Genre: Publication.Date May 27th, 2014 Pages: 250 Published By: Fused Publishing Website E.R. Pierce Fractured Moon on Goodreads My review copy: e-ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review
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Aurelia Fridell is a freak. The only werewolf who can't shift.
As her thirtieth birthday approaches, isolation creeps in, and worry settles in her gut. She accepted her status long ago, and yet lately, she's felt off-kilter. Eyes follow her, prickling her senses, and her headaches are getting worse.
Is she paranoid, or is someone, or something, stalking her? Watching. Waiting. Drumming fingers to a sinister beat she can't hear.
Time will tell.
Ceithin Starkley isn't looking for a mate. Especially now. In fact, he doesn't believe in true-matings at all.
While being recruited for a new job, a scent on the wind stuns him, and he begins fighting an inner battle he never wanted, yet can't ignore.
Sparks fly, as Ceithin and Aurelia fight fate, and race against a clock neither knows is ticking.
(Goodreads)
"I promise I'm a good man. I'll protect you until the last breath leaves my body. You. Are. Mine."
All my brothers were different versions of menacing and mean. I loved them and hated them at the same time.
"Are you going to breathe soon, Aurelia, or will I be giving you mouth to mouth?"
"Aura, I don't know where we're going. I don't know where we'll end up, but I want to take a chance. I want to see if what's coursing through my blood is the shit stories are made of. I'm not an easy man, you need to know that up front. But I want to be the man you need."
Shifters are my favorite paranormal creature. It's way easier to sell me on a shifter book than any other, even though loads of shifter books are extremely similar. I don't care, though, because there's obviously something RIGHT about them that make them work for me pretty much every time. Fractured Moon is a shifter novel that fit into that "similar" criteria in some ways, but in others it stood out, which was enjoyable to read.
Aura's a werewolf who can't shift. She has no idea why and neither does her family. She'd seen as an oddball no one wants to get serious with because of this. This flaw both worked for and against her, because she did dwell on it quite often. But I could also sympathize with being left out because of something she has no control over. Not even that, but not being able to shift isn't a huge deal. Yet it's her defining flaw. Other than that, she's pretty tough. Smart. Knows when to submit for the sake of not, you know, getting her throat torn out by a stronger wolf. Holds her own when someone's being a jerk to her. So I guess you could say Aura and I had a love/hate relationship throughout this book.
Then there's Ceithin. For the beginning half of the novel, I didn't really understand him. He and Aura are mates. Which means they're meant to be together. So WHY did it take him so long to break it off with his girlfriend? I don't understand. That was a little annoying. Everything else about Ceithin is lovable, though. He's kind and sweet and has a nice sense of humor once you get to know him. He just needed to dump Tess to the curb and start chilling with Aura for us to see this side. When he did this, I easily fell in love with him.
A common theme in shifter books is mates, where they pretty much get smacked with a heavy dose of instalove. It gets heavy and serious right quick, and while I know many people loathe instalove, I like it in these books. Takes away from all that time being uncertain. We KNOW the couple's going to be together--because they're mated. The problem I had with the romance in Fractured Moon, however, was Ceithin taking so dang long to break up with his girlfriend once he realizes that Aura's his mate. That very first night he should have broken it off. Stringing it along for a little while was unnecessary. Also, I wish we'd gotten to see more of his and Aura's relationship actually developing. I know they're tied together and serious because of the mating thing, but they had to bond and learn more about each other somehow. Talk, spend time together, whatever. It was mentioned in this book and it happened, but I would have liked to have SEEN more of it instead of being told about it. Other than those two gripes, I loved seeing Ceithin and Aura together. Them as a couple made me feel all kinds of happy.
The plot of this novel was kind of run-of-the-mill as far as shifter books go. Special protagonist gets taken for REASONS. I must say that I was surprised by one certain aspect of that element I just mentioned, though. I'm obviously not going to say what because I don't want to spoil anything, but I was glad there was at least that one twist that lead to another revelation that caught me off guard. So two. Two facets of the plot surprised me, and that was fun. They set this novel apart a little from other shifter books I've read, and I'm excited to see how these things influence the rest of the series.
Overall, I really enjoyed Fractured Moon. I have a serious soft spot for shifter stories, and this one was no exception in the warmth it brought my heart. The romance made my heart happy, the writing held my attention, and the plot held a couple of punches I didn't see coming. I am seriously excited to get my hands on more of these books and devouring some more shifter goodness!
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