Call of the Highland Moon

The MacInnes Werewolves #1

by Kendra Leigh Castle

Gideon MacInnes is a werewolf from the Scottish Highlands. He loves the haunting beauty of his home, but runs away to upstate New York, grappling with his destiny of being his clan's next alpha. As a snowstorm closes in, Gideon is attacked by rogue wolves working for an enemy he never imagined existed. He stumbles, wounded and bleeding, to collapse on the doorstep of Carly Silver's tiny romance bookstore-ironic, as she's never been very good at relationships with men.
A warmhearted woman, looking for a new pet ...
Thinking he's a dog, she takes him home, treats his injuries and wakes up to find a devastatingly handsome naked man in her bed.
Trapped together through the raging storm, Gideon discovers that he's found his mate and Carly has to choose between becoming a werewolf, charged with protecting humankind from the inhabitants of an evil otherworld, or giving up the one man she's ever truly loved ...

Genres: Paranormal Romance, Romance, Paranormal, Shapeshifters, Werewolves, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

374 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 30, 2008

About the author

Kendra Leigh Castle is the author of numerous paranormal romances, including the MacInnes Werewolves trilogy, the RITA award-nominated Renegade Angel, the Dark Dynasties series, and the Hearts of the Fallen series. 2014 will see the release of her first contemporary romance, For the Longest Time, which will be the first in her Harvest Cove series. Kendra lives in Maryland with her husband, children, two Newfs, and one obnoxious cat.

Reviews

[Beatriz · Rating 3 out of 5]

He estado investigando y, al parecer, éste es el único libro de la autora traducido al español... afortunadamente!! Porque la traducción de este libro es horribleeeeee. Es una lástima, porque se nota el esmero de la autora en las descripciones y caracterización de sus personajes, pero de verdad, es necesario releer muchos párrafos para entender todo bien y disfrutar la historia.

Tratando de separar lo anterior, es una novela entretenidísima; la pareja principal es adorable y los momentos entre ellos son memorables. La parte final, en que se resuelve el futuro de esta pareja y la intriga asociada a la piedra que protege el clan MacInnes, es de infarto. Creo que el único punto débil de la historia es la naturalidad con la que Carly acepta la existencia de hombres lobo, casi como para decirle ¿en serio?

Muy recomendable, sobre todo si la pueden leer en inglés.

[Julie (jjmachshev) · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! Can I just say, WOW! I'm in love...with this book. With the whole 'creatures of the dark' thing going on in the publishing world lately, it's hard to find new authors who can put a different, but still intriguing, spin on any of the legends. Ms. Castle has managed to do just that with "Call of the Highland Moon". The follow-on book "Dark Highland Fire" is scheduled for release in Oct 2008 and you can bet it'll be on my to-buy list.

Carly is the successful owner of a romance bookstore called 'Bodice Rippers and Baubles'. She's also a sucker for wounded strays. But on a snowy winter's night when she finds a badly injured, really huge wolf?/dog? behind her store and takes him home...she gets way more than she bargained for.

Gideon is the future Alpha, but doesn't feel quite ready for all the responsibilities it will bring and feels somehow restless. So, he heads out from his small Scottish valley to see some of the world. The big cities he thought would be so exciting are TOO big, and TOO noisy, and TOO populous for his tastes. Somehow he ends up in a small, rural northern New York town. After he's attacked and badly injured by some rogue werewolves, he crawls off to die...only to be drawn by some incredibly lucious smell to the door of a small shop.

If you want to know what happens next, you'll just have to read this book. The author combines, history, legend, Scottish lore, and mystery to give us a new take on what these creatures are and why they exist. Fabulous job...and the hot hero, gutsy heroine and incendiary sex ain't so bad either!!

[Julianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reviewed for THC Reviews
"2.5 stars" I've been looking forward to reading Call of the Highland Moon for quite some time. Werewolves. Highlanders. Heroine who owns a bookshop dedicated to romance. She also loves animals and finds the hero on her doorstep in his wolf form, mistaking him for a large wounded dog. Stranded in a snowstorm. All of these things I would typically love in a romance, and it sounds awesome on paper. I mean, what's not to love about those things? Well, as it turns out, a whole lot. All throughout reading it, I kept thinking things like Where's the plot? Where's the world-building? Where's the character development? All three of these things were seriously lacking, IMHO, and that combined with an overabundance of introspection and passive narration made for a slow, plodding read that never really captured my imagination or engaged my attention well at all.

