This is a fast paced urban fantasy book that is infused with mystery. I liked the world building , found family trope, and the spice. I struggled with the FMC. She seemed very immature, Overall, I thought this book was an enjoyable read.

[ARC provided by NetGalley and Hodderscape. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review Shadowed Moonlight.]

Rating: 2/5

I’ll start by saying this simply wasn’t the book for me, and because of that I won’t go into too much detail in this review. The plot was intriguing, but the pacing felt off from the first page. And although I appreciated that the story sinks you right into the action, without a good chance to get through the exposition, developments felt a little rushed in that introductory stage of the story. That paired with a cast of characters that I didn’t particularly like made this a read I couldn’t fully get into.

Shadowed Moonlight is an urban fantasy / second chance romance with a side of murder mystery, and it’s the first in a trilogy that is written in first person. There are witches, vampires, werewolves, and a killer leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake. Our FMC with her particular skillset is able to assist with solving this mystery, but to do so she must fake being the mate of the man who abandoned her four years ago.

I will say that I found myself enjoying this story more at around the 60-70% mark, so if you’re struggling at the start then just stick in there because there are some fun plot developments down the line. I also think that if you prefer your fantasy reads to lean into the romance side of things more, with a significant amount of spicy scenes, then you’ll probably have a great time.

Alas, this wasn’t my kind of read. I’d still recommend it to others as I believe this was a ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ kind of situations. I’ve no doubt that this will find a great home with its target audience but in this case, that audience wasn’t me.

Shadowed Moonlight is the first book in a new fantasy trilogy. The main characters are witches and werewolves and what an amazing combination that creates. I wanted a bit more world-building as to how this world works with all the different types of beings. Overall the plot is good, it’s fast paced, there’s a murder mystery, substance misuse and second chance romance. The spice is spicy and fun to read but slightly questionable in terms of why they are having sex in the first place and the dubious consent this created. But there are some twists - slightly predictable but enjoyable to read. As with any werewolf romance there is plenty of possessiveness and posturing. The murder mystery really fell into the background. This is mainly a second chance romance with fantasy characters, so if you want a fun read with this focus I would recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Yeah, not the book for me, in many ways.

The biggest problem is the general dubious consent for about 50% of the book, it just gave me so much ick I wanted to stop reading. I understand the general reasoning for it, but I think it could have been handled so much better. On top of that there is the **SPOILER** reason the MMC leaves is because he was essentially forcibly raped which that is not really fully explained (was it once or for years? WHY?) or in any way processed other than as the reason they broke up originally.

Then there is barely a HEA/resolution in regards to the mystery element. It left a bad taste in my mouth and I felt disappointed that it wasn't all pulled together like mystery books generally promise. Also, we barely get a good justification for why the FMC is the one who is investigating and other than moving the plot forward I strongly doubt she would have been able to move leeway with just her abilities.

The leaders, and generally all of the characters barely act like adults, let alone as beings who may be immortal. It also bothered me that many times large grievances were just immediately forgiven, but then later the FMC is completely not over them. I am all for complexity, but going from one to the other for no discernable reason is just bad writing and frustrating. The world building was also lacking - I barely understand the different types of supernaturals and almost nothing about the cultures of each. The random dropping in of flashbacks any time we needed backstory was also in my opinion less than ideal and a fairly underwhelming way to accomplish fleshing out the characters.

For being from a Big Five publisher, I am disappointed that this book didn't get more editing that it very much needed. It's a generally good idea, but at every point I was disappointed by the execution.

I really really wanted to enjoy this. And I suppose I did, but in a I want to know what happens way. You know like those ads you get sucked into reading on social media? It felt like that.

The story was compelling enough, a little all over the place and a little chaotic. It was enough that I read it in one sitting and had to know what was happening, so for that it was compelling. The fmc was whiney and very back and forth - her mood switches in a heartbeat. The main mmc, was meant to be an alpha however to me he seemed like a wet blanket. The story itself with the description is that they had a relationship 4 years ago, and I don’t feel like there was enough of that. Maybe a prologue would have sufficed instead of the random flashbacks - even though majority of it was predictable.

But as far as everything else, I’m 50/50 as to whether I would read another in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved this book, however would have loved more world building to help me picture it better and more information about the magic side of things as I found this really interesting but it lacked details in place.

