Thunder Moon is the first book in the Langston Bay Trilogy by Joanne Mallory. Thea Lavelle is a hereditary witch whose gift came late. But when she meets Marc, her best friend’s brother, she realizes their souls have crossed paths before. Devastated by the loss of a patient, grief and guilt have left Marc burnt out, and he knows the best thing for him is to head home and recover. But as they are inexplicably drawn together, it soon becomes clear that fate is at work. Are they strong enough to confront their unknown past, and still build a future together?

Thunder Moon is a witchy contemporary romance. I liked the setting and the friendship between Thea and Ellie. I like all of the characters, and found Thea, Ellie, and Marc to be well developed and complicated. However, I think the majority of the relationship development was more assumed or an after thought than actually part of the story. Even the big resolution at the end seemed a little flat. I felt invested in everyone's wellbeing, but not in the developing romance. I am hoping this is at least partly because of the amount of history and character set up that needed to be laid for the trilogy. To be honest, I am more interested in Ellie and Thea's brother, and the larger story line after reading this book than the happy ever after promised to Thea and Marc.

Thunder Moon is a fast read, and entertaining. However, I felt like it was light on relationship development and the world and story building seemed a little flat. I enjoyed it, but it did not wow me of leave me eager for the next installment. I might pick up the next book to see if it improves but I will not be searching it out.

The story definitely keeps you interested, and the characters are compelling and well-developed.

I did not realize how short this book was until I started reading. Like novella length, so don't do what I did and go in expecting a full-length novel... which I think was the problem. Thunder Moon NEEDED to be a full length novel to accommodate all that was going on.

This sounds like it's going to be a paranormal romance/urban fantasy type book, right? Based on the synopsis I would make that assumption. Instead, it was romance with SOME supernatural aspects but not enough to curb my expectations. I love paranormal romances so I could ignore the length of this book if it delivered on all the witchy goodness.

But it did not.

Furthermore, that romance was all chocked full of insta-love. I get that it's a novella so you're fitting a lot of story into a short space (why did it need to be a novella?) but I wanted that romance developed if it was going to take up so much page space.

I wanted to get into the characters more, and didn't mind Thea and Marc's alternating points of view, but I never had enough time to care about them nor see any real development. For this particular story and the way it's presented, they needed more time to come into their own, more of a focus on that development compared to the rest of the plot. I wanted to feel what they felt, to really get in their heads. As it was, I think anyone could have jumped into their shoes while reading and I'm sure that works for some people. Just not me. Thunder Moon definitely felt more story driven than character and I happen to be a fan of the latter.

The writing itself is decent. I wasn't marveling at the skill but it was descriptive and easy to get into. This book is definitely a quick read both from the style of writing as well as the pace. Mallory keeps the story moving at a good clip.

Unfortunately there just wasn't enough of this story. I think the plot holds a lot of promise and could have definitely been expanded to bring out those characters a bit more as well as flesh out the world (I need to know what's up with the magic, thank you very much). If you're interested in quick, easy romance with a paranormal spin, you might enjoy this novella. If you're looking for something a bit... more, probably not the best for you. An okay read for what it was.

The book was a nice break from some of the hot and heavy paranormal romance books. It was a quick read and didn't have a huge mystery to figure out. Two people meeting and having a connection, which leads to romance. The paranormal aspect could have had more of a role in the novel but otherwise I was satisfied with everything. I'm interested to see where the series travels from here.

The witch and the healer are drawn to one another and they don't know why. Thunder Moon is a good opening for this new series. Both leads are reader friendly and the story is filled with bits of magic throughout (though I wish there was more). I must mention that I had to Google several terms in order to know the meaning. The story is set in the UK and some of the terminology goes along with the local..

Marc is a therapist in the army who has been sent on a month long leave when a patient he had been treating a patient- Patrick- had committed suicide. Marc had thought Patrick was doing good then Patrick commits suicide and Marc is messed up over this young man’s death. Marc is a little burned out and had some thoughts of leaving the military for a couple of months. Marc had thought the army would be his career but wasn’t so sure now. Maybe after ten years in the army it was time for Marc to get out and start somewhere else. Marc and his sister ell are healers. Marc knew the minute Elle seen him she would know something was very wrong. Elle did know it and it worried her and their mother who had picked up on something in a ten word text also knew and was worried. Thea and Elle had met on a train to the university and quickly became friends and roommates. The also both grew up in the bay a couple of miles apart. Then Thea came into her witch powers while attending the university and it was unexpected to say the least. Thea is still learning what her magic can do and she gets her power from the elements. Thea also goes to a copse of trees where the spirits speak to her. Then Marc and Thea meet and their is an instant connection - they even felt familiar to the other when they had never met before. Thea has her brother’s dog most of the time as her brother is away a lot. The dog and Thea seem to have a special relationship.
This would have been a great story if it had just been longer. I would have liked to know more about Marc, Elle’s and Thea’s background and powers. I think that it actually turned more to the romance of Thea and Marc or instas/ lust or love whatever you want to call it. I also believe this story should have had more supernatural elements to it connecting the powers that the three main characters had. But it was a fast read, as I said to fast for me actually but that is my opinion.I was disappointed in this story.

Some people can't resist a book with Moon, Witches or Thunder in the title or description. Include a very captivating, mysterious cover and I'm hooked.

I am not really sure what exactly to be expected of this book. Surely more witchy thingies and people? But I didn't expect what is to come. The story was a little slow for me.. I expected love story, yeah, but more magic and witchy things. Marc came from a family of a healer.. so there's a witch, and a healer, imagine that power.

To be honest, I came to a point where I am just dragging myself to read, because it got boring. no magic no action...

I want to see more magic and action on the second book.. I find Thea a little childish? I mean can't she feel the magic? she's a witch.. if because of magic why he find Marc interesting maybe she can feel it right? A witch and a healer.... hmm... I wonder what will happen next..

Are Thea's siblings witch and wizard too? I am not sure, but hopefully I can find it out on the second book.

This was a really lovely, short, paranormal romance read. As the start of a series, it sets things up just right.

Thea knows that things are about to change, but she can't be sure exactly how until she waves to a stranger on the beach. That stranger, it turns out, is her BFF's brother, on leave from his job for some tragic reasons. There is an instant connection and some extreme sizzle that shows up right away. In the beginning, the magic is almost secondary to the fated romance they begin to experience. There's an inkling that something else is at play, but since both of them are magic in one way or another, it doesn't really change things.

Everything comes to a head when their fates and past lives become clear. They are both forced to make some hard choices and see where things end up. I really enjoyed both characters and the quirky nature of their small town. At the quick pace that the story revealed itself, it was definitely worth the afternoon it took to read.