From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julie Ann Walker comes an epic story about sacrifice, friendship, and the awe-inspiring power of love.Maggie: Ten years ago, Cash Armstrong stole my heart. Then he promptly joined the army—dragging my best friend with him—and left me crying on the front porch in a red sequined prom dress. Now he’s back. They’re both back. Cash, the one who … he’s back. They’re both back. Cash, the one who still has my heart. And Luc, the one who saved my life.
Cash: How do you know if you’re at the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end? That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out since a traumatic brain injury made me “unfit to serve.” I’m back in New Orleans, and picking up the shattered pieces of my past means I must confront where my life’s journey began… and where it all might end.
Luc: Long ago, Maggie May was mine. Not mine in the way you might think. She was mine because she was my only friend. Then Cash came along and we became brothers by something stronger than blood. We became brothers by choice. When tragedy struck, I was forced to make a decision that changed all our lives. I thought, after ten years, it was safe to come back home. I was wrong…
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Maggie’s doing just fine. Her dream of owning a bar (well hers and Cash and Luc’s dream) has materialized. She has the support of family and friends and a full life, so why do old memories continue to drag her down?
Cash had no intention of returning to New Orleans. He’d put the past (namely his father) behind him and kissed it goodbye. His only regret- Maggie. But when a suicide bomber almost takes him out while on tour, Cash gains a new perspective on life and comes up with a plan to fix the mistakes he’s made and that requires going home.
Luc fell in love with Maggie May from the awkward age of fourteen, but the moment she meets his friend Cash he knows they’re fated to be together. Bottling his feelings, he takes the next best thing, her friendship. It kills him to leave her when Cash goes on the run, but his buddy needs him.
Now that Cash and Luc are back, the Louisiana swamp is giving up her secrets. Will they handle the fallout, or will the bayou swallow them forever?
I loved this book!
There were so many great moments. The characters leap off the page, they’re so well-written. The relationships between Luc and Cash, Cash and Maggie, Luc and Maggie May- I loved them all.
FAVORITE LINES
I read a quote that pretty much sums up my situation. True love is not the number of kisses, or how often you get them. True love is the feeling that lingers long after the kiss is over.
IN MOONLIGHT AND MEMORIES- JULIE ANN WALKER
At first acquaintance, Luc comes off as an unobtrusive guy. Not so much meek and mild, but quiet. Self-effacing. And yet he has a particular brand of toughness I’ve only ever seen in other men of his ilk. Men who’ve come from the place where murky waters run through tall marsh grass. Where gators growl and bobcats howl.
IN MOONLIGHT AND MEMORIES- JULIE ANN WALKER
Sometimes the past is like that whole objects in mirror are closer than they appear thing. The trick to forgetting is simply not to look.
IN MOONLIGHT AND MEMORIES- JULIE ANN WALKER
There’s so many more, but I better quit now, lol. Buy the book, you’ll love it!
From the first paragraph, this book had me transfixed until the very end. I don’t think I’ve ever cried so much while reading a book–but in a good way. The characters are wonderful and the story so compelling I dare you to put it down once you start it.
Loved it – warning you will boo-hoo.
Julie Ann Walker is an auto-buy for me and I could not wait to get this series! I highly recommend!
The start of this trilogy is simply magical. The attention to detail, the characters and the love and laughter between them all makes it such a joy to read.
Sad, that is the main thought that comes to my mind after I have read this book. There is so much emotion that goes on in this first volume. It does get annoying to keep “hearing” as in it’s in Cash’s head “My Plan” but never find out what it is but expect both Luc and Maggie to just go the way he wants them to for “My Plan”. I pretty much have figured out his plan but still. Maggie I think is also to eager to forgive both Luc and Cash so easily after everything they did over or didn’t do over the last 10 years. I just feel bad for Luc as he seems to be always put in the middle but I also think at times he does it to himself. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next volume.
