Moon Shine cover image

Review – Moon Shine (Takhini Wolves #4) by Vivian Arend

Moon Shine cover image

Publisher: Samhain
Publish Date: 27 May
How I got this book: ARC from the publisher

When the past hurts, it bites.

Meet Evan Stone. Laid-back, in-control Alpha of the Takhini Wolves. Life’s not perfect, but he’s got a good handle on his world. At least, he did—until the night he ends up in jail, soaking wet and wondering what the hell just happened.

The “what” is Amy Ryba, a vengeful female who’s decided it’s long past time to make Evan pay for his sins. Amy has spent years tracking him down, and the last nine months working in secret to destroy him. She’s ready for anything—except discovering the shifter she hates is her mate.

Suddenly, Evan’s not so very in control, of himself or his pack. And unless Amy can learn to forgive and forget, she’ll have to do the unthinkable: reject her mate.

With two packs watching, one thing is certain. Their personal issues won’t stay personal for long. If Amy and Evan can’t find a way to work together, there won’t a happily-ever-after for them…or any of the wolves of Whitehorse.

Warning: Contains angsty wolves. Lots of angsty wolves causing explosions of all sorts, playing bad pranks, hacking computers, and having angry sex against a wall or two. Not all at the same time, though, because that would be silly.
This blurb came from the author’s website.

If you happen to do a search on The Book Pushers for Vivian Arend, the results might give you the indication that we might just have a “thing” for Arend and her stories. Well, **whispers** you might be right, especially since the early post today was a tantalizing excerpt from Moon Shine and now we are back with my thoughts about this latest installment. This review will contain spoilers for the previous installments so if you have not read them and prefer to avoid spoilers I recommend you stop reading now.

I have only been waiting for Evan’s story, not just his relationship, but also his back-story, for YEARS now. I loved the idea of him pairing up with a certain human and wanted to see more inside their relationship but after her story, I gave in and admitted that the author knew best. Even given that I wasn’t sure how Arend was going to top their intensity and I ended up loving how she took a different tact, different personality aspects, and made me into a believer once more.

When I started reading Moon Shine I have to admit I felt sorry for Evan. Throughout the previous installments, I had grown attached to him, his unorthodox method of being Alpha, and even his lack of umm ability to handle some details so when it looked like his life was crashing around him I was completely outraged on his behalf. However, I couldn’t keep from laughing as things deteriorated and each time I thought his problems were fixed new ones arose. It was such a delight to watch him spin.

I will admit that I guess Amy’s name as the individual who was Evan’s mate but I never imagined everything behind her name. I loved how sneaky and innovative she was in her efforts to both run her life and ruin Evan’s. I thought her plan was very detailed and covered a variety of different areas. It was great to watch her ability to plot and use those plans for both good and evil. I also found her methods of dealing with others quite different from the usual Wolfie interaction. As a result I think I giggled each time she upset the status quo.

Arend highlighted the theory that opposites attract in this installment. It started with the irresistible attraction of their wolves that was really in conflict with their human selves. I enjoyed watching both Amy and Evan try to mollify their wolves without jumping the steps their humans needed. It was even more fun to see what happened with the various wolf population while Amy and Evan struggled with their attraction and how to handle the challenges life threw their way. I absolutely loved how compromise ended up being the key to their happiness and the future of the rest of the wolves. Amy and Evan had to provide more than lip service to compromising but actually figuring out a way to compromise and be happy about it.

Moon Shine again proved why I just need to sit back, relax and trust my authors to take me on a wonderful journey. Even knowing this, I am sure I will continue to try to work out pairings ahead of time but enjoy the seeing how wildly wrong my guesses were. Amy and Evan’s pairing was not one a predicted but I loved how their personalities meshed and how Amy made Evan realize there was more than one way to accomplish things. I also liked how Evan and his boyish rambunctiousness kept Amy young.

I give Moon Shine an A-

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