Starlight Web: Moonshadow Bay, Book 1

Moonshadow Bay #1

by Yasmine Galenorn, Cassandra Campbell (Narrator)

Moonshadow Bay . . . where magic lurks in the moonlight, and danger hides in the shadows. One month before January Jaxson turns forty-one, her husband ditches her for a trophy wife. Adding insult to injury, he steals the business she helped build, and kicks her out during the holidays. So when her best friend Ari suggests she move back to Moonshadow Bay—a quirky magical town near Bellingham, Washington—January decides to take the plunge.

Born into a family of witches, January accepts a job at Conjure Ink, a paranormal investigations website. The job's right up her alley but she doubts that everything reported to Conjure Ink really exists. That is, until she's sent out on her first case. An abandoned asylum once housed a murderer, who killed an entire family one Yuletide Eve. It's rumored that every December he returns to haunt the woodland around the asylum, seeking to add new members to his supernatural family.

January's sure it's an urban legend, but when new victims show up with no logical explanation for their deaths, Conjure Ink sends her in to investigate. Now, January must not only navigate the new life she's trying to build, but the paranormal beasties she's sent out to explore, as well as a hot new neighbor, who seems to be hiding a shadowed past of his own.

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Romance, Witches, Mystery, Contemporary

Audible Audio

First published December 7, 2020

About the author

NOTE: I SELDOM visit Goodreads and do very little here. Please see my website for more information on my work: https://galenorn.com

New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and is the author of over 80 books & numerous series, including the Wild Hunt Series, the Moonshadow Bay Series, the Fury Unbound Series, the Otherworld Series, the Bewitching Bedlam Series, and more. She wrote for trad publishers for 20 years until she went indie in 2016.

She’s also written nonfiction metaphysical books. She is the 2011 Career Achievement Award Winner in Urban Fantasy, given by RT Magazine. Yasmine has been in the Craft since 1980, is a shamanic witch and High Priestess. She describes her life as a blend of teacups and tattoos. She lives in Kirkland, WA, with her husband Samwise and their cats. Yasmine can be reached via her web site at Galenorn.com. Sign up for her newsletter at: http://galenorn.com/newsletter/

NOTE: ALWAYS check the website and blog, and please sign up for her newsletter there to keep current with new and upcoming releases. Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter are NOT viable places to find out all this information.

Reviews

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Meet January Jaxson, she just lost everything after divorcing her scheming ex-husband. In an effort to lick her wounds and start over, she decided to return to her hometown of Moonshadow Bay. Little did she know, fate had bigger plans for her. Soon after moving back home, January stumbles upon an opportunity of a lifetime - a job at Conjure Ink, a paranormal investigation website. Finally, she can put her witchy powers and senses to use! Her first case is a haunted abandoned asylum, and she can't wait to dive in. Will January be able to uncover the secrets lurking in the shadows of the asylum? Follow her journey to find out!

Great idea and concept. I only wished there was a bit more depth and development. Other than that, it was an entertaining read. Would recommend it to fans of paranormal mystery and romance.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Yasmine Galenorn, and Tantor Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

[Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 35%

Sigh. This one had good characters and once it got to the mystery, it seemed interesting. But she just keeps telling the same story of what her ex did to her to everyone she meets. It’s like “Hi, I’m January and my ex tricked me and took everything. Let me tell you all the details”. 8 times this whole story is repeated and then there are a ton of references every other page to the ex. It’s so repetitive that I stopped being excited for the story and was just waiting for the next reference to the ex and the next verbatim retelling of what he did.

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful read! I liked January, she had to go over such a shitty marriage and a horrible ex-husband and she is a witch! I love how the story was not overly enriched with information about the world, it was added naturally to the story. The world is where witches and shifter live openly with humans. This story is about January restarting her life after her divorce. She returns to the town she grew up in and is supported by her best friend and Aunt. Her parents just passed away and she is staying in her parent's place. Her new neighbor is Killian, her potential love interest, and overall an awesome dude.

Really this book is not angsty, it’s a light read, with a fantasy element about the mystery at the mental institution.

Her coworkers at her new workplace seem to be good people and are involved in the mystery.

It ended too quickly for me so I’m looking forward to the next book!!

[Robin Mandell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun, and creepy in a good way.

This book doesn’t disappoint - sweet friendships, magical attacks, and descriptions of delicious food. Because of this book I am craving mint hot chocolat.
My biggest is that it wasn’t long enough. There is so much hinted at that I want all the details now.ne

[Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welcome to Moonshadow Bay! I love this author, so when she starts writing new series I have to try them. I started this book and honestly, it took me a bit to get into it. I am not sure why. I think the reason was it was a bit slow for me in the beginning. January Jaxson and all the characters grew on me several chapters in. January is a a paranormal investigator for Conjure Ink. She finds a little trouble but makes new friends and maybe even finds love. Now I am excited to read what January finds in her next adventure in Moonshadow Bay.

[Shannon Dyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect start to what promises to be a phenomenal new series. I love the setting, and I am anxious to learn more about the various characters. I am especially interested in January and whatever spiritual journey she is likely to embark upon.

[Georgia Tumbleweed McNabb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the way the story was laid out, and the characters are interesting. Some of the characters Are characters, which makes the book fun. The scary parts are well described and not something I would want to face. Narrator does a very good job with the various characters' voices and the entire storyline.

[Kayla B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yasmine Galenorn was my intro into fantasy/sci fi in 2022 and I am so glad I found her when I did! Starlight Web is a lot more tame than her other books, but still a wonderful read. The characters in this novel are so likeable and as a reader I felt for all of them. Somehow this paranormal fiction felt cozy at times. With all the talk of love, coffee and kittens.

