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MOONSET (Legacy of Moonset #1)

Moonset, a coven of such promise . . . Until they turned to the darkness.
After the terrorist witch coven known as Moonset was destroyed fifteen years ago—during a secret war against the witch Congress—five children were left behind, saddled with a legacy of darkness. Sixteen-year-old Justin Daggett, son of a powerful Moonset warlock, has been raised alongside the other orphans by the witch Congress, who fear the children will one day continue the destruction their parents started.
A deadly assault by a wraith, claiming to work for Moonset’s most dangerous disciple, Cullen Bridger, forces the five teens to be evacuated to Carrow Mill. But when dark magic wreaks havoc in their new hometown, Justin and his siblings are immediately suspected. Justin sets out to discover if someone is trying to frame the Moonset orphans . . . or if Bridger has finally come out of hiding to reclaim the legacy of Moonset. He learns there are secrets in Carrow Mill connected to Moonset’s origins, and keeping the orphans safe isn’t the only reason the Congress relocated them .. .

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Moonset is the very first book I have read by Scott Tracey. I love books that have witches, warlocks, drama, black magic, and awesome action scenes, and Moonset captures all of that into one amazing book!

The book surrounds five teenagers, but it’s told from Justin Dagget’s POV. I normally am not a huge fan of books told from male perspectives, but I was pleasantly surprised with this one. Justin had a really smooth and interesting quality about him, and I really liked having his voice sweep across the pages.

I did have a slight problem with there being five teenagers, because it bumped them up to main characters. That’s a bit too many main characters for my taste, not to mention all of the supporting characters in the book. Scott Tracey actually managed all of their individual voices and personalities very well. I was always able to tell who was who and nobody overlapped one another. Still, though, I would have preferred to see less main characters.

The plot of Moonset really grew and expanded as the book proceeded. It kept a very good pace and kept me interested throughout the whole book. Scott Tracey has such a unique and beautiful aspect to his writing that glues your eyes to the page from the get-go. I will say that the story was pretty predictable, but it really didn’t matter. The writing was so great, and the plot was so interesting, that I didn’t care if I knew what was going to happen. It didn’t matter. I just wanted more.

Moonset fascinated me, because it felt like it should have been a television show rather than a book. Instead of reading the book and having it be over, I wanted to watch a new episode of it every week. It kind of reminded me of today’s popular tv shows…..The Vampires Diaries, Merlin, The Secret Circle, Once Upon a Time…they all had a very similar feel to this book. I really enjoyed that.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves books about witches, magic, etc. It was a great paranormal read, and I cannot wait to read more from Scott Tracey in the future!

Pages: 384

Publication Date: April 8th, 2013

Publisher: Flux

Rating: :

About the Author

Scott Tracey is a YA author who lived on a Greyhound for a month, wrote his illustrated autobiography at the age of six, and barely survived Catholic school (and definitely not for the reasons you might think).

He is the author of WITCH EYES, chosen as one of Amazon’s Best LGBT Books of 2011, as well as an ALA Popular Paperback in the Forbidden Romance category. The final book in the WITCH EYES trilogy, PHANTOM EYES, will be released in the fall of 2013.

He is also the author of MOONSET, a new series which will be released April 8, 2013, as well as a contributor to the SHADOWHUNTERS & DOWNWORLDERS anthology, edited by Cassandra Clare.

His career highlights include: accidentally tripping a panic alarm which led to nearly being shot by the police; attacked in a drive-thru window by a woman wielding a baked potato, and once moving cross country for a job only to quit on the second day.

His gifts can be used for good or evil, but rather than picking a side, he strives for BOTH (in alternating capacity) for his own amusement.

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Week One

Mar. 25th - Me, My Shelf and I - Guest Post

Mar. 26th - Book Brats - Interview

Mar. 26th - In the Best Worlds - Review

Mar. 27th - Once Upon a Twilight - Guest Post

Mar. 28th - BookHounds YA - Interview

Mar. 29th - WinterHaven Books - Review

Mar. 30th - The Book Cellar - Guest Post

Mar. 31st - Magical Urban Fantasy Reads - Review

The old saying goes, “The ends justify the means”…

For vampire Miranda Dandridge, using her supernatural abilities to rescue children from impossible circumstances is her means to be a part of the human world that she loves so much, despite the atrocities of WWII.

