Deputy Roman Charsguard survived Afghanistan where he lost his best friend—his K-9 handler James. Roman was a military dog until two years ago when he developed the ability to shift into a human. It’s not easy to learn how to be a man. He found a place to live in Mad Creek, a haven for the secret world of dog shifters. Finding a reason to live has been harder. That is, until a certain human walks into the Mad Creek Sheriff’s office and starts making trouble.
Matt Barclay has the worst luck. First he was shot in a SWAT drug raid, then he was sent as DEA investigator to Mad Creek, a little town in the California mountains. Matt’s job is to keep a lookout for illegal drug farms, but nobody in the town wants him there. And then there’s Roman, Matt’s erstwhile baby-sitter. He’s the hottest guy Matt’s ever seen, even if he is a bit peculiar. If the town doesn’t kill him, sexual frustration just might.
The town is counting on Roman to prevent Matt from learning about dog shifters, Matt’s counting on Roman to be his work partner and tell him the truth, and Roman’s trying to navigate love, sex, and a whole lot of messy human emotions. Who knew it was so complicated to walk like a man?
This was DELIGHTFUL.
For someone who doesn’t really love shifters books, for someone who only kinda is entertained by audio books, this book took me out of all the reasons why I should dislike it, and swept me up into a story that felt like a dear, sweet hug.
Both Roman and Matt have very small parts in book 1, “How to Howl At the Moon”. However, this book can definitely be read as a standalone. All the parts that I really enjoyed about the first book, namely the adorable dog-shifter town of Mad Creek, and it’s quirky residents, are present and even MORE sweet in book 2.
But really, what made this book is Roman. Roman who is naive and innocent, confused and sometimes lost, brave and loyal. Ugh…the flashbacks to his life as a dog in the military warmed me and hurt me too. There are REAL emotions in this book…and for some reason, that surprised me!
I LOVE Roman and Matt…and their friends-to-lovers journey!
The shifter angle is handled in an interesting way in this book. Roman was born a dog and becomes a dog/human shifter later in life. The explanation of it all was fascinating and described in such detail that I found it not only appeased me, but satisfied me as well!
Roman is just one of the most lovable characters I’ve read in a long time. I loved his journey…adjusting to his human self, the feelings of affection he was discovering towards Matt, the confusing efforts to learning an entirely new way of living. Oh Roman, I adore you!
I think the one thing I would put out there is that Matt’s acceptance of the realization of Roman’s true nature was almost…too easily come by?
Look, as I mentioned, I’m not a shifters fan. But, I really enjoyed this. And Matthew Shaw’s narration of this book (and book 1 as well, for that matter) is really entertaining
TITLE: How To Walk Like A Man (Howl At the Moon #2)
AUTHOR: Eli Easton
NARRATOR: Matthew Shaw
PUBLISHER: Self-Pub
LENGTH: 7 hrs, 53 mins
RELEASE DATE: November 13, 2015
BUY LINKS: Amazon
