Customer Reviews

Call of the Highland Moon

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I love supernatural tales. I sat down to read what I thought would be a gripping Shape shifter romance. I really thought this was going to be a book to capture my love of this genre. I am so disappointed. I managed to read as far as page 46 hoping the story line would become clearer. It didn't. What a mish mash of words that failed to get me the reader, even vaguely interested in what was about to happen. No story line became clear for me to follow. It felt as if I were watching foreign language movie, with no sub titles. I always thought the art of a good Author was to grab the reader's attention in the first few paragraphs. This book failed miserably. My book buying money is too precious to waste, on books by this author, in future.

Gideon MacInnes is an alpha, next in line to take over his clan. His clan has been guardian of the Stone of Destiny. He understands this responsibility he is to inherit, but is lonely. Needing time away, he travels to the states. He's attacked and almost killed, but finds haven in front of a store owned by Carly Silver.

Since Gideon is in wolf form, Carly thinks he's a large dog, possibly has some wolf in him. She brings him home and nurses his wounds. When he changes back to human form, he's in her bed. What neither one realizes though is Carly is now in the same danger as Gideon from the same evil force.

I enjoyed the basic story idea. What paranormal romance lover wouldn't? I love the chemistry between the hero and heroine. There were two areas I had trouble with. First it was way, way too much repeating of information. I found myself skimming a major portion of the book, so that I could get to the good stuff.

The next area was the believability factor. Even within the realm of werewolves and vampires, there has to be a believable story throughout. Some areas seem to lack that.

This book is first in the Castle's Highland series. The next is DARK HIGHLAND FIRE followed by WILD HIGHLAND MAGIC to be released in May of 2009.

Ms. Castle has introduced a new spin on the Scottish Stone of Destiny, the Lia Fail and what the stone's power entails. The attraction between Gideon and Carly sizzles the pages with the tantalizing gazes they give each other, let alone their kisses, caress ...you'll have to read the book to know more. Trust me, you'll want these two star- crossed lovers to beat the odds and find true happiness.

Ms. Castle's secondary characters are just as memorable, Carly's friend, the gorgeous Ragan and her scrumptious treats she bakes. You'll be endeared to Carly's over protective brothers and demanding Italian mother. Gideon's brother may have a carefree attitude, but when the chips are down, Gabriel has the family's back. I look forward to reading more about the Guardians of the Lia Fail, which the author hints at the end--there is more to come. Well done!

Reviewed for PNR Paranormal Romance

Call of the Highland Moon gets off to an action packed start with Sexy Scottish Werewolf Gideon MacInnes on holiday in America to do some soul searching about accepting his destiny as next clan alpha. He's just decided that the city life he thought he was missing out on is not for him when he goes out for a run and is attacked by rogue 'weres' seeking to overthrow Gideon's clan. Gideon's badly injured in the attack but manages to drag himself to the doorstep of a sympathetic romance bookstore owner. Then the story comes to a screeching halt.

But don't give up, even though it takes some patience to make it through the gigantic rewind in time to introduce the heroine Carly and her gal pals, and to watch as Carly decides she could use some companionship in her life, the story gets back on track when we finally get back to the point in the story where big hearted Carly finds the battered very large very intelligent dog and takes him home to care for. Of course the next morning Carly's new pet is a gorgeous naked stranger, but Carly gets past her fears of the `delusional' man who some how ended up in her house and accepts the reality of the existence of werewolves without too much trouble. But even though Gideon discovers that fate has brought him to his one and only mate, Gideon has issues with the past which have made him vow to never take a human for a mate. And with the rogue wolves out to kill him to remove him as an obstacle for gaining control of a powerful artifact guarded by his clan, Gideon's planning on leaving Carly behind as soon as he's healed.

While I bought the book for Gideon -- I mean Scottish werewolf, I love both the brogue and the fur, so how could I resist -- what really made the book for me was Carly. Gideon plays the alpha-to-be, withholding information and making decisions `to protect' Carly. When Carly finds out that Gideon's lied and chosen to put both her and her family in danger, Carly takes a stand -- she locks him out of her house, and refuses to listen to his excuses or let him off the hook just because she's drawn to him physically. It takes a major intervention by Carly's gal pal Regan and some major groveling before Carly considers giving Gideon a second chance. More good stuff from Carly, a decent enough plot that introduces peril for both Carly and Gideon and some good secondary characters in Regan, Gideon's brother Gabriel and Gideon's crazy power hungry evil cousin, all worked to make Call of the Highland Moon a pretty good first effort by author Castle. And you can bet, I will be checking out the next book Dark Highland Fire with more sexy Scottish werewolves!

I'm always on the look-out for new paranormal romances and I'm always hopeful that I'll find a new author I'll love, but unfortunately, this wasn't it. First off, I only made it through the first three chapters before I gave up. It was that bad. It started out with the hero being attacked and that part seemed promising. The hero seemed likeable and strong, something I worried about since he was supposed to be running from his responsiblities, but he's on his way back when the book opens. Then, he gets hurt and we meet the heroine. This is where the book dropped off.

The author gives new meaning to 'taking the Lords name in vain' because I swear EVERY sentance or thought the heroine made started with G-, J- or C-. C'mon, be a little creative! Now, this is a story about werewolves, so to me there's a fine line between believablity and fantasy. If the characters are likeable, I'm willing to buy into love at first sight, accepting someone's a werewolf without too much of a fight, etc. But, I want a characters actions to be intelligent, not fly off the handle stupid. Like hers were.

