REVIEW - THE RIVAL OF THE SPECIES - HOW FOR THE DAMNED BY D FISCHER

Title: The Rival Of The Species

Series: Howl For The Damned

Author: D. Fischer

Genre: Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy

Release Date: 16th July 2020

BLURB from Goodreads

The past is loyal. The present is desirable. The future may be neither.

Jinx Whitethorn’s world has crashed into nothing but crumbles. A person she thought she could trust has betrayed her, and now Jacob Trent is left to pick up the pieces of the woman he loves.

With the traitor discovered, Jinx takes Jacob back home to the Lotus Coven in hopes of learning more about the curse her father put on the Bane Pack. Bringing home her shifter boyfriend to a manor full of witches is asking for trouble, but Jinx is beyond caring what the witches think of her. She’s learned to be loyal to her desires, and right now, all she wants is to find a way to deal with the Bane’s threats so she can live an uncomplicated life with Jacob and his pack.

But the Bane Pack is getting restless and desperate, a dangerous combination for ruthless killers. Jinx won’t be able to hide from them for long.

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REVIEW

In this book we discover that when skinwalking Jinx can walk in any animal’s skin she chooses. Since the betrayal of a member of her new found family, her only link to her father naturally Jinx has been withdrawn into herself, going off alone on the Riva Pack land to roam in different animal skins. Slowly learning to shift more quickly and kind of discovering her new self.

After their previous misunderstanding and a few awkward moments Jinx and Jacob both want to take their relationship to the next level and carry out the mate bond. Jacob is reluctant as he doesn’t want Jinx to become his mate and then regret it. Jacob seems to think once the danger with the Bane Pack is over Jinx may feel differently about staying with him forever. Jacob knows Jinx is the one for him and that he wants to be with her forever, he is just wary because Jinx is not a wolf shifter and once a wolf mates it is forever and there is no turning back. 

Jacob and the Riva Pack have all accepted and accustomed to the presence of Jinx and witch Sara within their home even though there is a general distrust and dislike between witches and shifters. So, it is quite a surprise when a visit to the Lotus Coven is planned, though there is a highly amusing scene within the book where Jacob tells Cinder he is going to be visiting the Lotus Coven with him, Jinx and Sara. Jinx needs some answers from her mother about her father and the Whitethorn family. There are some fantastic scenes where the big bad wolves are reduced to scared little boys whilst at the coven. At first there is a suspicion of each other but when Marian sees how much Jacob and Cinder love and care for Jinx and Sara, Marian sort of takes them under her wing. As Jinx had to put up with some initial distrust from the Riva Pack, both Jacob and Cinderson are ignored, and treat quite poorly at the coven and some of its members. 

Once again, I had lots of questions, theories and thoughts of my own during the book, such as could Jinx somehow speak/contact her father Adriel for any help with the situation she finds herself in the middle of? Is the cat that is roaming the Lotus Coven really a cat or some sort of “device” or “being” that is there to report about what is going on in the Coven to someone else?

I have really grown to love these characters and really want to read more about them so I am hoping there is going to be a spin off series with them in. With all the different supernatural beings the possibilities are endless. I truly love the style of D. Fischer’s writing and story- telling, she makes it so easy to read and get lost in her books. Her characters are realistic and are a great mix of instantly likable, lovable as well as those you grow to love and of course the ones you adore disliking too! As well as the main characters of Jinx, Sara, Jacob & Cinder we meet more witches. I immediately loved Marian the High Priestess, yet at the same time felt drawn to the more cantankerous character of Greta. Greta reminded me a little of Glenda the Riva Pack cook. I enjoyed the introduction of Ravyn, the pack yet to receive a name, and of course revisiting with the Cloven Pack. I loved how the different supernatural beings all came together in the end to fight a common threat.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing this book were that I absolutely

Loved the book from beginning to end. Sad that it's the last book in the Howl For The Damned Series but hoping for more from the supernatural beings in this series perhaps in a spin off or three!! A fantastic "shifter series" that has "shifters" & more......much more.

To sum up once again I felt immediately hooked and was pulled right back into the story full of mystery & intrigue. I was determined to attempt to read it slowly and savour the book but still read it in just two “reading sessions”. The whole series makes for addictive reading, seriously you do not want to put this book down for anything!! I could go on and on about this book, this series, and look forward to reading other reviews and opinions on it and maybe even talking “spoilers”. It has been hard to talk about this book whilst at the same time refrain from including any spoilers. This book and series reminded me of my first love of the "shifter" genre and the enjoyment I got from Rachel Vincent's Shifter Series and Kelley Armstrong's Women Of The Otherworld Series. I have seen this series also compared to Patricia Briggs books (I have only read one so far) so I intend to read some of her books too! If you love these books and want recommendations they also remind me of Amanda Carlson's Jessica McClain books and Karina Espinosa's brilliant Mackenzie Grey Series too.