One of the few reasons I didn't give the book an even lower rating is because I didn't dislike the characters like I have in some other books. But then again, I didn't really get to know them well either. Both Gideon and Carly seemed like decent people, but I just didn't feel connected to them at all. Their characterizations simply didn't have much meat on their bones. We know that Carly owns a cute little bookstore that's dedicated to romance in a touristy-type town in New York and that she has a rather overbearing but well-meaning family. She also loves animals, which is why, when she finds Gideon injured in his wolf form on her doorstep, she takes him home. Gideon, for his part, is apparently running away from his destiny as the alpha male of his pack, but I never really understood why. His mother, a human, died while trying to make the change into a werewolf, and he has a father and brother back home in Scotland, where he supposedly helps run a Bed & Breakfast in his family's castle. Other than that, I couldn't tell you much about either character. Unfortunately, these things are all external factors in their lives and don't really speak to who they are inside and what makes them tick. Also I found it a bit hard to swallow that Carly was so quickly accepting of Gideon being a werewolf. She also has a tendency to get upset with him at the drop of a hat and oftentimes over things I thought were rather silly misunderstandings that could have been cleared up with better communication. Quite simply, both characters were distinctly lacking in motivation, which made it hard to fully understand or become invested in either of them.

Probably in part, because I didn't connect well with Gideon and Carly on an individual level, I also didn't feel the connection between them as a couple either. There just wasn't much to grasp onto, such as expressions of feelings, body language, or other things like longing looks and lingering touches that would stir my emotions. Apparently they're fated mates, which makes them really hot for one another, but I couldn't feel much of anything passing between them, much less this all-consuming attraction. I've read plenty of paranormal romances where the hero and heroine are mates and their attraction to each other is immediate, powerful, and palpable, which can also help me to buy into them making a lifetime commitment within a few days time (like in this story), but with Gideon and Carly I felt nary a spark. What passes for a relationship between them is told much more so than shown, which is a major problem throughout the book.

Normally I'm a fan of rich introspection, but IMO, it's way overdone here. It can drag on for paragraphs or even pages, leaving my mind wandering and making me forget what's happening, because there's so much space between the character's actions or dialogue where they're not doing anything except simply thinking. Eg. The hero says or asks something and then we get paragraph upon paragraph of the heroine thinking about stuff before she finally responds or vice versa. If someone took that long to think things over in real life before responding verbally or doing something action-wise, it would be stupendously boring and awkward, and I can't say it's all that much different in a book. This book is so overwritten, it, quite frankly, was difficult for me to read. It was like constantly reading stream of consciousness narration from the characters, leaving very little room for actual storytelling. Introspection can be an extremely useful tool for building characters and plot, but here there are lots and lots of words that just didn't say much of a meaningful nature.

This also makes for extremely passive narration. Very little happened from an action standpoint until the last few chapters of the book. There were several instances where the author told about something after the fact when showing it in the moment would have made for richer and more interesting storytelling. Eg. She jumps from Carly finding Gideon in his wolf form, injured on the doorstep of her shop and deciding to take him home, to her waking up in bed with him in his human form in the morning. I wanted to know how she got him home since he was probably far too big for her carry and whether she did anything to tend his wounds. Instead we get barely a mention that she had to somehow coax him into and out of her car. Another example is that Carly apparently had a conversation with Gideon, asking questions about werewolves, but rather than showing that discussion, the author throws in a few minor parenthetical comments about the mythology in Carly's introspections. Yet another skimmed over scene that I think would have been much more fun and interesting written out was when Gideon helped Carly out in her shop one day and practically got mauled by her customers. Again, disappointingly, it was only told about, not shown. There were also lots of other instances where some intriguing tidbit would pop up in their introspections, making me say things like What does that look like? or Show me that; don't tell me! It all made for a pretty frustrating reading experience.

