Review--E-ARC Half-Moon by Jordan Deen

"I’d been a fool for coming here with them, and now... no one would come to save me. The world that hid in the shadows of humanity was full of enemies."

Faced with death, Lacey Quinn ran away from the only family she’d ever known.

That... was just the beginning.

As the decision she’s made sinks in, Lacey struggles to fit in with the pack and find the key to bonding with her werewolf soul mate, Brandon. But, lies can only be concealed for so long.

Adjusting to a powerful new best friend, a twelve-year-old roommate with a nauseating Barbie fetish, and a lost love that won’t stop haunting her dreams, she knows she has no hope of having a normal future—ever again.

After a long talk with the dead mother she never knew, and an almost deal-breaking night out with Brandon, Lacey starts spiraling into the underworld—a place where all things are possible and everyone is out to kill her.

With mysterious legends of witches and sorcery marring her past and clouding her future, she quickly learns—werewolves aren’t the only ones lurking in the woods...waiting to claim her powers for their own.

The Mares? Well, they are the least of her worries.

I was delighted to be able to receive an e-ARC of Half-Moon by Jordan Deen after reading The Crescent not that long ago and WOW! It totally lives up to The Crescent!

Some time has passed and Lacey is trying to adjust to her new life. Werewolf-ness and all. She's a werewolf, but hasn't transformed yet. She has a soulmate but can't truly connect with him, she's still sort of in love with Alex, the wolf who was forced to betray her and gain her trust, and she's not quite getting along with her new werewolf family either. Life has become extremely miserable for Lacey, but she deals with it.

There are some new characters involved as well, not all nice guys either. My fave new character was Brea, who Lacey soon realizes was once her best friend as a baby, for their mothers were BFFs and Brea was supposed to be the one to protect Lacey.

Which leads to Lacey's other discovery, which I won't tell. All I will say is that Lacey learns some things about her real parents and her life before she was taken away, which again, she was just a baby, but we learn what should have been.

The pacing was well done, it was a little slow at first for Lacey and Brandon were trying to reconnect, and it was slow going, which was where Brea and her mate Catch came in and there was a very interesting double-date between the two, but won't detail it out. 

I found myself still stricken between both Alex and Brandon. By the end of The Crescent I didn't have a "team", I was totally at lost. And I was still lost throughout most of Half-Moon, even when it was mostly just Lacey and Brandon moments, but then of course Alex returns! And totally throws me (and Lacey for that matter) through a loop! Although, by the end of the novel I have firmly decided whose team I'm on, but I won't say because in my twisted ways and thinking it is sort of spoilery.

So yes there was more romance in this novel too, since last time we saw a lot between Lacey and Alex, this time we see it with Lacey and Brandon, for they are supposed to be together as Brandon mentioned in The Crescent. The romance was nicely written for it was a gradual process between two people who know each other and yet don't.

It was a very exciting read! I liked learning more of the backstory to Lacey and the werewolves. For the werewolves have their history and Lacey has her own family history and we get to learn all of that and it was quite interesting and fun to read! The ending was great too, it's not a major cliffhanger, but it does leave some things unsettled and there was quite the shocker at the end too. So I definitely can't wait to read Full Moon when it releases later this year as well!

My overall rating is 4.5/5 stars! Half-Moon takes you to the werewolf side of Lacey's life and what she has to learn in order to be one of them and truly gain their acceptance. Lacey is faced with difficult tasks, including trying to find the love she once had for Brandon while battling the still growing desire for Alex.

This title releases January 13, 2011

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for my interview with Jordan as a part of the White Flame Tour! Click the button on the sidebar for more info!