Customer Reviews

Seen By Moonlight

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I love the fact that Ms. Eschenburg was not afraid to add history to her historical romance. In this story our hero and heroine come to terms with life and love with the Civil War as a backdrop for their story. This story in many ways reminded me of the old classic "Gone With the Wind" in the fact that the time period was the same, pre civil war to the call of arms and the "excitement" that was felt by so many during this time period.

Royce and Annabelle's story takes place in pre-war Virginia and they are forced into a marriage that does not seem like it will have a happy ending. It's really a deal made between Royce and his father with Annabelle caught in the middle. As both of these strong people come to terms with what life has dealt them, they are also facing the coming storm both realizing that war won't be glorious but that it's a foregone conclusion. Despite this they fall in love and their love story is wonderful. Full of all kinds of emotion.

Secondary characters only enrich this already wonderful story. This is the first time that I've read Ms. Eschenburg but it won't be the last.

This could have been a good book but the writer puts in child rape which is gross and doesn't have the couple together enough. Teh war is used to take up space and the romance with the slave couple was more believable. Not enough passion and does not cover the war very well

Ms. Eschenburg takes the arranged-marriage plot device but doesn't really give it anything new. The "hero" really isn't that likable, and spends half the novel apart from the heroine. They end up together, but the reader is left wondering "why?" The author attempts to fill up the lack of real romance by setting the story against the American Civil War, but makes some mistakes with that as well, and child sexual abuse just flat does not belong in a romance novel AT ALL. That chapter nearly made me lose my lunch and it really didn't add anything to the plot. Not the worst "romance" I've ever read by any means, but definitely not worth the cover price. Buy used.

As a reader of historical romance, a civil war buff, and a fan of the Outlander series author Diana Gabaldon, who once recommended this book on her web site, I came to this novel fully expecting to like it. I was severely disappointed. This is a middling, at best, romance novel with a pedestrian plot, predictable characters, and a hero and heroine who couldn't be more representative of all that's tedious in the genre. The author seems sincere and there's a sense that she did her civil war era research, but the book holds no surprises and little inducement for the reader to continue past the first few chapters.

If you're going to write a novel about another spirited, plain but beautiful, impoverished girl-woman who makes a marriage of convenience with a gorgeous, tortured, secretly-sensitive man who-pretends-to-hate-but-really-loves-her than it better be exquisitely plotted and beautifully written. This book is neither.

Seen By Moonlight is a love story that goes far beyond romance. The story spans the Civil War, showing us the beautiful Virginia countryside from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the great river valleys in peacetime before taking us through the destruction that the war brought to that country.
Ms. Eschenburg's skill as a writer is to put the reader into a scene so fully that you will believe you are there. I recently saw the movie Cold Mountain, which has a similar setting. This novel painted more of a picture of beauty, horror and love than the big screen was able to capture.
With the horrors of war raging around them we see Royce Kincaid and Annabelle Hallston slowly changing until each of them chooses to take the most courageous step of all--to surrender to love.
Don't be fooled by the embrace on the book jacket--the love these two share is not mere lust. They discover the depths of each other as people before they ever explore their physical passion. When that time comes Ms. Eschenburg uses her wonderful descriptive skills to show us both tenderness and fire.
This is a book I won't soon forget.

Writer uses the war as filler while trying to pass off child molesting as romance. Couple doesn't get together until the end of the book. Big disappointment and some mistakes with Civil War history.

Kathleen Escheburg has crafted another winner here. The story is filled with raw emotion, wonderful characterization and miles and miles of description that put you right there. The love story is sweet and remains true to plot and character. That's why the book works.

bought this book eagerly because I'm a Civil War reenactor and love the period. This book is a major disappointment. The hero and heroine don't get together until the last third of the book. The war is little more than a backdrop "Oh, this is going to be a terrible thing" over and over. Instead of real romance, we get child molestation, slave concubinage, the obligatory PC horrors of slavery....gag. I wanted history and romance and this book fails to deliver. The author also made a few mistakes with her research and does a poor job of depicting historical figures such as General Lee, Stonewall Jackson and others. She tries to describe the heroine looking sexy in pantalets (which were out of style by the time of the war) and a camisole (which is an undergarment that didn't exist yet - women of the period wore chemises). If you want to read real Civil War romance written by somebody who really knows the period, buy Heather Graham instead.

A story that has everything set against the background of the civil war. Really enjoyable. See Klausner review above.

Brought to the brink of bankruptcy following her father's illness and death, Annabelle Halleston agrees to honor a bargain struck between her father and Royce Kincaid's father. It allows her to save the family home while assuring her brother's futures. In addition to a few other demands, however, she changes their wedding day to April Fool's Day.

Royce counters with his own expectations regarding inheritance of his property in the event of his death or the dissolution of their marriage should he survive the war. Indeed, should he survive the war, Royce intends to go west and wishes no further contact with Annabelle. It does not take long for Royce to realize that if he does not die in the coming war, he would live to regret this marriage.

Author Kathleen Eschenburg recreates the beauty and the grace of the south before the Civil War with all possible poignancy and pain of that lost era. She deftly exposes the flaws of slaveholders, for example, yet they can be ethical, sympathetic and terribly flawed. The result is a story that springs vividly alive with the tragic nuances, triumphs and perplexities that makes it truly believable. From the main characters to the slaves, these are characters readers come to care for. One of the most entertaining Civil War stories I have had the privilege to review, SEEN BY MOONLIGHT comes very highly recommended.