As a writer, I've learned that writing effectively and making that all-important connection with your readers isn't just about the words that you choose, but also how you put them together. It's like taking building blocks and figuring out the best way to construct them into something solid. In this book, some of the sentences are constructed in a confusing way, so that I had to re-read them several times to figure out what was being said. Other times, it wasn't just confusing, but that they weren't constructed in such a way as to engage the reader's attention. Many, many sentences could have been broken up or easily reworded to say the exact same thing, but in a much more succinct way that also would have been significantly more vibrant and dynamic. Instead the prose really drags most of the time, because the author insists on over-explaining things. Eg. There was a huge overabundance of phrases such as "she saw," "she thought", she asked herself," etc. that to my way of thinking, were totally unnecessary. Of course, she saw, thought, or asked herself those things because it was written in her POV. And it wasn't just this but other things as well. IMHO, the author should dispense with the hand-holding and trust her readers to be intelligent enough to grasp the nuances of her writing without telling them every little thing. When I first started reading the book, I wasn't certain if there were any hard and fast rules about using parentheses in fiction, but I knew that I rarely saw them. Later, I looked it up and most sources tended to concur that parentheses are generally too jarring for fiction and should probably be used sparingly, if at all. Yet in this book, they're used to excess. This is yet another example of the hand-holding I was talking about where the author seemed to feel the need to insert sub-level introspection into a character's main introspections. IMHO, 99% of what was inside the parentheses didn't add anything to the story, but instead slowed it down. I'm really surprised the editor let her get away with this.

Last but certainly not least, I thought that for a paranormal series, the world-building was pretty weak. I didn't really understand what was going on in this regard throughout most of the story, mainly because until the very end, we only get tiny tidbits of the werewolf mythology that are muddled in with the overabundant introspection. All I understood is that the werewolves are the guardians of a mythic stone, which Gideon's cousin, Malachi, is trying to get his hands on. Also Malachi is trying to kill Gideon to prevent him from taking his place as alpha. I thought the villain was rather weak too, because for the most part, he's a distant threat, far across the ocean. He sent some henchmen to do his dirty work for him, and these wolves, known as Drakkyn, are different and more powerful because of an amulet they wear and perhaps some other reasons that aren't entirely clear yet. Unfortunately, none of this made much sense to me until the climactic scenes at the end, but by then, I couldn't really be bothered to care much. And as an aside, (this doesn't really have anything to do with world-building but it did bother me greatly), I absolutely couldn't buy into a guy carrying an unconscious woman through an airport and onto a plane. TSA would never allow something like that to fly (pun intended :-)).

Anyway, despite having a number of themes and story elements that I typically would love in a romance novel, I'm sorry to say that Call of the Highland Moon was largely a disappointment. Aside from generally liking the hero and heroine, the only other thing that kept the book from getting an even lower rating from me is the three or four scenes that were written more actively and with a better balance between the dialogue or actions and introspection. It appears that Gideon's brother, Gabriel, will become the hero of the next book, Dark Highland Fire. Although he seemed like yet another nice and perhaps even fun character, I have no real desire to repeat this reading experience, so I'll likely not be continuing with the series. Readers who are more forgiving of passive narration and sub-par character and plot development may enjoy this book (and the series) much more than I did, but I have a plethora of new authors to try, as well as the backlists of far too many favorite authors to read to spend any more time on a book series I'm not enjoying.

[moonlightfairyprincess · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the story wasn't bad, it takes too long to get to the point. The style of writing is ditracting--sentences which are interrupted by random asides about character or descriptions--by the time the author returns to the original point, I found I had to go re-read the first part of the sentence to remember or be clear on exactly what she was trying to tell the reader. I like the story itself but it's drawn out and seems to take forever to come to an actual plot point when something significant will occur. The book is only okay...I had to put it down several times and come back to it because the writing was so distracting which is unusual. I am usually able to read straight through any book of an interesting nature without pause if I have the time but this book just couldn't hold my interest steadily.

[Melissa Levine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a really hard time trying to get through this book. There was so much unnecessary writing that I was more skimming through the pages looking for something actually interesting. It was just so boring, but I did manage to get through it.

One thing though, when I read a book involving someone that has an accent, I like the author to actually do the different wording for that accent. For example, I know a Scottish person will usually call their father 'da'. In this story I think Gideon and/or his brother Gabriel called their father da like once, otherwise it was always dad. My point is that if you want to keep mentioning the fact that Gideon and his family are from Scotland then you need to have the appropriate writing to go along with it. It helps the reader become more involved with the story.

