Howling At The Moon by Karen McInerney

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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.

I grabbed this book on a whim, since it was only fifity cents at a local used bookstore. I must say, it was totally worth more than what I paid for it. I found this to be a rather entertaining read, and while I don't think this series would particularly stand out compared to other series of its kind, I enjoyed it enough that I may even consider reading book two in the series, On The Prowl. Eventually.

The heroine of this novel, Sophie Garou, is rather interesting. Her Romani mother is human and her French father is a werewolf, who supposedly left when she was born in an effort to protect her, as his pack was against half-breeds. Sophie is skeptical of that excuse which she hears often from her mother, and instead grows up mistrustful of werewolves, trying to ignore the fact that she herself is one by drinking wolfs-bane tea to stave off her transformations. She also hides her wolfy secret from her boss, her best friend, and her boyfriend.

The author threw in a lot of quirky nuisances of being a female werewolf that your average Joe wouldn't often think about, such as the fact that you constantly need to shave due to insanely quick hair re-growth. But I must admit, it was a bit weird to me that if Sophie shaved her legs while in human form, they would also be bald in her werewolf form. Apparently her hair only grows quickly while as a human.

Minor inconsistencies aside, it was still an okay read....if only the author had made up her mind on the direction she was going! There was too much going on plot-wise that was really unnecessary. The entire underlying story of someone threatening to "out" Sophie was completely pointless, and only existed to give another "uh-oh" moment for our heroine to solve, when really the author herself must not have cared much about it - I say that because the culprit turned out to be utterly ridiculous, and really had absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the plot. Too many villains and not enough substance - it was like Spider-Man 3 all over again.

Nonetheless, I'd give it three stars - it was otherwise entertaining. While book two isn't high on my list of sequels to read, if I come across a copy I'll probably give it a shot.