A Cursed Moon
by Cecy Robson
Published by Cecy Robson LLC
Book #2.5 in the Weird Girls series
Meet the furry big brother that the Wird sisters never had…
Bren is a cocky, brash hound of a werewolf who loathes the idea of belonging to Aric’s pack—much less finding a mate. But Bren’s hotheaded behavior lands him in the doghouse when he defies Aric’s authority in front of his pack, bringing up a sore subject that’s bound to make the Alpha wolf’s blood boil…Luckily for him, no one can stay mad at Bren and his wild charm for long. And when some frightening ghosts launch a hostile paranormal takeover, Bren will team up with Celia to take down the evil ghouls before they hurt someone they both love…
Genre
Triggers
Violence, Death
A Cursed Moon is a novella released between book 2 and 3 of the Weird Girls series, and changes things up by being written from Bren's (the girls werewolf best friend) point-of-view. And it works. Bren is one of the the few characters that always has something funny to say, so after the heartbreaking ending to book 2, it was nice to have something light to read before preparing us for book 3.
Bren is an interesting character. Other than knowing he is the Wird girls best friend, and a source of knowledge of the supernatural world that they are just getting acquainted with, we also know he is a lone wolf (meaning, no pack), and he lives with his human best friend, Danny. This novella lets us know a bit of what is going on in his head, we learn why he is a lone wolf, how he met Danny, and generally, what a good guy he is under all that sarcasm and gruffness. It definitely gives his character depth in this world Cecy Robson has created.
Just because it's Bren's point-of-view, doesn't mean we don't get an update on our favorite mated-but-destined-to-be-apart couple. Aric is unfortunately still very much engaged to that horrible pure-blood, who likes to take digs at Celia and her heartache over Aric leaving her, despite obviously being in love with Celia, and even admitting to Bren in a letter that she is his mate. Celia is still a mess from their break-up, but seems to be functioning. Both Aric and Celia are actually big parts of the story, as Aric is now Bren's leader, as Bren joins the first pack he has ever been a part of, so he can fight along side of the alliance and battle the tribe. Celia and Bren end up battling ghosts together, which ends up with their friend Danny being taken, and almost killed. Bren, who deals with the trauma of his werewolf father killing his mother in a botched attempt to turn her were, ends up turning his best friend were.
In the end, this short little story gives us so much more to think about when it comes to Bren, and I suspect we have a lot more to learn about him. Despite his parents mate bond eventually leading to the desperate act of the botched turning, and the fact that Bren gets around, he does hope to one day find his mate. I hope he does and soon. It doesn't add a whole lot to the story as a whole, except some major character development, and a reminder to us readers that Aric is very much, still in love with Celia, despite being forced to marry a pure-blood.
Dan: "Wake up, I mean it."
Bren: "Grrrrr."
Dan: "You can take that werewolf shit and shove it up your ass."
Dan: "Bren, your stupid one-night stand stole all our food, our DVDs, and our laundry detergent."
Bren: "Wendy wouldn't do anything like that."
Dan: "Her name was Natasha."
Bren: "You sure?"
Dan: "That's the name she wrote all over my bathroom with her lipstick."
Bren: "She didn't take my porn, did she?"
Dan: "Is that all you care about, that she took your porn?"
Bren: "What the hell, Aric? Do you have your period or something?"
Aric: "Bren, when I invited you to join our pack I thought you understood it wasn't in name only. Belonging requires not only for you to fight evil alongside us, but discipline and commitment to learning out ways and educating the minds of our young males. You've been a lone wolf all your life, so I've let some thing slide -"
Bren: "Is this about the sex-ed talk I gave the students?"
Aric: "That wasn't a sex-ed talk. That was a how-to-get-laid speech."
Bren: "Same difference."
Aric: "No, it's not. Especially when you were supposed to be lecturing on driver's ed."
Bren: "I mentioned the driving, but that bored the shit out of them. So I talked to them about what to do in the backseat. Believe me, that kept their interest. I was just getting to the extra-credit assignment when you barged in."
Gemini: "Bren, we keep males and females separated during their school in order to keep them focused on their learning and decrease their naturally competitive natures. In their teens, they're extremely impressionable and hormonal."
Bren: "You mean horny? It's okay, Gemini, you can say it. We're all adults here."
Bren: "Hey, Ceel. What's wrong? Still mad I made you cancel your porn subscription?"
Celia: "Couldn't you have distracted him another way? Did you have to say that Misha and I do it like orangutans?"
Bren: "I would never say that ... I said you did it like monkeys."
Celia: "You're one of the best people I know, Bren."
Bren: "Aw hell, Ceel, you need to get out and get to know more people."
Bren: "You're not going to end up alone, kid. We;re going to get married."
Celia: "Are we?"
Bren: "Totally. It'll be an open marriage, of course."
Celia: "Of course."
Bren: "Oh, hell yeah. Dan's eventually going to marry - probably some fugly chick at the rate he;s going. They'll go on to make fugly-ass babies and where will that leave me? Shit, you know I don't cook. And someone has to clean."
Celia: "Mmm. Cook and clean, too. You really know how to woo a gal."
Bren: "I'll come home - after a hard night of bartending or banging some hot broad - and you'll be waiting with my breakfast, dressed in an apron and stilettos. Unless your figure starts to go. Then it might have to be a naughty nurse outfit - just to cover some of that sagging shit up. It's the perfect arrangement. What do you say?"
Celia: "Oh, hot damn and golly, Bren, who could resist such a generous offer?"
Celia hits him in the head with an apple.
I hurried along, and just to give her a little love, grabbed Celia's ass like it was on sale. She slipped out of my sight before I could blink and appeared behind me, rewarding my oh-so-loving touch with a ferocious wedgie.
Bren: Ow! What the hell was that for?"
Celia released enough of my boxers so one of my boys slipped back in place.
Celia: "You grabbed my butt."
Bren: "I was just being affectionate! Let go so I can still knock up some lucky gal one day."
She tugged one last time for emphasis then released. I whirled around and tried to coax the gang out of my stomach and back home to the front of my pants.
Bren: "Damn, Ceel, you could've cost me a few pups."
Liz: "The master wouldn't appreciate him fondling what's his."
Bren: "That wasn't a fondle. That was a kiss. I fondled her ass before the smooch, but you sluts missed it since you were staking out your next meal."
Bren: "Okay, little pussy. There's your mouse."
Bren: "Dan. If you piss on my bed, I'm going to beat your ass with a newspaper."
Bren: "Quit staring at her ass."
Celia: "Don't be an asshole, Bren."
Bren: "He's the one eyeing your butt cheeks like they can fold paper."
The door slammed, cutting off Celia's growl. Aric rubbed his face, trying to beat back the heat crawling up his neck.
Aric: "Thanks, Bren."
I slapped Dan's skinny rump and nudged him out of bed.
Bren: "Woman, you better put on that French maid outfit and fix me some grub. Daddy's hungry."
Check out the prequel novellas, and the rest of the Weird Girls series below!
(If picture has no link, it's because the review hasn't been posted yet. Stay tuned!)