Couple of questions I have are:
1. Mario and Luigi? Seriously? I assume the author wasn't able to think of any other male Italian names for these characters?
2. When Gideon first met Carlys family at her house, how did he know her mother had dressed up for him? Considering he'd never met her before, didn't know how she usually dressed or anything.
3. How was Gideon able to get Carly on a plane with no problems? All because they had her passport, so no questions asked as to why she was unconscious?

[Helen Power · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book! It's very slow paced, and not necessarily for everyone. I found the language reminded me of a historical fiction, even though the book is set in present day New York. That said, I got used to the language and the slower pace, and I couldn't put the book down!
The book also gets a lot more fantastical/magical than I was expecting. From the description, it seemed like the book would be just about warring werewolf clans/packs/whatever they're called, but there's also a whole lot more going on than meets the eye (don't worry, no spoilers!). Kendra Leigh Castle created an interesting mythology in this book, and I'm curious to find out what happen in the subsequent books in this series!
3.5 stars

[Sonia189 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sort of 2.8...
Something about the main characters failed to captivate me. This read as boring to me and I struggled to keep reading.
The premise is interesting and some details were interesting too, such as the mate idea and the family bonds. However, this was boring and I couldn't care less about the character's choices. The bad guys weren't intriguing either and towards the end, I lost interest.

I had had this book to read for 8 years and I got it at a time I was devouring PNR. Would it have been perfect then? I can't tell, but now, after having read many other stories with the theme and genre, this "world" just didn't captivate, neither did the characters.
I feel like changing many details so... average, really.

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

A great idea but horribly written. the sparse dialogue was swallowed up by the characters internalized thoughts that just never seemed to end. I found reading this book so difficult and Carly to be so annoying, she's protrayed as a kind hearted woman but she does not act like one. She claims to be a caring person taking in strays etc. but kicks a recovering Gideon out in a snowstorm? I found myself skipping paragraphs and only reading the dialogue until I started skipping whole chapters, seeking for some action. at one point I had to put the book down because in between each mere sentence of dialogue there was an entire page of a single characters thoughts that had to lead to some greater understanding every damn time. I couldn't help imagining the 2 characters standing in silence for minutes staring at each other because each of them were busy thinking about themselves for a painful amount of time until they could respond. Usually I'd finish this genre in a day... I've had this book for a year and I still can't finish it.

[Heather Book Savvy Babe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let’s see, werewolves in Scottish highlands…yes please! That being said, I enjoyed the book, it was not fantastic or whatever, but it was a fun read, I enjoyed the characters, Gideon as the run away alpha and Carly the bookworm turned feisty heroine. The characters families were quite entertaining as well. I will probably be reading more of this author’s work in the future, but it’s not quite a “must-read”…more so, an enjoyable, fun, sexy read, which let’s face it, that’s pretty cool too.

[Paranormal Romance · Rating 3 out of 5]

The hero has always been the dutiful son. The eldest to the wolf pack and destine to be Alpha one day, he has always dedicated himself to the responsibly- envying his brother the freedom to do as he chooses without consequence. Figures the one time the hero decides to escape the pressures of pack life for the big city of New York, he is homesick and soon attacked by his crazed cousin and a freakish hybrid wolf who very nearly kill him. On deaths door from blood loss, the hero follows the scent of home and straight to the heroine's back door.

The heroine has always had a weak spot for animals and when she finds what appears to be a giant wolf on her doorstep, she brings him inside without hesitation. Tending to his wounds and setting him in front of the warm fire, she is started to awake beside a very large and very naked stranger sleeping beside her in the bed. As weird as it may be and no matter how unbelievable, this man shares the wolfs injuries and the beautiful eyes are identical to her furry patients. This man is the wolf! And he's naked. And he's Scottish. She finds it extremely hard to keep her eyes above his waste level and she becomes lost in his sexy brogue. He asks her for a place to stay so as to heal from his injuries.

When he tells her she's in no danger from him being there, she believes him. And it's in her nature to be trusting and helpful to any creature in need, no matter if that creature is a cat or a giant naked Scottish man. So, with a snowstorm caging them in, they settle into a little life together. Comfortable it is not though. The heroine is surprised by the level of attraction she feels for this man and her insecurities and general shyness when it comes to men makes it hard to be around the hero when he obviously doesn't feel the same. But whereas she is short and petite and blonde, she possesses the Italian temper of her mother which her companion soon finds out.

