My non-spoilery review: The very best thing the author could do for this book is get rid of the introductory chapter. The best thing she could do for her books in general is allow herself to believe, if only for a moment, that she isn't too Not Like Other Writers to adhere to certain standards - the ones she decries in her author's note, specifically.

Below are my observations made in real time while reading this book. They will contain spoilers, so carry on with that in mind.

😎 The author states at the beginning of her book that she eschews the pesky and unnecessary plotting tactics of other writers, and instead simply employs the spirits of her characters to tell her what to write, continuity be damned. This can only bode well.
😎 The lore drop in the opening chapter is too good to be true. The Curse of Comrade Lone Wolf is placed on one werewolf at a time (among all werewolves everywhere I guess). The lone wolf adheres to Highlander rules (there can only be one, immortal until beheaded). The lone wolf exists specifically to cull dangerous werewolves, is supernaturally curated one after another to do just that and marked by a sickle over the chest from lome-wolf-birth. Yet despite the fact that the lone wolf's entire immortal existence is devoted to protecting all werewolves everywhere in perpetuity by doing, ostensibly, the dirtiest and most dangerous work, as ordained by some inscrutible supernatural system that ensures there is always one lone wolf in play, he (and it is always a he) is ["shunned by pack, always alone"]. There's nothing in the legend of the lone wolf that explains why this living weapon of service is an eternal pariah, but if the ghost of the author's OCs didn't see fit to whisper plothole filler in her ears, I probably don't need it!
😎 My second favorite part of the intro chapter is the line, ["The only way to kill him is beheading, either during battle or by stealth or betrayal."] Me when I'm desperate to pad my wordcount. Accidental beheading like, on a job site, that would be fine. He'd survive that. Being intentionally and openly beheaded by an enemy while the lone wolf is just chilling would also not count, given these absolutely bonkers stipulations. The lone wolf could probably loophole his way into surviving a beheading sphynx riddle style if battle, stealth, and betrayal are the specific modes of beheading necessary for his death. God, this guy is so badass.
😎 Dagen Kern is the ultra-sexy name of our hottie baddie love interest, and isn't at all reminiscent of the ermagerd ghost of Millennial past.
😎 ["The black wolf might kill her on sight or he might not. There was no way to determine his course of action."] I mean, according to the legend mere pages earlier, lone wolves take out ["rogue wolves who senselessly kill"]. I feel like that determines his course of action a little. But maybe the spirit of the protagonist who was whispering this to the author as she wrote wanted us to see her as an ignoramus.
😎 Right away, Comrade Lone Wolf's voice is described as "masculine". Cishets using adjectives that actually mean something, level: impossible.
😎 oop I didn't even read the rest of that sentence before slapping down a critique, because the rest of it describes the FMC as being physiologically driven to obey. Cishets write romance that doesn't double down on gender essentialism, level: DIABOLICAL.
😎 Romance novel heroines are so fucking funny. "I'm scared that this guy I've just met is going to eviscerate me. Ooh, his hair is so shiny! I want to run my fingers through it!" I'm convinced that all FMCs in books like these forget that they're actually in the book halfway through a thought and just believe they're watching a CW show. She must have been whispering to the author to make her look too stupid to be real.
😎 First meeting: Dagoth Ur hurts her feelings by accidentally targeting her deepest insecurities. Then he touches her cheek, her nips shoot out like Nerf darts and her panties are DRENCHED. Girl, stand up!!
😎 He kisses her and she claims this has ["marked her for life"]. In like... a metaphorical way, or a werewolf way? Hard to tell. Harder to tell because the author likes to badly overexplain things that need no explanation, but leaves you scratching your head about the rest.
😎 ["I mean nothing to him." What else was new?] You just met him! You were JUST afraid he'd murder you in cold blood! I have a hard time feeling bad that you caught feelings in a few minutes and your delusion isn't reciprocated!!!!
😎 Protagonists talking to themselves is a fine trait to have. This protagonist asks questions out loud to nobody and the author answers through the text like a masturbatory Q&A. I don't know if there's a higher peak for comedy than this, but if there is, the altitude would surely kill me.
😎 ["The scent of her, a delectable combination of woman and lavender,"] what does it MEAN? WHAT does it mean?
😎 ["Dressed in all black, she'd resembled a sexy cat burglar. He'd wanted to pet her, make her purr."] This book has a 4.25 star rating.
😎 Haagen Dazs mopes about how alphas and young wolves love trying to take on lone wolves, once again directly contradicting the legend given to us at the very top. He even sort of suggests that they think killing him will? Transfer his immortality to them?? Does nobody know the legend we are privy to? Calling it a legend implies that that knowledge is widely held, even if it isn't strictly true, yet nobody seems to know it. It may benefit the author to change the name of that first chapter, but frankly, I think removing it altogether would make this thing seem way less dumb. You can't be contradictory if there's nothing to contradict.
😎 Tbh, the grim foreshadowing of the author's note is more dire and immediate than you could possibly imagine. She doesn't just ignore continuity between books - she ignores it between chapters.
😎 Our boy Dagen Kern thinks the name "Onyx" is unusual. Brave opinion from a man named after the Lord High Councillor to House Dagoth.
😎 i would like to propose a new trend called the Romance Authors Stop Treating Breasts As Erections Challenge. Why are they always swelling and jutting and perking up and shooting out and growing erect, and why are authors too cowardly to go the whole way and make them nut, too?
😎 This book is way too pointless and horny for the first sex scene to happen a whole 30% in.
😎 He really said "Mine" when she was just sitting up in a room where they're alone. My brother in Christ, who are you being possessive to? This author like. Knows the beats of what makes werewolves sexy, but just sort of throws darts at the wall for where to put those bits. Unfortunately it never hits, because throw darts in question are as dull as our protagonist.
😎 He chews her underwear off and her response: ["Oh, God. Talk about sexy."] Geddaloadathisguy-core. Hitthebricks-pilled.
😎 ["Primed, her orgasm blasted through her."] 💥💥💥💥💥Stop, stop, she's already dead!

