Shepherd's Moon (Shepherds Series (Alexandra Wilde)) [Kindle Edition]

Stacy Mantle (Author)

Book Description

Fate hasn’t exactly been kind to twenty-year-old Alexandra. Unless you count the fact that she can communicate with animals, the only piece of luck she’s ever had was being rescued by a werewolf and landing in a forever home with an eccentric couple and their unusual pack of animals.

It’s taken twelve years to earn the official title of Shepherd but she’s now mostly trained, fairly effective, and the first female in over two centuries to hold the position as protector of animals. All animals...

The Territorial Council isn’t thrilled with her new title of Shepherd, but they don’t have any more control over the appointment than they have over her. All they can really do is wait for her to screw something up – which Alex is determined not to do.

Everything changes when a chance encounter with a genetically modified Shifter leaves Alex shaken and initiates a quest to locate its maker. In a desperate bid to save her pack, Alex must infiltrate the Parallax Corporation – an international organization with their hands in everything from biomedical engineering to publishing. They have now expanded their efforts to include terrorism and are attempting to breed the perfect weapon.

Despite years of training and enough money from her live-in pack of misfits to finance a small country, Alex finds herself woefully unprepared to tackle the new threat. To make matters worse, Alex must work with a mysterious man who’s been trying to kill her since the day they met. Together with her pack, Alex must learn how to stop the biological cloning and find those responsible for the plan before it really does become a global threat.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Mantle takes the genre convention and breathes new life into it ..." ~ Brian Triplett, Spokane Books Examiner

"Stacy Mantle is hitting the paranormal world by storm..." ~ Bertena Varney, Parnormal Literature Examiner

"It was so good my knees are weak!" ~ Passionate Book Divas

"The author has made lots of fresh, unique choices in this book..." - The Well Red Coyote

"...one of those old fashioned paranormal novels where the focus is on the story rather than the romance." ~ Reading By the Beach

"Not your typical paranormal read!" ~ Webers Books

From the Author

Thanks for stopping by Author's Central. I hope enjoy finding out a little more about me, my pets and my writing.  The next book in the series is Blood of the Shepherd, which is set in the Pacific Northwest and stars the same cast of characters. Check back for upcoming release dates!

Please take a moment to visit my official website at StacyMantle.com or my website about animals at PetsWeekly.com

Hope you'll join the pack by signing up for our free newsletter - we do lots of giveaways of books and pet products your pack needs!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 546 KB
• Print Length: 411 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1466471387
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005ZN147A
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,800 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Shepherd's Moon March 30, 2012

By Reading By The Beach

Format:Kindle Edition

I have to say that I enjoyed the characters along with the plot line, but I found quite a few problems that detracted from my reading experience.

As soon as I started reading Shepherd's Moon I instantly felt as if I missed out on the first book of the series. There was just so much backstory and history that was relayed to us as the reader and had a huge part of the story. I also think that by not being able to 'witness' the past events, it lessened the investment into the characters, I wasn't as effected as I should have been. Also, the repetitiveness was extraneous. It seemed that every time Modnik(the were-jaguar) was brought up that we got a recap of the event that took place pre-book.

There is a broad spectrum of Shifters in Shepherd's Moon, as well as other preternatural creatures. It was fun to see all the different ones as they came to play in the story. For instance, there are vampires, Nephilim, different weres like jaguars, coyotes, wolves, horses, hawks, cheetahs. In other words, Stacy Mantle brought a lot of new concepts to the table that I really appreciated.

Alex as the female protagonist was a strong voice, in my opinion. I liked her determination and fierce loyalty to her pack, but I couldn't figure out if she was 20 or 24, I think each age was mentioned once in the book. I also had to keep reminding myself of her age, she reads as an older woman, and it might have been the authors intention because Alex hasn't had an easy life. She's had to grow up quickly to take on certain responsibilities. She seemed to fumble around a lot with her responsibilities and lacked a certain amount of experience, and that's the one thing I found consistent with her age.

