Seasons of the Moon Series, Books 1-4: Six Moon Summer, All Hallows' Moon, Long Night Moon, and Gray Moon Rising

ETA 19 Jan 2018 After going through two novels I’m not much time, and still in the process of trying to remember to keep reading the third, I’ve bumped my rating up to five stars, from three. Here are a few reasons why: • the characters are extremely compelling and all have a very unique, separate personality. You can never get confused between two characters. It just won’t happen. His consequently makes dialogue crazy easy to follow, which can sometimes be a problem. • The cast actually have cultural diversity! In a day and age where representation is more important than it ever was, I feel this is something important to mention. • The story itself is extremely memorable! I haven’t touched this series in a year? Two? There maybe? And I still remember pretty much everything that’s happened and where I left off. Life got in the way of my reading, but the story is impactful enough that I remember it fairly well and I very much want to dive back into it. PREVIOUS REVIEW Still in the process of going through these books; I think I'm at the fourth one? In any case, it's interesting enough that it got me burning through all three books in a little under two weeks. I love the setting, I love how gritty it gets, even though our lovely protag feels a little like a Mary-Sue at times. But the story itself is engaging and I would definitely recommend this to any fans of the genre who want a nice light novel to sit down and read in their downtime.

I want to make readers aware that all four of the books in this series are very much young adult appropriate. A ten year old would be able to read this series without running into sex, or curse words. No real gore, but there is some light horror moments. I found it to be less scary than Goosebumps. This may cause issues later as the series get progressively more adult, until the sex becomes graphic. The sex is honestly not that often, perhaps once a book or so. From a writer’s perspective this can cause you problems. It means your reading age isn’t consistent. You could lose younger readers this way. If the books weren’t so intertwined in the same world this probably wouldn’t be a problem. But, a young reader who likes the story and the world will probably want to read the next one which is suddenly full of sex, curse words, and descriptive gore and horror. This is just my opinion, and kids are probably more adult than I remember. To me though, it was an abrupt shift. I would rate Six Moon Summer Book One of Seasons of the Moon at PG-PG13. Star rating, about 3*s. Let me explain why only three stars. So far I have never seen SM Reine charge for this book. Because of that I will probably jump the number of stars from three to four when leaving a review. I have to respect her giving me something I enjoy reading for free. Based on the story only, the writing, the cover art, and the description I want to say three stars. I’m not going to describe the story in depth. You can read the review and any of the reviews on Amazon for that. But the basic story line for Six Moon Summer is: Rylie gets bitten by a werewolf. The next day this hot, black guy follows her around and seems to know all about werewolves: Seth. Seth tells her that if she fights the change for three months, and 6 moons, she won’t become a werewolf. Moon is a vague word to use. Now to be clear, what the author means is every New Moon, and Full Moon. This is SM Reine’s werewolf lore. The reason I rate it three stars is because the story is incredibly cliché and redundant. Normal girl isn’t so normal anymore. Werewolves are falling off the shelves. I knew exactly what I was getting into when I started reading and therefore I wasn’t disappointed. I wanted some candy and I got some. This candy was actually better quality than I anticipated. While the story and plot were predictable the writing was clear and precise. I didn’t notice very many errors, and definitely not in the first page. Because of this, the predictable plot was far more enjoyable. The cliché characters had great development. I could see exactly who they were in my mind. Though apparently Seth is black, for some reason this eluded me until the end of the second series. I don’t know if that was my bad, or the author’s. I have nothing against interracial couples, nothing at all. But it shocked my mind’s image of the character into something I had to rearrange. Not great for a reader. The action builds nicely, and the climax gave me just enough answers while handing me a few more questions. These questions pushed me on to read Book Two. SM Reine accomplished her goal with this book. Reine introduced me to her world and her characters, and then got me to want to know more, and to keep reading. From a writer’s perspective I would like to evaluate the whole package. The cover clearly communicates what the story is going to be about, and its eye-catching. If you’re into paranormal you would probably think this is going to be a great read. Reine’s title adds to the picture of the wolf. Clearly the wolf and the moon mean something to the girl in the picture. “Six Moon Summer” is a little confusing, but I looked at it and figured the author would tell me what she meant in her story. I was right. Her book description was as cliché as the story, but it gave me enough information to know exactly what I was about to get into, and that I might like it. I don’t know if it’s the best, but it gets the point across. I did like the use of a tagline. Something like that could be used for quite a few things. I have noticed Reine does not do this for every book. I feel like, as a writer, you should be consistent with your work. I probably won’t be reading this book again, but I would definitely recommend it to those who like candy. All Hollow’s Moon Book Two of Seasons of the Moon: I have to say, again great tagline. It’s something you could easily put on the front cover, or a quick ad. Reine keeps consistent with ‘Moon’ in the title, and the cover keeps with the theme. They all tie together and give the correct impression of what this book is going to be about. The full moon that falls on Halloween makes the werewolf stronger than any other time, and a hundred times more dangerous. Rylie is just trying to adapt to being a werewolf. The city is not somewhere that her new animal instincts can survive so she goes to Colorado and lives with her Aunt. Rylie’s Aunt Gwyn is actually one of my favorite characters. She has this no nonsense sort of attitude, and deals with weird on a spectacular level. Reine adds a lot of “controversy” to her books in a subtle way. Aunt Gwyn is a lesbian who happens to have HIV. But she is strong and a great parent to Rylie despite what mainstream media would say. I do like this about Reine’s books. Interracial couples, same-sex relationships and the basic fighting to figure out who you are. Well done. I enjoyed the romance aspect between Rylie and Seth. It had that forbidden love twist to it. Predictable, yet fun. Seth tried to protect the girl he thinks he loves from his werewolf hunting family. Reine unfolds the story of Seth’s family quite elegantly. The story from beginning to end was fun and well-paced. I don’t know if it is because of my mid-twenties age, but I was not ‘on the edge of my seat’ per se, but enjoying myself and eager to find out more answers. The series is far less cliché and sugary from this book on. Reine’s writing style really evolves from here on in her werewolf series and the fiction is very readable. There were very few mistakes, and I don’t really remember them. From a writing perspective: I like the consistency in the covers, the