Book 31, 2022

Last Wolf Standing by Rhyannon Byrd

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Yesterday, I finished reading the book I'd taken to the office. It was a Silhouette Nocturne, called Last Wolf Standing, by Rhyannon Byrd. It's the first in the "Bloodrunners" series within the line. The main characters are Mason Dillinger, a half-werewolf, and Torrance Watson, a human woman.

As a member of the Bloodrunners, it's Mason's job to hunt down and eliminate rogue werewolves. He has no time for love, but when a chance encounter with Torrance rocks his world, Mason finds himself unable to just let her leave. Unfortunately, the rogue he's tracking notices his regard for the human woman, making Torrance a target. Now Mason feels compelled to take Torrance under his wing to protect her, all while maintaining the focus he needs for the hunt.

Torrance has always had an irrational fear of monsters, and when she learns they're real, her entire world view shifts. She is both frightened by and drawn to Mason even as he attempts to keep her at arm's length. Will Torrance be able to break through the icy walls around her wolf's heart?

Incidentally, my "blurb" above is nothing like the blurb on the back of the book. Did the creator of the book blurb actually read the book? Le sigh.

Okay. If I were to sum up this story in one line, it would be A horrifying homage to misogyny, Stockholm Syndrome, and blithering idiocy.

To begin with, when Mason first saw Torrance, it was in a coffee shop. He hadn't ordered yet, and she was about to leave with her order. Heaven forbid she just walk out of his life (never mind the fact that she'd only been in it for a moment); therefore, he tripped her. He tripped her. Silly me, I didn't realize that our male lead was an 8 year-old boy. I guess this is what passed for a 'meet-cute' in 2008. Honestly, I would have thought this book was written in the 1980's, considering how domineering he was and how quailing she was. I wish I could go back in time and kick my own ass for reading (worse, enjoying) such books when I was a teen. Moving on. After this physical abuse (don't you dare call it anything else), Mason is coming across as too intense, and Torrance smartly dips out.

Skip ahead to where the rogue breaks into Torrance's apartment, physically abuses her, sexually abuses her, and threatens to rape and murder her. Cue Mason and his partner arriving on the scene to chase off the interloper, whereupon our blithering idiot of a female lead wilts into Mason's arms. She now knows he's a monster (you know, the thing she has a pathological fear of?), she's just been assaulted by another monster, yet she feels safe and protected in his arms? Really? I think most people would have been in the midst of a screaming panic attack by then. Torrance dips out once more, but of course Mason tracks her down again (stalkerish much?), which is when he convinces not only her but her BFF that he and only he can protect Torrance, but she has to go with him. Wow. With friends like Michaela, Torrance didn't need any enemies, did she? "Yeah, sure, go off with that hunka-hunka gorgeous man who's brought shocking violence into your life. What's the worst that could happen?"

They finally reach Mason's cabin (after more drama and violence), which is when Mason insists that he can't protect Torrance unless she shares his bed. And...she fell for that. I just cannot with how spineless and stupid this woman was. Sexual activity ensued, although no actual intercourse, after which our blithering idiot realized that she was falling for Mason. After two days. Because she was drawn to him. Since he was so attractive. What if he'd been homely? Moving on.

Mason, of course, knows that Torrance is his mate, but he has no intention of falling in love with her, because, ew. More like, 'I cannot love someone, for it will make me weak.' Good ol' Mason channels his inner Meatloaf and tells her, "I want you, I need you, but there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you." At least he was honest with her. Torrance finally starts to develop a tiny spine and declares that she can't settle for a man who won't love her, which angers Mason, because why must she make things so complicated? No joke, "complicated" is the word he used. Often.

Let's not forget the 'spring a meeting with my parents on my mate surprise' that Mason subjected Torrance to. Why she had not yet run screaming into the wilderness is beyond me. Finally, there was the finale. I called it about one-third of the way through the book. 'Bad guy will kidnap the female lead, and the hero will have to come save her in some overwrought fight to the death, after which he will FINALLY declare his undying love for her.' While writing this, the author must have channeled her inner Kathleeen E Woodiwiss. I loved her books! When I was young and dumb. I should have read this one when I was young and dumb; I might have enjoyed it then. I was so relieved when this was over. I stuck with it, because I ain't no quitter. That, and it was the only thing I had at work to read on my lunch breaks.

Favorite lines:
♦ "What happened? You look like you just came from an orgy with one of the undead."
Doesn't orgy imply there must have been more than one?
♦ Then she looked their way, and a sharp cry fell from her lips as she started running toward them. Mason opened his arms, ready to catch her, when she sailed right past him, falling to her knees beside a grinning Jeremy. "Ohmygod," she gasped, her small hands fluttering in front of her as if she didn't know where to touch him without hurting him. "Are you okay?"
Hah! BEST damned line of the book, if you ask me.
♦ "Fear is sometimes healthy, and sometimes it's just an excuse to keep us back from the things we want most in life."

You know what the worst part about this book was? Torrance apologized to Mason for the fact that she hurt his feelers when she said she wanted a life partner who could love her. It was like, 'Oh, ha ha, what was I thinking? It was naive of me to have this ideal in mind. I should just love you the way you are, even if you can never return my feelings, thus leaving me to spend my entire fucking life heartbroken and unfulfilled so you can cling to your own ideal of being a tough he-man who don't need no love.' I need some brain bleach after reading this.

I'm giving the book two stars. It gets more than one because the writing itself was good, even though the content was beyond awful. If you like your male leads to be domineering, cold-hearted bullies and your female leads to be simpering little airheads, give it a read!