Mainly by Moonlight

Another book I really, *really* wanted to like but... couldn't.<br><br>Mostly because we find out in the second chapter than the MC is marrying a dude he met two weeks prior.<br><br>And all I can say is:<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1564750362i/27928071._SX540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>And the MC is like, nah, it's fine, see, only my fiancé is under a love spell, not me! I'm totes going ahead with the wedding. And I'm like, wait, but:<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1564750362i/27928072._SX540_.png" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>And he's like, no, really, I removed the love spell from him, it's FINE, it's ethical now, and I'm still all back at:<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1564750362ra/27928073.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>And he's like, okay, you're just wondering how we managed to pull together a wedding for 100 people that involves two different faith traditions and how we bought a house in SF and had it furnished and a garden built in it in the last two weeks, well, it was magic okay?, and I'm like, yes, I was wondering that, but mostly, I'm like:<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1564750362i/27928074._SX540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Especially one you know fell in love with you under a love spell?????<br><br>There was just so much about this book, though, that was cringe-inducing. A short list:<br><br>1. Lanyon had one of the MC's friends be non-binary. Okay, fine; Lanyon has some long-standing issues with gender and transphobia [dating back to fandom days], so I was like, great, maybe you've learned something? But then... one and only one of the MC's friends gets killed off, by the bad guy I guess? [the plot didn't make much sense], and you get no points for guessing which one. Arrrgh. REPRESENTATION DOESN'T COUNT WHEN YOU DO THIS.<br><br>2. The Love Interest, while I feel bad for him having to fall in love with the MC (both because of the unethical love spell thing and just because I didn't like the MC as a person, nor did the LI seem to), was an aggressive, controlling, verging on abusive, jerk. NOT ROMANTIC THANKS. <br><br>3. The sex scenes, due to the issue in 2, were SUPER CREEPY. Affirmative consent is not just a thing for real life, and given that our MC has apparently (you know, in the last two weeks that they've known each other) been very clear that he has a belief in the importance of preserving his virginity by not being penetrated anally by a penis until marriage (although manual penetration of his anus and oral sex of all kinds are fine, but anyway; it's because his magic religion tells him so, oh the levels of WTFness in tis book), why does his fiancé start trying to push him on this issue in the middle of sex, OMG no. He backs off, but there was such a non-con vibe here. WHY ARE THEY GETTING MARRIED.<br><br>4. The worldbuilding made NO sense. None. I tried not to worry about it as much as I could, but it was truly just so ill thought out. <br><br>5. I don't know who helped Lanyon with the Latin and French, but I'm guessing Google Translate. The French was comprehensible (very English-calque-y, but comprehensible), but... first the MC vouvoyer'ed his cat familiar (I would've thought that familiars should be addressed, definitionally, in the familiar?), and then the MC himself was vousvoyer'ed by his... mother. Nope. And the Latin, omg, so, so wrong. It was pretty impressive how the LI managed to understand it (thanks to "twelve years in a Catholic boys' school," but honestly, very, very few if any Catholic schools actually require Latin anymore still -- many don't even offer it; and uh, altar boys don't learn the Latin mass generally anymore? Not since the 60s? Vatican II and all that? They're probably not even called altar boys anymore), given that it's incomprehensible nonsense: <i>irresistable ego ad te, nolo te resistentibus, id velim facias</i> ([the first word is not a word, but I guess it's a misspelling of] an-irresistible-thing I toward you, I-do-not-want you for-those-resisting, I-would-like it you-might-do], which the LI and Lanyon seem to think means 'I am irresistible to you, you have no wish to resist me, you will do whatever I wish'. Trust me, it doesn't.<br><br>Such a pile of 'nope'.<br><br>And yet... I may buy the sequel anyway. And that, my friends, is totally on me.

