When a kiss brings life, the price is death… he’s condemned someone else to death.
I’m a witch in the Coven of Crows, and this February there’s a rare Black Moon. It’s a time of contemplation and darkness, and everything is out of balance – light and dark, life and death. Now my twin sister’s gone missing, my ex is acting strangely, and my spells are going haywire. The strange animal footprints I saw in the snow at the river suggest my ‘accident’ had a supernatural cause, and I’m starting to get scared.
I’m determined not to let this stop me from practicing witchcraft, even though someone obviously wants to do the Crows harm. But Mac’s hiding something, and I don’t know who to trust…
Escape to a world of magic, mystery, and romance with USA Today bestselling author Serenity Woods.
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3.5 star rating….
A lot of authors I read have gone over to the Paranormal genre, I’m not a huge fan of the genre, but so far most have been successful. I’ve read quite a few of Serenity Woods’ books, have pretty much loved them all, but I’m on the fence with this one.
The thing I love about this author is she is a master of researching her subject matter, you get the tiniest details when reading her books, so it gives you the feeling of being right there in the middle of the scene, but with Black Moon Witch, I feel it was a bit much. A lot of thought went into this book, you can tell just by the writing, but I found myself skipping over a great deal of it until I got to the crux of the story, which was pretty much at the end. I enjoyed the characters, which is why I hung in there with the story, but I would lose interest when it seemed to drag on in spots, not something I’m used to with this author. Mac and Persy have pretty great chemistry, and I’ve gotta tell you, this author knows how to write a steamy love scene, which was actually my favorite part in this book. Damien and Kimi are masters of their art, and lead the other Shamans and witches to learn to use their crafts, also an enjoyable part of the book, it just seemed to go long in parts of the book which made me almost put it down a couple of times. Good mystery and twists and turns surrounding the murder, did have me surprised in the end who the person responsible for the murder was. Overall, an okay but somewhat entertaining story for me.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC copy of this book.
I’m finicky about fantasy and the like. I don’t like just any Fantastical type of story. But this one I did like. It had a suspenseful aspect of who and why, and the ending was different than what I was expecting. I really thought that it would go one way and it didn’t quite do so. I’m happy when a story isn’t overly predictable. I absolutely loved DS Callum “Mac” MacBeth. He’s a man that every woman should want for herself. He’s a good man, but he’s far from perfect. I do wish that there was more from his POV, but it is the way it is. Persephone “Persy” was enjoyable as well. She may seem young, but over time she develops more as she comes to some realizations about her life. She actually does something about it, and sticks to it. Nothing is more of a turn-off than a whiny main character that can’t get their heads out of their rears.
Overall, a fun book even if the style/genre isn’t your usual cup of tea.
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book.
4 star review Black Moon Witch (A Murder of Crows Book 1) by Serenity Woods
Paranormal is not a genre I often read. However I did enjoy Black Moon Witch. The only reason I took a chance on this book is because I have read numerous books from Serenity Woods and found them to be well written and entertaining.
I read Hunter’s Moon Witch recently and enjoyed it, so I decided to take another dive in to the paranormal and again, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
D.S. Cameron Macbeth intrigued me from the start after he rescues a trainee witch.There was a good amount of suspense woven into woven this story which caught and kept my attention. There were quite a few twists and turns that kept me guessing and that just added to my enjoyment of the book.
I would give this book 3.5 stars. I liked Mac and Persy together. I liked that he was protective of her, but that she was also able to protect herself. The concept of the shamans and witches working together was interesting.
There was an earlier twist the wasn’t very surprising.
The twist at the end was both surprising and unexpected. Yes, I thought something was off with certain people, but did not expect it from those people.
I loved the description of Mac and Persy’s auras intertwining. I felt like the book went on too long in some places, but I understood it was necessary to provide background information.
Overall, it was an interesting book. It was ok. I didn’t feel the same romance or sensuality that I have come to expect from Serenity Woods work, but maybe I wasn’t supposed to with this book.
I figure since there is still evil to fight, and Samantha, Charlie, Rob, Alex, Ella, and Tristan also have stories to tell, we can look forward to more books in this series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed the Advanced Reader Copy of this book received from the author.
Black Moon Witch, the first book in the Murder of Crows is very different from the normal Serenity Woods book. I say this because I have read many of her contemporary romances along with several paranormal ones that she has written. Usually the stories are character driven with strong character development and insight. Black Moon Witch has all that and more. This may be the most complex book she has written, certainly the most that I have read written by her. While it does have solid complex characters it is also plot driven.
With all that said, Black Moon Witch is one amazing read. From the beginning drowning scene there are unanswered questions that kept me reading to see how all these characters within this unique plot fit together. There is romance certainly but also intrigue, suspense, mystery, danger and even a smidgen of horror. Scary? Well, let’s just say, I don’t want anyone to ever say to me, “The Goat King is coming for you all.” For sure there will be more to come, I can’t wait to see what is in store for this group. I feel confident that good will win in the end in Ms. Woods’ stories.
Fans of Lisa Kessler’s Muse Series or even Donna Grant’s Dark (Dragon) Kings would love this one. Fans of Serenity Woods will find that it has everything you love about her stories and more.
The publisher/author gave me a complimentary ARC of the book which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Black Moon Witch by Serenity Woods
A Murder of Crows #1
Brilliant, bold and thought-provoking paranormal romance that grabbed me in the first few lines and did not let me go until I finished it at 2am the next morning! This is paranormal romantic suspense with twists and turns I had not suspected. It made me think and care and applaud the author for providing a story that was so much more than many books I have read in this genre.
What I liked:
* Witches and Shamans* with a contemporary feel
* The wolf in this story was NOT the good guy
* Good & Evil are pitted against one another
* Well-plotted and beautifully written
* Wonderful characters
* Gripping and real
* The witchy stuff was well crafted and presented
* Appealed to all of my senses
* Sizzling relationship between male and female lead
* I liked all of it except…
What I did not like:
* Pretty much only those that I was meant NOT to like…
NOTE: had to look up shamans since it felt wrong and learned something new so thought I would share what I learned with you: The plural form is shamans, not shamen; the etymologically-consistent plural form from the original Evenki is shamasal, but this form sees no use in English; the plural form shamans is, however, universally accepted.
Did I enjoy this book? Yes!
Would I read more in this series? As soon as I can!
Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars