Gwen’s review of Hidden Moon (A Nightcreature Novel, Book 7) by Lori Handeland
Paranormal romance published 31 Jul 07 by St. Martin’s Press

This paranormal series is actually several romances loosely related to each other (some more than others).  The Nightcreatures in question are werewolves and the men/women who love them, monster hunters, and all kinds of other fun creatures.   The romances are always good and the dialogue is almost always snappy.  My only complaint is the cover; my favorite cover whore, Nathan Kamp, looks a little hungover – all bloated and tired.

Here’s the book blurb:

He’s got a secret…
Claire Kennedy left Lake Bluff, Georgia, for the bright lights of Atlanta and a promising career in journalism. Now, recovering from a cruel betrayal, she’s back in the one place she always felt safe, starting over as Lake Bluff’s new mayor. But then trouble comes to town in the form of Malachi Cartwright, a man whose past is as mysterious as his present-a man who awakens something dangerous in sensible, realistic Claire.

…that leaves her hungry for more
When a local claims to have been mauled by a vicious wolf, and when the attacks turn deadly, Malachi’s strange behavior rouses Claire’s suspicions. Could he have a secret agenda and a sinister reason for coming to Lake Bluff? Malachi is the only man who could tempt Claire to succumb to her desires-but he’s the last person she can trust. And as an eclipse approaches, the secrets of the hidden moon will come to light, and a deadly enemy will be revealed at last…

Read an excerpt.

I’ve read a few of this series.  When I remember to, I’ll pick the latest one up, though I have never made a special trip to the book store to do so.  That may change after this latest entry.  Ms Handeland appears to have really caught her stride with this one – or I haven’t picked one up in a while to notice the gradual improvement.  Either way, this was a very fun read. 

The one element I liked the most in Hidden Moon was the friendship between the heroine (and mayor of Lake Bluff, GA) Claire and her best friend (and sheriff of said town) Grace.  You can really feel the love between these two women.  Their dialogue reminds me what a treasure a best friend can be and made me forget I was reading a book – that’s special, and rare, for me.

The romance between Claire and the hero, Malachi, is very sweet and passionate.  The storyline is a little twisty but doesn’t lose the reader.  The secondary characters are interesting and important to the story.  I could have wished for a little more wrap-up at the end, but the HEA is nice.  A couple of the woo-woo elements are a little farfetched even for me, die hard paranormal fan that I am, but as long as I didn’t think about them too hard, I could still enjoy the story (I mean, what made the gypsies go to THAT town at THAT time).

For those of you keeping track of who is who in this multi-book series, Ms Handeland’s website has an excellent character breakdown.   However, it is absolutely not a requirement to have read any of the previous books to enjoy this one.  It stands by itself in the series with very little dependence on the rest.

I highly recommend this book for the paranormal fan or for someone looking for strong female characters (a relatively common thing in Ms Handeland’s books, from what I can tell).  I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Grade:  B-

These are the other books in the series, as well as related anthologies (Lori’s a writing fiend!):

Aug 04 , Nov 04 , Feb 05 , Jun 05 , Feb 06 , Aug 06 , Oct 06 , Jan 07 , Oct 07 , Jan 08 Thunder Moon