This is actually too ludicrous to endure any longer. I almost want to rate it higher for sheer entertainment value, but too many of y'all have skewed the ratings too high already.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I have not read the first two books of this series, so it took a while for me to get to know some of the characters and references. However, I appreciated this was a standalone. I loved both main characters and their relationship. I felt like the ending dragged on in spots and rushed in others, but, overall, this book was a good experience!

After receiving the ARC copy, I decided best to read books 1 & 2, the finish up with book, Tempting the Black Wolf. I do feel as though these could almost be considered as interconnected standalones since each story will mostly catch you up on the story before. The premises of the books are that there is a powerful Mage and a Werewolf duo out to steal the immortality of the lone wolfs. In each of the books there is a "fated mate trope", this books mated pair was my favorite out of the books as it differed from the Wolf/human bonding in the first two books and gave off the enemies to lovers vibe I live for.

Unfortunately, I felt that the books were the same story just written over again with small variances, if you enjoyed the first two books you will likely enjoy the third book as you finally see the battle between the Mage and Lone Wolfs come to an end.

I definitely was in for a ride I wasn’t prepared for with this book!
Not quite an enemies to lovers but more of a “I don’t trust you” to “I will die for you” trope! I did enjoy the trope but it was a bit repetitive throughout the story.

I didn’t know it was a part of a series (though it IS a standalone) so there were some characters I wasn’t aware of the history with.

The climax felt rushed. I expected more of a drawn out fight. But I thoroughly enjoyed the resolution afterwards!

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled for giving me an eARC in exchange for a review.

I was spellbound by this book. I couldn't put it down. Onyx is incredible. Her strength and heart make this story sing. Dagen is the "Black Wolf" with the instincts and power. The two together ramp up the heat and deliver justice. The ending was perfect.

Thank you Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for my arc copy of Tempting the Black Wolf.


I will preface this review by stating when I signed up for this title I did not know this was the final book in a series.

Now with that said I made the decision to continue this read without reading the previous titles in the series, and I was able to follow along with the story very easily, I did at times when the previous couples where mentioned become curious to the start of their stories but i did not feel I was at any kind of detriment for having not read them prior to starting this story.

I was hooked into the story immediately, and really enjoyed the lore and legend, I was a little disappointed with how the conflict/resolution was so quick, but I am attributing that to my having only read this portion of the overall story.

All in all really good short quick story that was enjoyable even having not read the remainder of the series.

Thank you to Entangled & N.J. Walters for the ARC of this book! I really enjoyed this book! Dagen & Onyx embarked on a journey to end the evil that has corrupted their lives & on the way figure out how to work together while battling feelings & being fated mates. I really enjoyed the twist N.J. Walter’s put on fated mates and I loved the ending where I all came together. The storyline was great & I understand it’s part of a series, but I had not read any of the previous books and I loved that I wasn’t left confused. Would recommend!

I loved the conslusion to the Lone Wolf series. Onyx and Dagen tied everything together beautifully! I truly didn't want the book to end. There's a few things I would have like to see differently with Charles and Solange. Other than that a solid 5 stars for me, this is one that I would read again.

