"Racing with the Moon"
A werewolf story with a lot of differences, RACING WITH
THE MOON, manages to mix French and Finnish folklore into
an intriguing story that races along unexpected twists and
turns until if reaches the end. At fifty, Vella Fraizer
isn't seeking love or adventure when she follows her
compulsion to enter a New Orleans shop, but she can't
resist stroking the wolf-fur belt she finds. Even though
she doesn't buy it, the shopkeeper insists on including it
with her purchase, a little gift since the belt has
obviously chosen her. At the shop door, she runs into a
man, a little older than her, with tawny-golden eyes.
If she hadn't had a plane to catch, if he hadn't been in a
hurry to find something in the shop... what passes between
them in that brief encounter feels like the future. When
the man, Guy St. Simon, turns out to also be seeking the
belt, an heirloom that had been in advertently
sold to the shop, the future becomes fate as he follows
Vella to her home in Minnesota to retrieve it. It turns out that Vella's daughter needs the belt.
She's
a halfling werewolf, as is Guy's nephew and both young
people need it to cope with their state. Guy knows a lot
about being a shapeshifter and wants to help them. He
wears
a medallion much like the ones he puts around the young
people's necks... and with good reason we find out. Vella
and Guy are very attracted to each other, although she has
some problems coping with his secret. Since her husband
committed suicide, apparently due to his own shapeshifting
blood, she has trouble trusting her instincts with Guy. Fortunately she gets a lot of advice through her dreams
when her own Finnish great-great grandfather comes to
visit. A noitä or Finnish wizard with healing magic and
the
ability to shapeshift himself, he tells Vella that Guy is
her soulmate. Her grandmother helps her as well, pointing
out that while at twenty a woman may need time, at fifty
she doesn't have that luxury. Before long, Guy and Vella
are working together, to help their families, and then,
when Vella's dreams show them other children with
shapeshifting powers that need help, they discover their
true mission in life. It was delightful reading a story about a romantic
couple who were not as young as the usual suspects. It was
also interesting that these people were still discovering
themselves, and able to take a new direction in their
lives, if only because they were older and without
the responsibilities that having a young family entails.
More details in how Guy's family had learned to cope with
their affliction would have been welcome, but this is one
of those books that would be a pleasure to find a sequel
to, perhaps about the younger halfling members of the
family. Reviewed for PNR Reviews by
Reviewed by Janet Miller
Posted December 7, 2003
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Vella Frazier has no idea the gift of a wolf belt will
change her life--but will it be for better or worse? When
she meets Guy St. Simon, she's plunged into such strange
and confusing circumstances and she can't decided what and
who to believe. How can it be true that shapeshifters
actually exist? Desperate to save her hafling daughter,
Vella must learn to trust Guy, frightening though that is.
The idea of loving him, though, is even more scary.
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