I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Harvest Moon by Helena Shaw Series: The Night Hunters #1
Published by Jynxed Moon on 2014
Genres: Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Magic, Fiction, Legends, Myths, Fables, Love & Romance, New Adult, Paranormal
Read it as: eARC
Source: Netgalley
My rating:
Check it out in Goodreads
Synopsis
She’s pretending to be someone she’s not.
For two years, Dawn Garrett has been on the run from some very bad people. The small town of Goosemont, nestled deeply in the Appalachian Mountains, seems like the perfect place for a young woman to disappear.
He isn’t who he says he is.
When Jase Byrnes is working a job, he needs to blend in, and he works alone. He knows what dark creatures lurk in the shadows and prowl in the night, and it’s his duty to hunt them.
Not all is right in the picturesque town of Goosemont. Hikers are going missing at an alarming rate and people are turning up dead. It isn’t bears or wolves that are hiding deep in the mountain, but a terrifying evil that Jase has come to hunt. It’s the same evil that has claimed the life of Dawn’s best friend and with Jase’s help, she is ready to fight back. Will Jase be able to finish the job? Or will his attraction to Dawn only put her in more danger?
Harvest Moon starts off with a prologue, where we’re shown exactly why is Dawn Garrett running from bad people, and who these bad people are.
But…
These bad people have nothing to do with the real plot of the story, which means… There went five minutes of my time I’ll never get back. -_-
That’s right. I thought that maybe at the end, at least, her former problems would catch up with her and present more conflict, but that’s not what happened.
What I liked about this book was the take on paranormal we rarely see. Most of the time, werewolves, vampires and other paranormal creatures are these ethereal beings that just want to be loved. And while that’s nice, (Who doesn’t love their good Alpha falls in love with human or human falls in love with vampire from time to time?) I also like to see the darker side from time to time. Here, these paranormal creatures are actually the enemy.
The romance was good too. Very entertaining indeed.
On the other hand, there’s the plot. It’s very simple. Women keep getting preyed on by some animal in this town. FBI gets involved, hunters come look for what they assume is a bear out of control… When Dawn’s best friend dies, she’s all for finding out who, or what did it, and that it has consequences for the responsible.
It’s a find-the-murderer plot. And as any find-the-murderer plot, we like to experience tension, anticipation. We have our suspects, and the characters have theirs. We want to confirm if it’s who we thing it was, or if it’s someone we didn’t even see coming and then we’ll nod and be like ‘yeah, it totally makes sense!’
Unfortunately, there’s only one suspect in this book, and there’s little effort to divert attention from him. And unless you have a super creative imagination and find other character suspicious, I’m afraid you’re not getting much C.S.I here.
At the end, it turns out that yes, the only suspect was indeed guilty. The End.
Not for people looking for a thrilling read.
Lol nothing worse than an obvious murder mystery plot. It takes away all the fun in it! It may not be a thrilling read but at least the romance was good for you 🙂
Stephanie@ThesePaperHearts recently posted this awesome thing…Movie Review: The Maze Runner
Yep, that saved it from a dreaded two-star rating.