We get the rest of legend, and it was a whopper! I loved how our characters knew what was expected of them, but thought themselves too smart and strong to give into it. I loved how they found that they were useless to resist, but discounted it to forces beyond their control. I loved that they finally figured it all out, and still, realized they need to be honest with themselves and each other. And of course, I loved that we got the full story on how and why the lone wolf legacy brought them all together, and will keep them safe and in love <3

Tempting the Black Wolf is the exciting conclusion to NJ Walters’s Lone Wolf series.

The author puts an interesting spin of the concept of fated mates here, and I thought that the push-pull dynamic between Onyx and Dagen was interesting to read, even though it became a bit repetitive over the course of the book. But I liked that they were both sort of fighting their connection at first and really kind of interrogated the implications of their bond and how that would affect their battle with Solange.

That being said, I was slightly underwhelmed by the climax of the story. There was so much build-up to the showdown that its execution felt pretty anticlimactic. Especially given the fact that this was kind of teed up throughout the rest of the series.

If you have enjoyed the series thus far, you should definitely finish it up. And if you love a “let’s try to fight fate and see what happens” microtrope, you will be left feeling satisfied.

This is the third book in the Lone Wolf Legacy series. In this book we meet the black wolf, Dagen Kern. He is a man of many talents. Dagen is loyal, stubborn, cautious, knowledgeable and very suspicious of others intentions. Onyx, a mage, is his match in almost every way. She too is stubborn, cautious, intelligent, and leery of others. Both have spent their lives planning for their greatest mission, to save the world from an unimaginable evil. These two had some serious growing to do. Neither one wanted to give an inch, but in order to work together someone had to let go. There were times when I wanted to knock some sense into them, especially Dagen. There were plot twists that had me gasping and shaking my head. The evil that they were up against had no limits to their depravity. I was invested in this couple, in their story and their mission. I couldn't put it down. The White and Gray Wolves did make an appearance, that was a nice bonus. Part of me is hoping that this series isn't complete. I will definitely continue reading books by this author.

I went into this book under the impression that, while it was the third in a series, it was a standalone and could be read solo. For me, it was challenging to follow without any prior context of the characters or conflict. There were a lot of references to events that transpired in the previous books, and I think if I had read those first, I would have gotten a lot more out of this. The FMC is magical, independent and brave, the MMC is broody and cold (til he’s not!). There is a magic system, fated mates, werewolf lore, and this book also contains mature spice.

The Most Powerful Wolf Of Them All!

At last the long awaited book to finish off this amazing trilogy!

A magical action packed sizzling read that I couldn’t put down. Dagen didn’t trust his mate but then he didn’t trust anyone but slowly their connection was taking over and slowly they learned to trust each other but would Dagen still trust her when she revealed her biggest secret.

What a super fantastic series finale and fantastic conclusion to the series.

I really cannot recommend this book or this series enough.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The conclusion to The Lone Wolf Series is here! With Onyx and Dagen figuring out their part in e everything, we see everything coming together and falling apart for people's plans. They fight the bond and don't want to tie themselves to each other more as the other wolves have chosen, but they're realizing that may not be the answer.

Both are fierce and independent, and Dagen knows that Onyx doesn't need him, but his wolf has decided that he definitely needs her. As they fight, they realize that they've been lying to themselves. The question is, is it too late? This was a great way to end the series.

This was a satisfying end to the Lone Wolf trilogy. The black wolf, the most powerful of all, doesn’t trust his fated mate or want her but they must work together to destroy Solange for good. Onyx isn’t human though, she’s a mage, which makes it even harder for Dagen to trust her. More magic, more spice, and enemies to lovers. Fun read! I received an ARC for my honest opinion.

I’ve been waiting for this one since the mysterious broker showed up in the last story.
Dagen is the Black Wolf. The last and most powerful lone wolf.

“It’s not fair. I’m always cold.” “Let me warm you.” He bit back the word “forever.”

Onyx is a mage with a huge secret. Together these two prepared for the epic battle against good and evil.
This trilogy has been fantastic and I have been invested since the first book. It’s just got better and better. This was an amazing conclusion and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Loved this book! This is a satisfying conclusion to the Lone Wolf trilogy that does not disappoint. It's filled with lots of action, magic, and plenty of sexy times, as Onyx and the black wolf form a tremendous alliance. Neither trusts the other, even as they're forced to rely on each other.

This novel kept me on the edge of my seat and turning pages just as quickly as possible. Fans of the genre will love this book. While part of a series, this is a stand alone novel, however it's so good that you really owe it to yourself to read them all. The author is on my must read authors' list.

Nonstop action, intrigue, and sizzle as we head to the inevitable final battle between the evil mage and the black lone wolf. Does not disappoint, you won't put it down until the end, when you stop holding your breath and remember to breath.