descriptions and taglines, and the length is a little short but the first four in this series I believe were meant to be in one volume. She wrote them episodically for marketing purposes. This is a tool that a lot of indie authors are using now, and I think it’s a great route. It is a method that I am actually trying out myself. So keep that in mind indie authors. I might actually read this book again, and I would also recommend it to someone who enjoys werewolves and good quality candy. Long Night Moon: Book Three of the Seasons of the Moon series by SM Reine Let me just say, as a reader, I did not expect the killer to be who it was. That doesn’t happen to me very often, and I quite enjoyed it. Reine’s books are getting a little more serious. They aren’t quite candy anymore. Other than the stories are based in an overpopulated genre, with werewolves. I love werewolves, so I don’t particularly care how overdone it is. This book was a great read. I think I read it in a day? Keep in mind I wasn’t doing anything else, LOL. When I’m in vacation mode I read stupid fast. Without revealing spoilers, this book was darker than the previous two, and the ending squeezes you in the feels area, despite the YA nature of the series. In this book, Seth’s brother Abel is given a far larger role. I think this is where the scales tip and I started to like Abel more than Seth. Abel is a great anti-hero, and you kind of want to root for him even though you know the way he does things isn’t always good, but it’s efficient. He is the Damon in the Vampire Diaries show. I can’t tell you how the book ends without giving away the killer, but let me tell you, I hit the last word of the story and I didn’t even pause. I went right to the next one, which only required a page flip as I got the free box set. Best money I didn’t have to spend. This box set is what convinced me to spend over 20$ on her books over my Christmas break. I felt like Reine deserved it. I even joined her mailing list. Look at me being all fan girl. (Though my fangirldom is not as intense for Reine as it is for my Hunger Games obsession.) From the writer’s perspective I don’t love the title. It’s confusing and I’m still not sure how it relates to the story. Other than the obvious word ‘Moon.’ I do love the cover. First one I get to see the face, but I think not showing Rylie’s face in the other ones is a good move if Reine can’t find stock photos of the same blonde girl in multiple different poses. This is a mistake Reine makes in later books. The description is short, sweet, and to the point, but it is missing a tagline which I’ve enjoyed from Reine up to this point. Again, I think consistency is important. This book is better written than the first one by far, and the editing is consistent. Reine’s writing has definitely matured. I read the reviews and only one reader mentioned they didn’t like the style of episodic books. And one other mentioned it was extremely easy to get back into the series after waiting a few years. The reader read the first two when they first came out, and then forgot about it while waiting for the rest, and then finally came back. Another reason to write your brains out people. Unfortunately this happens a lot, even to me, and I make lists so that I don’t forget. I would definitely read this book again on a rainy day when I want werewolves and I’m all caught up on Teen Wolf episodes. I would definitely recommend it as well. More like chocolate this time than candy.  Gray Moon Rising: Book Four of the Seasons of the Moon series by SM Reine – Final Installment Gray Moon Rising was a great finale to this series. It really wraps things up nicely with a cute, little bow after a great climax. It reads smoothly from the third book in the series Long Night Moon. My favourite parts of this book are: Abel, Seth’s brother, is now fully a werewolf. He is the one who gets Rylie out of her funk. Not Seth, Rylie’s boyfriend. I think Seth is overprotective whereas Abel challenges her, pushes her to be her best self. He challenges her as a human, and as a wolf. Also there is the draw to the mountain where werewolves were born, the mountain that Rylie was bitten and became a werewolf in book one. You may think these are spoilers, but really you knew she was going to be a werewolf…how could something so predictable be a spoiler? This mountain is where the Gods of the werewolf spirits are said to be…so the mystery of that and finding out more about Reine’s werewolf lore was great. The end of this book was worth reading all four books of the series. The Union is also introduced more here. And the antagonist, Eleanor Seth and Abel’s mother, returns to make things difficult as she is so good at doing. Eleanor has joined the Union. The Union is a bunch military guys that continue to be jerks throughout all of Reine’s series, so I felt it necessary to mention them here. You really need to read this series to get the rest of her books, simply for that reason. Note that the Union is made up of people who are born with certain powers. The Kopis who are (plural is Kopides, took me awhile to figure that one out) almost 100% males who are born with powers that make them hunters. As well as the Aspis who are the magical counterparts to the Kopis, witches both male and female. This is important to know as well because Reine doesn’t really explain this until her Descent series. She really made a twist in this one with Seth. I didn’t expect it considering his personality, but he’s always been unsure of what is right, and what is wrong because of his upbringing. So it made sense here. Which was a great move for Reine as a writer, she really went all out and pushed the boundaries of her three main characters. Why are all these werewolves being called to the mountain? Well, answering that would be a spoiler, but the answer is worth the read. I really enjoyed the lore in this book. Lore is always fun for me to learn. I love it when your understanding of a writer’s world expands. And Reine explains it well without bogging down the story. Sometimes that is hard to accomplish. From the writer’s perspective: The title and the cover work great with the story. I do wish there was a mountain in the background of the cover. That would really pull it together I think. Again, there is no tagline to Reine’s description, the consistency issue again. Her writing in this book is well done. Yes, a werewolf story is predictable, but I think she does well with this. She really makes it her own in this one. It’s far less predictable than any of her previous books, except perhaps her third one. I continued straight to her next werewolf series after this. I just wanted more of her characters. I loved the idea of this tiny, weak looking girl literally able to destroy someone and rip their throats out. You would think the giant man, Abel, who follows her around and is also a werewolf would be stronger, but no it’s Rylie who is stronger. Irony. This story is great as a whole I would recommend reading this entire series. It’s hard to recommend each book since they are all so intertwined and dependent on each other. It would be like recommending only The Return of the King in the Lord of the Rings series. You can’t enjoy that book without knowing what happened in the first two. (Yes, I know Tolkien originally intended for them to be just one volume.) Each book is short enough that reading the entire series in the box set was kind of like reading one long book. The entire series is shown at a little over 600 pages, no biggy for someone who reads a lot. (Remember Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?) If you enjoy werewolves and the paranormal, this series and Reine’s other series are definitely for you. [...]