When she finds out he lied, that there is something targeting him and therefore her, she is enraged. All her life she has been sheltered, never able to obtain independence in her own decision making but no more. The hero has the habit of keeping things from her and hiding his feelings quite well. He is wrong to believe omitting the truth is for her own good and he realizes that, while she's his mate, he doesn't treat her like an equal. He hangs around, begs forgiveness and vows to protect her from the enemy who will use her to get to him. But he knows that eventually he will have to let her go. He'll never risk her life by changing her and further contact will only hurt more in the long end. But life is not so easy to control so when the choice is stripped from their hands and she is attacked and infected he'll pray for her to live through the coming change else a piece of him die as well.

This book has a lot more humor then I was expecting and some of the conversations were actually quite funny. You get the idea that hero isn't used to banter and in fact, not talented when it comes to flirting with women. He puts his foot in his mouth at all, but granted the heroine seemed to go off in a temper at the drop of a hat. Tension was high and it was all thanks to the lust emanating between them. Most of the book was in that typically contemporary setting where the main characters are either eating or talking but I was pleased to say I was never truly bored with this story. The characters were just too alive for that. I agreed with the heroine about the hero's bad decision making. He was quite selfish at time and didn't factor in her opinion or feeling with any plans he put forth, always seeming to know what was best and what she needed. The fact that he lied to her and was willing to break her heart to return to Scotland made me dislike him on some level. Also, the fact that he was not with her when she changed-this didn't sit well with me at all. I found the heroine a bit quick on the draw to argue but I appreciated her level-headed way to deal with both the werewolf thing and also her growing feelings. She didn't let the hero get away with how he treated her, she made him work for it. I liked that about her. Again, I find myself stuck between a 3 star and a 4 star but this time I'm sorry to say it'll be a downgrade. 3-star rating it is. Nice book but I wasn't wowed.

[Cindi · Rating 4 out of 5]

New author (to me) and one I will be looking forward to reading in the (very near) future! Especially since Ms. Castle writes about gorgeous, hot werewolves. The only way she could make it better? Make her wolves from Scotland! Oh, right, she did ;)

Thanksgiving weekend was a wonderful time to read about Carly in her upstate New York snowed-in town (I live in South Texas, an anti-snow city). Carly is a double-header for me: she's a major pet lover and owns a chicks' book and jewelry store called "Bodice Rippers". How awesome is that? During a blizzard, she hears a hesitant scratch against her door and opens it to find a large dog laying in a puddle of blood on her doorstep. Her heart goes out to the poor, torn up critter and she brings it inside for the night; she can't really do any more as the town is snowed in so getting it to the vet is a no-go. Carly doesn't really expect the dog to live through the night but decides that if it does, well, she's always wanted a pet...

Call of the Highland Moon is not terribly original but it is terribly sweet and I fell in love with each character as they were introduced. Carly's world is our world (sorta) so was easy to relate to. And there was a satisfying resolution at the end (which doesn't happen much anymore, I gotta say!) yet the door was left open (pun intended - just read the book!) for a follow-up story. And Gideon has a brother. Yay!

[Daniela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first installment of the MacInnes werewolves finds us first in a small town in North America were our two main characters meet. She's a romance book store owner (love the name of the bookstore!), he's a werewolf trying to hide from his destiny. Bad catches up with him, she gets tagged accidentally and they end up in Scotland where he's from... In this book there are bad werewolf-creating creatures that are called Drakkyn which give this a little new spin on an old tale and add to the suspense and tenseness in the book.
Romance and the story itself develop fast and one does feel immidiately immerged in it. The characters are believable...and it would probably sound a little silly to say about a supernatural book that some of the actions and reactions seem a little fast and far fetched... isn't the whole idea?!?
All in all a good read.

[Kari Chapman · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems like there was an interesting story in this book. Unfortunately it was hidden by way too many words. I made it through page 100 and all that had happened was the introductions of the two main characters, their meeting and the introduction of the bad guy. After the first couple chapters I mostly skimmed and still managed to keep track of what was going on.

