Moonglow (Darkest London, #2)

by Kristen Callihan

Once 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 newfound 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.

For fans of Cassandra Clare, Gail Carriger and Amanda Quick - this is a dark, paranormal romance you won't want to miss.

'Evocative and deeply romantic' - Nalini Singh

'A sizzling paranormal with dark history and explosive magic! Calligan is an impressive new talent' - Larissa Ione

• ISBN10: 0349406014
• ISBN13: 9780349406015
• Publish Date: 30 September 2014 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Piatkus Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

It did need a bit of a mild recap of what had gone before as I found it quite hard to get into the swing of the world. The heroine of this story is Daisy Ellis Craigmore, who has lost her unlamented husband a year ago and now sees an opportunity to live, this is interrupted by a strange creature who kills the man she's with and her friend and she's rescued by Ian Ranulf, the Marquis of Northrup, a man with secrets and a man who wants her. Both of them find out more about themselves and their lives will change for what happens.

Entertaining, but sometimes the characters need a bit more situational awareness.

[celinenyx]

The first book in the Darkest London series left me feeling angry and frustrated. One of my biggest pet peeves, lack of communication, filled the pages of Firelight. Moonglow, however, restored my faith in Ms Callihan as a writer and left me with warm and fuzzy feelings.

Daisy is a widow, and glad to be so. Her husband was a terrible man, and she's excited to start a new life without him. On her first outing into society, she witnesses the gruesome murder of a man. This leads her to find out about a world she never thought existed, and into the protection of Ian, werewolf gentleman.

Daisy was exactly my kind of heroine. She says what she thinks, she keeps her head cool and her pride in check. Where Firelight lacked communication between the hero and heroine, Moonglow is the exact opposite. Every time I thought they were going to keep secrets from each other, they didn't. They came clean every single time, saying what was on their mind. This made it much easier to root for their relationship, because they fit together so well.

Ian is an asshole in the first book, and in the first part of Moonglow we see some residuals of that. Throughout the book he becomes more likeable though, and more of a well-rounded character. He is a bit of a tortured soul, with him being an immortal werewolf and all, which I'm sure will appeal to many readers.

The Darkest London world gets bigger in Moonglow, with more creatures being introduced (and even a hint of steampunk). I loved that we're getting more details about the supernatural community and the tensions between them, and I'm hoping we'll get more of that in the third book.

The paranormal and historical blend seamlessly in Moonglow, and introduce a sensible and wonderful couple in Daisy and Ian.

[Amanda]

I did a revisit review on the first book in this series, Firelight, and couldn't resist doing another for Moonglow. This series is that good. Intriguing world, fun characters, and seriously steamy scenes. What's not to love?

Moonglow starts off with a bang--not literally--with a quick introduction to little Ian and his...issues. In many ways, this sets the tone for the book: amusing and sexy. The banter between Daisy and Ian is one of my favorite parts of Moonglow. The verbal warfare increased the tension and catapulted the book forward, making it hard to put down. MOAR SEXY BANTER!

And props to Kristen Callihan for the almost-sex scene in the carriage. *fans self*

Moonglow expands the Darkest London world, diving into werewolf lore--or rather, lycan lore. It's intriguing in its differences, yet grounded enough in what we're familiar with to avoid confusion. We're also introduced to a new kind of paranormal creature that I hope we get to learn more about in future books.

We get to revisit--briefly--Miranda and Archer, though the side character focus seems to be centered on future couples. However. HOWEVER. I hope we get to see more Daisy and Ian in future books; their story seems to be just beginning. And for the record, I was able to guess the identity of the werewolf before it was revealed, though there was enough OTHER STUFF happening that took me by surprise.

Moonglow was able to kick my reading apathy out the door, and whenever books can do that, I know I've found a winner. Now I'm dying to get my hands on Winterblaze. I need to know what happens next.

[Angie]

I received a free digital copy through Net Galley.

I was a little reluctant to read this one, since I only just-liked the first book and wasn't blown away. I was curious though, since I generally love paranormal matters set in historical periods. Well, from the very beginning, I liked Moonglow much better than Firelight! The plot was much more interesting and less confusing, so I found myself wanting to keep reading rather than constantly putting it down.

There's a werewolf loose on the streets of London, and he's oddly attracted to a certain fragrance. This of course is bad news for his victims, except for Daisy Ellis who managed to get away. Now she's under the protecion of the sexy lycan, Ian Ranulf. However, Daisy is a strong-willed woman and refuses to be under any man's thumb after recently being free from her abusive marriage. This causes them to bump heads, but not necessarily become aversaries. In fact, they do like each other...a lot. The tension between those two is electric from the very beginning!

I also really liked the distinction between werewolves and lycans. Although the history isn't 100% clear (Ian acknowledges this, actually), it was still very interesting. Of course, Daisy has some power of her own, which while I was expecting it, I didn't guess that it would be what it was! Then we learn the truth behind Daisy, Miranda, and Poppy and it made me eager to get Poppy's book!

The one thing that still bothers me about these books is the wordy writing. I did find myself skipping around a bit, since some scenes are just too detailed and slow for my liking. This author also has a habit of being especially descriptive of gorey scenes, which will be fine for some readers, but I'm a bit more squeamish. Despite that, Moonglow was a huge improvement over Firelight. The romance was sweeter, the sex was hotter, and there's plenty of surprises within its pages. I'm definitely looking forward to the next one!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[EBookObsessed]

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