Review: Howling at the Moon

Howling at the Moon by Karen MacInerney


Sophie Garou seems to have it all: a great job at a prestigious accounting firm, a closet that rivals a Nordstrom showroom, and a terrific boyfriend who isn’t afraid to use the “M” word. There’s just one little itty-bitty problem: Sophie is a werewolf–and her time of month has a whole new meaning.Needless to say, life among yummy flesh-and-blood humans is no piece of steak . . . er, cake!, but regular doses of wolfsbane tea and a mother who runs a magic shop have helped Sophie keep her paranormal pedigree under wraps. Still, when a sexy, golden-eyed werewolf prowls into town, Sophie finds herself struggling to keep her animal impulses in check–not to mention trying to keep things on track with her super hot (and super human) lawyer boyfriend. What’s more, someone is threatening to expose Sophie for what she really is. And when her mother is accused of selling a poison-laced potion, Sophie must sniff out a culprit before the fur hits the fan.

Review:

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked up this book. Having read other werewolf books, I felt that I should have high expectations. What I was not expecting was a chick lit. Yes, this book read just like a chick lit for me. I'm not sure if this is how the author intended it, but I was really let down on this book. Chick lits are fun, don't get me wrong, but I was expecting more . . .

MacInerney writes a fun little mystery, actually mysteries in this case. The pace of the book is nice, maybe a little long. Sophie however was a sore point for me. Which is really sad as she is the main character. At every turn Sophie kept rubbing me the wrong way. She's a really savy work woman, who takes care of her self, which I live in my main characters. Then she has this whole anti werewolf thing going on, which is sad becuase she is a werewolf. The fact that she tries to avoid her werewolf side gets her into a bunch of anoying situations. Sure being a werewolf is hard, but there has to be a point were you say I turn fury on fullmoons, time to deal. Sophies twenty-eight, I think she should be used to it by now. She's ashamed of her mother, which in this case is a really fun and wonderful woman. Sure the mother is a little exentric and I could see how anyone might be a little nervous to introduce the boyfreind to.

Sophie has a wonderful boyfriend, Heath, who is human and has no idea about the supernatural world. She is continuley panicing about him finding out about anything. As the story continues a new werewolf comes to town, Tom, who is a hot Norwegen werewolf. Which leaves the poor human boyfriend shoved into the back of Sophies mind. Tom is the continued obsession on the pages. Sophie is constantly saying how wonderful her boyfreind is, how she wants to mary him (in between obessing about Tom). By gosh though, she won't tell the man anything and has to practically be forced to tell the poor guy that her mother is up for murdering someone. Forget the werewolf secret. Even by the end of the book when Heath prooves to be a pretty awsome and understanding guy, Sophie still shuts the door on him. Secrets, secrets, and she wants to marry this man, a little trust please.

One thing, I will say, is this book had me laughing. I loved the humor. It was so snappy and witty. Sure at times it was the same old same old. MacInerney has fresh humor to splurge on the werwolf scene. The humor alone probably was one of the biggest factors in finishing this book.

Finding out who killed the counsel man and who had it in for Sophie though was also another factor. It was really fun solving the mystery. Sure Sophie wasn't a strong detective, but the way she solved the mystery went along nicely with the book. Learning about werewolves as Sophie finally decides she needs to know a little more about her fellow species was also fun. Sadly the reader isn't introduced to that too much.

Bottom Line:

I can't really say I want to finish this series. Sure I really enjoyed the humor. Really, though, I don't want to watch Sophies pathetic attempts at being a werewolf or the sad dumping of Heath. The fact that I can't really find any interest in continuing this series is why I'm giving it such a low rating. I think others will probably really like this book. I feel harsh.

Sexual Content:
Mellow sex scenes, which probably could have been left out. Sexual references.

Rating: 2/5- Average/disappointing, library check-out