Moonstruck | Lauren Dane

In Diablo Lake, Tennessee, a town populated by werewolves, witches and more, magic woven deep into the earth protects the town’s secrets from outsiders. 

Katie Grady left Diablo Lake to get over a humiliating breakup. But her family needs her help, so she’s back, in a sublet right across the hall from the guy she’s lusted after for years. Jace Dooley is hotter than ever, and their friendship picks up along with massive doses of grown-up chemistry.

The very scent of Katie sharpens Jace’s canines, makes the wolf within him stir. There’s nothing more alluring to a Pack Alpha than a sexy female who is so very in charge. She won’t be coddled, but if he plays his hand just right she might be convinced to become his.

Katie presents a challenge to Jace’s wolf nature, whose chief instinct is to protect. Especially now that she’s coming into the magic that is her birthright—and suddenly Jace isn’t the only one who’s interested in Katie or the raw power she’s just learning to use.

Book 1 of Diablo Lake series 
Publisher: Carina Press 
Date Published: May 24, 2016 
Pages: 352 
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance 

I was in the mood for a shifter novel, but it was one of those times when I felt like “I’ve read them all” or at least can predict the story far too easily. Nonetheless I searched on and found Moonstruck. What drew me to this book was one, the author, Lauren Dane, I had read a few books from the Cascadia Wolves series; two, the main character was a witch and I was curious of the dynamics with shifters.

This book centers on the couple Katie Faith, a witch and Jace, a wolf shifter. In this world wolves imprint rather than the normal but frequently used “mate for life” after a sniff. I wish the consequences of a broken imprinted couple were explained. Is it the same as the mated couple concept used in other books? On the other hand witches in Diablo Lake had a deep connection to the Earth and thus had a natural affinity to shifters. It was the witches that kept the magic fixed and steady for the shifters to use during shifts. The synergetic relationship between the two groups allowed them to create a protected safe haven.

I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the two paranormal groups’ interdependence. With the power came the political and social aspects that sadly fell somewhat flat for me. I couldn’t grasp the idea. Let me give you a little bit of background of the town of Diablo Lake. Diablo Lake was kept isolated in order to keep humans and development away. Being remote allowed both witches and shifters the freedom and safety to be themselves without persecution. There were two wolf packs in Diablo Lake, the Pembry and the Dooley. A witch marrying into a pack would be a goldmine, since a witch could bring in power. I liked the idea of the politics in the book but there was no background as to how the two packs established their places and how they could live in one small town with apparently other shifter groups. There would have definitely been fights to be alpha. Lets not forget about the witches that were thrown into this town but actually had no real political power? This concept was slightly explained, but clarification was needed. Also not much was said about places outside of Diablo Lake. It didn’t take away from the story, but I am curious about other areas and the affiliation there.

As for the character development, well there wasn’t much. I could see how the author wanted the characters established and I liked where she was going with them, but she told the reader the character had so and so trait rather than showing it and there was no real growth. For a dominant wolf Jace didn’t act very commanding when it came to Katie Faith. It was said multiple times that he gave Katie Faith independence, but I felt like if he was an alpha, he wouldn’t be able to help himself from being controlling. In the summary it states “Katie presents a challenge to Jace's wolf nature, whose chief instinct is to protect.” I didn’t see much challenging going on; the characters liked one another and ended up together fairly quickly. I was expecting a slow burn with their relationship, but there was no build up.

Lauren Dane did a wonderful job with the chemistry between the characters. You could see the sparks fly during the more intimate scenes. I also loved the banter. The pace of the story was good up until the middle. There were scenes that should have been cut and there were too many conflicts that were pointless or dragged on. Much of the latter half of the book was about the two packs, but a few of the pack mysteries were left unsolved with the book ending abruptly. All in all not a bad book to read, but not the greatest either. This is the first in the series so hopefully it can only get better.

Rating: ★★★☆☆