Sara's Review: Seven Years (Seven #1) by Dannika Dark
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PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
NARRATOR: Nicole Poole
RELEASED: November 11, 2014
GENRE: paranormal, romance, fantasy
LENGTH: 11 hours and 24 minutes
FORMAT: ebook, paperback, audible
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Seven years ago, my world ended. Seven years later, my new life began. It's been seven years since Lexi Knight lost her brother in a tragic accident. On the anniversary of his death, her brother's best friend shows up unexpectedly - a man she hasn't seen since the funeral. He is no longer the boy Lexi once knew, but a dangerous-looking man with tattoos and dark secrets. He broke her trust and abandoned her family, yet what he reveals makes it impossible to stay angry. Lexi has been secretly infatuated with Austin since childhood, so finding out he's a Shifter just makes him sexier. Dammit. Austin Cole has returned to the city where he grew up, and just in time. He's lived a hard life these past seven years, and the shadows of his past are threatening to destroy Lexi's family. It's time that she learned the truth about her brother, but there is a shocking twist that Austin never saw coming. Now he must protect her family when her mother and sister wind up in mortal danger. Will Lexi learn to accept the truth about who he is, and can Austin salvage a relationship from the ruins of their past? Destiny will find you.
FOUR BOUNDLESS STARS
I had purchased this forever ago and didn’t remember what it was about. But having it deal with the death of a brother was almost a deal breaker for me. Thankfully I didn’t find it heartbreaking. That is the only way I was able to continue. It is weird that I would choose to listen to this now since this year will be the 7th year since my own brother passed.
Seven Years wasn’t a typical shifter book. It started more like a contemporary romance and I honestly thought that was what it was. It took a while before the shifter aspect was introduced. Dark’s mythos is different than other authors. The animal and the human share a body but are separate; when the wolf takes over the person doesn’t remember it unless they are an Alpha. Essentially they become a wild animal when they shift. In human form, their senses are that of humans and they can’t really sense other shifters. This isn’t like most novels where they can scent each other. There also aren’t fated mates (so far). To me, this makes Dark’s characters more human and more relatable. They don’t have superhuman powers, they just have something extra. Seven Years reads like a contemporary romance with a kick of suspense and paranormal tossed in to make it super fun and exciting.
The suspenseful story was well thought out and I really like Lexi and Austin’s chemistry. I wished Lexi didn’t cry at every turn, not of fan of that in female characters. Despite that, I still really enjoyed the story and I have already purchased book 2. I also loved Poole's narration. I am giving this 4 Boundless stars I really enjoyed it.