The romance story lines are pretty much all the same at this point. I notice her even using some of the exact phrasing from previous books. They're still great to escape into and the overarching plot will keep you hooked. I want to know how it ends! ( )

The hero saved the heroine from imprisonment but couldn't protect her from the rape or the abuse that she received. The heroine thinks of herself as broken and though the hero tries to get closer to her she keeps pushing him away. Honestly, I wouldn't trust him either to start with. An ex-vampire slayer would make a vampire a little jumpy. But out of fear of how he makes her feel, she keeps thinking of every excuse she can to show him they are meant to be and it got a little old. They kept having the same conversations over and over again, so much so that the book could have been cut down to skip them. The hero was frustrating. I don't like it when a strong male becomes a weak lost puppy over his female. It's different when he's willing to swallow his pride to make her happy but he got a little whiny when she kept turning him down and it was turn off for me. The heroine is supposed to be gun ho on revenge and killing those who killed her sister but she's weak. She constantly needs the hero to save her every fight though she's stubborn and doesn't see it and despite the hero's obvious fear for her safety she repeatedly runs off to get the bad guy on her own. That being said, when the hero wasn't being whiny he was a alpha male and dedicated to protecting the heroine. He tries really hard to get over his aversion to letting her feed from him and anyone who hurts or threatens her is immediately killed or put into their place. ( )

My first book with vamps in quite some time, and I must say I'm excited. To be fair I have to mention this is book 7 in this series, and I have not read any of the other books. I normally do not like jumping into a series (or in the case towards the end of a series), but I decided to give it a go. If this book is captivating and I enjoy it, I'll go back and buy the six books preceding it, and it will be a tribute to the authors ability to bring in new readers. Of course there is always the possibility that I would be wildly confused, but now it's time for the actual review!

I would like to start off saying how impressed I was that I was able to enter into a book so far along in a series and catch on so quickly. In the first few chapters there were little snippets of background information. It wasn't gushed out all at once, but rather a slow build up revealing the events that had transpired in the previous books in the series. And while I think I did miss out on the dynamics of all the characters (because I hadn't had the six previous books of build up to fall back on), by about midway through the books I liked the characters enough to really identify with them.

For a paranormal romance series, I can certainly understand why this series has lasted as long as it has. It reminded me a little bit of the Keri Arthur Riley books. The sex scenes were not cheesy (huge plus), although I got the distinct feeling there was entirely to much talking. The two characters of Raine and Seth would be literally in the throws and then there would be two pages of dialogue, and it was always heavy dialogue, and the suddenly after two pages of talking, Byrd made it seem like they were still going at it during this intense conversation, which didn't really fit.

Seth and Raine were definitely at odds with each other throughout the book, and it took a lot for them to even find a way to work together. Most of the time them being at odds just made their chemistry all the more better, and made me more interested in the characters. But towards the end of the book, when they were having the same argument for the 30th time with the same exact language I kinda wanted to knock the two of them upside the head with a heavy book.

Because I went into this book not knowing the back story about the bad guys I don't think I would have the same reactions as people who have been following the series. Westerman seems to be a formidable bad guy, although I can tell from recall within this book, that if I had read the previous books, this guy would have evoked a serious hatred from me. Since there wasn't a lot of information on the him in this book, just really the continued hunt for him, I rooted for Raine and Seth but didn't have the same kind of hatred for him I would have had if I knew had actually read the books where Raine was captured.