*I received a free copy of this book via author and am voluntarily leaving a review.*
The three volumes in Julie Ann Walker’s new trilogy In Moonlight and Memories are meant to be read together. The story flows seamlessly from one to another and together they are a complete whole. While I knew what was coming from the first sentence, it still wrecked me when we reached the inevitable conclusion. Told in alternating points of view (Cash, Maggie, and Luc) we see what all three of these characters are thinking and how they are all tied together. I felt in love with these characters, and the city that defines them. Be prepared with the extra-large box of tissues when you start book three, you’re going to need it. But keep reading, the end is worth it.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this novel.
Cash, Luc, and Maggie have all been best friends for years. Cash has a father who beats him, so when Cash gets the chance to join the army to escape his father’s fists, he takes it—even though it’s the night of prom and he has a date with Maggie. He stands her up and leaves a letter breaking things off with her, and makes sure Luc takes her to prom. After prom, something terrible happens with a jerky guy, and he ends up dead. His father wants someone to blame, and has settled on Luc and Maggie.
This story is told both in flashbacks and doled out in pieces. There is an underlying tension throughout, that starts with the first line, and ratchets up in multiple places. These three are bonded by a deep love and by a strong friendship. Luc seems to be the one that ties them all together. He has loved Maggie for a long time after getting to know her, yet she fell hard for Cash. Luc let her go, knowing she loved Cash, but he has stayed a true friend even though he followed Cash into the military to keep him from dying.
That left Maggie on her own for 10 years, until an injury forces Cash and Luc out of the special forces. They return to New Orleans and find Maggie again and attempt to atone for their desertion of 10 years earlier. Luc fixes up his home in the swamp, and Cash buys a home a few blocks from Maggie’s bar, and starts by gutting it and rebuilding it. This volume of the story lays the foundation for the remaining two parts of this story. Warning: this story ends in a cliffhanger, but all three volumes are available simultaneously, so the reader doesn’t have to wait for the other parts.
Very melancholy. Wonderful description of New Orleans making the setting very realistic. The New Orleans accent took a while to get use to but eventually you settle in. The entire is series is very melancholy and I found myself wondering if I should continue to read the book. The book is so well written and it was hard to put down but I did not like the overall sadness that hung over all three of these books. It was definitely original and well written and if you can get past the overall sadness of the entire series, its worth reading.
Having finally carved out the time to read one of this authors I find I am delighted in my choice right away. This will start out right away in owning your heart with Maggie being the orchestrater. I also find right away this one is going to be one that is deep and full of the heart. Having to come to face with your heart so to speak is not easy but can have many outcomes. This one also has other pieces of hers that will either come home too or hurt more with us waiting. Cash and Luc also try they way in giving us bits of them to be successful at their task. Once you get into this you are carried away with looking forward to the next piece of puzzle when finished with this one.
I have to confess that I avoid stories that are spread out in 2-3 books. That said, if a book is written by Ms. Walker, those rules do NOT apply.
The story takes place in the lively city of New Orleans and centers around the friendship of Maggie , Cash and Luc. A friendship forge in their teens.
But when Cash and Luc leave Maggie behind without much of an explanation, to join the military, life as Maggie knew, changes.
Looking forward to book 2 and what resolutions we are given.
I was entrusted a copy of this book . The opinions expressed are solely my own.
A dynamic and diversified group of characters play out their lives in the very unique and special city of New Orleans. The main characters, Maggie, Cash and Luc have a strong bond of love, friendship, loyalty and respect. They met as teenagers and had an instant connection but, Cash and Luc enlist and become Green Berets and don’t speak to Maggie for ten years. Now, they are back and it is awkward because there are secrets and hurts that are hard to ignore. Plus, there is the mysterious missing Dean, a fellow teen that disappeared ten years ago and Maggie and Luc are under suspicion.
This is a mesmerizing story that keeps you wanting for Maggie, Cash and Luc to find their peace, their happiness and their future…which you need to read the following volumes in order to find out how they all fare. The writing is so good you feel as if you are in the French Quarter with this lively bunch and you can’t put the book down.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Julie Ann Walker sure knows how to paint us a story of hopes and dreams that are shattered by dysfunctional and corrupt people then 10 years later they are together again but secrets are in abundance. And the same corrupt and evil people are still up to the same tricks. Will the 3 survive the antics, will love work, or does this tear them all apart. Loved it and am looking forward to book 2.
