Book Review: Marked by Moonlight by Sharie Kohler

Marked by Moonlight
Author: Sharie Kohler
Series: Moon Chasers (Book 1)
Publication: Pocket Books; First Edition (December 26, 2007)

Description: She doesn't know what bit her...

Seemingly overnight, Claire Morgan has transformed: the normally mousy schoolteacher is now bold, and her behavior is truly wild. Her eyes gleam silver. Suddenly she's a self-confident femme fatale with a libido that just won't quit. After an impulsive makeover, she's even...dare she say it?...sexy. Is Claire going insane?

Then brutally handsome stranger Gideon March tells her she was bitten by a werewolf, and Claire figures he's the insane one. Sure, she was attacked by a nasty dog in a back alley, but this guy stalking her says he's a member of an underground society of lycan hunters -- and his mission is to kill her immediately.

When Claire finally realizes she really is a lycan, there's no turning back -- because by now Claire and Gideon are bound by a hungry passion. If they can't break the curse by the next full moon, Claire's soul will be lost forever and Gideon will be forced to terminate his prey -- a woman dangerously close to devouring him, heart and soul.

My Thoughts: Claire Morgan is a high school English teacher who is bitten by a werewolf when she tries to track down one of her favorite students who has missed school for a few days. Gideon March is a lycan hunter and has been since his mother who was recently turned killed his father and was killed by another hunter. 

Gideon knows that he should execute Claire before the full moon comes and turns her into a killer, but for reasons he can't quite articulate, he decides to help her track down and kill the alpha of the pack member who bit her. At least, that's the plan once he can convince Claire that she actually was bitten by a werewolf and will become one herself at the next full moon.

Claire recognizes some changes in herself. First of all, the newly silver eyes aren't what she usually sees when she looks in the mirror. Also, her appetite especially for meat increases yet she doesn't gain any weight on her 5' 2" frame and is in fact getting more muscular. But the biggest change is that she has stopped being the wimp her abusive father trained her to be all her life. 

Gideon has his work cut out for him as he tries to convince her that the changes that are happening are because she was bitten. He is also dealing with a change in attitude. He's no longer sure that killing the newly bitten is the right course of action. Maybe some of them can be kept from becoming killing machines. 

This was an entertaining paranormal romance with interesting characters. It hit a bunch of the romance tropes in an engaging way. It is also the first book in a series set in the same world -- LA with a paranormal side. 

Favorite Quote:

"After you kill him, the curse will be broken."

At this, Gideon hesitated, his hand hovering over her foot. "If he's the alpha, yes."

"Alpha?"

"Each pack has one alpha and every lycan can be traced back to the alpha, wither through birth of infection."

"So if you kill the alpha, the rest of the pack will become human again?"

"No." His eyes cut directly to hers. "Only those who aren't damned."

I bought this one March 9, 2008. You can buy your copy here.