Wednesday, August 1, 2012

ARC Review: Moonglow (Darkest London Book 2)

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance
Author: Kristen Callihan
Publication Date/Format: July 31, 2012/eBook and Paperback
BlurbOnce the seeds of desire are sown . . . 
Finally free of her suffocating marriage, widow Daisy Ellis Craigmore is ready to embrace the pleasures of life that have long been denied her. Yet her new-found freedom is short lived. A string of unexplained murders has brought danger to Daisy's door, forcing her to turn to the most unlikely of saviors . . . 
Their growing passion knows no bounds . . . Ian Ranulf, the Marquis of Northrup, has spent lifetimes hiding his primal nature from London society. But now a vicious killer threatens to expose his secrets. Ian must step out of the shadows and protect the beautiful, fearless Daisy, who awakens in him desires he thought long dead. As their quest to unmask the villain draws them closer together, Daisy has no choice but to reveal her own startling secret, and Ian must face the undeniable truth: Losing his heart to Daisy may be the only way to save his soul.


What a beautiful, honest, and intriguing story. Moonglow had my heart pounding through action, devastation, romance, and more. While I wasn't fully immersed until I was about 20% into the book, the 80% that followed was simply incredible.


Moonglow is a stand alone novel from the Darkest London series. Although each book includes previous characters in the series, the main characters change with each book, enabling the reader to join in at any point.

Each of the female protagonists in all three of the series are sisters who are close and weaved into each other's lives often, which may have attributed for my lack of interest to start...maybe I was missing something from Firelight? Previous knowledge of Ian, or of Archer and Miranda? I'm not sure. However, I do know that while reading Moonglow, the reader was given so much setup and background for Winterblaze (Darkest London, Book 3).

Anywho, let's get back to it.

I quickly fell in love with Daisy, a feisty, troubled woman, adventuring to conceal her damaged soul with sarcasm, wit, and sex appeal. She is finally finished "mourning" her cruel and vicious husband. In desperate need of flirtation and freedom she hopes to find the piece of herself that has been deeply buried since "the incident."

Ian Ranulf is a mindlessly handsome rogue, bedding copious amounts of women and caring not for the holds placed on him in society. After being in exile from the Ranulf Clan, he yearns for a social connection while not daring to attempt one, having reaped consequences far to terrible to bare. I adored Ian, faltering with his thoughts of immortality and concealing much pain behind his humor and brashness.

Daisy and Ian's relationship begins in a difficult place. A murderer is scavenging the streets of London, following a very particular scent - a perfume that Daisy herself created. Drawn to protect a woman who hides more than she shows, Ian begins to feel alive once again. Keeping constant secrets from each other while trying to keep the other alive, may end up causing the death of them both.

The depth of storytelling and world building in this novel is just amazing. Ms. Callihan easily weaves her historic tale of the London streets and the creatures living among us. There were so many little treats to uncover throughout this novel that simply left me breathless. Beautiful writing, an honest and believably love story, and excellent adaptations of the paranormal intrigued and riveted - the best part? I now can go back and read book one. :)

4 comments:

  1. Ooh i like the whole premises of this book and the series. My OCD about reading books out of order won't let me read book two first, so I am off to add both to my wishlist. I am excited about the depth of world-building, the sisters and that while standalone the tales are woven together..awesome review!

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    1. This is the first series that I've read out of order because I have series OCD too! :) Will definitely be backtracking and reading the first. :)

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  2. That cover just drew me in! I love it! I'm wondering where the woman is heading with that lantern, as she nervously glances over her shoulder. She's obviously in a forest. Mysterious.... The plot is just incredibly interesting! And I already love the characters -- your description of them has me wanting to get this book RIGHT NOW. This sounds like a very intriguing series, and I must get over to GR right away, to find out more!

    Thanks for the very informative review!! : )

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    1. RIght! I fell in LOVE with this cover - one of my favorites for 2012 for sure. :)

      Thank you for taking the time to read my review and let me know what you think if you read Moonglow! :)

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