I've had this book on my NetGalley Shelf for a while and why the hell haven't I started it sooner? I mean, the story extremely captivating, I wasn't hooked up straight away because I needed to understand the magic world, but it didn't take long though.

Briar is the FMC whose heart was shattered when her ware boyfriend left town without telling her four years prior. Now, Briar finds herslef helping the Conclave of her town, trying to save her brother from being connected to a murder. when Kane, her ex, returns unexpectedly. And they are now working together to find the killer.

The twists of this book were incredible. I gasped while reading most pages of the last 30% of the book. I got some of the twists but most of them were so unexpected and well thought out that made it a glorious book to read.

Even though it's the first book of a series it doesn't end in a cliffhanger, which I was grateful for, but I can't wait to put my hands on book 2.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
4 stars book from me. Loved the plot and the storytelling in Shadowed Moonlight and relatable, likable characters,. Loved every single second reading it.

Although I have been reading a lot of novels featuring weres, it seems that my love for such stories are immeasurable because when I read the synopsis of Shadowed Moonlight, I knew that I had to request it. Luckily, I got approved and here I am, writing this review. Shadowed Moonlight has its ups and downs, thus, the 3.5 star rating. I enjoyed some parts of it and some had me frowning. The book is only around 261 pages and there are a lot of things to cover given the themes explored in the story. It’s too fast paced for my liking.

Anyhow, let’s backtrack to what Shadowed Moonlight is all about. The novel follows the story of Briar, an Aura Magi, who can look into your past memories and remember things for you. Her ex-boyfriend, Kane Slade, is a werewolf who abandoned her four years ago, literally destroying her life. As part of her moving on strategy, Briar had made sure to never cross paths with Kane again. Unfortunately, a series of gruesome murders had been suddenly happening in the City where she lives in and ultimately, led her not only to meet but work with Kane. While it’s your typical lovers to enemies to lovers story, I find that I still enjoy them and Shadowed Moonlight is no different. It has the perfect formula of a tragic love story between a couple who’s absolutely head over heels in love with each other but due to uncontrollable circumstances, they got torn apart. The romantic conflict in the story was interesting and it’s something that I can understand why things happened.

What did not sit right with me, however, was that everything just happened so fast that I was not able to fully invest myself with the other aspects of the story including the characters. Every heavy conflict was resolved in a rush manner and I had a hard time reconciling why forgiveness came so easy. There was no period of processing the feelings and everything. The characters were also underdeveloped that it took some effort for me to at least relate to them at some point. I did like the mystery aspect of the novel though because it was scary and understandably so. The author did it right for I was really taken aback when the mystery killer was finally revealed. It never crossed my mind that such character would have the audacity to be the killer. Imagine the hairs on my back standing after Briar uncovered the identity of the person plaguing Cambria City with horrific murdered bodies of the supernatural.

All in all, Shadowed Moonlight has its pros and cons. I was just glad that reading it was not wasted at all because it gave me enjoyment albeit the issues that I have mentioned above. Of course, there was really a lot of smut so if you like these things in your paranormal stories, you better try this one. Plus points that this book is a standalone so no more pining for the 2nd installment to be published.

I do enjoy all things werewolf, vampire and murder and this was a solid read! I enjoyed the fake mates trope quite a bit. It left a little to be desired with the world building and with such an interesting magic system I would’ve loved more of that! Intrigued to see where the second book takes us!

This first book ist fast paced, thrilling, sarcastic and spicy - what more needs there to be?! I love the trope of fake dating, also second chances, however I'm no fan of addictions...

I will admit that it took a little bit for me to get into this book, but once I did, I was hooked. There were lots of interesting twists and turns, a few of them I kinda guessed and some I didn’t. There were also a couple of things I wasn’t fond of, but they are a personal preference not a problem with the book or author. I hate it when characters don’t talk to or trust each other, and I am not a huge fan of more romance than mystery. This is actually a pretty good mix of romance and mystery, so I can’t be upset too much. LOL! This is an exciting, well-written, steamy, and interesting paranormal romance sure to please fans of the genre. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hodderscape and author K.C. Harper for this eARC.