I think the wordiness also contributed to my not liking any of the characters. They all seemed like they could be interesting if they would just stop thinking and get to the plot. As it was, they all spent way too much time over analyzing everything about everything and it drove me up the wall.

[Bitten_by_Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gideon MacInnes is next in line as alpha and clan leader but he’s not sure he is ready or willing to fill his father’s shoes. He leaves his home in the Scottish Highlands and travels to the U.S. to figure out exactly what he wants and to find that something that seems to be missing from his life...

For the entire review please go to the Best Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Review site on the web, Bitten By Books for the review of Call of the Highland Moon in it's entirety. You won't be sorry.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ended up being alright. Definitely not my favorite probably due to the ton of inner monologuing. I get that's how we see how characters are thinking and feeling and what drives their action but it just seemed to be a bit much. I did like the main characters and the story is pretty interesting although there seems to be a lot of magically themes smashed together. I don't know if I'll finish the rest of the trilogy any time soon.

[Laurie Garrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

**3 1/2 stars**

Very good and easy read.. This books has humor and romance..

I really like Carly and her family, they drive her nuts. I liked Gideon even though he lies to Carly at first they both fit together well.. The story line starts off good but slows in the middle has a good ending, also the ending make room for more books to come.

[April ♥"LOS" ♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! A Scottish, highlander, wolf-shifter?! What's not to love:) I look forward to continuing this series.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

i was so bored i couldnt even finish this..... boring. with more boring

[Lexi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had this book on my shelf, along with several other mass market romance novels, since 2013. I wasn't sure if I would ever read this book, to be honest, since I don't particularly care for straight romances anymore. Nonetheless, when I needed something quick and chaotic and fun to read, this was what caught me eye. Given that I finished it in two days, I'd say that it delivered on that front.

Nothing about this had a wow factor to me - Gideon and Carly were such one-dimensional characters, particularly Carly. Besides owning a romance bookstore and coming from an overprotective family (also, Mario and Luigi being her brothers, really?), there's no other personality traits to her. They're obsessed with each other, have the typical romantic miscommunications that end up causing almost all of their relationship drama throughout the book, and then end up together happily in a rather predictable fashion.

Also, the writing was very odd. Castle has so many paragraphs with random asides that were just so difficult to process, I often had to reread lines multiple times to understand what was being said. Some of the dialogue and chapter cliffhangers were pretty cringey as well, but I suppose that's par for the course when it comes to a fifteen year old romance novel.

The overarching premise was interesting, what with Gideon being on the run from his aunt and cousin trying to kill him, but even that felt underdeveloped. Malachi and Moriah, his evil cousin and uncle, had no depth besides being "the bad guys". They felt more like tropes than actual characters. Still, I'll give credit where credit's due, the idea of werewolves hiding in Scotland to protect humanity from their more feral ancestors is interesting, even if it isn't executed to its full potential.

Oh, and the book wasn't nearly as spicy as I would've guessed. There's one full scene in the entire book, which was mostly fine for me, again since I don't care much about the straight romance in general, but worth noting.

I sped through it, had a fun time laughing at certain bits, imagined Aidan Turner's lovely Scottish accent whenever Gideon spoke, and that was about it. Nothing serious, but that was what I wanted, so in that respect, it worked out.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Setting: Lock Aline of the Highlands, forest/clan land (60 acres of wilderness aka Hunting Grounds) of Scotland – Iargail (means Twilight) the estate of the Alpha; ‘Bodice Rippers and Baubles’ romance bookstore, Kinnik’s Harbor, little town on edge of Lake Ontario, Northern New York; Wolf at the Door pub, in Tobermory, Scotland;

Theme: a destined love; wanting to protect the weaker; tasked with protecting an other worldly artifact; finding the inner strength needed;

Characters:
Gideon MacInnes: father’s heir – to be alpha and Guardian; as oldest son, had faithfully trained and learned to take over, but when his father stated about to step down, he felt a need to escape… left Scotland, traveled around the US, found (like Dorothy) that there’s no place like home. But attacked by 3 wolves, at the beginning of a snow storm… as wolf, killed one, scared away two injured, injured himself… trying to drag self back to hotel, and catches whiff of cinnamon and lemon and he follows the traces, until he finds himself at ‘her’ doorstep; like most of the weres, avoids human women – not wanting to find their mate among them, knowing most are too weak to change;

