Review of Blood Moon by Catherine Lundoff

Blood Moon picks up two months after Silver Moon ended, and I strongly suggest you read both books in order. Not only because then you’ll be familiar with the characters in the second book, but also, and more importantly because Becca’s journey to accepting her new self is fundamental to the story.

Silver Moon was mainly focused on all the changes in Becca’s life: the menopause, her ex selling the house, the whole werewolf thing, and feelings for a woman. There was some action but a large part of the book was spent in Becca’s thoughts – she has a great sense of humour, by the way – which accounted for the uneven pace. A couple of months later, Becca has embraced her inner wolf and self-discovery isn’t at the forefront anymore.

Blood Moon starts with a bang, or, rather, with Erin confessing to murder. She doesn’t remember committing the murder itself, nor who the victim is, but as a recovering alcoholic, she’s afraid she fell off the wagon and lost track of reality. A reality that turns out to be just as scary, if not more, than what she imagines.

In series, the novelty effect doesn’t often travel further than the first book, which means authors have to find other ways to keep readers engaged. Lundoff did this by widening the scope. The first book was from Becca’s POV. In this one, we have Erin’s as well. We also find out more about other Pack members as they work together to prove Erin’s innocence while fighting other paranormal creatures with evil intentions.

This second book comes closer to other werewolves stories I’ve read than Silver Moon, which was a story of changes. With this one, Catherine Lundoff makes the transition to paranormal mystery. The duality of woman and wolf, while still ever-present, blends into the mystery without overpowering it. The sense of humour I loved in the first book can also be found in this one, and the romance is still a very slow burn, which makes complete sense given the circumstances. As Becca gets to know the other Pack members better, other storylines develop in the background that bring up topics such as gender fluidity (I really liked Carla’s story arc) and addiction. The universe and atmosphere Lundoff set this series in work very well for me and I hope we haven’t seen the last of the wolves of Wolf’s Point.