Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur

Full Moon Rising
[Riley Jenson Guardian, #1]

Author: Keri Arthur

Pages: 372

Publisher: Dell, an imprint of Random House Inc.

Publication: December 2006

Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

via Goodreads:

A rare hybrid of vampire and werewolf, Riley Jenson and her twin brother, Rhoan, work for Melbourne’s Directorate of Other Races, an organization created to police the supernatural races–and protect humans from their depredations. While Rhoan is an exalted guardian, a.k.a. assassin, Riley is merely an office worker–until her brother goes missing on one of his missions. The timing couldn’t be worse. More werewolf than vampire, Riley is vulnerable to the moon heat, the weeklong period before the full moon, when her need to mate becomes all-consuming.…

Luckily Riley has two willing partners to satisfy her every need. But she will have to control her urges if she’s going to find her brother….Easier said than done as the city pulses with frenzied desire, and Riley is confronted with a very powerful–and delectably naked–vamp who raises her temperature like never before.

In matters carnal, Riley has met her match. But in matters criminal, she must follow her instincts not only to find her brother but to stop an unholy harvest. For someone is doing some shifty cloning in an attempt to produce the ultimate warrior–by tapping into the genome of nonhumans like Rhoan. Now Riley knows just how dangerous the world is for her kind–and just how much it needs her.

It's okay; read it!

First Sentence:

"The night was quiet."

Riley Jenson is part vampire, part werewolf, all badass. She works for Melbourne's Directorate of Other Races, and is basically to protect humans and other species from each other. Her twin, Rhoan, a mix like Riley, has gone missing, and with little clues and even less answers, Riley is determined to find and save her brother, before it's too late.

There's just the small issue of the full moon. For Rhoan, who is more vampire than werewolf, [also he's a guy] the moon has little effect. On Riley, a female with the majority of wolf blood running through her veins, full moons are very powerful times. It's not uncommon for wolves to have multiple partners, and Riley doesn't stray from this assumption. However, the partners are usually wolves, unlike the muddy, naked, amnesiac vampire [Eric Northman?] who is waiting for Riley at her apartment. Quinn, we later find out, was working with Rhoan, but is now just as determined to find him, but also to find out why there are vampire clones of Quinn's long-dead friend wandering around Australia. What Quinn and Riley find will surprise everyone, and put lives on the line.

I thought this book was a great book. It was fast-paced action, with humor laced in, not to mention steamy scenes. Riley's character is another kick-ass-take-names kind of heroine, much like Cat Crawfield [Night Huntress series] and Tabitha Devereaux [Dark-Hunter series] to mention a few. I enjoyed this book's addictive properties so much that I actually brought it with me to a concert to read it. 

Wins:

• Werewolves, vampires, and clones, oh my!

Let Downs:

• WTH happened to Quinn? Anyone? Bueller?

Favorite Quotes:

"'It's against the law to loiter naked in public.' A fact I knew after having been arrested for doing the same thing a couple months ago." -pages 25-26

"There are laws against that, you know,' Quinn said conversationally. "Though I've always found  a good beating works as a far better deterrent.'" -page 215

The Riley Jenson Guardian series:

1- Full Moon Rising [December 2006]

2- Kissing Sin [January 2007]

3- Tempting Evil [February 2007]

4- Dangerous Games [March 2007]

5- Embraced by Darkness [July 2007]

6- The Darkest Kiss [April 2008]

7- Deadly Desire [March 2009

8- Bound to Shadows [October 2009]

9- Moon Sworn [May 2010]