Carlotta ‘Carly’ Teresa Silver: owner of Bodice Rippers and Baubles; of large, nosy, loving, Italian family – has moved a town over in her bid for independence; petite; curvy; made friends; doesn’t cook – prefers take out; finds a large dog (doesn’t want to think it is a wolf) as leaving shop, as storm starting… and she manages to get it into her car and home, where she dresses its wounds, and he adoringly lays his head in her lap… and she wakes up the next day with a naked man in her bed (the wolf joined her after she fell asleep, and returned to man shape);

Duncan MacInnes: father; Pack Alpha and Guardian of the Stone; enforcer of the Sacred Dictates; lost his wife/mate when she insisted he try and turn her – she was not strong enough; strong; opinionated; loving; protects the Stone, runs a bread and breakfast / cottage sort of retreat – mostly for visiting weres;

Gabriel MacInnes: carefree, younger brother; left Iagril to find his own way, opening a bar, seducing as many women as possible; returns home as needed; glad he is not the oldest;

Malachi MacInnes: cousin; raised by a madwoman; wants power, and has thrown his lot in with the Drakkar, not knowing their intention of disposing of him once he serves his purpose; sends out new weres to kill Gideon; expects to take over the Pack, once father and sons disposed of;

Moriah MacInnes: Duncan’s sister, Malachi’s mother; crazed; likes taking and turning young men to be her consort… until she tires of them, and kills/eats them – yuck; pushes Malachi to obsession;

Regan O’Meara, owner of Decadence, bakery and Celestine Periwether: Carly’s best friends; Regan, especially, pushes her to get out there… to take advantage of Gideon… to open herself… she helps out Gideon (with warmth, clothes, food, and Carly) when Carly pissed at him – and believes he is telling the truth about being a were.

Mario and Luigi the Lackey: named before the Mario Brother’s game; Carly’s brothers; have scared away potential boyfriends since her youth; try it on Gideon, but he stands up to them;

Mordred Andrakkar, a Drakkyn: lord; wanting to set up the Drakkyns and lords over Urth (earth), starting with conquering the weres; Drakkyn – what the werewolves might have been, what the weres sprang from, their past, and future – their masters?;

Jonas, Morgan, Marcus: recently converted weres/Drakkyns – with medallions; under Malachi’s orders – but really under Andrakkar’s orders; Jonas a wanted criminal/murderere

Stone of Destiny, aka Lia Fail: from Egypt (Jacob’s pillow on the night he’d dreamed of his ladder – pedestal of the Ark of the Covenant) , to Ireland (the stone from which Excalibur had been pulled), to Scotland; placed under guardianship of the weres by Saint Columbia in the 16th century – to protect the stone/portal from the Drakkyn who would misues it; St Columba crowned the first Scottish king atop it, lost to English in the 13th century – though the English got an imitation;

Summary:
Carly and Gideon are drawn together… and in spite of the logic saying keep their distance, pain will result, I must leave her… they succumb… very romantic, sexy connections.

Hiccups – when Jonas makes himself known to Carly – and she determines that Gideon lied when he told her there was no danger in their association – she doesn’t let him back in after he had tried to track Jonas… she angry that he lied, and did not allow her to count the risk… after they reunite, and he insists he needs to stay and protect her (though he still plans to leave her when she is safe)… a few more days of sex and loving… of getting in deeper… of meeting her family… and then they are attacked… and while Gideon fighting off two, Drakkar Jonas comes in back, and almost gently bites Carly… but is killed by Gideon…

Gideon takes an unconscious Carly to Scotland… where his father is missing… he is torn between Pack duties and his need to care for Carly… and on the night of the full moon, must leave her to shift and probably die to protect the Stone… and though a great deal of pain, Carly figures out how to slip into this new side of herself… and she rushes to Gideon’s side… who is trying to save his injured father, and stop the Drakkar – pushed to reach deep when he hears Carly’s howl… killing one Drakkar, pushing the other two back through the portal.

