A Moonlit Serenade

A Moonlite Serenade, Book 8 of the Seattle Sound Series by Alexa Padgett

Lauryn (Ryn) Hudson is a songwriter and musician who runs a music class for babies and toddlers. She is also a widow after her husband was killed in Iraq two years ago. They never had children because they thought they had time for that later which had always been a dream of hers.

Jake Estam is the bassist for the Australian band, Jackaroo. He does enjoy playing music with his band, but his real love has always been art. He has always dreamed of being a curator of a museum or owning a gallery.

After losing her husband, Ryn writes and records a lullaby to a baby that she doesn’t think she will have. When Jake hears her singing the song on a recording, he is enchanted by it and wants her on an album he is working on. Jake tracks her down and finds that the woman behind voice is even more beautiful. He sends her gifts for the babies in her class to get her to go out with him, and lucky for him it works. Jake and Ryn begin a relationship but she always seems to pull away because she thinks he just wants her for album. Everyone leaves her and Jake will to when the album is finished. When she is threatened, Jake sends in his trusted body guards to watch over her because she won’t take it seriously. When everything falls apart and Jake walks out the door, is it for good? Will she be alone again and this time, can she survive it?

These two had so much baggage when they came together. She wanted her independence after her husband joined the military as soon as the ink was dry on their marriage license and left for months at a time. It was always his time table and she never had a choice but to follow along. Then you have Jake and his past with his abusive father and his mother struggling to raise two boys. Both were fighting their own demons but couldn’t see the forest through the trees. It frustrated me at times watching them circle each but never knowing the right thing to say or do. I know these people aren’t real, but Alexa Padgett makes them feel so real. Jake is by far my favorite out of the entire series. He is the quiet one, but he loves to take care of Ryn and makes her feel cherished. Ryn always putting herself last to make sure everyone else is fine and she has been doing it her entire life. She deserves to have someone take care of her for a change. They are so good for each other.

The Seattle Sound books are simply AHHHHMAZING!!!!! Every single one of them!!!!!

In keeping with the rest of this series, Moonlight Serenade is suspenseful, romantic and enticing. Both Ryn and Jake had preconceived ideas about each other, only to have to reassess their views as their relationship develops. Jake set aside his own dreams to give his brother his chance as a musician, but he has reached the stage where he is willing to set aside fame and fortune for following the desires of his heart. Ryn’s dreams had been crushed and living under the weight of the losses in her life and the smothering legacy left by her late husband, she is thrown off-balance when Jake blows into her life like a hurricane. Grief does strange things to people, but Ryn never thought that Dez’s death would have the effect that it did. As her life is put in danger and threats made against her, Jake discovers that he can’t stand back but will do what it takes to protect the woman who has become the mainstay of his life. The novel is well written, keeping the reader’s attention from beginning to end and closes on a joyful note. It is part of series and characters from previous books appear in this one as well, but it is nevertheless a standalone. I received a copy of this book as a gift and this is my honest and voluntary review.