So I liked the writing in this book, it's light and easy but still captivating and descriptive. The plot had a good start but unfortunately became very much neglected which lead to it being very surface level and predictable.
Which leads us to our main problem I had with Shadowed Moonlight - our FMC Briar. She is just so, so unlikeable! And not in a good way. She kept telling herself (us, the reader) how she's strong and will do anything to protect the ones she loves while actually being just whiny, passive and an addict herself. She had very few redeeming qualities.
Also there is A LOT of miscommunication!
3.25 stars

- werewolves
- vampires
- murder mystery
- second chance
- fake mates

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of shadowed moonlight in exchange for an honest review.
Peaked my interest straight away, I enjoyed the pack and clan dynamics, loved the murder mystery aspect of the book and honestly wish I had more of that at times.
Sometimes it felt like nothing was happening other than relationship conversations between the main characters and it got a little dull.
It lacked in world building, I couldn't really picture what the world looked like outside of where the characters lived.
The magic system was interesting and I wish there was more on that too.
The ending fell a little flat for me but suppose it's potentially open for a second book
FMC: 23
MMC: 25

3.5 Stars

I love Suzanne Wright so seeing her name in the blurb was an automatic read. This book had a lot of promise but I found it difficult to connect with the female main character, I disagreed with many of her choices. K. C. Harper is an excellent writer and I really like her writing style just not this specific character, I would definitely read another one of her books!

I severely disliked the FMC and I disagreed with just about every choice she made in this book. Although I did finish the book it honestly felt like I wasted my time.

I do however see how someone could enjoy this, i would possibly recommend this to someone as their first urban fantasy however as a chronic fantasy reader it was severely lacking for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
🌶🌶 / 5

✨ Second chance romance
✨ "Enemies" to lovers (one-sided)
✨ Touch her and die
✨ Fake mating
✨ Found family

I've been going into my ARCs blind lately (well, I read the description when I request them, but by the time I get approved and then read them, I've forgotten what they're about unless it's by an author I've already read before) and that's really been paying off for me. I had no preconceived notions with Shadowed Moonlight and that worked quite well for me.

If you've ever gotten one of those IG ads for those chapter by chapter apps about werewolves and the alpha is always a cheat-y mc-cheaterson, this is very similar in vibes, but infinitely less cringey and better written.

What I liked:
There was an actual plot! Did I guess pretty much every twist before it happened? Yes. But I usually do, so I'm not going to hold that against the book, especially since there were a couple non-major reveals that I didn't see coming.

The drama! Listen, maybe it's just because I've been binging Big Brother (and what an insane season it's been so far!), but I'm loving the drama. I'm not usually one who's big on love triangles and messy romance (unless it's of the stabby variety a la FBAA), but the drama in this was *chef's kiss*. Think like old school The O.C., not Riverdale.

What I didn't like so much:
I wanted more world building. There was so much to explore, but it felt very surface level. I wanted more of the lore and history, more on the different factions and why they came to be the way they were. And if you're gonna have a whole different world and talk about geography - give me a map 🙏

Lastly, I do hope that there will be a sequel because the ending could go either way - kind of like when show runners don't know if their season is going to be canceled or not, so it is nicely resolved so you're not left hanging (see: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and Standish), but there's definitely some threads that could be pulled to create another book (or more).

Overall, it was an entertaining read that I had trouble putting down.

If you liked McKenzie Hunter's Legacy series, I think you'll like this one too!

This was a refreshing and fast paced urban fantasy filled with all of our favorite paranormal creatures, murder mystery vibes, high stakes and great spice.

I could really feel the FMCs rage and the MMCs desperation as they worked through their issues. Definitely check the TWs before reading.

The world building and magic system was pretty straight forward and easy to understand. I honestly did not see the twists coming and loved how the author kept us on our toes the entire time.

There was a good amount that was unresolved at the end of the story and I hope we get more soon!

Thank you to K.C. Harper, the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for the early copy of The Shadowed Moonlight. What a sexy supernatural fantasy! I enjoyed this book. The chemistry was so good. Thank you again

It wasn't what I expected but it was still relatively good. If you like urban fantasies you'll probably like this book. For me the biggest flaw was the characters, I really didn't like Briar and all the decisions she makes throughout the book were a bit irritating. The romance was ok but nothing very memorable too.