And Gideon and Carly are happy together… father staying Alpha, able to spend time on both sides of the ‘pond’… and the Drakkar threaten that there are other portals… hmmmm

Memorable scenes:
When finds injured wolf / that she convinces self is a dog / on her doorstep.. “She knew what was going to happen, and she was powerless to stop it. She swore she could almost hear the music as every last one of her damned heartstrings was plucked at once. Carly crouched beside it, pity welling up inside her, and reached out her hand.”

The Mordred, changing into his Drakkyn form, threatens: “You will all bow to the Andrakkar before you die, miserable arukhin, shame of the Drakkyn. Urth is ripe for conquest. And you have forgotten how to fight your masters. A shame… but one, I think, I will recover from.”

And Gideon, bolstered by a Carly’s howl showing she had survived the conversion, drew deep in himself, and found a Lia Fail power – his birthright… their strength – and defeated Mordred.

[Ana Blanco Bartolome · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se podría resumir con la frase "luces y sombras". Tiene muchas partes buenas, que me han gustado mucho y entretenido, básicamente toda la historia de amor sobrenatural de los protagonistas que será un 75% de la novela, su relación humano-ser sobrenatural, su forma de conocerse y el momento de descubrir la verdadera naturaleza de él. sin embargo el resto no me convenció mucho, se me hizo pesado, y en ocasiones lioso debido a la rapidez con la que introduce el tema de acción sobrenatural y lo inmediato que lo soluciona todo. Además utiliza nombres "inventados" para describir a los enemigos, su raza y su mundo, pero que desconciertan y te lian un poco al no haberse utilizado y descrito con anterioridad en la historia. Me dio la sensación como que de repente mete esa acción para que no se quede muy simple la historia de amor... Quizás si hubiera sido más simple, sin tanta palabrería rara, habría fusionado mejor con la temática principal y habría sido un libro romántico sobrenatural excelente...
En cuanto a los personajes, y conversaciones, están bien descritos y bastante completos, acordes en su forma de ser y comportarse.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tengo que decir que de los libros que había en mi lista de lecturas, este no era mi primera opción. No tenía muchas expectativas en él, pero me lo había regalado una amiga y pensaba leerlo.

Lo primero que tengo que decir es que la traducción es nefasta. Pienso que leerlo en VO, sería una mejor opción.

Lo segundo que quiero decir, es que, finalmente la lectura no fue tan tediosa como imaginaba. Es cierto que es una novela romántica, pero no se hace pastelosamente aburrida como en un principio imaginé.

La construcción de la narración está muy bien hecha, e incluso me sorprendió lo bien que se narraba la historia de Escocia para ser una novela romántica.

No obstante, me sorprendió lo tremendamente machista que es el libro, pese a haber sido escrito por una mujer.

No sé si continuaré con la trilogía, pero si vosotros estáis pensando en hacerlo, deciros que los siguientes libros no han sido traducidos al español; lo cual desde mi opinión, es una bendición después de haber leído la malísima traducción de “La Llamada de la Luna Escocesa”

[Kei · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to categorize this impression I've got from this book... On one side it felt almost childish, on another it reminds me of a b-rated fantasy movie, especially with the very villainy villains and magic stones with magic crystals. The writing didn't feel engaging, especially the villainy parts, I could barely keep myself from skipping some of them because they were both boring and unpleasant. But the biggest were these details that kept poking out... like (let's take the very beginning) woman finding a bleeding wounded animal at her workplace, loading it into her car, taking it home, dumping it in her spare room and going to sleep to wait and see if it's going to be alive in the morning or not? In what world this was supposed to make sense?
I don't know. Maybe it's just a question of compatibility, but this really didn't work for me.

[Plemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it! Tried reading another book of her and this time was pleasantly surprised! Was exciting, funny, romantic, teleported me to magical worlds, had to use my brain, could relax, was thicker book so could stay in it for longer, ... just had all :))

[Meranda Semeniuk-Wappel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I seriously hope that there are a heck of a lot more books because this was such a good book! A really good shapeshifter book!

[Simona · Rating 1 out of 5]

Man oh man, that was painful to read!

[Laura McFarlane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good storyline

[Liana Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little story, but I couldn’t get past all the comma splices and run on sentences. I won’t be continuing the serious.

[Betsy :D · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT!!! I wanted more it ended to quickly and I loved Gideon and Carly!!!!!

[Shawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.