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.

Now if you've seen 'It's a Wonderful Life' than you know what the ending for that sentence is and if you haven't...seriously what are you waiting for? ok, if you haven't figured it out already this is absolutely my favorite holiday movie and this book is not that movie but...

Eli Easton's "Angels Sing" is set in 'Bedford Falls' and features Jamie Bailey (George Bailey) Mai Bailey (I know we want to say Mary Bailey here, but I'm going with Zuzu Bailey and if you've seen the movie, I think you'll agree with me on this), Uncle Billy (well this was a no brainer Uncle Billy Bailey...now say that one 3 times really fast), Stanton Potter (ok, I got nothing on this one), Amelia Potter (Mr. Potter...otherwise known as 'the bad person). So yes, this story shares some similarities with the  classic 1946 holiday movie. But it's also very much it's own story.

While there are similarities in terms of character names and the story's setting there are also numerous differences the biggest one being no angels and by this I'm not talking about adorable little kiddles...I'm talking 'NO Angels' as in no Clarence trying to earn his wings, no Savings & Loans, no Bert & Ernie (that's right folks even the creators of Sesame Street were inspired by this classic movie), no seeing what life would have been like if you'd never been born for anyone... because...no angels. While the the plot in the movie and this story are similar in that they are very holiday themed and there is a happy ending...come on now, it's a Christmas story you can't tell me you didn't expect a happy ending, what happens in the story is very different from the 1946 movie which obviously inspired this book and as far as I'm concerned what better inspiration could one have. 

I know there are a lot of wonderful holiday stories out there but 'It's a Wonderful Life' is for me at the top of that list. So to have an author that I like as much as Ms Easton pay tribute to my favorite holiday movie with a story as sweet this one just makes me happy.

While there were some very snow melting moments between Jamie and Stanton, what really won me over on this one was just the magic of the season that was instilled in the story and the fact that the author paid tribute to but didn't try to emulate a holiday classic that I'm sure is near and dear to more than just my heart.

I'm fairly certain that I'll be adding this one to my holiday traditions the only question for me is...will there be an audio version because if there is... sign me up please, Clarence!

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An ARC of "Angels Sing" was graciously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

While I've really enjoyed this series I have to admit this 5th and final story for me has turned out to be the weakest of them all.

"How to Run with the Wolves" is the final book in Ms Easton's 'Howl at the Moon' series and also serves to segue to a spin-off series about the quickened or two skinned (as the Alaskan group refers to themselves) intended to be set in Alaska.

I found that while I enjoyed the last part of this story more than the beginning,  unfortunately, overall things just didn't work for me as well as the previous books. In general I just didn't feel the connection between Zeus and Timo but more specifically, for me, on an individual level these two just didn't quite feel right for me.

Zeus and TImo in some ways really were total opposites...mainly in that Zeus comes across as having a more serious nature as well as being a loner...someone who's not comfortable in large groups even if it's family and friends, mostly people he's known his whole life. This was one of the parts of the story that helped keep this story unique in the series and interesting for me, since for the most part the quickened tend to be more gregarious and outgoing individuals who enjoy or at least are more comfortable with a lot of social interaction. 

While Timo is close to being Zeus's polar opposite...with his jokester personality, his love of playing and also seems to display a bit of a propensity to bend the truth in his efforts to get his way which is my nice way of saying that at times he came across as a spoiled and somewhat self-centered child...and now we are heading into what was for me one of my biggest issues with this story.

For me both Zeus and Timo at times came across as being 'childish' as opposed to 'child like' or 'immature rather than sweetly naive'. In relation to this series Milo is a perfect example...Melo was sweet and naive but for me he never came across as being immature and on the same note while it took me a bit to warm up to Milo's partner, Jason when I read 'How to Wish Upon A Star' it just never quite happened for me with Timo. Even though I enjoyed the last part of the book I never really warmed up to Timo and he never quite lost that selfish edge to his personality for me. I'm not saying that he didn't care about anything but himself because that would be blatantly wrong. Time cared very much about his sister and his pack but it just always felt like whenever he did something 'what was in it for him' always seemed to be one of his primary considerations.

While I enjoyed the differences in Zeus and Timo's personalities. Other things just detracted from the story for me too much to really enjoy it. Things such as my inability to really like Timo and the fact that at times the lack of maturity displayed by both characters made me feel like I was reading a story about two boys who were considerably younger than both of these men were suppose to be, that at times the relationship development between Zeus and Timo took such a back burner to other events that it took me a bit of effort to get back to them, so things ended up being good for the most part, but just didn't hit awesome the way the previous stories did.

For now I'm undecided as to whether or not I'm going to carry on to the new series as there were parts of this story that I enjoyed that connect to it...things like the setting and characters and dynamics of the Alaskan pack, I liked the story of how they came to be two skinned or quickened but I think there's maybe a bit more to it than we got here, but I could be wrong and whether there is or not it's still a good story and the idea of finding out what happens next in the efforts to revive this pack definitely offers a lot of promise and last but not least is that this is an author who more often than not provides me with stories that are deserving of stars...all the stars! 