I found the plot line extremely intriguing, capable of pulling me in, but incapable of hiding the inconsistencies that were scattered throughout. For instance, Alex tells us that weres aren't born, they are made, but then she has a were-jaguar in her pack that has had multiple births, currently raising two as jaguar cubs because it's easier to raise them as cubs than humans. They were born, right? So maybe Alex meant that they could be born or created? Or are Shifters different than Weres? I don't know, I constantly had my brow furrowed as I tried to decipher some of the things in this book. But, as I said, the plot line is super interesting, it just needs to be polished up for the full affect of a potentially great story to take place. There were also a lot of misplacement's of quotation marks, or lack of. It was a distraction that took away from my reading pleasure, usually I tend to ignore error like that, but it was a little too obvious.

The romance, in my opinion, was non-existent. The guy that I thought would be the perfect match for Alex was too easily dismissed because she could read his mind and they were best friends since they grew up together. I felt that there was a lot of romantic potential that Stacy Mantle could have cashed in on between Billy and Alex. There was a repulsion/attraction thing going on with Tristan, but there was only one moment where he was attractive to ME as the reader. And don't get me wrong, I like romance in my stories, but it's not a necessity that I need to be able to enjoy a good story.

I should be giving this book 2 stars, but I did actually really, really like it. The characters were fun, the plot line drew me in, but it needs to be re-edited by the author so she can polish it up a bit more. If she does that, then I think she will gain more interest because the story and the series has A LOT of potential. I am extremely curious to see where this series will go, so Stacy Mantle can count me in line for the next installment.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read!!!!!! April 29, 2012

By Red Headed Book Worm

Format:Kindle Edition

I recieved a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I am not much of a shifter girl, vamps have always had my heart. But after reading this book, I just may have to rethink my choice! This book was a breath of fresh air. Mantle incorporates many different shifter species into this book. Not just your werewolves, but, coyotes, hawks, horses, even a house cat! And just for good measure, she throws in a vampire. Alex is a kick ass heroine and it has great secondary characters, and can I just say, I am totally crushing on Tristan. I loved everything about this book. Can't wait for the second installment!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Just buy it already...Jeesh. April 13, 2012

By Nicole R Peterson

Format:Kindle Edition

Alexa, our MC, is what is referred to as a Shepherd in the Paranormal world. Orphaned as a young child and moved through the system, Alexa has got some bad ass in her. She has the ability to communicate and connect with shifters and is the head of her pack. She has only been in charge for a year, so she is still learning as she goes. Also she is a bit of an anomaly. Apparently, she is the only female Sheppard in the past two thousand years or so and the Council isn't fully convinced of her competance yet.

It is her job, with the help of her pack, to track and capture any paranormal creatures about and either bring them into her pack of euthanize if there is no other option available. She is also working with the local police department's special assignment unit that deals in supernatural serial killers. She is called in on such a case where an apparent "newborn" is in a home with his wife and son. Hoping that she will be able to calm the situation and get the animal contained and away from the scene, away from the public eye, she goes in and cannot conncect with the newb. She is caught in the alley with the shifter and manages to bring him down. Several nights later she is once again called out on some pumas that she once again cannot read and or connect with. She gets her ass handed to her, but makes it out alive. She contacts The Council and requests help and information to figure out what is going on.

I received this goodie from Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy Fanatics, a group on goodreads, as a Read 2 Review. Stacy Mantle offered it to the group and I would like to thank her for the opportunity to read it. I think the story is well written and the characters were fully developed. They weren't perfect and are like real individuals. Each had their own flaws of personality which I like, as that makes it a little more "realistic" for me. The ending sets you up for a following book, which I cannot wait to get my grubby little paws on. If you like Were books with some suspense, then this is definitely something that needs to go on your TBR List, ASAP!

More About the Author

Stacy Mantle is most well known as the founder of the popular website, PetsWeekly.com, but she is also the author of several books, including her first novel, Shepherd's Moon - the first in the Shepherds series. Her collected works are vast and many of her stories and articles have been translated into several languages, and now reach an international audience. She resides in the deserts of the Southwest (despite hating the heat) with three dogs, several cats, and a very supportive husband. When she's not writing, she can be found volunteering at animal rescue events around the country.