Review: Shadow Of The Moon

Shadow Of The Moon
By: Rachel Hawthorne
ISBN: 0061962902 (9780061962905)
Series: Dark Guardian

1. Moonlight
2. Full Moon
3. Dark Of The Moon
4. Shadow Of The Moon

Summary from GoodReads:
I can feel every Shifter's emotions except Daniel's—the only one whose heart I long to know.

Hayden was born a werewolf, a Dark Guardian. But her ability to sense the feelings of fellow werewolves has made her life unbearable. She runs away, only to be tracked by charming, mysterious Daniel, a newcomer to the pack and the one Shifter immune to her powers. As she reluctantly follows him home, Hayden finds herself falling dangerously in love. . . .

But even as her feelings for Daniel deepen, Hayden begins to wonder if he is who he claims to be. Where did he come from and why has no one ever seen him transform? When they stumble upon the body of a Shifter still in wolf form, her worries grow. Someone is killing her kind. Is her handsome tracker really a hunter? And is Hayden now his prey?

Review:
After the last three books this one takes the cake. When I first read this excerpt before reading the last book I had vastly different ideas about what this book was about. Even after I read the last book I had different but still vastly different ideas about what this book was about. All ideas were wrong. Rachel Hawthorne uses the same universe but it grows exponentially with this newest installation. Not only do we now get to really know Daniel, we meet a completely before unheard of character that both grew up in the Wolford culture but also not. We also get to see how they interact in the Static world when she runs away. Rachel Hawthorne has been world building in a steady way which is comparable to stepping into a chilly pool, slow but gradually it will all make sense. In this book the universe she has made for her characters get much bigger both with her use of the characters, where they go and the major conflict.

This book will keep you on your toes. I also like how Hayden isn't as pliant as some of the others from beginning to end. From the first page to the last, Hayden pushes her way through her little section of Wolford and finally finds herself. We are also privy to a lot more different views of the orginal characters in this series because of the differences between Hayden and them. Hayden most reminds me of Brittany because she has a fighter spirit even though she wasn't raised to be one.

This story easily was a four because Rachel Hawthorne made the conflicts, introductions of new characters, and the story progression seamless. The story was dynamic and different in very unexpected ways. As far as the series stands I adore this light read because it kept the Shifters interesting, the stories weren't plain, and left the series open for so much more. I would recommend this series for someone who enjoys light werewolf stories with a cute little romance.