Moon Run
October 12, 2011
9 Comments
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Title: Moon Run
Author: Joely Skye
Cover Artist: N/A
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Buy Link: Moon Run: Wolf Town, Book 3
Genre: M/M paranormal romance
Length: Novella
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
A guest review by Jenre
Summary Review: Another strong story in Joely Skye’s Wolf Town series.
THE BLURB
The wolf races in where the human heart trembles to follow.
Wolf Town, Book 3
Iain’s head has called Wolf Town home for six years. His heart, hurt by a childhood spent suppressing his wolf, won’t let him believe he isn’t one misstep away from exile.
During the first moon run of the year, the electrifying connection his wolf makes with Teo, the pack’s beta and resident doctor, has potential mate written all over it. Yet the only emotion that rises above the tangled scars of his past is excitement over ensuring a permanent place in Wolf Town.
Teo can’t believe Iain so easily crashed through his rock-solid resolve never to date within the pack. The young wolf’s artless, fumbling explanation for his attraction only serves to remind Teo why he set those rules—his own past in a dysfunctional pack. Guilt that he let Iain so far under his skin forces Teo to do the one thing his heart rails against. Keep it clinical.
Teo’s apparent rejection not only breaks Iain’s heart, it triggers a deep-seated desperation that pushes him to take a terrible chance for the sake of the pack. And to show Teo their connection is no illusion.
THE REVIEW
This story is the third in the Wolf Town series. I’ve been enjoying this series a great deal and this was another solid addition to the series.
The hero of this book is Iain who is the former lover of Rory, one of the heroes of the previous two books. In the earlier books Iain hasn’t been a tremendously sympathetic character. He’s been shown as rather needy and unwilling to accept that Rory has moved on with his current lover Scott. Rory found his clinginess too much to cope with and was happy to leave Iain behind and move on. Rather than being a sequel, this book has an almost identical timeline to the previous book in the series, with some overlapping events but take from Iain and Teo’s point of view. This worked well overall and filled in some of the gaps and reasonings from book 2. This meant that the events of the previous book, and in particular the showdown with Garrett at the end of the book is given a different perspective and I liked that we get to see why Iain acted as he did. It also meant that there wasn’t very much in terms of surprises in the story which detracted a little from the dramatic tension.
What was most interesting about this story was seeing Iain as a main character. In the previous two books he is scorned by Rory as a manipulator and a liar, but here we are given reasons for his past behaviour: the hurts he’s experienced and the rejection which manifests itself in overly clingy actions. In many ways Iain despises himself and his weakness, and much of the actions of this book are his attempts to make sure he’s not rejected in the future. I liked Iain, even if he was misguided and a little foolish at times.
Iain’s relationship with Teo is the main focus of the story. Teo is the beta wolf who has his own hang-ups, mainly the worry that he’s being used by others for his position in the pack. As a result he tends towards coldness, something which is certainly true at the beginning of the story. One of the highlights of the book is seeing Teo soften and change in this attitude and to allow himself to take a chance on Iain.
Although the story does have some action scenes – especially those where we see the situation with Garrett from Iain’s perspective – the story is mostly about the two men finding their way through a relationship. The scenes where they come together in comfort and sexually were very well done. Teo completes something in Iain and as such there’s a tenderness in their interactions. I liked the scenes where the men give into the wolf part of themselves, especially when Iain takes comfort in Teo’s strength.
If I have any complaints about the book it’s that the story is rather short, plus many of the fears that Iain and Teo have are so obviously unfounded that I puzzled a little over why they should feel that way. These were only minor niggles though.
Overall, this was an admirable addition to the Wolf Town series. I enjoyed reading it a great deal and hope for further books in this series.
Author Information
Pea
Sirius
Wonderful review, Jenre! I warmed up to Iain (a bit) during the second book and after reading the excerpt for this one, I felt a great deal of sympathy for him. Joely Skye’s writing style isn’t dramatic but it still packs a punch. Just from the excerpt itself I felt my heart squeeze.
I can’t wait for next week. Once this one is available for download on the Samhain site I’m gonna drop everything and start reading this.
Thanks, Beatrice
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Yes, I felt the same about Iain after the second book and this story gives us more reasons to make him a sympathetic character.
I think the book is available for pre-order so not too long to wait!
Thanks for the review, Jenre. I’ve been looking forward to this one but it won’t be released until October 18th. So not fair.
You’re welcome kiracee. Not too long to wait now and it’ll be in your hands (or on your reader/computer)
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I absolutely love all the books in Skye’s Shifters, Minders and Wolf Town series… so this one is an auto-buy for me.
Hi Diane
I’ve not read all the books in these three series but the ones I have read I’ve enjoyed a great deal and I’m not usually a huge fan of shifter books!
Hope you enjoy it when it comes out
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Thanks for your review! I found this author from a free book on amazon. I’ve enjoyed her imangination.
I tried one of the minder books…. but didn’t quite connect with it. I have a better luck with her longer books, but I think I’ll give this series a try.
Thanks Jenre!!
I’m sure it will be entertaining!
You’re welcome, reggie
As I said to Diane I’ve not read all the books in these connected series but I have really liked these Wolf Town books. I really ought to catch up with the others.