Book Reviews

Red Moon Rising (Strength of the Pack 3) by Joy Lynn Fielding

Genre Gay / Paranormal / Shifters / Erotic Romance
Reviewed by Serena Yates on 13-February-2026

Book Blurb

Owned by one wolf. Falling for another. And wolves don’t share.

Tristan loves college, working at the diner, and his pack. But when hostile wolves abduct him one night, none of that helps him. Suddenly he’s a prisoner in a place where fear is law, and mercy doesn’t exist. Except… someone is watching him. A quiet stranger who flinches from his gaze—but never quite looks away.

Colby Williams survives by staying invisible. It’s the only way to placate the wolf who thinks he owns him—and the only way to stay alive. And then the pack drags in a young wolf with bright eyes, who should be terrified by what’s ahead of him. Instead, he keeps watching Colby—curious, hopeful, and alive in a way Colby can scarcely remember being.

And when Tristan looks at him like he matters… Colby can’t look anywhere else.

He knows it’s a mistake. He knows it’s dangerous. But he also knows it’s already too late.



Content note: This book includes material that some readers may find upsetting. Full details are available on the author’s website (link in the Look Inside sample).

Each book in the Strength of the Pack series is a standalone romance with its own HEA. An overarching plot runs through the series.

First edition published at Siren Publishing, January 2014. This new edition has been substantially rewritten and expanded with major new content.


Book Review

Shifter stories where one of the men comes from an enemy pack, and the lovers-to-be meet under questionable or stressful, or both, circumstances fascinate me. I guess it’s the tension between the men which comes from not knowing exactly whether they can trust each other. In ‘Red Moon Rising’, which is Tristan and Colby’s story, it is also the tension coming from the other men in Tristan’s pack. They have far less reason to trust Colby, since their emotions aren’t clouded by feelings, and the way Tristan deals with that is very interesting. And so very like Tristan! Add to that the continuing threat from the Wolf Council finding out about Jesse being an Argent from the “lost” royal line, and this becomes an action-packed, tense read.

Tristan is the youngest member of the pack, taken in years ago when his home life became unbearable.  He has just started college, and has his whole life ahead of him (as Bryce, his main mentor puts it), when Cale’s pack kidnaps him. Colby is the only one who is willing to help, and he pays dearly for his kindness. But once they escape and make it to Tristan’s pack, nobody else is wiling to give Colby the benefit of the doubt – at least not without a lot of convincing from Tristan. As Tristan wrestles with his own emotions as well as the pack’s only gradually decreasing animosity, he realizes how much of an uphill fight he faces. At least he is an optimist and carries enough idealism for three men!

Colby may be a member of Cale’s pack, but he is not there voluntarily. Yes, he joined them willingly, but he has suffered a lot of emotional ad physical abuse, just because he has a lack of self-confidence and desperately wants to belong. He has no way out until he realizes he is the only one who can create an opportunity to free himself. My heart broke for him as he gradually adjusted to the very different way Matt Urban runs his pack, as Colby slowly understands things really are different and that he can determine his own fate.

If you like shifter stories with men who aren’t “supposed” to fall for each other yet are undeniably mates, if you want to read about enemies who need to learn how to trust not just each other but a whole pack, and if you’re looking for a somewhat tense read that is as emotional as it is hot, then you will probably like this novel.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. The first edition of this book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format ebook and print
Length Novel, 327 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date 12-February-2026
Price $4.99 ebook, $14.99 paperback
Buy Link https://www.amazon.com/Red-Moon-Rising-Paranormal-Strength-ebook/dp/B0GDMC62TZ