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An ARC of 'How to Run With the Wolves' was graciously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

and now as summer comes to a close it seems that I’m going to wrap up the warm weather season with this story on audio.

So here I sit at what is nearly the end of summer and the end of this book once again feeling all warm and mushy and a puddle of summer lovin’ goo! I’ve I loved sweet, nerdy, sexy, school teacher, Geo and hot, successful baseball star Travis before I adore them all the more now for the depth that Matthew Shaw has given to them with his narration. These two men are every bit as hot on audio as they were on page or e-reader screen as the case may be.

‘Family Camp’ is a story of a summer love that became something more. Geo and Travis meet for the first time when Geo runs out of gas and Travis comes to his rescue. While these men come from very different backgrounds…Travis is adopted and stays firmly in his closet despite having a large and loving family, while may not be leading any Pride Parades he’s also not in the closet and is an only child with loving parents.

I loved how instinctively supportive Geo and Travis were of each other…neither of them had to ask for this, it was instinctive for them…if you love someone, then you’ve got their back. It’s not a ‘lover’s thing or a married couples thing…it’s a sibling thing, a parent thing…ultimately it’s a friend thing and for as fast as the romance happened it was grounded in friendship, one of the best foundations for any relationship that I can think of.

‘Family Camp’ is a sweet, low angst story and while there was a little bit of miscommunication between our MCs it didn’t  become over the top, blown out of proportion drama because the MCs were adult enough to talk it out, rather than ass-u-me they knew everything. So, in the end it all came down to a case of miscommunication without lack of communication to blowing it out of proportion and for me this felt like a real-life thing.

As well as the romance between Geo and Travis the story focuses on Geo’s efforts to solidify his relationship with Jayden and Lucy. Geo’s whole being resonated with not just how much he wanted a family but how much he wanted that family to begin with Jayden and Lucy.  He’s someone that any child would be blessed to have in their lives.

The fact that I frequently found myself sitting back, closing my eyes and picturing the whole summer camp scene and letting much of the book playout like a movie in my mind’s eye speaks to the fact that the narrator did a solid job narrating this audio book, since one of my favorite things about audio books is that I can listen to them while I’m working on one of my craft projects whether it’s needlework or quilting.

Even though I missed out on the camp experience as a child Matt Shaw’s narration of Ms Easton’s ‘Family Camp’ has made my experience at ‘Camp Evermore’ with it’s s’mores, campfires, scary stories and campy camp songs one of the highlights of my summer reading experiences.

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An audio book of ‘Family Camp’ was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

...and I was really left in a quandary that first time around because I was so sure I was going to love this and it ended up just being ok…in the end after considering what I liked or loved about the story I was just confused why things didn’t resonate with me more, but it didn’t, so when I was presented with the opportunity to revisit this story in audio book format and after having some time and more than a few books between then and now it seemed like the perfect opportunity to find out if it truly was a case of it’s not the book it’s me…

And guess what…I’d have to say that for the most part it was definitely me. Overall I just felt more connected to the story and it’s characters. In spite of the fact that I had read this story before and I knew what was going to happen I found myself drawn into events almost as if I were experiencing them for the first time and I think this is very much due to the excellent narrations of Michael Stellman.

I felt that hearing the story on audio added depth and emotion to both the characters and the story grabbing my attention on a stronger level than just reading the story did originally. I’ve had this happen before and I have to admit if I had to explain exactly why some stories are more enjoyable as audio books than they were for me to read I don’t think I could really  give a definitive answer but I do know that for me it’s a thing. I actually have several stories that I’ve liked them, but when I read them they were just ‘ok’ for me, and then when I revisit them on audio they suddenly become a story that I want to revisit over and over again and believe me when I say that with many of them I have.

When I first read this story I found Josh tugging at my heartstrings but for whatever reason I didn’t feel that emotional connection that I tend to feel with a character in  his situation and while I still wasn’t feeling as strong of a connection to this character as I usually do, I found myself rooting for him wanting him to succeed, to find that bit of happy that would encourage him to keep trying, to want something more and better for himself and this actually made me happy because truth be told Josh doesn’t need someone to shed tears for him…he needs someone to have faith, believe in him and encourage him to keep going…keep trying. Fortunately for Josh, Mark found him and as it turns out this was equally as fortunate for Mark.

Mark is not a man without his own set of problems…living in a rented cabin in the woods while he licks his wounds and trying to avoid his loving but overbearing family while he does. Mark’s hiding from the world but Josh…he’s running, and his plan is that when he stops…he’ll stop forever.

‘Falling Down’ is a story about two men…each trying to escape a world that’s left them drowning in memories of the past…mistakes they feel they’ve made and what they’ve each lost. It’s about second chances, starting over, finding love and learning to not only love someone else but to love yourself.

Maybe it was a combination of listening to the audio and me being in a different state of mind but whatever the reason I enjoyed ‘Falling Down’ a lot more this time around and I’m really glad I took the time to revisit Josh and Mark’s story on audio.

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An audio book of ‘Falling Down’ was graciously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.