Dire Warning

Blackwood Pack, Book 1

By: Mary Rundle

Narrated by: Nick J. Russo

Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

The Blackwood Pack saga begins...

Follow the journey of the Blackwood Pack, seven brothers who are wolf shifters in search of their fated mates - stories about love at first sight with twists and turns, angst and humor, romance and adventure. Each audiobook has two men who meet, fall in love, mate and achieve an HEA but the stories also chronicle the continuing saga of the Blackwood Pack.

Steel, one of the last Dire Wolves on earth, has searched more than 100 years for the special mate promised by the Fates. Discouraged after meeting his latest prospect, he sees a naked hitchhiker on his way home who's everything he'd envisioned the man of his dreams would be. His wolf and body tell him he's found his fated mate but why can't he pick up his scent?    

Robbed of his car, clothes and money, Jackson, Alpha of the Blackwood Pack, has no choice but to thumb a lift, frantic to get home to his six brothers. He's been protecting them from a rival pack who massacred most of his family and wants to finish off the rest. When Steel rolls down his window, Jackson knows he also has found his fated mate but it would be too dangerous to claim him with his pack under attack.  

After the intervention of an Oracle and a Witch, Jackson discovers why the Fates made him unique - just for Steel. Navigating the mine field this revelation brings, Jackson and Steel must figure out how to make their relationship work while dealing with forces determined to kill the Blackwood pack - and them.

©2017 Mary Rundle (P)2020 Mary Rundle

Oh SO good!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, I haven’t read the ebook version of it and I was just following gushing recommendations, and while I don’t listen to a lot of mpregs, this one had me curious. Boy, was I glad I listened to this one. It’s SO good!

I love the flow of the story, even the nuances that I usually find when it comes to fated mates has been addressed in this story. This is one of those mpreg stories done so right.

The plot is solid, the main conflict I imagine will arc through the series as we get to know the brothers and their mates. And wow, dire wolf and timber wolf pairing, talk about nature’s beautiful creatures.

I love the interesting family dynamics, how the brothers are all so different but their bond so strong despite the tragic family past. It’s going to be interesting to get to know each of them and I can’t wait.

I’d also like to say that Nick J Russo outdid himself in this narration. He always has the best female character voices and I am astounded at the range he’s done with this book, there’s so many characters in this story and he’s able to bring them uniquely to life. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

way too much sex not enough story line

would not recommend unless your a horn dog, the storyline would be great if it was less sex and more detail-focus on the actual plot.

Insert generic Mpreg plot device here. Nothing new

A decent Mpreg.
I've read a fair amount of Mpreg by now and this book I felt like didn't do anything terribly new for that specific genre.

It wasn't bad. I really think it was well written, sexy and had a fair romantic focus. It just felt tropey and same-same with inserted every typical trope of mpreg but didn't add anything more then the minimum requirement to cover the bases of the book.

It would have been cool if it took mpreg and tried something different or have a plot that could differentiate this from all the tropes.

It was also not the best paced and a bit wordy. It used way too many words that could have been cut back on some of the more useless details.

The Erotic moments again wernt entirely rememberable but weren't bad. Maybe a bit too fast paced and also nothing new. Sometimes the erotica felt misplaced. Like there will be a random 1 minute BJ scene and then suddenly snap back to talking about plot.

Overall I think this is a decent start to a new series as it does what it needs to by setting up a world. I personally didnt get invested enough in any of it to want to continue. I'll definitely have to be careful and read reviews.

Ended up not finishing it

I’m a fan of shifter books—shifter books that have the true mate trope, shifter books that are low angst, and even shifter books with mpreg. But for whatever reason, I could not make it through this book at all. I restarted it I-don’t-know-how-many times hoping I just wasn’t in the right mindset to listen, but each time I found myself spacing off after a couple hours. The storyline seems vaguely familiar, like I had read the book at some point in time (and now I clearly know why I didn’t remember it). The characters fell kind of flat for me—I wasn’t endeared to any of them, nor were they particularly interesting to listen to. They all had the tendency to be too “perfect,” if that makes sense. I also have a hard time with shifter books that pull in other supernatural beings like oracles and witches—quite often, they don’t work well in the world that’s written and very few authors can do it to my satisfaction (one being Wolf Specter’s Dragon Fire and the other Raythe Reign’s Crimson). I have no complaints ever about Nick J Russo as a narrator, but even he couldn’t pull this one out of the dumps for me. I’m kind of bummed because this had the potential to be a re-listen because of all of my normal favorite shifter things (plus dire wolves). I just couldn’t hang in there on this one.

NJR is awesome as usual

Story kinda sucked, just alot of sex, not much story. NJR was as usual GREAT!

I hope it gets better

This book could be so great, I like the premise and am a fan of amoreggiare shifter. Nick as usual does a great job (I just wish he didn’t add an “l” to the word SAW. ). What this book lacks is any real world building, anyway to really connect with the characters. This book goes from sex scene to sex scene with no substance in between. I like a good got scene, but come on, let’s have some plot too.

I really hope it gets better as the skip button is getting a workout.

Loved it!

I loved this book and audible just made it even better. It’s well written and narrated. It’s an awesome listen for paranormal and mpreg lovers alike though does leave the listener wanting more as there is still much in the storyline unresolved. I will definitely be listening to book two next!

Great start to series

Full disclosure, it took me several chapters to get into this story. Simply because of the inner dialog that all the characters do. I can't stand the inner voices talking. But it either finally grew on me, or wasn't as often as the story continued.
Even though this story was about Steele and Jackson, we got introduced to all the brothers and what one would assume would be a fated mate in the next books.
I loved how all the brothers had their own personality and traits, how they banded together after a huge lose. How they all dealt with it.
N.J.R. once again does a phenomenal job with all the voices.

funny at first but... Book Was Returned.

