Reviewer: Holly Moon Burning by Lucy Monroe
Series: Children of the Moon #3
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: February 1, 2011
Genres: Historical Romance, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 295
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Lucy Monroe returns to her hugely popular paranormal world, where a woman falls under the spell of the beast who is her one true enemy...
Barr never asked to be made laird over the struggling Donegal clan or leader of its werewolf pack. But he'll do his duty, and although he hasn't yet found his mate, he hopes she will be among his people. He expects his new role to be difficult; he doesn't expect to discover a naked woman in the forest whose memory is as fragile as her human body—her delectable, all too appealing body. Could this woman be his true mate?
On a mission to save her people from extinction, Sabrine pretends she has no memory in order to gain access to her enemy: the Donegal clan. A raven shifter, she is determined to retrieve the sacred stone that rightfully belongs to her people. But soon she'll be engulfed in her burning desire and growing love for Barr—and the dangerous and inescapable secrets destined to keep them apart.
I didn’t love this book as much as I did the previous two in the series. It was good, just not as good as the others.
Sabrine is a raven shifter. For decades they’ve been in hiding, hunted by the other shifters of the world. As a warrior for her clan, she has sworn to protect them..and keep their existence a secret. When a magical stone they need to complete their coming-of-age ceremony is stolen, Sabrine vows to get it back. To do so, she’ll have to infiltrate the Donegal clan..a clan full of wolf-shifters – her sworn enemy.
Barr is shocked to find a naked woman in the forest. Especially when he realizes she’s the perfect mate for him. But not everything about Sabrine adds up. Who is this woman, really? She’s obviously not the helpless thing she’s pretending to be, but will she open up enough to trust him with her secrets? And can he live without her if she doesn’t?
Barr was the best part of this novel. He’s strong and capable, yet tender and loving. It doesn’t take him long to realize Sabrine is his true mate. Once he does, he determines to let her come to him on her own. He doesn’t try to force her to open up to him or punish her when she doesn’t. He’s supportive of her and gives her the time she needs to realize she can trust him. He’s also a fair leader. He knows how to motivate his men, gain their loyalty, and still ruthlessly take control when needed.
If Barr was the best part of this novel, Sabrine was the worst. She spends the length of the novel deceiving Barr, distrusting him, and saying and doing hurtful things. In the beginning, I appreciated her zeal in keeping her secrets and doing what was best for her clan. But as the novel progressed her actions became more and more unreasonable. In the face of nothing but overwhelming support and caring from Barr, she still treated him as nothing more than her enemy. I didn’t understand how she could give her body to him, claim to care for him, yet still deny him all of herself.
That isn’t to say she didn’t have some redeeming qualities. The way she was with the other clanswomen showed she had a compassionate side. I also liked that she was a true warrior. She wasn’t a woman pretending to be strong and capable – she really was strong and capable. She knew her limits and pushed herself to the full extend of them. But the way she deceived Barr and his clan, not to mention her self-righteous attitude about it really turned me off.
The secondary romance between Barr’s second and the Donegal clan healer was well done. I enjoyed watching them circle each other. I also enjoyed the clan dynamics. As Barr trained them and showed them what a real leader should be, the entire clan blossomed.
The suspense plot was somewhat predictable. I feel like Monroe has kind of done the same thing over and over. It would be nice to see a new threat, rather than more of the same from previous novels.
Although there I complained quite a bit, I did enjoy much of this novel. I just didn’t particularly care for the heroine.
3.25 out of 5
Children of the Moon
