How to Howl at the Moon

Howl at the Moon, Book 1

By: Eli Easton

Narrated by: Matthew Shaw

Sheriff Lance Beaufort is not going to let trouble into his town, no sir. Tucked away in the California mountains, Mad Creek has secrets to keep, like the fact that half the town consists of "quickened" - dogs who have gained the ability to become human. Descended on both sides from Border Collies, Lance is as alert a guardian as they come.

Tim Weston is looking for a safe haven. After learning that his boss patented all of Tim's work on vegetable hybrids in his own name, Tim quit his old job. A client offers him use of her cabin in Mad Creek, and Tim sees a chance for a new start. But the shy gardener has a way of fumbling and sounding like a liar around strangers, particularly gorgeous alpha men like Sheriff Beaufort.

Lance's hackles are definitely raised by the lanky young stranger. He's concerned about marijuana growers moving into Mad Creek, and he's not satisfied with the boy's story. Lance decides a bit of undercover work is called for. When Tim hits a beautiful black collie with his car and adopts the dog, its love at first sight for both Tim and Lance's inner dog. Pretending to be a pet is about to get Sheriff Beaufort in very hot water.

©2015 Jane Jensen Holmes (P)2015 Jane Jensen Holmes

Cute, warm and a little bit silly at times

I generally like stories with shifters, werebeasts and all other sorts of part human part animal characters, I also do like classical top/bottom or seme/uke relationships being a gay man who loves big strong masculine guys myself.

So How to Howl at the Moon really did not disappoint, it has nice parts with the animal sides of the characters (and not overdone in my opinion either despite going for certain dog breed stereotypes), Lance makes a nice top who manages to be both likeable and ending up making some mistakes and Tim is, well, just cute in a awkward, dorky way.

There are also a couple of likeable side characters in the mix who feel fleshed out enough to complement the leads. I especially liked Lance's mother with her meddling and antics and the fact that, well, in a way, she managed exactly that kind of being flawed but likeable that I do not see too often with mother characters, who tend to be more often either saintly or smothering.

The sex scenes also were okay, perhaps not steaming hot, but neither awkward, nor too drawn out and definitely nice to listen to.

I also found the bad guys to have a bit more depth than many m/m romances manage.
I could especially recognize the type of Marshall, the weak bully trying desperately to keep someone else down.
It is usually very easy to make a "monster", a mad man, someone utterly alien in hiss evil ways, but just some little words and observations can instead create a bad human being who seems much more real.

Also, I think the narrator did a very nice job and he has a pleasant voice to listen to, I hope to hear more of him in the future.

It is a cute and a bit silly m/m romance, but it is a very nice one at that for sure.

Cute and Fluffy

This is a really cute shifter book with a dogs instead of wolves. The basic story is that Lance is the local sheriff of a small town in California which is full of shifters. Lance is a border collie with a very strong protective instincts. Tim arrives in town to start to rebuild his life and doesn’t know the town’s secrets. So a lot of misunderstandings happen; well-meaning family interference goes awry; some set up for the next couple in the next book; gun fire ensues; and then HEA. I enjoyed it. The narrator does a really good job in bringing the characters to life.

hilarious

Fast paced and very entertaining, this story has all the ingredients to keep anybody hooked... The narration clearly reflects the characters' personalities,and the plot is so funny It made me laugh aloud. Very recommendable.

Cute, sexy, adorkable 3.5 stars

This was a fun, sweet read . First time with the author, narrator and 'dog' shifting. I have read plenty shifting romances, usually the more gritty alpha type so I wasn't sure how I would feel. But it was such a delightful escape. I have to say when Lance is emotionally upset and while trying to give an explanation that turns into a howl I really just chuckled.. it was so adorable. I do favor more muscular tops with bottoms that are sweeter and perhaps smaller so this was right up my alley. But saying that, both characters were not really stereotyped at all. Lance, the cop, was thoughtful and sweet. Tim, even tho timid, had a back bone and was no ones door mat anymore. I have off to download Roman's story!

Cute, enjoyable story

But the pace of the reading was really weird. I had to slow it down and even then I didn't catch section breaks, because they ran into each other.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the series, but might read them instead if they're recorded similarly.