After taking a wounded wolf home, she wakes up and sees a snoring, heavily wounded man lying next to her. Now, yes, this would be shocking, but her reaction is a little strange. Her first reaction is...he's killed my dog and then climbed into my bed to...fall asleep. That's what she's upset about to the fact that she doesn't ask 'who are you?' 'what are you doing here?' It's 'how could you kill my dog?' Okaaay.

Then, of course we have the villain with his equally villanious mother. They are definitely caricatures of villains, right down to the cheesy supervillan dialogue.

Between the bad writing and the weird reactions, I just finally put it aside and tried to forget it. Maybe it would have gotten better as I went along, but I just didn't have the heart or will to do it. If you want fun characters and strong werewolf world building, check out Patricia Briggs' Mercy series.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!! With a few laughs and a few steamy moments the authors writing style is easy to follow. I love the fact that she took time to explain the background of some of the characters because without it I think the book would have been seriously lacking. There were several parts in this book that had me grinning like the cheshire cat and then there was a part that had me laughing out loud. I am really looking forward to reading more from this author!

I won't rehash the details of the story since you can read about it in the book details. I will give you my impressions though; I found myself skimming through many pages. The internal dialogue was way too long. There was a lot of background story that needed to be told but wasn't entertaining, so again I skimmed.

The relationship between Carly and Gideon advanced quickly and that's fine, but had the author wrote more conversation between them, the uptake in the relationship would have felt more natural. The love between them would've made more sense. Some of the dialogue between them didn't flow as it should have; it felt awkward and forced, but then there were some lines they made chuckle. I liked Gideon alot. Carly was so-so. I actually liked her friend Regan better. Her personality was "in your face" while Carly's was passive and lacked true spirit.

The secondary characters; their friends, parents, siblings didn't add as much to the story as they could have; for the exception of Carly's friend Regan. I'll say she gave the story some value add.

The romantic scenes were well written; descriptive; a little steamy.

The villan(s) in the story held true to their title as villian(s). You want to hurt them. Bad. You look forward to their demise, their destruction. You want them to get what's coming to them. To bleed. That's how they should be. The reader should hate them and I did.

Although the plot was decent, I wasn't as intrigued in the hows and whys behind the story. In my eyes, a book really should have you wondering how it's going to end, why whatever happenend in the past, happened, and be shrouded in mystery and intrigue. I was thinking, eh, I really don't care that much.

There was a few decent battle scenes. I truly enjoy reading about a good fight. These few were ok, not great.
I really would give this book a 3 1/2; and I don't think I'll continue the series.

Let's see, werewolves in Scottish highlands...yes please! That being said, I enjoyed the book, it was not fantastic or out-of-this-world amazing, but it was a fun read, I enjoyed the characters, Gideon as the run away alpha and Carly the bookworm turned feisty heroine. This book is not a historical novel, it is contemporary paranormal romance. The characters families were quite entertaining as well. I will probably be reading more of this author's work in the future, but it's not quite a "must-read"...more so, an enjoyable, fun, sexy read, which let's face it, that's pretty cool too. If you like werewolf books, you will like this book. If you like Scottish tough guys, this book should work for you. If you like both werewolves and scottish tough guys, this book is a very fun pick you will enjoy.

I came across this at my local UBS. Being that I enjoy reading paranormal romances, decided to give this one a whirl. This is a nice entry in the genre. The hero is quite yummy and the heroine is rather likeable. I enjoyed their scenes and interaction back and forth. There are a few secondary characters that I feel will show up in their own books at some point.

I guess my only complaint would be the world building could have been a bit more constructed. It read at times more like a mystery and I would have liked some of the werewolf aspects more fully explored. Overall, I enjoyed the book and look forward to further installments in this author's werewolf world.

Bookstore owner Carly Silver is closing up shop one snowy night when she hears a noise outside the back door. She opens it to find a wounded animal on her doorstep. Thinking he is a large dog, she takes him home and tends to his wounds, deciding that he would make the perfect pet. But when she wakes up the next morning she finds a naked man in her bed, and the wounded dog gone from in front of her fireplace.

Werewolf Gideon MacInnes is slated to become the next alpha of his pack in Scotland. He's not too keen on the idea, and he's taken a trip from home to try and escape his destiny. When two werewolves in New England attack him, he knows it's more than a coincidence. He finds Carly's shop, and when he sees her he knows he's her mate. But Gideon also knows how things turn out for a werewolf/human love match, and he's not willing to risk Carly to find out if things can work out right.

But trouble is brewing amongst his clan, as his cousin seeks to have Gideon and his father, Duncan, killed so he can take control of the pack, and of the mysterious Stone of Destiny. Can Carly and Gideon be true to their love at the same time an evil force is attacking all they hold dear?

I've had Call of the Highland Moon on my TBR pile for a while. This is one of those times that, when I was halfway through the book, I wanted to kick myself for letting it drift farther down the pile.

Carly and Gideon's story is beautifully told, with wonderfully drawn characters and a richly detailed world that pulled me in and never let go. I loved watching these two grow together, and the fact that it wasn't always peaches and cream just added to the wonderful flavor of this tale.

Both Carly and Gideon are strong willed, and that made them a perfect match for each other. The ending of the story kept me glued to my seat, and left me wondering what happened next and where I could get my hands on the next book. When that happens it's always a book I have to tell my friends about.

That makes Call of the Highland Moon a recommended read for me. It is a book that I will place on my keeper shelf and pull out on a cold winter's night to devour once again.

Amelia
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed