I enjoy a good werewolf story, I even enjoy a cheesy werewolf story on occasion - this book was neither. This was just another entry in the urban fantasy genre where the author thinks all people want to read about is sex. Don't get me wrong, I am not a prude... I don't mind sex in a story, if it fits the plot, but in this case, the plot was a very poorly told story that revolved around the werewolf need to have lots of sex in the week leading up to the full moon. And for a book where the sex was clearly the point of the story, this book was seriously lacking.

Finished: 20/08/09
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Rated: B

Opening Sentence: '…The night was quiet…’

Riley Jenson is not your ordinary Melbourne citizen. Riley may look like a drop dead georgeous red headed woman - but she is half werewolf and half vampire, working as an administrative officer for the Directorate of Other Species. The Directorate is a governement body which is a blend of police and military and specialises in the capture of non-human criminals. They also do research into the different species. Their official officers are called guardians - they don't really arrest - they have the power to capture, judge and execute. Someone is killing the guardians - ten have gone missing - now Riley's twin brother Rhoan, who is a guardian, has disappeared.

I enjoyed this book - even though they are twins Rhoan is more vampire than wolf while Riley is more werewolf and has telepathic abilities. She also has a stronger sexual urge than her brother. All werewolves have these urges - every full moon they give into their lusts and have all night sex sessions with whoever they can lay their hands on. This suited the characters very well and was not put off by it - a lot less graphic and frequent than the Anita Blake books - which I stopped reading very quickly. This is not a promiscous character, in fact Riley even gets annoyed that the urges stops her investigating, as she can't concentrate anything until those hungers are appeased. If you like your paranormal books to have some erotic going on and a nice plot/story then this is a easy read and splendid book for you. The action is fairly fast-paced and it is hard to tell at times who you can trust in Riley's life. Plot is believable - come on it has werewolves, vampires and gryphons - if you believe they are possible, then the plot must be real!!!

This is the first in the series, and I am going to read more of it. ( )

I was doubtful at first but I was quikly swept away with the book. ( )

Unintentionally hilarious orgiastic young adult vampire-werewolf urban fantasy silliness. I found it via my library's "similar books" link, but after the first page or so it was obvious that this is not in any way a great piece of literature. It abounds with cliches, both conceptual and linguistic. However, since I was on holiday & had nothing else to read, I persisted. I'm glad I did, as it meant I got to enjoy the climax (if you will) of the absurdly unsubtle smut, when Riley admires her one of lovers, bent over a hotel spa, and his "well-hung balls". Priceless! Actually I'm disappointed that they didn't use that scene to illustrate the title on the cover - i.e. a bent-over man's naked rear end ("full moon rising"). Stupid, but funny. ( )

The premise, a half werewolf-half vampire who works for the government sounded pretty interesting to me. Arthur first lost me almost immediately because I didn't like Riley Jensen. The whole free sex with strangers and no conscience and no worries absolutely doesn't work for me. More irritatingly, there are several times in this book that her 'werewolf lust' or whatever was rising at completely inappropriate times. If you are in danger, or are physically being hurt by someone, you should not be wanting to do the dirty with them. Sorry. This attitude also made most of the other werewolves unlikeable as well. It was all they can think of through the book, almost its main focus and not a side plot and it just overwhelmed everything else. Sometimes I would get intrested and pages would fly by as the action occurred or as people were being questioned and then just as suddenly I would be bored and skimming the pages which is something I don't normally do. I give this book two stars because it is a good idea and there is hope that one day Riley will find her soulmate wolf and won't have the need to spread her love with anyone, anytime. I am not a prude, and I know like I sound like one, but this was just not a good book. ( )