SM Reine brings to life a terrific, engaging cast of characters, great plot twists and a story that grabs you by the scruff of the neck and won't let go! Easily as much fun and compelling as many of the books written by far better-known authors, this series just kept getting better and better. Even the occasional grammatical misstep wasn't enough to distract me from the fun. Sure there is perhaps a moment or two of awkwardness, bad spelling or what have you, but it wasn't even close to being a deal breaker. Just great lycanthropic mayhem, a lot of romance and a fun fun FUN read! I'd have been more than happy to have paid for this one, and thrilled to get to read it free! Thank you Sara (SM REINE is her pen name) you ROCK!!

I would definitely recommend this to anyone whom likes the paranormal werewolf type books. Very well written with few spelling errors at all. It's really refreshing to read something and not have to figure out what the author meant. I'm even guilty of this in my own writing but I like when they take the time to proof read and then publish. The story line was well thought out in my opinion and even though I was able to call a few parts it was still a good story and the mystery did have me going a few times and I love being surprised. Great job SM Reine, will read anything you put out!!!<3

I am a really big fan of werewolves but there are not very many books that I can read because they have too much sex in them! I love being able to read something with a great storyline and characters. The story about the establishing of the pack was delightful and entertaining. I fell in love with the main characters of Rylie, Seth,, Abel and Gwen. I read the Cain and Abel Chronicles first not knowing that Seasons of the Moon was the first part of the series. It was still understandable and a great story. It was just nice to get the background. I would recommend these stories to any other readers who like Science Fiction and Fantasy. Please don't quit writing such great stories SM Reine! Now that I have found you I can't wait to read your next story or series!