This book started out pretty great. It was funny in some parts and the adult rated scenes were steamy enough to bring heat to my face. However, it's written in such a disgustingly sappy way it sort of made me want to vomit. The instant love connection was one thing, but the sudden onslaught of disgustingly sweet so-called love/affection was so over-done I couldn't stand it -- or take the book seriously. I had to return it around the half-way point.

I'm also fairly certain this was a book written by a woman, for women, to fetishize male relationships. Usually I will listen to just about anything Nick J. Russo narrates, but this book missed the mark so completely I couldn't even pretend that it wasn't just about fetishizing MM relationships. As an enby(Non-binary person) in an LGBT relationship, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth knowing that this was (likely) written purely for that context.

the Blackwood Pack series

I loved the story. And I love the narrator. can't wait for the last books

Includes mpreg - instant DNF

It was hinted sometimes earlier and confirmed in the end of chapter 7 - one of the MCs has the capacity to bear pups and clearly something important for the story as both species of wolf are on the brink of extinction. Pregnancy of any kind is an instant DNF for me and it's a faux pas for a M/M book to not include a heads up as it's not a given outside of omegaverse.

Absolute perfect beginning of a new series

Jackson has spent years keeping his brothers safe after what happened to their pack. When he realizes that the man that had picked him up from the side of the road was his mate, he kept quiet because he didn't feel like it was a good idea to bring him into all the trouble that his family was facing.

Steel is so confused when his body and wolf keep reacting to the hitch hiker but he didn't have a scent. Steel knew that his mate would be a wolf so why is he reacting to this human?

Well, secrets are revealed as those that had helped Jackson keep his brothers safe as well as the Oracle gives them a message. Now, these two must navigate a whole new world as well as figuring out how to keep their pack safe.

Not bad

This is the first story in a series by a new to me author.
I quite enjoyed it but found it a little mundane at times.
I will continue with the series to see if I get more invested in the characters.
The narration wasn't awful but not the best,sounding rather bored at times.

so much love

this series is one of my favorites.. i love it so much... and to hear it come to life with this narrator makes me super happy.. the emotions and personalities.. it was all around perfection and i loved it so much.. amazing!

Out of body experience

I cannot fully explain how amazing this story was on paper, but what the narrator was outstanding he took this story and made it more, the character voices and the way in which he told the story, every second of it was a thrilling adventure.

Great Start

After having read the 9 books in the series so far, was eager to listen to this and can safely say, was not disappointed.
Nick j Russo does an awesome job of bringing Jackson, his brothers and all the other characters to life. I cant wait to hear Nick's interpretation of Keiran in a future book.
Roll on the continuing story that the fates have for the Blackwood Pack.

Love it!!!

When Mary posted an excerpt of Nick Russo narrating i was so excited to finally listening to this Audiobook! I’m a fan of the series and the way Nick brought the characters to life was great!! Jackson and Steel will always be my favorite characters and now that I heard their voices I loved them even more! I highly recommended this audiobook. I’m looking forward to listening all the serie in audio!

Fantastic listen

I absolutely love this series and now it's coming to audio I'm so excited. Jackson and Steel make such a loving couple, Steel will do anything to protect his mate and new family. Jackson is the best big brother but this brothers and the pack before himself. The narrator brought this story to life and add to the emotion behind the story. I really cant wait till the next book to come to audio

So much passion!

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.5 stars
🔥🔥🔥🔥 Heat Level: 4
🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 Narration: 5

Wow! A whirlwind of a story with so much twisting detail I was hooked. I loved all the characters and really enjoyed the lust to love at first sight mating. There is so much passion and heat in this story, and Jackson and Steel are HOT!

The world was set up so well and I enjoyed the little hints and teasers into each character's mind (even the bad guys). There is so much more that can happen with this story and I'm totally hooked to see what the Fates have in store for each of these brothers. I could already feel hints to many further pairings and I look forward to Colton's story and the birth of Jackson's pup! Bring on book 2!

As ever Nick has done a fantastic job, exceptional work with so many different characters he made each one unique. I can't wait for more!!

Very Good!

Wasn’t sure what to expect when I read the synopsis.
It has the supernatural, shifter and HEA elements that I definitely look forward to, and I have not been disappointed!

Thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook, a bit different to the usual mpreg shifter after being hooked with Ann-Katryn Byrd - the difference from the usual omega pregnancy to this alpha/hybrid, but not distracted from the story whatsoever!
How Jackson is supposed to give birth is going to be a bit tricky as that hasn’t been delved into, only that he’s having a caesarean whereas with Mercy Hills Pack series, Ann-Katryn Byrd, the Omega’s have an Omega line (as the shifters are male) which opens like a pouch when they go into labour and in books by Piper Scott/Virgina Kelly, like Forbidden Desires series, the Omega suddenly has an opening appear just for childbirth - so will be interesting to see how the author gets around that topic conundrum 😊

The audiobook is great, Nick J Russo is great (as always), if there is a downside, then to me, it just seems that the main characters, all they seem to be doing is having sex all the time, which, yes as any new couple does, but it just seems a bit excessive and detracts away sometimes from the story itself.
So this is going to be a series of books I believe (?? 7), so yes hot sexy times are great, but sometimes it just seems a bit excessive to be at it that much! LOL

All in all, fantastic book and still worth the 5🌟’s 😊