Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Here kitty, kitty!

Hi and welcome to your Wednesday fix of Shapeshifter Seductions! Today, I will be reviewing “Howling Moon” by C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp. This book is the fourth in the “Tales of the Sazi” series. It is commercially available and can sometimes be found in-store of the bigger chain stores in the romance section.

Catherine Turner should have died the day an insane jaguar ate her parents. Instead, she finds herself craving meat and turning into the image from her worst nightmares. The only think keeping her from loosing what’s left of her sanity is her best friend Holly and Holly’s extremely sexy uncle. Life is not easy for Cat as she learns the ropes of being a were-jaguar, but the wolf pack she’s to learn from is making things much harder than they need to be.

Raphael Sanchez is Second in one of the largest Sazi wolf packs, the Boulder Pack. He was asked by Catherine’s godfather to help her make her first change and to train her in the ways of the Sazi. Why would a wolf want to train a new-turn jaguar, you ask? Because her godfather just happens to be Chief Justice and Rafael has spent his whole life trying to catch the Sazi serial killer that turned her. Oh, and there’s that pesky little double mating he shares with Cat.

The pack doesn’t like Cat- she doesn’t fit in and doesn’t make any attempt to. Cat can’t stand most of the pack because of the way they treat non-pack family members. Add to that, Cat is double mated to their Second, a wolf they don’t necessarily value but aren’t willing to let a cat shifter have. The pack alpha’s youngest son is one-way mated to her, as well, but she want’s nothing to do with him. He and his mother make sure no one calms down enough around Cat to get past their natural species dislikes.

And if all that wasn’t enough, the jaguar who attacker her and ate her parents in front of her is still after her. Or is he really using her to get at her mate?

I did not go too much into detail of the plot for this book. There’s so much going on, the review would end up being three pages long and I’d still only scratch the surface of all the plots and sub-plots and twists and turns. This is a very good read, but not a quick one. It starts with the hero and heroine meeting and falling in love right off the bat. The bulk of this story is them trying to overcome impossible odds so they can be together.

The thing I love most about this story is that it’s set in Boulder, Colorado. I’ve lived in Northern Metro Denver on and off for most of my adult life, so I actually know these places the authors are talking about. As a native, I can say first hand that these ladies got the details exactly right. They don’t name the diner Rafe and Cat have breakfast at, but I know from the description that it’s Gunther Tootie’s.

For you non-Denverites, this book is still a good read. It dovetails nicely with book two. In fact, at one point, we get to hear Jack’s conversation with Lucas about how to save Bobbie using baking soda from Jack’s perspective. This book finishes setting the stage for the main story arch, which will begin properly with the next installment.

And to wrap things up, I am going to share a link to a free shape shifter novella I found on amazon.com, “The Wild's Call” by Jeri Smith-Ready. It’s set in the distant future and is a story about two childhood friends trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic Earth. It’s short, sweet, and worth every penny! (pun was intended) Here’s the link:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Wilds-Call-ebook/dp/B001VLXML6/ref=pd_sim_kinc_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Next week, I will be reviewing “Moon’s Fury,” book five in the series, where we will meet Cara and Adam. We’ll also meet a rather interesting bald eagle, see more of Lucas, Tony, and Bobbie, and meet Nasil again, though you’ll have to be sharp to realize that’s who he is! Until next week,

Rebecca Gillan

RebeccaLGillan.com

3 comments:

Savanna Kougar said...

Omygoodness, as the Sazi shifter world turns. Impressive turns of plot as you've described them.

I can say I'm in the mood for a sexy-hot alpha Eagle shifter after seeing the Harpy Eagles of Venezuela.

But, wow, is anyone in these books ever happy?

Rebecca Gillan said...

Yes and no. The series, as all of C.T. and Cathy's books, has a somewhat dark feel to it.
***** Spoiler: the reason things seem to never quite get better will be revealed by book 8. That emerginging undertone about the Raveging and how shifters don't treat their human family members very well becomes one half of how the world of the Sazi almost falls down on their heads when a faction of huan family members creates a drug tat makes Sazi shifters wholey human.

Savanna Kougar said...

Rebecca, thanks... there is a dark undertone.