Moonlight, the first of the Dark Guardians series by Rachel Hawthorne, is a quick, easy and at times enjoyable read, but it's obvious this series isn't destined to become the next Twilight or Harry Potter.

Moonlight is the story of Kayla, a 17-year-old girl who is spending her summer as a "sherpa," a wilderness guide leading groups through the forest where her parents had been killed when she was a child. Kayla's first assignment, along with several fellow sherpas, is to lead a group of university students and their professor deep into the woods to do research with wolves. Along the way Kayla has to deal with her feelings for Mason, one of the students, and her mysterious attraction to Lucas, leader of her team of sherpas.

During her time in the woods Kayla is forced to face fears she's harbored since childhood, all related to the hunting accident that led to the death of her parents. She also discovers the researchers they are leading aren't in the woods to study your average, run-of-the-mill wolf, but something she thought only existed in fiction. To her surprise, Kayla herself may not be as normal and human as she once thought she was.

This book isn't very deep and can be rather predictable, but the characters are likeable enough and the plot is easy to follow. The werewolf storyline itself isn't anything original. Hawthorne's werewolves remind me of a cross between the werewolves in the Twilight series and the wolf shifters of Wolf Lake, the TV series that aired briefly several years ago. The danger associated with their initial transformation and the societal structure is very reminiscent of the series.

I don't think there was anything about these wolves that makes them stand out from other werewolf stories. In fact, I don't think there is anything about this book at all that would make it stand out against all the Twilights, Percy Jacksons and Harry Potters that are being published these days. That being said, if you're just looking for a quick, easy and fun read to help you forget the stresses of real life for a few hours, this would be a good book. It may not be amazing, but there are definitely worse ways to spend your time. Sometimes it's nice to read a book that doesn't require a lot of thought on your part.