For doctor Ben Gongliewski, saving his fellow Jews from the horrific death camps is an end for which he risks his own life every day, hiding his Jewish heritage while feigning loyalty the SS.

Neither Miranda nor Ben expects to find love in World War II Europe, but that is exactly what happens as they work for the Resistance. When the war draws to a close, it seems like the vampire and the doctor are free to start a future together. Yet the two forget just how far the Nazis will go to further their own evil ends.

Desperate times make for ruthless men as loves and lives are threatened, but, Miranda and Ben know that their world cannot go to hell, not by any means…

Release by Nicole Hadaway is full of great writing, interesting characters and intense topics that tug at the heart strings. I was instantly drawn to the writing style. And as a bonus, Release is like nothing I have ever read before. Vampires and Werewolves in the middle of World War II? Yes, please!

The characters in this book are very strong and independent. I really liked Miranda’s character. It might just be that I’m partial to vampires, but I thought that she was wonderful. All of the other main and supporting characters were also well written.

I really loved how this book captured World War II and the Nazi’s and the Holocaust. Those are pretty intense subjects to talk about, especially in a paranormal book, and I thought that Nicole Hadaway did a brilliant job of capturing all of that into one book. I will admit, there were times that it got a little boring, but I don’t think that had anything to do with the writing. Instead, I think it had more to do with my interest level in the topics and the time period. This book is a definite hit for fans of history and/or historical paranormal fiction.

The paranormal aspects of the book were also well thought out and incorporated in an interesting and intriguing way. When you think of the Holocaust, you don’t think of vampires and werewolves rescuing some of the Jews and other victims. This aspect of the book drew me in, and I really enjoyed it.

Overall, I thought that this book was interesting and captivating. I’m not the biggest fan of historical fiction, so there were moments that I got detached from the book, but I was mostly interested throughout the whole thing. It was gritty, heartbreaking and fascinating all rolled into one book. I really enjoyed this one!

Pages: 290

Publisher: Visionary Press

Publication Date: January 4th, 2013

Rating: :

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As a lawyer, Nicole Hadaway knows all about bloodsuckers and deals with the devil. She currently lives in Texas where she pens such tales involving the supernatural, featuring her heroine, the vampire Miranda Dandridge.

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Excerpt 1 (Suspenseful, characters in danger):

 

 

Ben felt Rose’s tear-stained cheek against his own and thought, That’s how I feel too. Here, what had started out as a foolish lark – having dinner with a pretty girl – was now a full-fledged disaster. Ben didn’t know Rose that well, and now, he would be responsible for her death. The guilt made his stomach turn.

He held on to Rose, whose body trembled with sobs. And choking – the smoke was becoming thicker and it was really getting hard to breathe without coughing profusely. Ben could see that the fire was burning through the door now, bits of orange flames licking the wood.

“On the floor,” he managed to choke out, remembering that heat rose, so the smoke would be thicker above them than at their feet. Rose obediently crouched down, laying next to him, burrowing her body into his for comfort. He could feel that she was drying her tears, in an attempt to meet death bravely.

I must be dying, Ben said to himself. This has to be a hallucination – they can’t really be here. Before Ben’s eyes, blurred with tears, he thought he saw those two other women from the forest, Rose’s friends, the wild-haired brunette and the dangerous-looking blonde. They walked right through the doorway of flames. As if the flames weren’t even there at all.

The brunette had a look of relief on her face as she looked in his direction. Before Ben knew it, the brunette was at his side, gathering Rose in her arms. How did she get over here… but Ben reminded himself, you’re dying, these are just hallucinations before you cross over. Ben was surprised when the blonde one bent down, and, looking into his face, said, “He’s alive – should we take him?”

Ben doubted the blonde’s words – that he was alive. Because he was certainly on his way to Hell, seeing visions of demons – a kind of wolf now stood where the brunette and Rose had been. Yes, he was with a wolf, who held some kind of small, limp animal in its mouth.

Before he could wonder where the wolf had gone, Ben became vaguely aware that the blonde was gathering him in her arms saying, “Hold on bud, this is going to feel strange.”

So this is this is what dying feels like, like you really are on a journey, Ben thought as he saw a white light in front of him, then – darkness as he was being squeezed and forced through a tunnel.