Review: Moonlight by Lisa Kessler

Moonlight by Lisa Kessler

Book One of the Moon series

Publisher: Entangled

Publication Date: July 15, 2013

Rating: 4 stars

Source: eARC sent by the publisher

***Warning: this is an adult book, and for the eyes of mature readers***

Summary (from Goodreads):

Rancher Adam Sloan is more than meets the eye. As the heir to his Pack, the sexy werewolf's biggest challenge is keeping his kin's true nature under wraps. But a group of jaguar shifters threatens to reveal the pack, blasting into town killing humans in plain sight. And when he smells one at the local diner, his standing orders are to take her out.

Lana Turpin doesn't realize she's a moving target. Raised in the foster system, she only knows that she blacks out during the new moon and wakes up without remembering a thing. But now she's being tracked by some strange organization that wants her back--even though she's never stepped foot inside their compound. And the stranger across the diner is watching her like an enemy.

It should be a simple mission for Adam, but when he touches the frustratingly beautiful Lana, his inner wolf howls...mate. Now, the two must find and stop the people who hunt her...and Adam must keep his own family from killing the only woman he will ever love.

What I Liked:

I really enjoyed this book! I chose to read this book when I did because I had been (and still am!) under the pressure of reading a ton of July/August/September Young Adult releases that I requested a long time ago. This book already came out, but it's a respite from all those YA books that I've been reading. I love throwing an adult book in the midst of YA books, just so I get my dose of steamy every now and then!

So I really didn't know what to expect from Moonlight - because I wasn't necessarily reading it because I was dying to read it. But I was happily surprised when I started reading and was completely sucked into the story. The plot, the characters, the romance... everything was so intriguing! 

The plot was filled with action! Usually, with adult romance books, it's all about the romance. While the romance played a huge part in the book, the plot clearly dominated. Basically, Lana is on the run from a medical institution, but she has no idea why they want her. She finds out via Adam, a man she runs into at a restaurant, that she is a were-jaguar, and he is a werewolf. What follows after is Adam protecting Lana from two jaguars intent on bringing Lana in to the institution (Nero, I believe). Of course, there are twists and turns along the way, and the action almost never stops!

Lana and Adam both have a voice in this novel - they switch off about every chapter (in terms of the perspective of the novel). I feel like this is excellent in terms of showing the character development for both characters. With Lana, you see exactly what she is thinking, and exactly what she thinks of Adam. With Adam, you see what he is thinking and what he thinks of Lana. The character development progressed nicely, and I loved reading how each protagonist grew, page after page.

The romance is both sweet and terrifying. Lana is afraid of being with Adam, because she knows that werewolves instinctively hate jaguars, especially when the two jaguars hunting Lana are killing and injuring werewolves. But Lana and Adam quickly fall in love, and they can't part ways. Adam keeps something from Lana that is crucial to werewolves, and that should be impossible for jaguars. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Lana and Adam!They really made sparks fly. No love triangle - just Adam acting like a jealous boyfriend whenever a male is around Lana.

This story ends very, very well! Adam and Lana get their happy ending, and then some. Aren does not get such a happy ending, and we will see him featured in the next book. Nevertheless, Moonlight was very satisfying! I'm so happy to have had the chance to read it.

What I Did Not Like:

I guess I'm still confused about how Lana is a jaguar (since women aren't born jaguars). I mean, I know the author went into an explanation about experiments, but it didn't seem good enough, you know? And at the very end, when Lana and Adam... well, I'm not going to give anything away, but the very end - it just doesn't really make sense to me?

And I wish things with Sasha, a killer jaguar, and Sebastian, another killer jaguar, and Aren, Adam's twin brother, made sense. I can see where things are going for each of them, but in the story, I was confused towards the end, with their respective roles in the book. 

So basically, I wanted to know more about the experiments and why Lana is the way she is, and more about her parents, and her life. None of this is really explained, but perhaps in later books, they will be explained. 

Would I Recommend It:

I most certainly would! I'm not sure what I was expecting with this one, but I'm glad I asked for a review copy, because I really enjoyed it! I'll definitely be hanging on to read the next book in the series! I know a lot of people are turned off by the idea of werewolf books these days (I'm one of them!), but trust me - this book is not what you might think!

Rating:

4 stars. This yummy adult read will go by quickly and is sure to keep you invested even past the end!

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