Title: Bad Moon Arising
Author: CL Mustafic
Publisher: NineStar Press
Length: 51k Words
Category: Paranormal, Shifters
At a Glance: While I did like some of the concepts and spins on the shifter world and am interested in what happens next, Bad Moon Arising didn’t quite live up to its full potential for me; especially on the romance.
Reviewed By: Lindsey
Blurb: In a sleepy trailer park in the backwoods of Minnesota lake country, there lies a secret—threatened by a Grindr hookup gone bad.
Clay Anderson gets more than he bargained for when, in a moment of passion, he bites his Grindr hookup hard enough to draw blood. The man’s reaction isn’t as reassuring as Clay hoped, but of all the consequences Clay considered, lycanthropy wasn’t among them.
Damian Maccon leads a simple life as part of the Outcast pack. Not realizing at first that Clay swallowed his blood during their wild romp, he feels responsible when it’s evident that Clay has become infected. Worse, he now has a new werewolf on his hands until Clay learns the rules, and he has to oversee Clay’s decision to choose a mate within the pack.
Damian thinks his biggest problem is that Clay hates him, but when Clay chooses Damian’s abusive ex-boyfriend, Blaine, he goes on full alert. Can he save Clay from the same fate that befell him at Blaine’s hands?
Review: When I first read the blurb for Bad Moon Arising, I figured it sounded intriguing and seemed to meet the criteria that generally makes me eat up a paranormal story in no time flat. Tension? Check. Plenty of that between Clay and Damian. Different spin on the shifter world? Check. The way the pack operated as well as the whole puppy thing (more on that later). Humor? Check. Though, admittedly, not quite as funny as some early reviews had led me to believe.
Bad Moon Arising is interesting, especially the shifter world dynamics. Born shifters are treated different than made shifters, and the change with all its experiences is also unique too, depending on whether they are born or made. Though one thing is the norm for all—there is no immediate shift for grown adults into an adult wolf. Oh no. Each new shifter becomes a puppy. Yup. When the wolf first comes, it is that of an infant pup and then grows from there, making the wolf essentially a separate entity since the thoughts of the wolf are even that of a pup. This is also where most of the humor came from. Clay becomes a pup on his first shift; he is cognizant of what is happening, but there is another being controlling his body that is distracted by objects and lacks the knowledge that it is not okay to go to the bathroom indoors, loves cuddling with people (which Clay is so not a cuddler), licks faces, and enjoys puppy piles. I can admit I found it adorable as it was the only time I truly liked Clay’s character, and I would definitely call it unique. Also, the writing itself was well done, and nothing stood out as far as editing or grammar.
So where did it come up short, if it has my three main requirements? Well, I forgot about my biggest requirement in all my stories that have a romantic plot—Connection. There wasn’t one, really, between Damian and Clay, barely even got a blip of it from either of them until close to the end, but even then, it was more of a truce, somewhat, and Damian feeling responsible for Clay rather than a true feeling that these two belong together. Honestly, I’m not sure they do.
Damian and Clay, I didn’t really like them that much. Especially Clay. I couldn’t stand him, initially, and that remained my feeling all the way until the end. I didn’t like them together from their first encounter. No sparks. No warmth. No possibility. I kept waiting for the moment that would change, but it really didn’t. Their romance was not a romance at all; rather, it was two guys getting off and little to no feelings involved. Damian wasn’t as bad as Clay; there were actual moments where I found myself empathizing with him, and there are little snippets dropped about his past that don’t give much away but made me interested in finding out. Yes, Damian was closed off, but at least there seemed to be a reason for his actions, and he wasn’t horrible, more like a little emotionally lost. Damian wasn’t mean; he came off in the beginning as brutally honest and closed off, which is somewhat explained towards the end, with even more hinted at. But Clay? He was just plain mean. He was selfish. It had nothing to do with the shift, and everything to do with his personality. He was that way before he even entered the shifter world. The only time he was even remotely likable to me was when he was in puppy form.
The plot itself and how it all played out was thought-provoking. The pack law about immediately having a mate, if they were made, was crappy and yet it made sense in this world as a wolf pup really does need an experienced wolf to teach them to do things like pee outdoors and not try to attack Maine Coons. Though why they can’t have a sponsor and instead have to mate is…well, it’s a paranormal book and shifter law in them doesn’t always make sense, so I will just go with at least I understand the reasons why. Pack law plays quite a big role in this story, and it worked for the most part. It gave the story just enough angst to make me wonder how it would play out. It would have worked better for me if I’d liked the two MCs as a couple, and I was hoping for them to find their way to one another.
The story ends on an interesting note that did pique my curiosity on what is going to happen to Damian and Clay as well as the Outkast Pack. I assume there will be another book because so much is left unanswered, and the end is more like a beginning. I still have lingering questions floating around, especially about Damien’s past. If there is a second book, part of me wants to give it a go, but I would have to find a way to get past my irritation at Clay and Damian. Who knows? Maybe another book will do what this book failed to do in the romance department. It would take quite a bit to redeem Clay and form a connection between these two, but I wouldn’t say it is impossible; it will just take some really good storytelling to make that happen and to make me like Clay.
In the end, I’m torn. While I did like some of the concepts and spins on the shifter world, found humor in the whole puppy aspect, am interested on what happens next as well as what happened in Damian’s past, it didn’t quite live up to its full potential for me, especially in the romance.
You can buy Bad Moon Arising here:
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