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

Fun but needs more world building

The story jumps right in with some insta-lust followed very shortly by some insta-luv. The main characters, Jackson and Steel, talk often of their inner wolves but it’s quite a bit further into the story before we get any shifter action. Based on the description, I was expecting more paranormal or urban fantasy with some M/M erotica tossed in. Instead, the balance is the other direction – lots of M/M erotica with a wee, tiny dash of paranormal shifter stuff.
Jackson and his brothers have lived through tragedy, losing the entirety of their immediate family in a massacre. But there’s a trust fund that allowed them to buy some land, build a house, and …. live in some luxury. I’m not sure any of them had any paying job. Then we get Steel and his parents. They are very well off, like personal helicopter kind of wealthy. While it may sound mean, I wanted my main characters to suffer more. I really wanted someone to struggle, like working dead end jobs while staying hidden from the evil wolf pack responsible for the massacre. Something along those lines. As it was, it was cute, it was OK, but nothing really grabbed me.
Much of the story focuses on the romantic relationship between Steel and Jackson, not just erotic moments. I’m not big on romance, so I was much more interested in this evil wolf clan & what they’re up to. I also wanted to know more about the witches. Oh! And male pregnancy – like what magic allows that? What are the rules with that? Basically, I wanted a bit more world building and less flowers and cutesy growling noises coming from the bedroom. Also, since these are all wolves, they have a keen sense of smell – each and every one of them. That means Steel’s parents and Jackson’s brothers all knew exactly when either of our lovebirds was aroused or had recently had sex. Ugh! So many times that came up. Once or twice was funny. Regularly happening kind of dampened the sexiness.
The ladies have very small roles, though a few are set up to have bigger roles later in the series. They are comforters and if there are ever 2 in the same conversation, they are talking about the guys. They don’t have much character depth, but that can be said about all the characters.
The story ends on a sweet, but abrupt, note. Nothing is resolved. There are still many questions. I was hoping for some real action scenes to wrap up the tale, perhaps a showdown with the evil wolf clan. Alas, all that fun stuff will have to wait until later in the series. For me, an urban fantasy junkie, this book wasn’t my cup of tea but I can see the care the author put into creating the relationship between Steel and Jackson. 3/5 stars.
The Narration: Nick J. Russo has a lovely voice to listen to. It’s very soothing and definitely sexy. Yet there wasn’t much distinction between some of the character voices and when in conversation, the characters often blended together. Steel and Jackson started off with distinct voices but by halfway through, they sounded much the same to me. Russo does have good female character voices and he tosses in a few accents. His most distinct voice was the alpha of the evil wolf clan. There were no tech issues with the recording. 4/5 stars.

Loved this book!!!

I loved this book and came across it by accident! But once I started to read I fell in love with Jackson and his family. I’ve already told about 10 people about the series.

Story 3 Stars! Narrator 4 Stars! Overall rating: 3.5 Stars!

I like the premise and I’m always looking for great shifter books about fated mates and the impossible situations they find themselves in while they have to fight for their HEA. I enjoy the action, the drama, the romance, and generally, the world-building as we are pulled into the story. That’s what I looked forward to when I started listening to Dire Warning. However, it became obvious right away that I was going to have difficulty following the story and the characters.

I was confused right away by who was who, who was speaking and or who’s POV I was in. Even from the very first chapter, I couldn’t keep up with whether Jackson or Steel were talking or going through their thoughts on their body's reactions to the other man. There was absolutely no distinguishing difference between the characters' voices (whether the result of the Narrator or the way it was written, I haven’t a clue) so I scrambled to decipher who was who.

If I could skip the overabundance of sex (and thoughts of sex) and the ramblings I felt that seemed too much, I think I would’ve enjoyed this one much more. I actually found myself skipping forward a lot just to get passed the drawn-out scenes. I even started counting the number of times I heard the word cock and counted 200 (seriously too much). Had the story been streamlined a little I think it would’ve been a lot smoother overall.

In the end, I found myself wondering if as the series moves along all of these things would get worked out. Maybe this was just all because this is the 1st book (generally, I find books get better and better as we get further into a series). Maybe I will enjoy book 2 better. I guess we shall see.

🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

I have been looking forward to this book to come on audio since the day I read it. It is pure perfection and what more could you want? Cant wait for book 2 to come out!!

In Dire Need of More Please! Loved it!

Dire Warning - Audiobook
MMy Thoughts and Review:

Mpreg at it's BEST! This story was first released in 2017 and is getting a bit of a re-boot with it's release to Audiobook. As it happens this was also Rundle's debut novel. As someone who loves MM paranormal shifter romance novels, I would have guessed Rundle a seasoned veteran in the genre, while I read/ listened to this.

On the outset of the story, the reader is introduced to the first MC, Jackson, who wakes stunned, by the side of the road. He finds himself robbed of his car, clothes, and a bit of dignity. Using one hand to cover what's left of that dignity and the other to hold out his thumb, Jackson can only hope his luck will change and a ride will come by soon.

Enter, sMMexy AF, Steel. Steel is the dark broody fella we all love in our romances. The kind of man I always call the "Cream Puff Alphas." They have that tough "baked" exterior, but inside is that gooey sweetness that is just delicious. You never see it displayed on the outside, you only taste it as you bite into it. *sigh... Alphas... am I right?

Rundle does an amazing job of weaving a tale of shifter lore into something to believe in. With Nick J. Russo's s silky voice giving life to the book, you can envision Jackson, Steel, and their families as they prepare for a battle with an old enemy. Unless they defeat this foe, their kind will only be remembered in stories, nothing more. A legend brought to mind when authors think to tell it and put pen to paper.

I hope this entire series gets put to audio. It was really great! The fun "adulting" times were never repetitive or stagnant. They were very organic and felt like the relationship of a new couple would.

The family dynamics and dramatics were the only parts that felt lacking just a bit, but I think that's because of so many characters in one book. I also assume this is because of future books and the importance of Jackson's pack in the books to come. Perhaps Rundle just wanted to tease us with the good stuff. Keep us coming back for more.

If you love a good shifter romance, this is definitely a good one. I loved it from beginning to end.

The Story: 5.00 🌟
The Narration: 4.50🌟
Overall: 4.75 🌟

4.75 in-DIRE-need-of-you-stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🔹✨

I received a complimentary audio copy of this book from OtherWorldsInk in exchange for my review. 🌈

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.

Interesting

This is an interesting twist on an alpha-pack-mates story.
With a somewhat abrupt ending…
Well narrated.

Wow, just wow!!!

As a fan of this series I have waited forever for this one to happen and I am not disappointed. There are few narrators who can do the job this one has done. I have read the books many times but hearing them is so much better.

Steelers and Jackson oh my!

Mary Rundle you have hit it out of the ballpark with this story! Jackson and Steele meet after a robbery of Jackson and they knew they were fated mates shortly thereafter. This is the story of the Backwood Pack. Can't wait for the other brothers stories. Nick Russo really brings all the characters to life with his smooth mello voice. If you like shifter stories this is a great series.

Loved the love in this series

Great story amazing narrator I’ve listened to this series 4 times already from book 1 to the last one and back to beginning shifters and magic and love and alphas and omegas it has it all love love love loved it