Brilliant, funny, sexy, and heartwarming!

Any additional comments?

In my review book review for How To Walk Like a Man I wrote the only thing that will make this better is when Matthew Shaw does the narration for the audio book.

And I was absolutely right.

Matthew Shaw’s sophomore effort proves he wasn’t a flash in the pan, one time rock star. He gives a performance like a virtuoso, playing the characters brilliantly and bringing this story to life! I absolutely LOVED how he made each dog breed “sound” like you would expect their breed to sound – it was awesome!

Timing, sound quality, character voices, cadence – it was all fantastic. It doesn’t hurt that this series gets better with each story.

This is brilliant, funny, sexy, and heartwarming. Coupled with Matthew Shaw’s narration How to Walk Like a Man has it all!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

(Book Review below)

I absolutely, unequivocally, hard-core LOVE and ADORE this story! Eli Easton – THANK YOU!! Because this? This was PHENOMENAL!

Getting to see the characters I got to know and love from How to Howl at the Moon again, ESPECIALLY Roman Charsguard, the newly quickened, German Shepard shifter, made me melt faster than a chocolate bar left in the sun, and it's just as sweet and savory! Roman made this book so extra-special for me. Getting to be a part of his journey as he realizes his full humanity and fall in love with DEA investigator Matt Barclay was so awesome I cannot gush enough.

Matt's struggle and fear with coming out, particularly because of his father the General, and his attraction and chemistry with Roman was beautifully done.

There's also a lot of humor in this, which is spectacular and adds just the right amount of juxtaposition to the deeper emotions.

Hell, it was all beautifully done! Bravo, Eli Easton! Bravo!

The only thing that will make this better is when Matthew Shaw does the narration for the audio book.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

7 people found this helpful

such a great sequel!

Such an amazing sequel!

We met Roman (and fell head over heels in love with him!) in book one. He’s a newly quickened German Shepherd who lost his master, James, in the war in Afghanistan.

He’s adapting, slowly, to life on two legs with the help of Lance and Tim and of course, Lily.

Near the end of book one, Roman saves a DEA agent (who reminds him of James) from drug dealers. That DEA agent is Matt Barclay. Matt got injured in that drug raid, and is still recovering and though he’s grateful to the man who risked his life for him that day, but perplexed by his actions, as well.

When he meets Roman again at a joint DEA/Mad Creek task force meeting, he realizes that Roman is a unique guy. He’s at once innocent and sweet, but with a will of steel and a heart as big as the sky.

Lance tasks Roman with keeping Matt occupied and out of town so as not to give away the secrets of the quickened. Roman diligently drags Matt all over the mountains both in search of the drug dealers who might be praying on the town and because he’s fascinated with him.

It doesn’t take long before Roman’s affections turn from friend to more and he struggles with understanding these new emotions and desires. Luckily *smirk, he has Lance to go to when he’s got questions.

When Roman gets shot and Matt is faced with some questionable actions from both Roman and the rest of the town, will Roman have to give up his new love? Or will Matt be able to accept Roman for who he really is?

**

OMG this was even better than book one and I absolutely LOVED book one. I’ve already rhapsodized on how amazing I think the “quickened” concept is in my review of How to Howl at the Moon .

Roman grabbed me by the heartstrings in book one and he continues to tug at them throughout this entire story.

Gawd. When Roman “tells” the story of James and his training days and the day he turned into a man I was seriously sobbing. It’s such a touching story and so obviously in tune with that relationship between man and dog. There’s no question that the love Roman had for James was deep and abiding and Roman’s pain and loss is so deep and heartbreaking.

The parts where Roman is discovering his sexuality had me howling with laughter. Lance and Tim’s “help” is hysterical.

The slowly developing relationship between Matt and Roman is so sweet, my only regret is that we didn’t get to see them as a couple for more than a few pages. I loved how easy going Matt was and how tender and gentle he was when he figured out Roman was a virgin.

The rest of the townspeople continue to entertain me endlessly with their “dogisms” and the drinking of broth instead of coffee was another inspired detail.

Watching Lance nearly screw up everything with his overprotectiveness also made me laugh out loud. In the movie theatre:

Then, Beaufort compounded the weirdness. Because, you know, this wasn't already strange enough. He stood up, faced the people sitting behind them, and loudly said. "We're just going to quietly enjoy the films.Quietly. Without comments, talking, or noises of any kind." Then he sat back down.

