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Witches, werewolves, and murder, oh my! Witching Moon has it all. And while it sounds like an exciting mix, oddly enough it’s anything but. Instead, the result is a muted, uneven mix of romance, mystery, and paranormal mythology.
Adam Marshall (brother of Killing Moon‘s Ross) has recently taken the job of head ranger at Nature’s Refuge. The refuge is a privately owned nature preserve in the heart of a swamp in Wayland, Georgia. As a man with a secret life, Adam loves it for the privacy he finds there. It also affords him the opportunity to investigate the murder of his predecessor. And since he’s a werewolf with extra abilities, he’s pretty sure he may find more answers then the local police.
While out one night in wolf form, he surprises a mysterious group of people who drive him away with gunfire. Their behavior and the arrival of botanist Sara Weston to the park deepen Adam’s misgivings, especially since Sara is an attractive woman who arouses Adam’s very powerful mating instincts. Never before has he felt the emotional and biological force that drives his kind to mate for life. And now that he has, he’s more then a little worried. Giving in to the instinct may make him the kind of abusive man his father was, and that’s something Adam dreads.
Sara Weston jumped at the enormous research grant offered by Granville Pharmaceuticals to study the plant life found in this remote Georgia swamp. Fresh out of graduate school, she has college loans to pay back and the grant is allowing her to knock off the first big chunk. Unfortunately she’s beginning to regret leaping before she looked, because now she’s living in an isolated house and having strange visions of dancing around a fire with the man she just met, Adam.
The slow and meandering start does little to build tension, and in fact bogs the story down. The route to the relationship and the plot introduces a current murder mystery, a witches’ coven operating in the town, a 30-year-old mystery, and the backgrounds of both Adam and Sara. By about page 100 the protagonists have had only two conversations (and one of those was in a dream). And though the pacing picks up around midway, it’s a little too late.
This is the second of York’s Moon books I’ve read and while I like her characters and plot ideas, the writing isn’t there for me emotionally. In both instances I’ve felt one step removed from the story and the protagonists. Perhaps it’s fitting that Adam and Sara’s first emotional encounter happens in a dream, since the whole book has a dreamy, remote style.
There is much to intrigue in York’s fictional world. Adam’s difficult, yet matter-of-fact, life as a werewolf, the creepy feeling engendered by the swamp and the murders that occurred there, Sara’s connection past and present to the witches coven, and the difficulties Adam and Sara face in their relationship are all interesting in and of themselves. Unfortunately the sum of the parts didn’t make for a very gripping whole.
Grade: C-
Book Type: Shapeshifter Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 09/04/04
Publication Date: 2003
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.