rating it really low. The book was really action packed and I liked some aspects of the story. I appreciated the fact that the werewolves and vampires weren't mortal enemies. I thought 3* would do it justice.<br><br>But. <br><br>It went south. Big time.<br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1498756926ra/23159788.gif" width="300" height="200" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="7a846932-81af-49f5-a650-989b1889f885" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="7a846932-81af-49f5-a650-989b1889f885">Changing a werewolf into a vampire and making him a werepire hybrid (yes, I made that up)</label> <br><br>Well...<br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1488815636ra/22155934.gif" width="300" height="200" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Like I haven't read, seen or heard about that for the gazillionth time.<br><br>Add to that the fact that there is no world building, IMO, plot holes, etc. For example: every werewolf could smell that the h was a vamp, but they couldn't smell the other vampires. Later when they found out who else was also a vampire, someone would say: Oh, yeah I thought you didn't smell like a human. Yeah, okay.<br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1504433113ra/23754403.gif" width="300" height="200" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>I rather not go on.<br><br>Ugh, sorry, I'm trying to be very polite here. Obvs this book didn't work for me, but it might work for you. The MC's are completely crazy about each other so it's safe with no OM/OW drama.<br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1502197203ra/23533054.gif" width="300" height="200" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]>

<a href="http://www.demonloversbooksandmore.com/2012/12/the-wolf-within-by-cynthia-eden.html" rel="nofollow noopener">Review posted on Demon Lover's Books &amp; More</a><br /><br /><br />Duncan works for the FBI, but even though he’s human, he knows what goes bump in the night. And he knows it isn’t good. The Para Unit has been Duncan’s home away from home for years.<br /><br />I thought it was neat that there are certain humans who are predisposed to being able to take the wolf bite and survive. When Duncan was bitten, his body was not only able to handle the bite, but his alpha tendencies were magnified (not just because of his personality either, but I don’t want to give away that part!). But he didn’t want to become a wolf, he’d always figured if he got bit, his partner would shoot him. But there are other factors at play here. His partner can’t do it, and his boss won’t let anyone else do it. <br /><br />His boss (quite a piece of work, btw) brings Duncan in and has Holly, their team doctor, help him through his transition. There’s something special about Holly, and if anyone can help Duncan, it’s her. But Duncan has always been attracted to this shy little doctor, and now that his body is becoming that of a werewolf, he’s afraid of what he’ll do to her. Besides, now that he’s such a monster, she wouldn’t want him anyway, right?<br /><br />Holly has wanted Duncan for years, but she’s kept her distance for personal reasons. Now that he’s strong enough to handle her, should she stay away? Duncan and she can’t seem to stay apart, so...<br /><br />Holly and Duncan have a few hot and heavy moments that I loved, but then there’s a huge twist in the plot that takes Duncan to Purgatory (think Alcatraz but for Paranormals). This is where I feel the book either needed more pages, or needed to rework certain parts.<br /> <br />Something big is brewing and we get to see the beginning, but it borderline feels out of left field. It’s important though, so it can’t be cut out of the story, and it shows where the series will be going too, I don’t know. The plot up until the last bit was just fine as it is, but I don’t think it needed to be shaken up that way. What I mean is that it seemed like there was a lot going on, and then about the last quarter of the book something big started to happen, but we didn’t have the page count to sustain that part of the plot.<br /><br />I liked this story and I really liked the plot, but I wish we’d had more time spent in Purgatory since that’s a huge part of the plot, even if we don’t realize it until later. I’m really excited to read the next book to find out how they can prevent the big thing they’re trying to prevent (&lt;--yes I had to say it that way so I don’t give any spoilers away! Lol) <br /><br />Final verdict is that this is a series to watch, I absolutely can’t wait to see where it’s going from here, and it’s a steamy, sexy read.<br />

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<b>2.5</b><br />This is one of those books I refer to as 'meh reads,' because that's my response to them. Meh. Nothing really horrible about them, but nothing particularly good either. I'd say this was designed simply to appeal that lizard, hind-brain we all seem to have. It's all growly, über alpha precariously contains his inner beast for the benefit of the simpering female who's caught his eye. Meh. Seen it all before. <br /><br />I'll give Holley points for having the moxie to say what she wants. But she also seemed perfectly content to let her brother control every aspect of her life. Meh. Not a total wet noodle, but not a wonderfully strong heroine either. <br /><br />The plot had a few twists to it, but they didn't work well for me. They felt abrupt and more like new plot arcs than twists. Meaning, it felt like, 'ok, finished that bit up, now we're going to race off in this direction now.' Not boring but not natural. <br /><br />Plus, many of these new arc directions were predicated on shifting character traits. The previous super evil, murdering bastard was suddenly the wounded victim. The good brother was suddenly the manipulative director, wait, no, he's the real hero, wait, no, he's obsessively possessive. Again, not boring but not natural either. <br /><br />Every obstacle set up was overcome almost instantly, even the final climactic one. There was very little build-up or time for tension to heighten before solutions were found or bad guys defeated, etc. Meh.<br /><br />The same middle of the road, shoulder-shrugging indifference can be applied to the sex too. There was no foreplay to any of it. It's claim to eroticism seems to have been based solely on Duncan's intense, animalistic <i>need</i>. Meh. One such scene might have been nice, but when that's all we get...Meh. <br /><br />So, again, it wasn't a wholly bad book. It was just clumsy and obviously designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator. It needed more character development, world-building and plain old substance.<br /><br />As a side note: I think that cover model has to be one of the most over-used men in the indie publishing world. I'm so sick of seeing him!

It was a nice and enjoyable reading