So funny! I must have underlined a dozen passages that cracked me up.

I can’t express just how entertaining this book is. The dogisms are hysterical, Roman is an absolute sweetheart and the love story is so very sweet.

I can’t recommend this and the entire series enough.


Audio

Matthew Shaw did the first book in the series and he did another amazing job. He does well with some of the “accents” and he really does a great job of giving Roman this sort of halting, reserved but deep tone. I loved the emotions in this audiobook and I know this will be one of the ones I listen to over and over!

6 of 5 stars

3 people found this helpful

Roman-ce in a weird small town.

While not totally lighthearted because one character starts with a traumatic loss before, which is revisited throughout, and ACAB, it is a goodhearted book. The pointless waste of drug enforcement doesn’t overshadow the nice little romance of Roman & Matt.

I was worried about Roman actually being about 12 in the body of a grown man, but he thought of himself as an adult. Not all of my questions were answered wrt shapeshifting from animal to human worldbuilding but enough questions were answered that I could relax & enjoy it.

Extra love to having a scenario where Matt thinks Roman tells him “no” and Matt gets sad, starts to get over it, & gets on with things. Showing people taking no for an answer is so important, especially when there’s someone like Roman who is naive about a lot of things. It’s reassuring to know Matt is safe for him to say no to.

Steam: Med Low. We get some on page details yet it’s mostly cute, honestly, since Roman is new to ~everything~. How Roman just asks for what he wants to know is refreshing.

Narration: well done, a value add.

1 person found this helpful

Interesting...a whole new world

This book is the second in this series and I did enjoy it. Definitely not your typical paranormal/shifter romance. mm "shifter" Not only do you see more of this unique town in this story, but Roman is even extra special. He is oblivious to how people are supposed to act and talk, so everything with him is taken as a literal meaning, which was quite funny at times throughout the book. While I am enjoying this series and will continue to listen to it, I wouldn't say it's a book that I just "couldn't put down/stop listening to." I don't say that trying to discourage anyone from listening--I would really recommend giving this series a try. You don't get a whole lot of steamy scenes, but it's still worth it.

1 person found this helpful

Wonderful book🥰🥰🥰

As a fan of Sherlock Holmes I love how you use his quote perfectly in the book.

Fun, adorable, sweet, sexy

As of summer 2021, I’ve read or listened to every readily available Eli Easton book, and this is one of my favorites.

Roman is such a sweet, kind, compassionate, innocent MC not understanding where he fits in. Matt has a lot of the same qualities minus Roman’s innocence. If I had to pick a theme for this book, it would be, “what’s my contribution?” Both Matt and Roman seem to struggle with this question, and it’s what keeps them apart at first but ultimately brings them together as they discard ideas and beliefs that have outlived their usefulness.

Eli does a great job at making such an unbelievable story feel very real and present. There isn’t extra material and all of the story moves the characters along. There’s a lot of laugh out loud funny moments, and some tear jerkers too. Like many Easton books the characters have trauma and find their way out with each other’s help.

Matthew Shaw does an excellent job with the narration bringing out the humor in the story. And ugh, his voice is really sexy too. Sigh… doesn’t hurt.

High recommended.

Secrets are so exciting! 😉🐕

Mad Creek has many secrets. The dog shifters kind. And Raman and Matt are about to find out if a human can truly fall in love with each other, when one of them has the ability to change into a dog. It's so exciting finding out if the possibilities are truly possible. Wonderful read. Great narration! Enjoy!🐕💙

Roman!!! OMG: Roman! 4.5 Stars!

Delicious, adorable, bittersweet, cuddlelicious! These are words that describe this fantastical tale of a dog becoming a man and falling in love.

Roman! I want to take him home and cuddle him as a dog and love him as a man. He was so sincere, so honest, so funny in finding his way around becoming a man. And wait until you get to the part of him figuring out sex! IT’S TO DIE FOR!

Matt, the human, is good....BUT, ROMAN!

And the narrator got Ronan’s speech pattern perfectly!

My rec? Howl yeah!

Best of the series!

I’ve read the whole series and love all the books but this one is my favorite. Roman is just so sweet and good and listening to his doggy memories and experiences becoming a man is sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes hilarious.

The narrator is fantastic too. Highly recommend this series.

One of my Favorites

Love this story and characters so much. I go back and forth as to whether the first book or the second is my favorite. They're both amazing. This is the perfect blend of wonderful characters, heartmelting romance, and exciting story.