Customer Reviews

Moon of the Jaguar [3 1/2 Diskette, HTML]

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Moon of the Jaguar is a contemporary paranormal romance set the Yucatan jungle where a quartet of university professors have gathered at the ruins of an ancient Maya temple. While there they become involved with a drug lord and the ghosts of Mayan lovers, Jaguar Lord and White Fire Woman.

Though competent and quite readable, Alice Gaines' prose lacks either fire or sparkle, at least one of which would seem to be a pre-requisite for an engaging romance, certainly for a suspense novel. Alas, almost from the beginning she defuses the relationship between Lydia and Alex by making it too easy. They meet at a faculty party and before the end of the first chapter they have shared a serious lip lock. Granted, lust at first sight is not only possible but in the case of two attractive people over the age of consent, it's likely. However within the confines of a romance novel it makes moot the all-important question of whether the couple is going to get together at all much less for good, and it defuses a lot of the tension that can build to a delicious climax with that first kiss. By chapter four the two have consummated their passion and there is a fair amount of sexuality for the rest of the book. Readers who do not care for "on-screen" sex would do well to skip this one.

So with the relationship a fait accompli, where is there to go? Well, there's the suspense angle which isn't badly done, and the paranormal aspect which though modest, in my opinion, worked nicely. The ghosts of Jaguar Lord and White Fire Woman - alter-ego/past incarnations of Alex and Lydia respectively - work pretty well, and it's clear that here, as with the setting, Gaines did some homework. Names, physical details flow easily and ring true without being intrusive. The secondary characters are reasonably interesting and help fuel the plotlines.

Moon of the Jaguar isn't going to dazzle you, but for the price, it could prove to be a nice way to spend an afternoon. Give it a shot.