<b>3 Stars</b><br /><br />First things first. Lanyon is definitely a top author that impresses and vexates me consistently, and I return again and again because no matter what, the writing is always top notch where this was no different on all accounts.<br /><br />This author's rare foray into an AU that contains magic was quite the draw and it was teasingly complex and interesting - probably the best parts in my opinion. Featuring witch Cosmo, who’s adamant about being nonmagical in the human world but who is absolutely unsuccessful at refraining from what comes naturally to him, gets quite the shock when he’s framed for murder. To make things even more complicated is the fact that he’s engaged to the police commissioner John, with their wedding only days away and who has no idea that real magic exists…. and hence the story begins.<br /><br />From almost the start, the romance pretty much failed on all fronts, beginning with its genesis to the gradual reveals behind the MC’s feelings to the culmination at the end. The entire set up and how they fell in love and Cosmo’s unadulterated feelings just did not jive with the usual groundedness I’ve come to expect from Lanyon despite the magical setting. The incongruity of it all baffled my brain, constantly taking me out of the story. Having said that though, the premise and small reveals still kept me engaged.<br /><br />So, yes. <b>This book was a conundrum</b>.<br /><br />The circumstances surrounding the murder mystery were compelling enough, but be forewarned, like the love connection, things are nebulous, at best setting up multiple plot threads for books to come but with no sense of any concrete answers or real sleuthing accomplished. <br /><br />Lanyon somehow still kept reeling me back in with all the potential regarding the larger story arc and the magical bits showing just how powerful Cosmo and company are, and that was quite intriguing. As a warning, this basically ends on a cliffhanger with plenty of questions left unanswered. <br /><br />Overall, in spite of this being more of a miss, Lanyon’s talent shines through regardless, which is a testament to the author’s skill, mostly in driving me to drink and guaranteed to bring me back for more wonderful frustration. <br /><br />*bewildered applause*

3.5 stars<br /><br />This one was difficult to rate because the story isn't finished, but I guess for a first book in a series it was very enjoyable. <br /><br />I liked Cosmo and John, although I think there wasn't much room for any character development here. There were elements to their relationship that didn't seem believable, but that didn't bother me that much. I'm actually really interested to see how things will work out in the next book. Both when it comes to their relationship and the mystery part of the story.<br /><br />I would give the audiobook 5 stars. Kale Williams was amazing and to be perfectly honest, I did pick up this book because it was narrated by him.<br /><br />******<br /><b>Re-read 3/2021</b>

<b>OMG! ? OMG! ? OMG! ? Where do I even begin with this book? First of all, since the moment <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/359194.Josh_Lanyon" title="Josh Lanyon" rel="noopener"> Josh Lanyon</a> announced about this book and from that blurb, I knew this is soooooo going to be my cuppa. ? So I was waiting really impatiently about the release of this book. ? But when Josh again announced that the audio is coming very soon after the release of the print, I knew I gotta wait again because I love Josh’s audios even more than I love Josh’s books. ❤️ And boy, was the wait worth it! Yes!!! Yes, it does!!! ? It was EVERYTHING!!! ? OMG! I can’t even begin to explain how much I loved Cosmo and John.<br /><br /><i>Cosmos is a young, fun witch who’s hopelessly in love with his soon to be husband John. And to say Cosmo was at the wrong place at the wrong time would be understatement of the century. He is marrying the police commissioner of San Francisco in 2 days. And now, he’s caught red handed at the place of the murder of his rival at midnight by two police officers who remembered him as the fiancé of their own police commissioner. And to make the matters worse, Cosmo’s family treasure, a very important grimoire which is the reason why he was at the place of the murder in the first place, has gone missing. And if you think misfortune comes alone, Cosmo also found out that his fiancé is actually under a love spell while trying to investigate the murder which he is the sole suspect of. The wedding is in two days and Cosmo isn’t sure whether he’ll end up at the alter or in the jail when it happens. Most importantly, does John really love him with true love or is he merely bewitched under love spell? A murder mystery, a tempestuous romance and a lost grimoire .. Cosmo sure has his hands full.</i><br /><br />Again, OMG! ? I loooooooooooved this audio sooooooo soooooooo much. ? True to Josh’s usual mysteries, I had no idea who was the villain until the very end. Like, completely clueless about who could be the murderer. ?? And that’s what’s so great about <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/359194.Josh_Lanyon" title="Josh Lanyon" rel="noopener"> Josh Lanyon</a>’s books, full of suspense and thrill and always keeps me at the edge of my seat for the whole book. Considering Josh is a bit stingy with heat in her books, boy, this book was smoking scorching hot!!! ??? Granted, there aren’t a lot of heated scenes in the book since the romance between John and Cosmos was really slow burn and sensual and build up until the very climax. But what we get, Josh delivered! ? Beautiful, sensual, raw and extremely erotic! ?? I loved every second of lovely intimate moments between John and Cosmo. ? I love Cosmos character so sooo much. ❤️ Probably, my favorite Josh Lanyon character so far and yes, that’s saying a lot and that’s how much I loved him. ? And my, <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/15569309.Kale_Williams" title="Kale Williams" rel="noopener"> Kale Williams</a> did a terrific, terrific job narrating this story. ? I have always loved his narration and performance but boy, every time he speaks French and Latin, I melt a little bit inside and become jelly while listening! ? You really don’t need to understand French to know they are extremely sexy! ?? I cant even count the ways this book appeals to me. The nerd in me also loved all about Wicca, Witchcraft and the spells. They were so cool! ? And the ending, OMG! ? That ending! Couldn’t ask for a better ending. ? That’s for sure. I unashamedly listen that ending like 3 times. ?? *sigh* I am so drunk on this ahmazing listen ? and I already can’t freaking wait for next book in the series! And yes, I need me more Cosmos and John in my life. ???<br /><br /><br />5 I love you and only you even with your flaws and imperfections stars<br />⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Audio rating <br /><br />Story - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️<br />Narration - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️<br />Performance - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️<br />Overall - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️</b>

