"Fever: a Blood Moon Rising Werewolf Romance" by Lola Taylor is a wolf shifter romance and the first this reader has read from the writer. Characters were not fully developed, but developed enough to get an idea of those whose path we are traveling along - although this reader must admist alppha male Gage 'seemed' blonde in this reader's eyes and she was quite surprised when a reference to him being 'dark' later popped up. Protagonist Danica had her quirky moments that are giggle-worthy, and as she began to understand this new life that had been tossed at her, she began to show more spine, albeit often acting like a stereotypical somewhat spineless female for the most part. New packmaster Gage was shown to have heart, yet a pack that did not trust him - albeit due to their previous packmasters cruelty - and was not shown the respect deserved for his position. His pack refused to follow him without a direct alpha order, which goes against the grain of were shifter romances and wolves in general... they are pack animals and that is always an underlying theme in were shifter stories. Underdeveloped characters and traits that go against wolf temperament made it difficult for this reader to empathize for or with any character. There were some minor spelling, grammar and punctuation errors, but not enough to toss one from the story. Settings were described well enough to easily visualize; dialogue between characters seemed authentic to each character. Taylor slipped into 'telling' versus 'showing' every now and then, but as this reader stated - she did show more than enough to visualize where we were traveling in the world she created, and enough character description to gain a rough idea of what each individual looked like... her wraiths were interesting! This reader found the beginning descriptions of the witches to be somewhat stereotypical, especially with the entire 'good versus evil' theme weaved into them. Taylor's voice was inviting and caught this reader quickly, yet she never truly fulfilled the promise of the story... this reader lost faith in the story teller and felt the tale did not live up to its earlier promise. While the romance between Gage and Danica, a happily ever after (HEA) ending did happen, the book itself ended on a bit of a cliffhanger concerning an impending war and exactly who wanted to kill Danica. So, some major questions left unanswered... this reader truly dislikes cliffhanger endings when not warned or made aware of them in advance, so is deducting a star for that reason. Intimate moments started off fairly sensual between Gage and Danica, but to be fully mated at their mating ritual, they had to have sex in front of the entire pack. This reader isn't in to voyeurism but that wasn't the true issue... the scene was so rushed and glossed over, it was downright boring. This story had the potential of a four-star read, but midway that potential dropped and was never regained... while it is better than a two-star read, this reader felt a three-star Amazon and two-star Goodreads as well as a small recommendation would fit as an okay read. ** Review originally posted to Amazon reviews on June 5, 2017 and Goodreads on the same date. **