Maggie and Luc became friends in high school, bonding over a love of Harry Potter. Things might have developed romantically between them, but in steps Cash, a transplant to New Orleans. He defended Luc from bullies and befriends him. When Cash checks in to see if Luc was okay, Cash and Maggie meet. And it’s young love at first sight between Cash and Maggie, with Luc essentially classified as a third wheel and it will all make sense when the story gets moving. Things are going great, until out of the blue Cash ditches Maggie on prom night, sending Luc in his stead while he disappears in to the night.
Ten years later, (all three are now in their late twenties) after no personal contact with Maggie since that fateful prom night, Maggie learns Luc and Cash are back in town when they show up on her doorstep. She knows through family and friends they’ve been serving in the military while she has gone on to open her own bar like the had all dreamed up. But ten years?! Personally, I’d be fighting mad! That time frame gives a woman a long time develop a grudge! However, Maggie likes to focus on the positives and hopes this may mean a second chance with Cash. Or is it? Because things have changed between the three. The friendship between them all is as strong as ever, but the dynamics of their relationships are shifting course in ways Maggie didn’t expect.
Maggie May, Luc, and Cash are like the Three Musketeers. Through thick and thin, these three have held tight to their friendship, even when they’re an ocean away. Cash is a passionate, hot-headed mess who loves hard and makes a splash wherever he goes. Luc’s charm lies in his Southern manners and slow drawl, but don’t view him as the underdog. It’s always the quiet ones you need to watch out for! Maggie is simply a cute sprite. She’s loyal, loving, and generous to a fault, but clings to a past she’s learning the hard way she needs to let go.
Personally, I’m all for Luc and Maggie getting together because he deserves his chance too. Cash and Maggie had their moment and while Cash obviously still loves her, something is up with him…and I think whatever it is means I’m going to require a whole lot of tissues before this trilogy is over!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Magnolia May Carter (Maggie May) was just 14 when she met her two best friends, one of which would be the love of her life. Maggie May has a burden that she’s carried around for a long time. She believes that she is responsible for her parents’ deaths. She met the first of her two best friends in the library, where she asked him if he liked Harry Potter.
Lucien Dubois (Luc) was the high school outcast that the popular crowd likes to sling names at. Other kids looked down on him because of his mother and his social class. Luc is a very loyal friend and very pragmatic. He’s carried a torch for Maggie May, since he’s known her.
Cassius Armstrong (Cash) is protective of his friends. He’s got a quick temper and the one to put bullies in their place. He took Luc under his wing and warned anyone not to say anything about Luc or his mom. Cash doesn’t always find trouble, trouble finds him. Cash befriends Luc and Maggie May at a diner, where he just pulled up a chair.
Now, ten years later, Cash & Luc are back. They both left and joined the Army to become Green Berets. Cash fled without so much a word to Maggie May, and Luc joined to keep an eye on Cash. Other than a note, the two, cut ties with Maggie May when she was 16. Maggie May is angry with the two, although Luc thought it was best to leave to protect her; he learns that George Sullivan hounded Maggie May, but Maggie May has kept their secret.
Maggie May made good on her dream of owning a bar called Laissez les Bon Temps or Let the Good Times Roll. Cash is sporting a brain injury, and Luc earned a rank of Master Sergeant, but both discharged and living as civilians. Cash has purchased a fixer upper where he and Luc are renovating it. Cash is plotting The Plan. Cash is self medicating, which both his friends are concerned with.
I love how the story is told from each perspective and I’ve been guessing at what The Plan entails. Sometimes, I think I’ve figured it out, but then other times with Luc’s voice I’m back to guessing. All three love each other deeply, but how does The Plan figure in, and can Maggie May get answers and have the love her life again?
I can already tell that this series is going to break my heart after finishing Volume one. What an ending!!!!
The prologue pulled me in & I am so intrigued to find out where this story will go.
After reading book 1 I read the other two in the series. REally enjoyed them.
Wish it was a shorter read. Almost did not go to book two but was ready for book three.
The classic love triangle without all the hurt. Funny, tragic, and heartwarming all at once
Good read. Can’t wait to get on with the series