Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson

It seems as if things are coming together for Claire, she's just turned sixteen, her birthday party is setting her up to actually be semi-popular/normal, and her long-time crush Matthew seems to be interested in her. Of course just as things seem to be going so well, it all goes to hell in a hand basket. Claire discovers that she's a werewolf and her emotionally distant mother now has high expectations for Claire's entry into the pack. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad if there hadn't been the recent murders committed by a werewolf in the town, maybe Claire could cope if she weren't dating the son of the scientist saying he is going to 'cure' the werewolf and rid the city of its menace, maybe she would feel better about this new phase in her life if her mother weren't keeping secrets. But let's be honest, probably not.

I love a good werewolf romance. The general balance between violence and love. Good times. And here I was with a book that had a new spin: the werewolf was a girl in this book and that she seemed to think for herself. There were a ton of elements that could've made this original. But it kind of wasn't. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't awesome. It kind of felt like eating fast food, it sounded like a good idea at the time but afterward you realize that it didn't really satisfy you and now you feel like you could've found something better.

VIRALS by Kathy Reichs

Fifteen year old Tory Brennan is the great-grandniece of famous forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, whom she idolizes. Unfortunately for Tory she lives on a small island off the coast of South Carolina on a science compound affiliated with some university. She has just moved in with her rather clueless genius dad Kit and her only outlet for her grief of losing her mother are forensics, dogs, and the three other teens living on the island: Hi a sarcastic authority defying flashy dresser; Shelton, token person of color who happens to also be a techno-whiz; and Ben, sullen sixteen and supposedly a hottie. They go to a ritzy private school on the mainland, where none of them fit in (shocker). The only thing that makes school tolerable is her education, friendly cutie Jason, and her secret crush Chance the most popular and richest kid at the school (of course).

As the four kids don't like to spend additional time at school, they tend to cruise around the different islands that the university owns. Eventually they come across some dog tags and take it upon themselves to discover who they belong to. While investigating they end up in an abandoned lab, where they save a wolf dog that Tory had a 'moment' with and has a soft spot for. They discover that the dog was given a virus that infects them and after bouts of sickness their senses are enhanced and they have all developed a pack sense that allows them to communicate with one another. They end up calling themselves the Virals, because that's super original. In the mean time they are also discovering that the owner of the dog tag's daughter was murdered so they are now investigating that and people are out to get them. And if that isn't enough for you - Tory is trying to fend off the good intentions of her dad's girlfriend to get her into a debutante ball, figure out her feelings for Chance, stay away from the mean girls of the school, and not get killed.

Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin

Avery Hood can't remember how her parents died. All she can remember is silver moving at inhuman speed, and then they were dead. Now Avery is living in town with her grandmother who she hasn't spoken to in years. Other families who lived in the woods like Avery's family did are being killed as well. And there's this new boy at school, who Avery is inexplicably drawn to. Is he her true love, or is he responsible for the murders?

Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Bronwyn Alessia St. Vincent Clare, better known as Bryn, has grown up as part of a werewolf pack after her parents were brutally murdered by something called the Rabid. Bryn grows up feeling like she's always needing to keep herself apart from the pack, after all she's human not Were, and therefore fights against the dominance games, rules, and expectations that seem to follow her everywhere. Her rebellion ends when she meets Chase, the boy who was bit and survived. Soon Bryn is consumed with seeing Chase again and is willing to put herself at the mercy of Pack laws in order to talk to Chase about his attacker, someone he calls Prancer and she knows as the Rabid. Bryn doesn't realize that everything that she worked so hard to stay away from is exactly what she'll be turning into.

I know, I know, not another lame werewolf/vampire romance (except this one doesn't have vampires). But honestly this one was kind of awesome! I wouldn't go so far as to say it was perfection, but highly enjoyable. I think I needed a little break from all the action books I found myself reading recently. The whole romance thing was mostly downplayed which I appreciated, and Bryn herself is pretty dubious of the whole "love at first sight" shenanigans. I think this mostly comes out of the fact that Jennifer Lynn Barnes had a really solid werewolf mythology and well-developed main characters. Nice. It got a little slow and inner-monologuey in the middle, but otherwise it all comes together for a rather lovely, fluffy, fast, summer read.