Casee‘s review of Edge of Hunger (Primal Instincts, Book 1) by Rhyannon Byrd.
Ian Buchanan has always felt the unknown—the deep, impenetrable darkness that lives within him. Yet he is determined to lead a “normal” life, ignoring the unsettling dreams in which he succumbs to his wildest desires.… Until psychic Molly Stratton tracks him down, claiming to share his sensual nightmares.
The petite Molly even has the bite marks to prove it. And she’s also received a message from Ian’s deceased mother: an enemy is near. And it’s time for the creature inside Ian to finally awaken. A creature with an insatiable hunger that must be controlled before it overtakes them both…
After reading book 5, then reading book 4, I decided to go back to the beginning. Siblings Ian, Saige, and Riley were the first three books of the series so it somehow made sense in my twisted thinking. I read a DNF review of Touch of Surrender that said that there was just too much world building. After reading Edge of Hunger, I understood more of where the reviewer was coming from. As an author, I suppose you want each book to stand alone, but there is only so much you can explain without it just going on and on and on.
Ian is that hero that you want to hate, but you can’t. He’s a total arsehole to Molly yet you just can’t, for the life of you, hate him. It’s really frustrating. I’m reading it thinking “you son of a bitch!” and “I still like you. Wtf?” in the same thought. Who does that? Me.
Ian grew up hearing stories about the Merrick and the Casus from his mother. According to his mother, it a war was coming some day where the Merrick and the Casus were going to have some big showdown. If the Merrick won, they would save the world. If the Casus won then the world would be destroyed. You just have to appreciate that bedtime story for three children under the age of ten. As soon as Ian was old enough, he left and never came back.
Enter Molly. She hears ghosts. If the ghost tries very hard, she can even understand them. She has Ian’s mom telling her that she needs to go tell Ian that the war is here now. The Casus are coming and his awakening as a Merrick is upon him. Like right now. What she fails to have Molly pass along is that he has another special gift, but he doesn’t find out about that one until later.
Since the day Molly stopped ignoring the ghosts, she branded herself an outcast. When she goes to Ian, she knows that he won’t believe her. After meeting him, she decides that she will help him if it’s the last damn thing she does. Their attraction is instant and unwanted–on both sides. It just went back and forth too much. It was mostly on Ian’s side. He just couldn’t make up his damn mind. That’s why I can’t believe I liked him so much. Molly knew what she wanted from the very beginning. I really had to admire her continual effort to support him. I probably would have killed him.
3.75 out of 5.
This book is available from HQN. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
The series:
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