Consumed

By: Rebecca Zanetti

Narrated by: Karen White

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Dark Protectors - Book Four

Sometimes You Mate for Life

Katie Smith is the best of her class, part of an elite hunting force trained to eliminate werewolves from the hills of Western Virginia. She's good at it because she has the kind of focus and drive that won't back down no matter how steep the odds. Call it Southern sass. Whatever it is, there's no denying her willingness to risk everything for the only man she's ever cared about - a man on the verge of losing his very humanity....

Sometimes You Mate to Stay Alive

For the past 10 years, Jordan Pride has dedicated his life to protecting his people from a deadly shifter virus. But in a rare moment of distraction, Jordan's guard drops just long enough for his fate to take an irreversible twist. Unless the woman he loves surrenders everything to him again and again, under a full moon rising....

©2012 Rebecca Zanetti (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Paranormal romance at its best!" (Cynthia Eden)

OMG!!!! This book took me on an emotional roller coaster!! SO GOOD

This series is so hot!!!! I can't wait for the next book. I laugh and cried and could not wait to hear the next chapter. So much action and the plot is great. Katie is all that and a bag of beans. She gave a new meaning to STANDING BY HER MAN!!

a wonderful story and my favorite so far.

AudioBook Review:
Stars: Overall 5 Narration 5 Story 5

I’m so totally in love with this series, I really don’t know how I missed it before. Each book brings characters to the forefront, telling their story but never losing those moments of ‘check in’ to see how the other characters and relationships have progressed. And when you combine the hugely engaging characters and relationship trajectories with a ‘fight for the world’ with battles, biochemical warfare and psychic controls the story combines all the ‘epic fantasy’ elements without finding yourself exclaiming ‘find the damn ring already!’. That is not a knock on those epic fantasies: I’m a fan of some and find the secondary stories often outstrip the prominent conflict that brings the characters together. No such problem here as ALL of Zanetti’s characters are consumed with the outcome of the war between the Realm and the Kurjans, and all are wanting to find that Achilles’ heel that will bring the other side down.

In the last installment, Katie, a cat shifter who was infected with the virus and unable to shift had made some dramatic moves that could potentially kill her or cure her. In the 10 years since Hunted, she has served the Realm as part of a freelance eradication team: doing away with shifters infected with the virus and turned into mindless werewolves. But Jordan, King of the shifters has never been happy with Katie out in the world, and now with him coming close to the 3rd full moon since he was infected, he must get her to safety within the Realm compound, make arrangements for a successor to rule the shifters and secure a promise from Conn to kill him before he does something horrible after his shift.

Another decade has only increased the determination to prevail on both sides of the conflict as alliances and targets continue to shift in this war. The years have not slowed growth or determination of the characters, and despite the ever-present threats, life moves forward. Janey is growing up (to Talen’s great discomfort), her powers are increasing and Kara is more concerned with her obsession with Zane, as it seems to have strengthened. Most importantly in this installment is Katie and Jordan. She’s always KNOWN Jordan is the one for her, and each of the now dead men she has dated in their time apart is a small testament to that fact. But Jordan is so freaking honorable and clueless – AND in denial. She’ll have to make drastic moves. Oh the moves!

Karen White has again surpassed expectation in narrating this story: characters are instantly recognizable, connecting voice to person before their identity is presented. New characters (there are a few) come forward with their own presentation and emotional connotations that instantly place them as good or bad, and Janey, who has aged 10 years still has those qualities that keep her newer more mature voice familiar and known to readers. I can honestly say that this series has firmly planted her in the “grab anything she has narrated’ pile for me, and the combination of story and performance are in perfect harmony. Unsure about audiobooks but are a fan of epic vampire / shifter stories ?– this series in audio should be on your list to buy.

An epilogue that jumps forward another 2 years gives a taste of what is to come while presenting a glimpse at what has happened in the meantime, with one HUGE step forward for the side of the Realm, this was a wonderful story and my favorite so far.

I received an Audiobook copy of the title via Audible Communications Team for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Another great book

While I love this series this book was just as good as always. I did think it got a little wordy 3/4 of the way in but was still great. I still believe that you need to read this series in order to understand all the characters.
Story 5/5
Steam 5/5
Narration 5/5
Overall 5/5

My favorite so far!

This one was a roller coaster! I totally didn’t see the twists coming. I had been dying to get into this pair’s story and man it didn’t disappoint. Was even better than expected. Katie is a serious badass.

Another fun addition the series.

In this fourth installment of the Dark Protectors series, we switch from the vampires to the shifters. Jordan and Katie have been a part of the story since book one, but now they finally get their own story. Consumed also takes place ten years into the future from the previous story. The Realm is in the middle of their war with the Kurjans and their virus which is turning vampire mates back to humans, keeping female shifters from shifting and worst most of all turning male shifters into mindless werewovles (not just humans who shift into wolves, but something much, much worse. They call wolf shifters just that, not werewolves).

Katie and Jordan have known each other since Katie was a small child of about 5. He rescued her from a horrible situation and took her in and raised her as part of his pack. As she grew he was never able to see her as anything more than the child he rescued.

Katie has had a crush on Jordan since forever. He was her savior. She knew they were meant to be together, if he could just see that she isn’t a little girl any more. When she is infected with the virus and is better able to track the werewolves, she sets off with a team to get away from her childhood crush and spends ten years tracking and killing the beasts. That is until she learns that Jordan is infected himself and he has only until the next full moon before he becomes one of the beasts that she will be hunting.

With Jordan’s infection, that puts a ton of pressure on the royal vampire family, the Kayrs from the first three books, to find a cure and fast. They only have days before they lose their good friend and ally in Jordan. We even learn that one of the Kayrs brother has done more than we ever thought to help Jordan in his past and he rose to become the Pride leader in a way that wasn’t all that pretty.

There is also a second storyline with Janie, who has also done some growing in the past ten years. She is now a teenager and all that comes with that. She has a little brother who is protective. She is trying her hand at dating and neither her brother, her father or uncles are happy about it. Then there are the boys from her dreams, literally, Zane and Kalin.

There are some other pieces that are still not resolved yet. The wolf, Maggie, and, Bane Council wolf Terrent who wants to take her from the Kayrs brothers. Jase is still missing with the demons. I enjoyed seeing some of the couples from previous books along.

This book was full of action. I once again enjoyed the overall story arc over the romance, but then that is a normal thing for me. I did enjoy learning more about Katie and Jordan’s past and seeing them come together. But I mostly enjoyed seeing the overall progression of the war and the development of the world and the characters as a whole.

Narration
Karen White did a great job with the narration of this book. While there was nothing in this book that stood out, like in the previous book with a ton of the Irish brogue, I can’t downplay how much I enjoy listening to her narration of this series. I will mention that I did notice a difference in Janie’s voice. She did take into account the 10 year difference in the girl’s voice. She still had a sweetness to it, but not that of a toddler, but that of teenager that has that really sweet girly voice. I thought it fit the description that was given to the ultra petite Janie.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.