<b>3 Stars<br /><br />WARNING: this review may contain mild spoilers. </b><br /><br />I love me some magic and I love me some mystery in my books, and I also love me some Lanyon quality storytelling, so this should have been a slam-dunk for sure. But although I enjoyed it, I also came away from this one with more than a handful of quibbles — quibbles that kept me from loving this story the way I was hoping to. <br /><br />My first issue revolved around to the whole two-week whirlwind romance thing. Love spell or no love spell, this just seemed extremely fast to me, so much so that I couldn’t quite get past it, especially since I didn’t exactly feel any significant connection between Cosmo and John when we did get to witness them on-page together. There was a spark, yes, but for me it simply didn’t ignite into something worthwhile or believable, at least enough for me to buy why two seemingly intelligent and established men would dive into such a hasty union. <br /><br />This leads me into my second nit-picky problem, which was how heavily deception played a part in this story. Cosmo kept saying how much he was in love with John, but he still had zero intention of sharing with him his witchy truth, ever. Cosmo’s reasons for not wanting to share his world with John didn’t really fly with me either, regardless of the dangers involved. Lies and deceit in relationships, magically motivated or not, really take away a lot of the love story believability for me. Instead of the initial deception helping to extend and build on the story, particularly in relation to the forthcoming sequels, it simply irritated me and hindered me from properly engaging with or rooting for Cosmo and John as a couple, which was a damn shame. <br /><br />As characters and as a book couple, Cosmo and John have a lot of potential, which I’m hoping develops a great deal in the next story. As for now, both characters have a long way to go to win me over fully. <br /><br />Cosmo made one too many nonsensical choices for my liking, seemingly disregarding a lot of the important (or potentially important) things that occurred throughout the story. I generally liked the guy — he was quirky and old-worldly, kind of like a less snarky and cynical Kit Holmes — but I was left shaking my head more than once at his decision-making skills, particularly relating to his choice of keeping John in the dark. <br /><br />And then there was John. I don’t have a good grasp on this guy at all. There were a couple of moments I thought I felt a swoon coming on — I loved his “sweetheart” endearment moments — but then he did or said something that legitimately made me nervous or uncomfortable, especially in relation to his unromantic motivations for wanting to marry Cosmo and in his slightly forceful and impatient treatment of Cosmo in the bedroom. I did, however, like that he still stuck around, even after the love spell was kaput. I was also intrigued as to why John seemed to be semi-immune to magic, which should turn into quite an interesting story development in book two, if given the chance. <br /><br />Overall, this sounds more dire than it was. As with most of my Lanyon reading, I flew through this in under two days. And also like with most of my Lanyon reading, I think a lot of my enjoyment stemmed from my engagement with the mystery plot, rather than the romance itself. I had a similar reaction when reading both the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/53611-holmes-moriarity" rel="nofollow noopener">Holmes and Moriarity series</a> and the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/52404-dangerous-ground" rel="nofollow noopener">Dangerous Ground series</a>, wherein I only truly came to love the couples in around book three and beyond. I’m hoping the same goes here and I become more invested in the relationship element the more I read on. <br /><br />At the end of the day, I did really like seeing how Lanyon developed a modern but traditionally inspired world of witches and witchcraft. Blending all of that in with her trademark murder-mystery storytelling is certainly something I’ll consider seeing through to the end of this series, as I’m hoping to become more interested in Cosmo and John as their story evolves and becomes more well-rounded.

Price drop to $0.99 at Amazon US, 10/3/19!

