Review: Full Moon Rising (Riley Jensen Guardian Series #1) By Keri Arthur

TLDR recap:

Vampire/werewolf hybrid Riley Jensen finds herself in one heck of a dilemma.  She comes home to find her brother has gone missing during his latest mission and a mysterious, very dirty, very sexy, naked vampire is hanging out on her doorstep.  What should she do? (Well, I know what I’d do, but *ahem* I am The Captain…).  Riley’s going to get into some serious trouble and some serious sex real quick.  There’s monsters and betrayal a plenty in Full Moon Rising.  Luckily it’s balanced by a healthy dose of the Smex Beam.  This is a GraveTells Must Read!

• Title: Full Moon Rising
• Series: Riley Jensen Guardian – Book #1
• Author: Keri Aurthur
• Prominent Characters: Riley, Quinn, Jack, Liander, Rhoan
• Recommended reader age: 18+
• Sexual content level: moderate to high

*** This review is SPOILER-FREE! Read on with confidence! ***

Thoughts:

I adore Riley.  She’s one of my favorite heroines.  Reluctantly thrust into situations that she knows are over her head, she soldiers on anyway because she’s ultimately more concerned about her family and the greater good.  Riley knows who she is and is proud of that.  She embraces her nature and gives a big middle finger to anyone around her who doesn’t accept it.  She’s strong, smart, sexy, confident, focused, and one heck of a woman to have on your side.  Riley doesn’t pull punches, in fact, her honesty with the men in her life leads to more than a little heart ache – not because of problems she has, but that they do.

Riley is often pulled in different directions by circumstances that sometimes conflict with her own personal desires for her life.  But she never whines. In fact, she does her best to think her way through, around, and over them.  With her boss Jack trying to get her to concede to a different role at work than the one she already plays, boyfriends that are hiding secrets and trying to pull her into commitments she’s not interested in, a wayward twin with a knack for getting into just as much trouble as she does,  and the connection she feels for Quinn, Riley’s got her hands full.  Of course she handles it all rather well.  She is a super hawt red head after all.  And we all know that those types of chicks have super powers!

The world building in this book is spot on and so well done that I never once scratched my head and tried to poke a hole in it.  You find yourself swept away into a modern day Australia that just happens to be openly populated by all kinds of paranormal creatures right along side humans.  It works because the author weaves the two seamlessly together.  The paranormals have their own social structures and hierarchy with “government” offices and officials to mess about in people’s lives, just like us mere mortals.

But that’s not all.  There’s racial conflicts among those groups, some open, some subtle.  The tension and misunderstandings among different races sometimes manifests in bizarre ways, just like real life. It all blends to give you an entirely new world to play in.  And what a world!

The story here is the opener to a much larger arc that resolves with finality in book 9.  And yep, they’re all already published.  So, if you’re one of those impatient types like yours truly, you can get them all and just have a straight on reading orgy right to the end.  Why am I reviewing this book now?  Well, cause I want you all to be introduced to the awesomeness that is Riley Jensen.  You’re gonna totally <3 her!

So, in this book you’ve got action, sex, mystery, sex, vampire hawtness, sex, betrayal, sex, danger, sex, futuristic weaponry, sex, monsters, sex… Did I mention the sex?

It is about a lot more than the sex.  I promise. I’m just being a little obnoxious.  🙂

But the sex is pretty great.  *snicker

Memorable quotes:

Yeah, that’s my favorite number too!

I raised an eyebrow.  “Don’t supposed you know what address?”

“No. But I was sitting beside him and know the page number was sixty-nine.”

I grinned. “No wonder you remembered it.  Bit of wishful thinking there, huh?”

Amusement touched the corners of his silvery eyes.  “In the end, there was nothing wishful about it.”

“Lucky you.”

“Indeed.”

Anyone else in line to feed a certain super sexay vampire other than moi?  (Dammit move over Riley!)

I raised my eyebrows.  “And you couldn’t have taken blood from the pros?”

“I could have, but I prefer not to.”  His smile touched his eyes again and damned if it didn’t make my knees go weak.   “I only bite someone while making love, and I do have a preference for women who are not in the game.”

The ultimate distraction technique.  They really do make it too easy.

He stopped when he saw me.  “Who the hell are you?”

“Research.” I continued walking toward him.

Hi frown increased.  “What division?”

“This one.”  I popped the buttons on my lab coat and flashed him.

If you liked Full Moon Rising of the Riley Jensen series…

You might also enjoy the Mercy Thompson series (starting with Moon Called) by Patricia Briggs for it’s amazing world building, danger, and totally kick ass heroine. Mercy is also a heroine who frequently ends up in bad situations, generally through no fault of her own. Thankfully, she’s got amazing friends to back her up. And the uber hawt alpha werewolf Adam Hauptman living just past the back fence. Ooohhhhh Adam……

There’s also the Women of the Otherworld series that starts with Bitten by Kelley Armstrong.  The world has every supe you’ve ever heard of and maybe some you haven’t with world-class character and plot development.  The women are tough, come in every shape and size, and so do the men. No cookie cutters here.  It’s an interesting series in that it follows the same characters, but the perspective shifts in some of the books, yet all are written first person.  And Ms. Armstrong never messes up the voice of the characters.  She’s amazing.

Final thoughts:

Getting to the end of a Riley Jensen novel is a bit like barreling through your favorite cookie or candy bar.  You loved it, but are upset that’s it’s all gone. I mean, it can’t all be gone yet, can it?  Isn’t there more?

You’ll find yourself on a carnival ride that whips you all around, slows down just when you’re about to lose your lunch, gives you a scene you have to book mark to re-read later (*wink-wink*), and then takes off with a shot again.  The smaller plot arcs wrap up beautifully here, with a few clues to the larger big bad and scaries yet to come.  Get yourself a Riley Jensen book.  You’ll love it, you’ll love her, and you’ll be thinking, “Man, I should let The Captain pick all my books for me.”  😉

Rating: Full Moon Rising

Related links:

Buy Full Moon Rising: Amazon

Here are a few places you can find Full Moon Rising author Keri Arthur:

• http://www.keriarthur.com/ (website)
• https://www.facebook.com/pages/Keri-Arthur/ (Official Facebook page)
• https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKeriArthur (Facebook Fan page)