My Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
*** Disclaimer:
I know the author personally and was privileged enough to read an earlier
version of this title about a year ago. I picked up some typos and grammatical errors that had outwitted the spell checker and then followed its path to publication
with bated breath. Thus, I am undoubtedly a little biased when asked my opinion
about it! ***
Sophie Thibodeau is a relatively normal Graduate
student when she first encounters Dylan Black on the slopes of Maine’s Mount
Katahdin. Although he is a little controlling and unusual, she falls for his
natural beauty and dynamic personality and they begin a passionate affair. Soon
she realizes that she is pregnant and suddenly her world changes. Dylan insists
that she break all connection to her friends and family and live with him and
his strangely insular people in the town that he controls like a feudal lord.
He becomes increasingly controlling and possessive and finally he takes her out
into the woods one night to reveal his most intimate secret – he can transform
into a wolf, as can some of his followers.
Terrified beyond belief, Sophie flees into the forest
seeking to escape the ‘monsters’ behind her. Unfortunately, she crosses paths
with Dylan’s previous lover, Sîan, who is jealous of Sophie’s pregnancy and
more than a little unhinged. Seriously injured, Sophie persuades Sîan to let
her leave and she crawls towards the safety of the Interstate, determined to
protect her unborn child from all the threats that Rhuddin Village hides.
Sixteen years later, Sophie sees her son developing
some worrying tendencies and she realizes that he has probably inherited more
from his father than a few physical similarities. She decides that the only way
to keep Joshua safe and well is to return to the one person that she has spent
so long avoiding. Meanwhile, Dylan is on the brink of a war with the Guardians,
the most ancient of his kind who see themselves as almost Gods. They want all
of their kind to live under their direct control, but many, including Dylan,
refuse to bend to their will and are prepared to fight to retain their freedom.
War is coming to Dylan’s land and yet he needs to keep his family safe as well.
When a friend tells you that they are a writer and
that they would like you to read their manuscript, it is rather difficult to
know what to say in return. What if it is a pile of dreadful rubbish? What if
you hate the characters, the setting, the dialogue, the plot, the genre, the
way they keep using the word ‘sparkly’? How do you keep your friendship intact
after they have laid their soul bare to you and you have looked at it and then
wanted to gouge your eyes out with spoons? How do you tactfully tell someone
that you hate their baby and think it should be burned on the spot and then the
ashes should be buried at the bottom of deep, deep mineshaft just to make sure
that they never see the light of day again? Will they ever speak to me again
after I have killed their dream and then jumped up and down on its still warm
corpse with spiky boots for several hours?
I know that these kinds of thoughts mean that I am a
pessimist of the worst type, and I am exaggerating a little, but to say that I
was worried about reading Jan’s manuscript is a massive understatement. I am
known at our book group for being out-spoken and very vocal with my criticism,
so I was sure that I could never hand this book back with a lukewarm appraisal.
At the time, my friendship with Jan was at a very critical stage, like a tiny
plant just beginning to get established, and it could have very easily been
squashed by my tendency towards unintentional tactlessness.
Fortunately, my worries were groundless and I did not
need to worry about destroying Jan’s fragile ego. Her writing grabbed me right away
and I was intrigued by the story that she laid out. I knew that she wanted me
to be especially critical of the dialogue that she had given to those
characters born in the UK, but there was nothing that stuck out as
inappropriate. I could hand the huge stack of papers back with a very honest,
but enthusiastic, appraisal and feel good about it. Since then, I have continued to reassure Jan that
I really do like her book and think that it is good: I am not sure if she
truly, truly believes me, but I hope that this review will go some way to
finally laying her doubts to rest.
The first thing that struck me about Celtic Moon was
the choice of protagonist. Sophie is rather unusual for the Urban Fantasy /
Paranormal Romance that I have read because she is already a relatively mature
woman. I say ‘relatively’ because she is quite a bit younger than me and I do
not like thinking of myself as ‘older’ or ‘mature’! Not only is she in her mid
to late thirties, but also she has already found the love of her life and had
his child. She is well beyond the Happy Ever After that comes at the end of
traditional Romance novels and living a normal life with all the associated
difficult bits. In fact, the only near perfect aspect of her life is that she
has such great relationships with her son and mother.
I was both intrigued and delighted by Sophie and her
dilemmas. I am not a great fan of chick lit or general Romance titles, so I
enjoyed reading about a woman who has to deal with more than just romantic
angst and whether or not her nail varnish matches her handbag. Sophie has big,
real life issues to overcome and she does it with great grit and determination.
