Claire Morgan is a high school English teacher who is bitten by a werewolf when she tries to track down one of her favorite students who has missed school for a few days. Gideon March is a lycan hunter and has been since his mother who was recently turned killed his father and was killed by another hunter.

Gideon knows that he should execute Claire before the full moon comes and turns her into a killer, but for reasons he can't quite articulate, he decides to help her track down and kill the alpha of the pack member who bit her. At least, that's the plan once he can convince Claire that she actually was bitten by a werewolf and will become one herself at the next full moon.

Claire recognizes some changes in herself. First of all, the newly silver eyes aren't what she usually sees when she looks in the mirror. Also, her appetite especially for meat increases yet she doesn't gain any weight on her 5' 2" frame and is in fact getting more muscular. But the biggest change is that she has stopped being the wimp her abusive father trained her to be all her life.

Gideon has his work cut out for him as he tries to convince her that the changes that are happening are because she was bitten. He is also dealing with a change in attitude. He's no longer sure that killing the newly bitten is the right course of action. Maybe some of them can be kept from becoming killing machines.

This was an entertaining paranormal romance with interesting characters. It hit a bunch of the romance tropes in an engaging way. It is also the first book in a series set in the same world -- LA with a paranormal side. ( )

Here's a different take on the werewolf genre. It's not a good/cool thing to be a werewolf as Claire finds out. Very well written and conceived story. ( )

Marked by Moonlight
3 Stars

Claire Morgan, a shy and timid schoolteacher, has no idea that the wild dog that bit her was, in fact, a werewolf. Nevertheless, Claire cannot explain the sudden changes in her appearance and behavior until Gideon March, a member of a secret society of lycan hunters, arrives on her doorstep to kill her. Fortunately for Claire, Gideon finds himself incapable of completing his mission and the two set out to find a way to save Claire before she turns into a mindless monster at the full moon.

Unlike the majority of books in the werewolf sub-genre, the creatures in this series are not powerful heroes struggling with their inner demons. Rather they are the monsters of myth and legend who attack humans indiscriminately either for food or procreation.

Unfortunately, this is the only original element in the story. Claire is as naïve as they come, and similar to many PNR heroines, finds it difficult to accept the truth of her situation, which inevitably leads to several TSTL moments. That said, the fact that she ultimately comes into her own and grows both in self-awareness and self-confidence makes her more appealing.

While the tortured hero trope is usually a favorite of mine, it does not work for Gideon perhaps because he is far too eager to relinquish his inner angst. For a man who has suffered so horrendously at the hands of lycans, it does not make sense that he would be so eager to help one that he has never even spoken to. Moreover, his tendency toward running hot and cold when it comes to his feelings for Claire becomes irritating after a while.

The manner in which Claire's furry problem is resolved is also predictable although it does lead to an exciting climax.

All in all, a rather mediocre paranormal romance and I can't see myself continuing with the series at this time.
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Under the abusive hand of her drunk father, the heroine has spent her life as a mousy, quiet woman with no self confidence or desire to be noticed. One, night, while trying to do a good deed and help on her students when he's been missing from school, she's attacked and bitten by what she thinks is a rabid dog. She flees and thinks nothing of it. But it was no dog, and now she's being hunter. The hero has been slaying werewolves for more than 15 years, driven but the desire to revenge his parents. But somewhere along the line, he's become delusional with the occupation. Maybe is was that doubt or maybe is what the fact that he's never known intimate knowledge about a target, regardless, he knows this woman is different. But she's not making things easy on him. He only has a limited amount of time to help her before she becomes a monster but she thinks his a lunatic. The heroine, I felt, was quite justified in her denying what the sexy stranger is saying. Sure, she now has silver eyes and a ramped libido but that doesn't mean she's a mythical beast. But she's also growing impatient and she's changing into a woman she's never been before. Running away from the stalker who makes her burn with desire, she's horrified to realizes he's followed her. It takes him shooting her with a normal bullet and her healing in 5 seconds that finally makes her see the truth. Now they're on a race against time. She's got until the full more to find and kill the alpha who changed her else she herself will change and feed and be damned for eternity. The hero knows what he's doing, helping the woman who's supposed to be his enemy, is crazy and that he's betraying the code he's lived with for so many years but there's just something about her that makes him risk it all. I thought this book had a very odd and eerily vibe to it. It starts off with the fact that the heroine is sexual attracted to the man she knows is going to kill her. Second, the fact that the hero himself is attracted to the heroine and knows that if he can't succeed in killing the alpha, he will kill her. Though whole, sex and violence mixture was laced heavily throughout the story. Many times the heroine would slap him or, something like that and they would end up freakin' with great enthusiasm. There were also moments that I found to be disturbing. The heroine putting a gun to her head, meaning to end it all when the future looks dim. Or rationalizing bashing the teenager over the head so she wouldn't be torn apart when the heroine turned. Things like that gave me the chills but it also made for a rather interesting story. I found the characters to be really engaging in this dark and twisted and sometime hopeless romance. It was defiantly a paranormal romance but I'd venture to say it bordered in horror what with the whole werewolf eating people and turning crazy thing. It wasn't one of those sexy male alpha books that typically frequent this genre but it was a nice read. ( )

This paranormal romance has everything I look for in a book: great chemistry between the hero and heroine, life-threatening conflict, emotional depth, and a mystery. Great debut ( )