TITLE: Howling at the Moon
AUTHOR: Karen MacInerney
SUMMARY: Sophie Garou seems to have it all: a great job at a prestigious accounting firm, a closet that rivals a Nordstrom showroom, and a terrific boyfriend who isn't afraid to use the "M" word. There's just one little itty-bitty problem: Sophie is a werewolf-and her time of month has a whole new meaning.
Needless to say, life among yummy flesh-and-blood humans is no piece of steak . . . er, cake!, but regular doses of wolfsbane tea and a mother who runs a magic shop have helped Sophie keep her paranormal pedigree under wraps. Still, when a sexy, golden-eyed werewolf prowls into town, Sophie finds herself struggling to keep her animal impulses in check-not to mention trying to keep things on track with her super hot (and super human) lawyer boyfriend. What's more, someone is threatening to expose Sophie for what she really is. And when her mother is accused of selling a poison-laced potion, Sophie must sniff out a culprit before the fur hits the fan. - From Publisher
REVIEW: My disclaimer for this book is that I have been hunting for it via used book stores and my library. As long time followers of my reviews you know that I am a huge library supporter, not saying I never buy books (there are some that one needs to own) but I generally like to use my library. Originally my library didn't catalog paperbacks, which meant it was a bit of a pain finding some of the lesser known authors and their works. Or you would find the second or third book in a trilogy but never the first. That was the case for this series. But I suppose being out of the reading loop for a bit was good because when I came back there it was, online and available to request. I love that they are working on cataloging all paperbacks. *content sigh* Now onto the review.
The book has a sorta chick-lit feel to it, with paranormal elements. It was so easy to sink into and enjoy - always a plus. Sophie is the sort of heroine that stumbles along into the roll of hero. She didn't really set out to become one but this first book lays the ground work for the rest of the trilogy. With that said because the adventures of this book are so 'out there' from what we know of her I found at times that there was a little cheese factor to it. I could tend to overlook it but I wish MacInerney had taken a little more time to develop that while Sophie had managed to snuff her werewolf traits she wasn't completely in the dark and understood some of those supernatural abilities. At times when the situation called for it Sophie had these skills that she was well aware about but than at other times she seemed so clueless. Of course, one has to give some room when it comes to the first book of a series.
Sophie and her best friend Lindsey had a fun dynamic to them, however I felt like at times Lindsey was a bit callus and didn't always show Sophie those 'have your back qualities'. On the flip side, it is sorta nice having a BFF in a book that is not the loyal, always there type of character. It makes me feel like Sophie is somewhat stumbling through all this new knowledge surrounded by friends and loved ones but at the same time doing it on her own.
The book progressively got stronger, especially once Tom (a hunky lone werewolf) came onto the scene. He brought lots of answers and mystery to Sophie's life. In fact, I think MacInerney did a perfect job in bringing him into the book without making him a huge part of this first book. I want more of him and his story and so curious as to how some of the information he passed on to Sophie will affect the next two books in this series.
All around this book had a few things that irked me (Sophie bouncing from having werewolf knowledge to being clueless and a few plot huhs) but overall I thought this first book has lots of potential. I think, especially with the ending, the second will be a lot stronger and dive more into Sophie trying to figure out some wolfy things.
If you enjoyed Vincent's "Shifters" series I imagine you would enjoy this book as well. It was published back in 2008 so maybe many of you have already read this trilogy, if so I would love to hear your thoughts on this first book.
RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