Dark Moon Wolf

Dark Moon Wolf, Calling the Moon, Sarah E. Stevens

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  General Fiction, Sci-fi and Fantasy

Well, I love paranormal/Fantasy, and wolf shifters in particular appeal to me. I was keen to read this, a first in what hopefully would turn out to be a new and fun series. 
I'd made the mistake of thinking this was romance, isn't not classed as that, simply my error and not looking carefully enough. That's not a game-changer though, I read books other than romance too :-) Just that it came as a surprise to find out some things early in the story. 

Its an interesting read, Sarah has put a slightly different slant on shifter practicalities and categories which was good, kept that part fresh.
The story though didn't really work totally for me. There was just so much in it, the search for Carson's dad, meeting the new people, finding out about werewolves and witches...Julie was incredibly blase about all the new things she was learning.
Then the murders. there was a lot of action, lots going on and I just had a hard time believing things would play out as easily as they did.
Don't get me wrong - there was struggle, lots of it but given Julie is human and new to all this supernatural stuff she did really well. the other werewolves too has a very hard task solving the murders, they'd been cleverly done by someone who was clever and had lots of backing, and I just couldn't see things playing out quite the way they did without Huge, Massive repercussions.
I didn't guess who was involved til quite far on when there's a really - to the reader- obvious clue but Julie completely misses it. 

It looks like a debut novel, I can't find any more books. Its well written but I just felt there was a little too much packed tightly into a novel that was just a bit too short for it. If the story was a bit longer so the action could have been made more realistic, and not have “Clue, and wow - here's the Perpetrator” plots that these shorter novels need I think its one I'd love. 

A first in series has a hard ask too, setting the scene, introducing new characters, and in the case of fantasy/paranormal, other types of people, and all the while leading a story to keep the readers interest. This one does OK for me, but of course will be perfect for others. That's how it goes, we don't all want the same thing thankfully! 

Stars: Three, a good start to fiction writing, and a new series, but for me needed a little more reality and practicalities. 

BTW Full/Lily: does she remind anyone else of Dolly Parton? For some reason she's all I see each time Full comes into the story

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

Dark moon wolf by sarah e stevens.

Julie Hall thinks the hardest part of single motherhood is sleep deprivation and the constant search for dropped pacifiers, until her four-month old baby transforms into a wolf pup.

How could Carson be a Werewolf? He hadn’t been bitten. Not by a Werewolf, not by a dog, heck, not by a mosquito. Julie sets out to find Carson's father and demand some answers. Instead, she discovers a Werewolf pack haunted by a grisly string of murders—and soon realizes she and her baby are the next targets.

This was a good read with good characters. Little slow in places but I managed to read it. 4*. Netgalley and backlit pr.

Julie is a single mother who works as a librarian with a four month old baby- Carson- had turned into a wolf puppy on the full moon. Julia is totally confused and decides to go look for Carson’s father- Mac. Julie never told Mac she was pregnant. Julie tries to get in touch with Mac but can’t so she decides to go to his hometown with Carson. Julie finds Carson’s grandparents who belong to the pack. But Mac had been murdered and he isn’t the only one from his pack who has been murdered. Lily is the pack leader of Mac’s pack and Julie shows prejudice toward Lily. . But now someone is after Carson. Julie does found out she has recessive wolf genes which means if she was bitten she could turn into a werewolf or die. The genes make Julie a Dark Wolf. Max had been murdered in Las Vegas. With the help of a friend Sheila who julie finds out is a witch. and Eliza who was a werewolf and a few other werewolves and they start hunting for the murderers.
I really enjoyed this paranormal book. I do wish it had been longer. But I liked the plot and pace. It had my attention from the first page until the last page. This can be emotional and choke you up at times. I felt this was well written. I loved it had a lot of twists and turns. There were: wolves, witches, suspense, murder, mystery, betrayal, wolf pup power play, politics, experiments, action, loss, family, a Dark Wolf, and a lot more. I loved how the author showed us a lot of different kinds of wolves. I also really liked how Julie didn’t have any special powers but she did find ways to contribute and help to try to find the murderers. I liked the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I recommend..