This is where Jan really sold me her book: Sophie is a strong woman throughout
the whole story. I have grown to really rather hate those ‘strong’ female
protagonists that are repeatedly described as such right up until the moment
that the male hero turns up to save her from all the big, bad monsters and
sweep her off her feet. If a woman is strong then she will remain so even if
she has a man around to help out with fighting the coming apocalypse. Buffy the
Vampire Slayer has male friends and helpers, but she is always as good as, if
not better than, them in a straight fight against the Big Bad. She is the type
of strong female that I can appreciate and empathize with and Sophie has a
slight touch of Buffy about her.
One other aspect of Sophie that I really like is
where she actually differs from Buffy: she is not special. She is not the
Chosen One. She does not have special powers. She is not the unknowing last
member of some super special tribe of uber-powerful warrior women with the ability
to fire laser beams from her eyes. In short, she is not a Special Snowflake and
I love her for it. She could be me or you or any of our friends: the only
unusual thing about her is that she meets a man who happens to be able to shift
into wolf. Again, this is against the usual trend in all manner of Fantasy
fiction, but it helps to make this book stand out from the ‘pack’ (sorry, but I
had to!).
Speaking of our Alpha male: he is also a pleasant
surprise. He displays many of the typical Alpha characteristics that we see in
Romance novels, but I can forgive him for his overbearing arrogance because he
has good reason to be that way. He is nearly two thousand years old and has
stayed outside of human society for much of that time, so he can be forgiven
for being a little unusual. He is heavily influenced by the traumas of his past
and also by the Wolf inside him. As pack leader, he feels responsible for all
his people and his desire to find Sophie has always had to take a back seat to
his need to keep the pack safe. He is a man with great strength of character
who can, and does, chose the pack’s interest over his own. As Spock says “The
needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.” and we see that
Dylan can apply this logic even though his Wolf is calling out for its chosen
Mate, Sophie.
This adds an unusually cool dynamic to the rekindled
romance between our two lead characters. There is little doubt that they will
eventually succumb to the powerful attraction between them, but they are not so
weak-willed and self-centered as to allow their feelings endanger the people
around them. When they do finally reunite, all the longing and self-denial adds
to the emotional impact of the event and yet it has a truthful feel to it. This
is not a fantastical encounter of spectacular gymnastics, improbable outcomes or
impossible endurance. It is tender and honest, with a dash of desperate urgency
thrown in for good measure.
Along with the unusual dynamic between our two
lovers, we have strong family relationships on both sides of the aisle.
Sophie’s family is small but very tightly knit. Her mother, Francine, is
hilarious and has some really great moments, and yet she is as strong as her
daughter: when things get difficult she simply rolls up her sleeves and does
what is needed. She might have a bit of a grumble, but she will always support
and protect her family. Dylan’s family is a little more difficult to read
because we spend less time in their company, but there is a similarly strong
bond between the three siblings. The extended family of the Pack also includes
some strong personalities and interesting characters to keep Dylan on his toes
and to make sure that he never takes his authority for granted. We will learn
much more about Dylan’s brother and sister, Luc and Elen, in the second and
third volumes of the Celtic Wolves Series because each title concentrates on
one of the siblings. I look forward to getting a greater insight into their
family dynamic.
The story itself follows a logical course as it
carries our characters into great danger, building a feeling of threat that is
very real. As you can tell, I felt deeply invested in these characters and so I
really cared about their safety and well-being. I was impressed by the fearless
way in which Jan did not provide a soft and safe ending for everyone: the
Guardians are vicious in their attempts to ‘persuade’ the Pack to return to the
old ways and they use any means necessary to get their message across. This
leads to violent conflict and death, but not in a gratuitous and casual way.
All the pain and suffering flows directly from the personalities and political
ideals of the Guardians, but Jan does not pull her punches so be prepared for
some shocking outcomes.
It seems that this review is in danger of becoming
rather too massive, so I will draw to a close. I recommend Celtic Moon to
anyone who enjoys Urban Fantasy with a little Romance thrown in. However, that
romance does not follow the traditional path and our lovers are not only driven
by their love for each other: they have more important things to worry about!
Most importantly, I would praise Sophie as a real heroine, with inner strength
and great courage, who is just an ordinary woman dealing with extraordinary
problems.
Giveaway!
If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of
Celtic Moon, Signed and Dedicated by Jan, just send me an email at
sue(dot)cccp(at)gmail(dot)com with the subject title "Celtic Moon Giveaway" including your full postal address.
I
will draw a name at random on Monday September 23 at 12 noon. Good luck!
