Dark is part of the Blood Moon, Texas Shifters series. Sizzling hot romance. Guaranteed HEA. No cliffhangers.

@Archaeolibrary, @katkinneywrites, #Paranormal, #Romance, 4 out of 5 (very good)

Dark is the first book in the Blood Moon, Texas Shifters series and it introduces us to a world where shifters and vampires are not the best of friends, where you can be turned by sex or a bite, and where the thunderstorms are FIERCE!

The story itself is a simple one. Unrequited love, up-and-coming band, kidnappings, stalkers, silver addiction, did I say simple? The world-building is fulfilling enough as it is set in contemporary Texas (as you might have guessed from the series title!). Although I have never been, it was easy enough to 'see' this world.

If I had any complaints, I would mention the transitions in some of the scenes. A couple of times, I was confused between what was actually happening and what had already happened but was being remembered. Another time was right at the start. Was Hayden speaking to Ellie in the car or was she remembering the conversation?

Told from the first perspective from both Hayden and Ethan, this was a fast-paced story with plenty of action to balance out the blooming second-chance romance between our two main characters. I would love to know more about Ethan's brothers as I wasn't sure at the end just what was happening but that's probably just me.

A great start to a new series by a new-to-me author but one that I hope to continue with. Definitely recommended by me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

Fifteen paranormal romance stories that features wolf shifters in pursuit of their one true mates, witches pursuing their own agendas and humans that are caught in the middle in a sleepy town full of secrets.

This box set is full of gloriously steamy, exciting and thrilling reads that readers can enjoy one at a time or by binge reading until they can’t take no more. As with all multiple story collections some are better than others but this set can truly boast that every last book is enjoyable and very entertaining. The romance is sweet, the passion hot and the thrills and suspense abundant throughout. Also some stories are longer than others but of course being that is a collection, they are all on the shorter side but they each pack a punch full of individual styles, intriguing stories, and sizzling relationship building all set in a wonderful setting full of ambiance, intrigue and possibilities.

The stories are fast paced with suspense, excitement and twists and turns that keeps the readers glued to the pages of each of the varying stories that have a lot in common but all are each their own story with their own unique elements in a small sleepy town full of secrets world which ensures that readers have a delightful reading experience.

I still say that John Sandford was trolling his readers with the first book in his series. He took all of the complaints of the Lucas Davenport series and just went to level 10 with everything. Lucas was a man that no man can say no to, Virgil rolls into town and gets a woman interested in him in like 5 minutes. Lucas does things out of bounds, well Virgil just goes and works around local law enforcement until he needs them as well and oh in one case several people get shot up and I don't even know what was happening at this point. This first book was a waste of time. 

"Dark of the Moon" follows Virgil Flowers who was introduced in the Lucas Davenport series. We know that Virgil has been married three times and this book pretty much delves into how stupid Virgil is when it comes to women. Poor guy, he's unable to just be a professional without noting how hot or not hot some woman is. Blech.

Anyway, "Dark of the Moon" has Virgil called in on a case involving a man and woman who were murdered in the home in the town of Bluestem. Virgil is called in due to the way that the dead man was posed. On his way to the town, he stops when he sees a local rich man's house on fire. Virgil is quickly involved in both cases and wonders if something ties them together. This being a Sandford book of course something ties them together. Something stupid, but something does. We also have Virgil get involved with someone and lord that whole thing just made me tired. I already updated you all on how they watched her brother (the local sheriff) have sex and I just want to put that mess out of my mind. This book almost broke me. Almost. 

Virgil is not worth me talking about besides his whole thing when he's trying to write the case as a mystery novelist made me laugh and laugh. He's a terrible writer. His reasoning skills are up there with Lucas. They just seem to come to conclusions about things and they are always right. 

The other characters were barely developed. It was hard to keep everyone straight because the two cases tie back to something else and to the rich guy who was also a secret sex addict. Let's just say something happened way back when tied back to something and somehow the word moon got thrown in. 

The writing was early Sandford and the flow was awful. The book felt endless after a while.

The ending made me sigh because per early Sandford, we find out about a character (something unsavory) but Sandford via his character just let's it go. I was bored and annoyed the entire time while reading this. 

The plot holes and terrible mystery were not helped by the ridiculous characters. I hated every single reference to sex. Sandford writes most of the women as sex crazed and Flowers as a blonde version of Lucas Davenport. Flowers attempting to write a novel was hilariously awful and made zero sense. This whole book made zero sense.