Overall I think this is a good book, I think the reader of paranormal romance are going to enjoy it and this series. If you don't like a book with a lot of sex in it though then this is not your book. I have to say that after reading this book, the first six books are going on my to buy list, and I am very curious to see what happens next as this series comes to an end. ( )

I know “Rush of Darkness” was a suspense story and one filled with intense action and the complex paranormal elements, but what stuck out to me most was the amazing love story created by Rhyannon Byrd.
The author created suspense right from the opening pages with setting and the back story not only of the novel, but of her hero and heroine, Seth and Raine. I felt the storm brewing immediately between many types of paranormal characters, echoed in Seth and Raine. Speaking of storms, the author’s descriptions are mostly fantastic, detailed analogies and metaphors, most as accurate as they are haunting. Here’s a great example: ‘…his scent imprinted on her brain like a tattoo inked into tender skin.’
An element I love of romantic suspense is when an author sets a scene, builds and builds the suspense, putting the heroine right in the midst of danger—the life or death kind—and then boom, brings on the addition of passion. Ms. Byrd did this several times, on the verge of a kill in walks alpha male…delicious.
Along those same lines, I think when extreme opposites attract, not just different, but one that at one time lived to kill the other, it creates more suspense in the actual romance. This makes secrets and pasts so much more. This author does all of this type of complexity so well.
“Rush of Darkness” was one of those wonderful edge-of-your-seat stories where my hands clasped around the book (or eReader in my case) until my fingertips were white, screaming in my mind, just kiss the girl already and don’t anyone in the house interrupt me before she does. In fact, I was wondering as I raced through the words if I was ever going to get to a stopping point to take a few notes to write this review. What stands out most to me, now having finished it, is that I came into this series in the seventh book and this heroine and hero still will rank up there with some of the most well-developed characters I have ever read: such depth, such emotion and such struggle. ( )

Review provided by Black Lagoon Reviews:

Rush of Darkness, the seventh novel in Rhyannon Byrd's popular paranormal romance series Primal Instinct, is an ensnaring and scalding read full of great emotional appeal, endearing and tortured characters and a thrilling plot that leads the pair on a wonderfully written adventure culminating in an epic battle that leaves you craving more!

This installment of the series follows Raine Spenser and Seth McConnell, characters who were brought together in the previous novel, which I hadn't read, and are both about as tortured and traumatized as can be. Their heart wrenching histories are tragic, creating two broken and lost souls who throw themselves whole heartedly into their respective missions. Coming into this series so late with little to no clue about what was going on, I found this story to be absurdly easy to step into. Byrd's writing style is wonderfully descriptive and insightful thrusting you under the characters' very skins. This can also be said of the world itself with the various plots and factions, from the good guys to the bad. The histories are wonderfully recreated to allow for effortless plot development, so even if this is your first transgression into the Primal Instinct series, you are not left behind or confused about anything within the plot of this novel.

The characters are endearing from the first sentence to the last with phenomenal chemistry that had me eagerly anticipating the connection that was to come. Both are completely open, with great emotional appeal that immediately drew me into tho their lives with an almost maddening build up of sexual tension. With tragic pasts that were amazingly revealed I was at times heart broken by the atrocious acts committed against them. Yet, it is this bone deep heart break that binds these characters so irrevocably. Raine, after being kidnapped, raped and brutalized, gives herself over to her underlying guilt over her sisters murder and loses herself in her need for vengeance. Seth, feeling an unexplainable connection to her, seeks her out in order to protect her, even from herself as he is no stranger to the addictive pull of revenge. The immediate chemistry between them is engrossing, the almost constant infighting quickly developing into something more. As both surrender to their desires, the sacrificial love between them grows creating some wonderful moments that I couldn't help but love. Truly, these two create an open, emotionally charged relationship steeped in rich history that can be tender and empathetic, despite or perhaps because of the almost constant verbal antagonism, and turned in to one of the best romances I've had the pleasure of reading.

The amazing writing style was fluid with a great pace filled not only with the alluring romance between the characters, but action as well. With tensions running high and time running out, the ever expanding scope of the novel was also a great attribute, bringing in more and more characters as the final showdown between the Kraven and the Watchmen come to a head leaving some great openings for the next installment.

Overall, this was my first time entering into the Primal Instinct world, but it will not be my last. As in love these characters as I am, I will definitely be hunting up the previous novels to find out even more about this addictive and simmering world where passion and action run rampant! ( )