Samantha's dying grandmother explains to her about their family and the wolf part of it. She urges Samantha to go to Harmony, Washington and spend time getting to know the wolf families that they are connected to. Since she is not full wolf, she is able to smell who is but they cannot smell her. The five McAllister Brothers believe she is to be their mate. They recognize her but how do they get her to realize the same thing? And what about Gabe that is making him cautious when it comes to Samantha? Does he believe or not?

I enjoyed this book. It is excellent world building and the story it hard to put down. I like the characters. I loved Samantha and the 4 younger brothers are a hoot. It is Gabe that we need to get to know better as it is his actions that tell what will happen. It takes him a while but he finally sees what his brothers see. Samantha loves the brothers and the sex but can she handle the forever part? She then sees it from their point of view and understands the importance of their commitment. I liked that. I also liked the different points of view of the story. I knew what each was thinking and I loved knowing all their thoughts because then I could figure out which choices would be made.

I liked Diane Leyne's writing. I plan on reading more of her.

Flanders writes a great mystery, whose main character has a dry wit that I enjoy.

Howl of Wolves is centred around a theatre production, which isn't one of my favourite settings, but it worked. I enjoyed watching Sam put facts and observations together without wedging herself in where she didn't belong, or going around the backs of the police.  The murderer might have been several people but wasn't obvious enough to ruin the surprise.

I'd like to hope that there will be a fifth book, but it's been awhile since this one was published.  No more Sam and Jake adventures would be a disappointment.

by Alex Conner

I love both Paris and Venice as settings and have to admit that influenced my request for this book. I did get some taste of Venice, but unfortunately not as much as I'd hoped for.

The story itself has possibilities, though it moves rather slowly and the author over uses the word 'had'. It isn't necessary in 99% of the sentences when you're already writing in past tense! It got really irritating and distracted me from the story.

The other thing the book got wrong is what too many series are doing these days, leaving resolution for a future sequel. I have to admit this has made me generally avoid series written in this century, with very few exceptions.

There is mystery and intrigue, but too much left unanswered at the end.

Logan has a full plate. He works hard to be the best at what he does for his team.  He is the guardian to his four younger sisters.  When he meets Paige at a team event he gets scared that he has found the one who can change his priorities.

Paige has never stayed in one place for long.  When she has to get married, it is rather convenient that so does Logan.  The fact that they are attracted to each other and generate that much heat? Priceless.

I loved reading this story.  I was sucked in from the very first, and literally laughed out loud in parts.  There was so much to this book.  Humor and so many sparks I cannot believe my e-reader did not catch fire!  With an interesting story, and some fun background characters this one was a sure win.  I give this read a 4/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

I have to admit at that time my review basically said that I had enjoyed this fifth and final story in the “How at the Moon” series that it hadn’t ended up being my favorite and I have to admit that still holds true, however, having the opportunity to once again enjoy a visit to Mad Creek and Alaska as narrated by Matthew Shaw, my enjoyment was definitely stronger this time around.

While this is the first time I’ve listened to one of the books in this series on audio this isn’t my first time listening to an audio book narrated by Matthew Shaw and while this is only the third book of his that I’ve had the pleasure of hearing and the first one from the “How at the Moon” series, I’m looking forward to enjoying the remainder of the series at some time in the future…so many audio books so little time but I plan on making the most of it.

When Zeus goes to Alaska as part of Mad Creeks new Search & Rescue team the last thing he expects to find is the wolf of his dreams but find him he does…or maybe it’s more a case of said wolf finds Zeus and tracks him down and brings him home. Timo’s the brother of the Quimmiq pack’s alpha and while he’s a bit of a jokester when it comes to his pack he knows that there’s nothing funny about their situation and he’s sure that somehow Zeus just might be the key to their salvation. Zeus may be in love but when it comes to a wolf on a mission what remains to be seen is if love really does conquer all.

When I first read this story, my biggest issue had been that I just wasn’t feeling the connection between Timo and Zeus and while I didn’t feel the disconnect as strongly this time. The pairing still wasn’t as solid for me as the ones in previous stories. I also found myself liking Zeus a lot more than I had and Timo’s behavior didn’t feel quite as off for me as it originally had.

So, all in all this was a case of the second time around working better. I enjoyed the audio due in no small part to the excellent narration provided by Matthew Shaw. I especially liked his voice for Zeus, he simply sounded as I imagined that Zeus’s voice would sound which I’m sure strongly contributed to the fact that I liked Zeus more this time around.  Timo’s voice also fit the character for me as well again helping me to connect with this pair on a better level.

A visit to Mad Creek is like going to have coffee with friends and as always I loved that characters from previous stories were a part of this story and it was fun to have Milo & Jason along with Lance, Tim and so many other secondary characters who we’ve met in previous stories play a role here in Zeus and Timo’s story.

I know I stated in my original review that I wasn’t sure if I’d be continuing with the spin-off series that the author has planned for this but I have to admit after having enjoyed the audio book for ‘How to Run with the Wolves’ I’m curious to find out what happens next in Alaska…so I think I’m at least going to need to check out the first book or two and there’s always the previous 4 books on the ‘Howl at the Moon’ series that I need to listen to on audio in the meantime.

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An audio book of “How to Run with the Wolves” was graciously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.