I sure wish I hadn't already been thoroughly spoiled when I picked this up. But when the blurb of the second book blares out the answer to the Big Suspenseful Question of the first book, well... there goes any possibility of actual suspense. The whole "Will he or won't he?" moral dilemma was a complete wash, because I already knew the answer.<br /><br />Still, I enjoyed it more than I expected, given that (and given the number of lukewarm reviews from my friends). It's light and frothy for a murder mystery, undemanding, with a completely unconvincing romance — more on that coming up — and it was an easy read. I'm not going to recommend it to anyone, though, because disbelief has to be suspended in far too many different ways during the course of the story.<br /><br />The biggest Simply Unbelievable Thing is the two weeks. Why, Josh, why? Why not two months, which would at least have moved it out of the realm of flat-out unbelievable into "okay, maybe I can buy it, if I squint sideways and don't pause to think." If you've read it, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, here are some highlights:<br /><br />The MCs meet once, briefly and rather unpleasantly. Skip forward a bit (the timeframe wasn't clear to me), and we're supposed to believe that all of the following happens within two weeks:<br /><br />- They cross paths for a second time.<br />- They decide they're in love.<br />- They get engaged.<br />- They schedule a wedding to take place in (what is now LESS THAN) two weeks.<br />- Arrangements are made for venue, catering, cake, florist, etc. <br />- One MC decides to sell his house, puts it on the market, and sells it.<br />- The MCs go house-hunting, find a house they like, make an offer on it, close on the purchase, and start moving in.<br />- The new house, and its yard, get all painted, planted, and spiffied up, because <i>it</i> is going to be the venue for the wedding.<br />- The MC who's a police commissioner makes arrangements to take a couple weeks of vacation in (what is now LESS THAN) two weeks — even though he's brand-new and <i>just started</i> in the job. (Amidst all the craziness, this is the one that really pressed my "You've got to be shitting me!" button. In what world would this be possible?)<br />- Flights and hotels and touring arrangements etc are booked for a honeymoon abroad on (what is now LESS THAN) two weeks notice.<br /><br />Again I ask, <i>why?</i> I can more easily believe magic and witches exist than I can believe that all this transpired within two weeks. Plus, the impossibly short timeframe completely torpedoes Cosmo's angsting over how if the wedding falls through, he will be emotionally and psychologically destroyed. His little heart broken, never to be mended. Alas and alack. Boo and hoo. All this over a man he's been in love with for less than two weeks. You know what, Cosmo? <i>I think not.</i><br /><br />And I regret to say, there's yet another thing that was impossible for me to swallow — and it wasn't just a matter of a sketchy timeline and dubious logistics, but a major characterization issue. Alas, I've run out of time and energy, so I'm just going to call it quits and wrap things up without opening up that can of worms. <br /><br />2.5 stars, and I'm rounding up because maybe, just maybe, it's a case of the first of the series being rough around the edges, and things will improve from here on out. I mean, <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/16154916.Fatal_Shadows__The_Adrien_English_Mysteries___1_" title="Fatal Shadows (The Adrien English Mysteries, #1) by Josh Lanyon" rel="noopener">Fatal Shadows</a> is not a work of art, but it's worth reading (and rereading) because it's fundamental to the series. So I'm planning to read the second of this series and hope for the best. Because there was actually something I <i>liked</i> about this — oops, did I forget to mention that, in the midst of all my griping? Silly me. Okay, here's the thing I liked: <br /><br />The story is full of moral ambiguity, and it makes the characters seem a little shady, a little tarnished, and a little difficult to root for. The dissonance — and novelty — of that, in what's otherwise a rather fluffy bit of stuff, appeals to me.

This was fricking terrible. I can't get my head around this being a Lanyon book.<br /><br />Stuff I hated:<br /><br />*Instalove (which you don't see, they're together when the book starts)<br /><br />*Starts in the middle of an ongoing plot, leaving the reader to scramble to catch up<br /><br />*The mc's have zero chemistry between each other<br /><br />*Too many side characters <br /><br />*I needed to suspend way too much believe (they buy a house, plant a giant garden, plan a wedding and more in two weeks??)<br /><br />*All the characters were unlikable <br /><br />*Their entire relationship was based on a lie. A really giant lie.<br /><br />*The first sex scene was awkward and confusing. You get the impression they've been intimate before but now one mc is freaking out &amp; it's headed to dub-con territory. But.....why? Some jumbled nonsense about no penetrative sex till they're married (which I didn't care for...way too m/f....saving myself for marriage ick) but what was extra weird was that mc1 had not previously told mc2 this. You're getting married. How do you not know something this intimate? ( I'll tell you why....cuz they only knew each other 2 weeks and everything is a lie)<br /><br />*The writing was purple prosey in places (ie..."I opened to him like the flowers of the white garden yielding to the moon's kiss" <br />*insert me rolling my eyes back into my head*)<br /><br />Stuff I loved:<br /><br />*NOTHING.....I hated every page of it. I had to dnf @ 53% because I couldn't take one more page of this nonsense. I normally don't rate dnf books but I made an exception in this case cuz my hate was so strong.

I LOVED writing this. I really lost myself in the world I created (which is, I think, the closest a writer can come to experiencing their work as readers do).

I really enjoyed this! It was "lighter" than the usual Lanyon, but still had the murder mystery element. I wanted more development of our MCs, so I can't wait for Book 2, when shit will really hit the fan when John finds out about all the magic. No cliffhanger though.