Author: Eli Easton
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 228 Pages
At a Glance: These stories will leave you panting for more! I know, bad joke, but I couldn’t resist! I love this series.
Reviewed By: Carrie
Blurb: Dr. Jason Kunik is working on the most earth-shattering genetics project ever, DNA mapping of a new species, the quickened—dogs who can shift into human form. The problem is, no one knows the quickened exist and Jason can’t betray them by publishing his studies. When he moves to Mad Creek to continue his research in a town full of quickened, all he wants is peace, quiet, and to be allowed to bury himself in his work. Perhaps if he figures how out the mutation is activated, he can silence his own inner dog forever.
Milo is a hospice comfort dog who has bonded with, and lost, many beloved patients in his life. He intuitively understands sickness and pain on a spiritual level most can’t see. When he gains the ability to become a man, he thinks he finally has everything he ever wanted. But being a man isn’t the same thing as being loved, and taking shelter in Mad Creek isn’t the same thing as finding a home.
When a mysterious illness hits Mad Creek and threatens all the quickened in town, it’s up to the scientist and the comfort dog to figure out what it is and how to stop it. Along the way they might discover that true love is possible—if you wish upon a star.
This is the third book in the “Howl at the Moon” series, but it can be read as a stand-alone.
Review: Are you a dog lover? Do you love that warm feeling you get all over when your canine plops his rump next to yours and just leans? Be aware, you will get that same feeling from reading these books, as that is what this series is all about. You will find yourself with the same dopey smile on your face that you get when your dog tells you he loves you on a regular basis while reading! How to Wish Upon a Star is book three in the Howl at the Moon series, and these characters are getting more solid and real the more Eli Easton writes about them. This is a standalone book, but to get the whole feel for Mad Creek it is helpful to have read the others in the series—after all dogs live in packs—and this series is Eli Easton’s pack. In her own words, she tells how she loved coming up with the “dogisms,” and her characters are all straightforward, loyal, playful and inherently honest. There is something so pure about a dog, and these stories shine with that same fervor.
Dr. Jason Kunik is an Alaskan Malamute. He is also a genetics researcher and brilliant scientist. He’s turned his back on his inner dog for years but is passionate about finding the reason for the “spark” that makes a dog human. He is determined to prove it is all based in simple science, not magic. Forced to quit his job to protect the secrets of Mad Creek, he returns there to continue his research and runs into Milo at the first pack meeting he attends. Milo is everything Jason is not; he is open, loving, a newly quickened labradoodle, and too cute for his own good. Milo was living at a hospice center when he was quickened, and he holds an unnatural sixth sense when others are hurting or are sick. But this empathy for the dying or diseased means everyone he loves goes away, and Milo desperately wants someone to love him and keep him forever.
Milo knows that Jason is the mate for him, but getting through to his heart proves another matter entirely and often he just touches Jason, sits beside him and leans on him. Who wouldn’t respond to that kind of unconditional support?
“God. This was… unprecedented. Jason’s heart hung out there, exposed, enlarged, and throbbing with feelings for Milo, albeit metaphorically. A small part of his brain marveled at how attached he’d gotten to Milo–so attached, and how fast it had happened–so, so fast.”
“But Milo knew other things, things Jason didn’t know. He knew about people’s hearts and souls and about what you regret in the end. He knew about bonds and how to survive age and trouble and pain and even death. He knew about sickness. He knew about sacrifice. He knew the magical power of touch. He knew patience and stillness, and he knew how to give those to people even when you didn’t feel like being patient or still at all. He knew love.”
Did you just say “Awwwww”? Yeah, get used to it. Don’t get me wrong, there is a whole story here about how Jason and Milo help save the town from a deadly virus before they reach their HEA and it’s a really good story, full of returning favorite characters and interesting new ones. Eli Easton is an excellent story teller and you believe these are real characters, real situations.
Come visit Eli’s fairytale world, where love survives and dogs are “quickened” by wishing on stars to become human and have a chance at true love. These stories will leave you panting for more! I know, bad joke, but I couldn’t resist! I love this series. I love the premise and Eli Easton pulls it off without it becoming hokey. These are feel good stories that leave you with a smile, and we all need more of that.
You can buy How to Wish Upon a Star here:
[zilla_button url=”http://amzn.to/1V7Q59l” style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Kindle Unlimited – US [/zilla_button][zilla_button url=”http://authl.it/B01FISHWJK?d” style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Kindle Unlimited – Int’l [/zilla_button]
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