(RabidReads.com)Lisa Kessler’s Moon series tells the story of a pack of werewolves that lives near Reno and Lake Tahoe. Simple premise. Or is it? Throw in a lot of suspense, romance, and some wicked villains, and you have this fun series, one that I have enjoyed since book 1. I must say, this fifth book in the series, is actually one of the better ones of the group. I received this book from Net Galley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Last time, we got Jason’s story, and now we have his twin brother, Jared’s, story, and it’s about time! Jared is of course a werewolf, but one that has had a bad issue in his past. Due to this, he now suffers from claustrophobia, to the point that he had to give up medical school. Now a talented and sought after carpenter, he likes his work, his cabin, his pack, and his dog, Tank. When he goes to design and build a deck for a woman that lives on the shore of Lake Tahoe, it’s not long before he realizes that he has found his forever mate. Taryn is called the “Ice Queen” by the community she lives and works in. And that’s because due to her psychic gift of pyrokinesis, she can never touch anyone, including her nine year old son, Charlie. So she has surrounded herself with people that can help her with Charlie, and anything else that might cause extreme emotions-which causes her to burn indiscriminately and Charlie has the burned arm to prove it. Still she has made a life for her and Charlie, owns her own successful real estate business, and keeps to herself except at work. Meeting Jared was definitely not part of the plan.
As with all of the books in this series, this one is a good romance. But it also features the villain from last time, Damian, Sebastian’s brother. Damian and Sebastian’s father is the head of Nero, the clandestine organization of jaguars with nefarious motives concerning psychic women who they can interbreed with jaguars-and not in a good way. Sebastian has been in all the books and as always has his own agenda-some of which is helpful, but he really is a piece of work! Needless to say, there is a lot more to the Nero problem and five books in, they have proven to be really bad villains in all the books.
My favorite part of this read was the characters. In addition to the main ones, Charlie was a good character, and added a lot to the story-at times even being the story. Tank, the dog, ended up being a fun character, as well. Of course, the other members of the pack and their mates are on board as peripheral characters, and it’s always great to catch up with them. But the best part of this read, would have to be Taryn, and how she begins to break away from her ice queen image, and in doing so, starts to take control of her life again.
You could read this without reading the others, but you should really at least read the first one, Moonlight, for all the background information. It’s my other favorite book of the series, although, I have enjoyed the rest as well. Recommended to adult paranormal romance readers. Good Read!