Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: The Harvest Moon
SERIES: Darkly Enchanted Romance #1
AUTHOR: Joshua Ian
PUBLISHER: Moody Boxfan Books (Self-published)
LENGTH: 60 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 23, 2019
BLURB:
England, 1834.
On the night of a harvest moon, in the shadow of Mabon, Malcolm comes across a quaint village tucked away in the forest. It seems the perfect spot for a weary traveller to lay his head, and maybe find a little company. But there is dark magic afoot, and lots of local gossip swirls around the seductive titian-haired weaver, Daniel. All Malcolm seeks is a night’s pleasure. He never suspected he would have to worry about losing his life. Or his heart.
This novelette is about 13,000 words in length and the first entry in the Darkly Enchanted Romance Series.
REVIEW:
What begins as a secret tryst between two men in 1830s England soon becomes something darker and stranger in this odd little fairy tale. It’s a sweet story about love and waiting, but it leaves you ultimately wanting more.
While sneaking away from a small village inn late at night, traveler Malcolm finds the lovely weaver Daniel in the shadows, and the two main share an instant attraction. Despite Daniel’s sweetness and flirting, once they are back at his home, he’s melancholy and hesitant. Their lovemaking takes an odd turn when Daniel turns angry and bids Malcolm to leave, no matter how much chemistry they had in bed moments earlier.
We soon learn that Daniel is not exactly who he says he is, and his story about his angry grandfather coming home and ruining their warm moment together takes on a completely different meaning when Daniel and the old town weaver end up being the same person. There’s a twist on a sort of “true love conquers all” theme, though in abstract. I wish there was a little more mystery involved—its pretty easy to figure out what is going on as Malcolm confers with the locals, and this type of paranormal story needs more fleshing out to be truly compelling.
This story would work better within an anthology of similar paranormal tales—tales of love that transcends time and space, love that waits, love that involves mystery and magic. It feels unfinished on its own, especially since the characters are so compelling and the scope of their love is so sweeping. I’m usually just fine with short stories, but in this case, it really needs more.
Though I wanted more, this is a very romantic story with an eerie atmosphere that will keep you on edge. I’m interested where the author takes this little series!
RATING: 
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