It was hard for me to rate this series. I liked the premises but some scenes felt like fillers and apart from one surprise toward the end there wasn’t much suspense in this story. Rylie is our main girl whose attitude I liked at the beginning when she came to camp. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say she becomes a werewolf since this is what the series is all about. *SPOILERS ahead* It was weird how the camp was described in the beginning as easy going but then it almost turned into a prison for Rylie. And this inconsistency kept happening throughout the story. We’re told how Rylie can remain human after she turns but then further into the story she keeps losing her calm and tries to eat everything. Seth’s mother was a psycho but I couldn’t really understand why Seth was so weak around her. He was portrayed as this strong guy with above average strength and then he couldn’t defend himself when his mother attacked him. I had my doubts about Seth. I didn’t feel like he loved Rylie as much as she loved him. It was way too easy for him to walk away from her on several occasions. The ending didn’t make much sense to me. It felt totally out of place and everything was over too quickly.

Six Moon Summer This is a great start to the series! I have to admit, some parts of the book were pretty predictable, such as the werewolf's true identity, but even with the predictability, this was a fun and action packed read. I really enjoyed Rylie and Seth as characters. Such a star-crossed love! The wolf and the hunter. I really like this dynamic. One complaint I was going to make was that the book seemed so short! When I finished, I wondered if it was a novella, I read it so quickly, but then I looked at the page length and realized that I was wrong. It's a full length book at nearly 200 pages, but I was so into the book that I read it very quickly. Again, a great start to the series! I'm so glad I have the entire series so I can eat it up. I can't wait to start book two! All Hallows Moon Wow! Here I thought my mama was a pain in the butt, but she has nothing on Eleanor! This is a great sequel to the first book where Seth has to choose sides between the girl he's falling in love with and his hunter family. Just like the first book, this is a fast and action packed read. I wasn't able to put it down, reading it in a single sitting. My only complaint is that I wish there was a little bit more lore behind the All Hallows Moon, but even without the lore, it was a great read. I just feel that adding some lore would put these books into an amazing place. Fun read, definitely recommended. Long Night Moon This is another great installment of the series! So far this series reads like a single book, even though it consists of four total. I really enjoyed this installment more than the others so far for the mere fact that this installment showed more of Rylie's animalistic side. So far, Rylie's showing some alpha tendencies, willing to fight anyone that comes near her territory. Before this installment, I was starting to think the transition was going a bit too smoothly for Rylie. It showed so much of her human side! I'm very glad that this book evened out the score, showing her animal instinct. I also enjoyed the addition of silver poisoning. I felt that this was a very interesting ailment that I foresee being important further into the series. I'm definitely looking forward to completing the last book! Gray Moon Rising Although this is a great ending to the original series, I'm very glad the author decided to continue on with Rylie and Seth's story with the Cain Chronicles. Normally while I'm reading a series, I always end up rooting for the man that first enters the scene, but I can't help but feel that Seth might not be the best match for Rylie. Abel seems like a pretty good match for Rylie, in my opinion! Once again, Eleanor proved that she is beyond a doubt the craziest mother in the history of crazy mothers. Maybe I'm just a bleeding heart, but I doubt that there's much of anything that my son could do that would make me want to kill him! Even if he turned fuzzy, which would suck since I'm allergic to dogs. To me, the most appealing aspect of this book was the fact that Rylie returned to the site of her wolf creation. I just felt that it was a great place to end, right where the entire mess began. Great conclusion, but definitely left me wanting more!

Loved reading this series. Did not want to put it down. Well written with character flow through entire series. Sometimes I would read till the early morning, only to wake up with the book in my lap. Anyone interested in the super natural should read this series.

This was a great series all about a teenage girl who is sent to camp while her parents are getting a divorce and gets bitten by a werewolf and how she changes with the help of a boy who is the hunter for werewolves. Loved the series cannot wait to get the next ones.

Well holy crap, this was a free download and Oh my God, I loved it. I love supernatural books but the amount of detail that went into this series was incredible. The story and plot are great and the characters are brilliant. Each one has a history and you get to know them all through the story. The authors descriptions of everything, from scenery, emotions, and the werewolves transformations is so detailed you can actually picture it. I was gripped from the start, just from the initial few pages but add suspense, lots of hurt, destruction, angst, and then you have the romance and sweet love story between our heroine Rylie, and Seth, its an overall package which I couldn't put down. I cannot wait to continue reading the Cain Chronicles in which the story continues. Great read and would highly recommend.

Bei dem Preis der eBook-Version kann man ja eigentlich kaum was falsch machen. Der erste Teil hat mir am besten gefallen. Insgesamt finde ich die Story nicht total umwerfend, aber als leichte Lektüre für zwischendurch ist es ganz nett zu lesen. Immerhin habe ich alle 4 Teile durchgelesen, obwohl ich noch jede Menge andere Bücher habe, auf die ich hätte ausweichen können, wenn es mir zu langweilig geworden wäre.

It's a great series which will keep you hanging on to find out what's next. Somewhat predictable. Liked it.. thanks Amazon!

I enjoyed the read. Easy to read and follow. Good plot and keeps interest. I'm am now moving on to the next in the set!