Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: Hunter Moon & The Red Wolf
SERIES: The Live Oak Tales #3
AUTHOR: Stephen del Mar
PUBLISHER: LMW Books
LENGTH: 249 Pages
BLURB:
Wolves! Wolves have returned to Florida, or at least in eastern Big Cypress County, and no one knows why or how. Janos Pac, the new Witch of the Wood, is desperately trying to hold Flora May’s old Circle together, but things are falling apart despite his best efforts. Stone, the youngest member of the group, is the only one to show up for Samhain. After his first cup of tea, the blue kind, things take an unexpected turn. A plot by the dragons is unearthed and everyone’s on the watch for owls. Beware the owls!
REVIEW:
This is the fourth installment in this series, counting the prequel story. Book three and book two read like a continuation of one into the other. I’m thinking that book four will as well, because there were open story lines, hints at the future, etc., at the end of this book. I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of something being in the blurb that is mentioned several times in the book, but is never explained. I’m talking about the darn owls! That said, I won’t mention them again. This book is a little more convoluted that the previous ones, having two strong stories running through, with sub-plots.
Hunter Moon and The Red Wolf picks up immediately after The Bear, The Witch and The Web. Our focus has moved on to Janos, who has taken over as the Witch of the Wood and is running the goat farm that Flora May left to her nephew Max and a conservatorship protecting it forever.
The road for the new Witch of the Wood isn’t smooth though. It feels like the Wiccan Circle that Flora May had is falling apart. No one wants to come to the farm for Samhain, except for the youngest member of the circle, Stone. When Stone comes and he and Janos drink the tea, it turns out much more intense than expected.
To make matters more complicated, something is up with the dragons. A huge storm is affecting the entire eastern seaboard of the US. Did the dragons cause it? What is up with the wolf shifters we’re introduced to? Do they have anything to do with the strange man that Stone had a conversation with while he was under the influence of the blue tea?
I want to keep it real and say there were quite a few misspellings / incorrect word usage issues in this installment. Particularly at one spot in the book when there seemed to be several within just a few sentences. These should have been caught in editing. Unfortunately it is going to cause a slightly lower score than I would have awarded the book.
I liked the book and recommend it. Do yourself a favor and read it as a series. Start with the short story, then read the books in order. You will need the short story to understand the dragon section in this book. Minor spelling/word use issues aside, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.
RATING: 
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