First of all, I will say that I did enjoy this book; however I was somewhat disappointed in it. One of the biggest reasons for my disappointment was that I found Moon and Joy's time together was quite limited in the story. So much time went into explanations of their feelings when they were talking to other people, I even found myself skimming some of the pages. This is a total first for me when it comes to the New Species series. Don't get me wrong, I still found it sexy and at times down right humorous; but I would have liked to have the couple together a lot more.
The prologue sucked me in immediately, and I highlighted so much of the conversation between Joy and Moon. ( 466 was what he was called in the beginning)It begins with Joy being 466's therapist in the desert, after the New Species had been saved from captivity. Of course 466, had a huge chip on his shoulder, and Joy was determined to break through his walls. The interaction between the two was out right hilarious at times. 466 (Moon) decided he was attracted to Joy, and also that if he talked about sex to her she would become uncofortable. My favorite quote was when he said to Joy:
"A fishing reference I learned on last month's mandatory trip comes to mind- I'd toss you back for being too small. It wouldn't be any fun for me. You'd break if I fucked something so fragile."
And so goes his teasing to Joy; but she eventually does toughen up and becomes very attracted to him. Unfortunately, with her being his therapist it is inappropriate so Joy leaves and this devastates 466 as he grew just as attracted to her.
This brings us to the present day, where Joy is called to help Moon as he has been shot with some kind of drug that is making him feral and not knowing anyone or his surroundings. It ends up that Joy is the only one that seems to be able to bring him back to lucidity; but only for short periods of time. He also thinks he is back with her in the desert from years ago. There is also another road block and that is Moon's friend Harley. He doesn't like Joy because he feels she hurt his friend by her abandonment, so he becomes quite volatile with her at first until he figures out that she really does love Moon and wants the best for him. This is the story in a nutshell, and it consists of Moon's journey back to knowing who he is and what happened to him. Of course he still harbors resentment from Joy leaving him and they also need to work through that and his trust issues with her.
I have to say that the friendship between Harley and Moon was so heart warming. I loved seeing these two interact with each other, although at times I felt Moon gave his friend way more affection than Joy. I have fallen in love with Harley too, and I do hope he gets a HEA sometime down the road. He is such a sweetheart and I think he would make a great mate.
Another scene that had me laughing out loud was with Joy's parents! She was telling them that she was in love with a New Species male and she worried how they would react..This is some of that conversation:
"Moon? What kind of name is that? Are his parents hippies?" (this is from Joy's dad!)
Then Joy tells her parents that he is New Species, and of course her mother starts asking if he is good looking, and if he has those cat's eyes. Joy says "No, he is canine," and her father answers with this:
"Dogs are very loyal. That's really good."
"I can't wait to tell the guys on my bowling team. I'm so sick of hearing about Bob's son dating some author. This is way better."
LMAO!! I just thought her parents were hilarious, and this was one of the highlights of the book for me!
On the whole, I was once again very entertained by Laurann Dohner's story. I sure love how the shifters have such an innocence about them, even though they are alpha to their core. Their innocence comes from how they perceive things in a simple way, almost like a child. It just melts me, and makes me adore them even more. I will still continue with the series, I just hope that next time we will have way more couple time, and sex time..after all, that is what made the books such a huge success for me to read and love them!