Wolfsbane by Ronie Kendig (Review by Ashley Nikole)

Wolfsbane falls in line as book #3 in the 'Discarded Heroes' series, following a Black Ops type of team called 'Nightshade'.

Each book follows a member of the team, with this one following former Green Beret medic, Canyon Metcalfe. The lady MC is Danielle (Dani) Roark, a demolitions expert that, at the start of the book, is escaping a brutal captivity in Venezuela.

Review for book 2 in the series, Digitalis.

PLOT:

Moved pretty fast & well paced throughout. The first...about half I'd say, is set in the United States and isn't focusing on suspense, but more on the relationship/romance side of things, with plenty of involvement with the Metcalfe family & sibling dynamics, which I enjoyed.

Just before the halfway mark, the story moves over to Venezuela, and that's when the action/danger & suspense really works itself up into its full potential.

The first time I read this book, the subplot in italics (of a native Venezualan mystery woman telling a story of a soldier named Bayani & her daughter, Chesa) confused me. I didn't really get where it was going or what the significance was to the story, until about 3/4 of the way through. But have no fear, it IS significant, & at the end, you have a big "Aha!" moment. Second time reading through this novel, I understood the significance of this plotline & really felt it added a good angle to the story. 

VIOLENCE:

With Nightshade being a black ops & covert operation team, they end up being in hostile territory where plenty of military/guerrilla violence/killing/shooting/fighting etc. takes place. People get shot, stabbed (blood gurgling, & pouring out of wounds, etc) fistfights etc.
Mention is made that Dani was tortured, but not much is mentioned of it in hindsight. A Nightshade member is tortured when captured by the enemy.

Cutting (explained down below)

SPOILERS:

Not too far into the book Dani attempts suicide via

cutting herself (we don't see her doing it). Someone

interrupts her while she's doing it, and she hides 

her arm behind herself, but the blood splattering 

onto the bathroom floor gives her away. 

At another point, when she has been captured,

she attempts slitting her wrists again, to 

escape the brutal treatment she knows she 

will receive. She is interrupted again. 

SEXUAL CONTENT:

Dani has several memories of being raped. While they are not prolonged or usually overtly explicit in  their remembrance, they aren't nondescript.

--------SPOILERS----------

Dani & Canyon have sex once after an innocent

play-fight-tickle match turns into kissing,

passion & getting physically intimate.

The scene ends with, "Canyon kissed her again,

deeper, more passionately. He traced her leg and drew

the hem of the tunic upward." So it is cut off before anything

happens, but we get the idea what is about to take

place. Following, Canyon knows what he did was

wrong, & they have a talk at the end of the book about

having extramarital sex, & why they (if they could have

changed things) would have waited until marriage.

----still spoilers----

With Dani, I can understand her reason in giving herself to Canyon before marrying him...before being raped multiple times in captivity, she'd been a virgin. The first time she'd kissed Canyon (post captivity) it was her first kiss.

Not having a strong or active spiritual conviction to back up saving sex for marriage, she felt safe & loved with Canyon, & was probably more than ready to have a loving sexual encounter, after having her virginity stolen, & her sexuality only being used in the context of rape. Not that it makes what they did, right, but I can certainly empathize.
P.S. Canyon won no brownie points after that scene...I was like, "Dude! You had one job." #fail #justno what happened to all that self- imposed soldier self-control? Treat the girl right & put a ring on it, ahem, before sleeping with her. But he owns up to his mistakes, & that is what matters. People mess up at times, but how they handle their mistakes is key. 

Drug Content: 

Canyon is addicted to some high powered pain meds, he initially was taking for a back injury. He kept taking them even after the pain abated, to numb his emotionally pain regarding his past. He hid his addiction from his family & Nightshade team. Eventually he is found out, and gets off the meds (detoxes). 

CHARACTERS: 

I loved these guys, mainly because they were broken & imperfect. While I couldn't circumstantially relate with them, their emotional trauma & struggles made me emphasize, big time. I didn't feel distanced from Dani & Canyon, as though I were merely reading about two fake people. I felt as though I was Dani, or Canyon in a scene, heart being torn apart, bereft at loss, or elated at a triumph. That is what I am looking for in a book- to be transported into another world, another character. Their imperfect state, how they messed up at times- but just kept going, spoke to me so much. 

While I don't want to read about a person who goes doing bad things (on purpose) left, right & centre, I also cannot connect with a character who is total perfection. Dani & Canyon were imperfect, made mistakes, got super messy, but they owned their mistakes. They kept moving forward, & that is what made me love them! 

They were walking out of brokenness & into being whole & well. That process seldom looks cute, and that's what I loved so much about this book. These people being in the trenches of the 'process', and moving into their destiny...sometimes taking two steps back, then one forward. 

CONCLUSION: 

This book, content wise is a pretty heavy book. Dani was in captivity for six months, during which she was repeatedly violated through rape and torture. It deals with a character who attempts suicide multiple times to escape horrors no one should endure. Another has a drug addiction. It's a heavy book, but it is filled with redemption, hope & perseverance. Canyon's upbeat & humorous personality kept it from staying too heavy the whole way through.
Generally, I'm not a huge fan of the more content heavy books, but I loved this one. Second time through I fell in love even more.

The heart I have for abused & battered women, was spoken to deeply by this book. Novel's that are fiction, but speak to & nudge your convictions...those are the keepers.

5 Stars for this one, & I'd recommend it for readers 18-19+