Starlight Web has a little bit of something for everyone. It is an easy read that leaves a lot to be imagined. I want more of January’s story! She has just moved back to her hometown of Moonshadow Bay after leaving her like is Seattle behind. She leaves with a bang, let me tell you that! As she searches for her future in her hometown she finds a job working for an online paranormal investigations website. She finds friends, new and old and even love. There is a lot of January’s life to explore and her job is so interesting.

I enjoyed this books and will give the next in the series a read!

[Tammy Kenney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this story to be enjoyable. January moves back to her home town after she gets divorced to start over. She takes a job with Conjure Ink and her first job has her investigating mysterious deaths at an old asylum. January also finds a new romantic interest in her new neighbor.
This book contains all the supernaturals including witches, shifters, vampires and more. Probably the only thing that I didn't care for was how fast January and her neighbor became romantically involved considering she just had a nasty divorce. I will probably read the next book in the series since I really like her job and look forward to her next investigation and I liked all the characters in the story.

[Mae · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

This just did not resonate well with me. The stilted dialog made me cringe, and the editor must have fallen asleep on the job. It felt slow and like nothing happened, but looking back, a lot happened. I think the presentation was just bland. That's partly the writing and partly the narration. If a character sensed something ominous or was uneasy, it did not translate or connect with me. I didn't *feel* anything at all throughout the book other than annoyance. As a start to a series, one can hope the action and relatablility amp up and hold readers more in subsequent books, but I don't intend to read any, nor would I recommend it.

1 star because I finished it and 1.5 stars because I really wanted to like it until the drab end.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

January Jaxson was blindsided by her husband ditching her for some fluff trophy wife, steals the business she developed and ran with him and to top it off kicks her out of the house during the holidays. When her best friend suggests moving back to Moonshadow Bay, she takes it and finds herself adrift at age forty-one. But settling back in her hometown and getting back into her magic, January takes a job with Conjure Ink and finds more than even she bargained for when her very first case thrusts her into mystery that has deadly consequences for unsuspecting people. Along with the Conjure Ink crew, she has to investigate an old, abandoned asylum that has dead bodies turning up on the land around it with no logical explanations to their deaths. Now the race is on as she figures out this case, keep ahead of the danger that goes over this place like a cloud and try to navigate this new life she is making for herself. Who said the forties were so boring?

I love this new introduction to Yasmine Galenorn’s newest series, Moonshadow Bay, in STARLIGHT WEB. I love how the main character is in her forties and not needing rescuing all the time. As this was the first of this new genre called Paranormal Women’s Fiction for me to read, I got to admit, this just blew me away in a good way. I loved the story, the characters and how the author world building in Moonshadow Bay. The story flows swift and kept my attention right till the very end and then I had to pre-order book two, Midnight Web next. As this was one of my favorite authors, Ms. Galenorn doesn’t disappoint in STARLIGHT WEB. It’s a fast-paced ride from start to finish.

What I really loved about the characters were how relatable they were. January Jaxson was a more mature character that just kept me glued to the pages from page one. She was quirky, enjoyable, and highly entertaining. I couldn’t get enough of her. I really enjoyed her new co-workers at Conjure Ink as they were diverse and unique in and of themselves. I was hooked and the story felt fresh and unique as well. Add in a mysterious neighbor with his own secrets as a love interest for January, well I was intrigued for more. If you enjoy a heroine who you can root for, characters to fall in love with and a story to just captivate you then you will enjoy Moonshdow Bay and STARLIGHT WEB. I look forward to more from this author set in this unique world she has created amid the pages.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Stars

This is the first book in a new series about a woman in her mid-forties (January Jaxson) who is thrown for a loop when her life changes drastically. Her husband has left her for a much younger woman, she discovers that he had been cheating on her for quite a while and in the process of the divorce, she also realizes that through some treachery and forged papers, he has cheated her out of the business she helped make successful AND the house that they owned together. Feeling lost, she returns to her hometown.

In the months before all of this, her parents were just killed in an accident. This at least gives her a home to retreat to and she goes back to her childhood home. I felt a couple of well, I think a good word would be "dis-associations" (not really sure this is a word) in the beginning because it seems as if she had lived the last 18 years of her marriage without the existence or even discussions of magic. See, she is apparently a witch. She comes from a very long family of witches and is supposedly pretty powerful. Her husband knew she had magic, but he didn't like it so...well, I guess she just....forgot about it? See, that was just a bit odd to me.

Anyway, when she goes back home, she seems to fall into a TOTALLY different world. Without going into spoilers, lets just say that everyone around her is some sort of supe (supernatural). There are witches, shifters, vampires...get the picture?) And it felt like she really fell back into her old life a little bit too easily. I mean, she was gone 18 years and had basically cut all ties with her old friends.

So, the story itself is interesting. A bit odd, sure, but it did hold my interest. There is a love inter3est that seems to pop up overnight, there is a crazy supernatural problem happening in the city, she gets a job that had just been looking for a supernatural person to fill it.......see any themes?

This was an audio ARC and the narrator was Cassandra Campbell. I'm not sure if I've ever heard her before, but she did a fine job with the narration. This is one of those stories that if you just decide to go with the flow and not try too hard to sidestep any plot holes, it is an easy and fun listen.

There were many new secondary characters introduced and the possibility and seeds for more shenanigans were definitely planted.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this ARC. The opinions above are mine and mine alone.

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read Yasmine Galenorn in the past, so when I picked this up, I was hoping to enjoy this just as much as I did her Whisper Hollow books. Since I read this in almost one sitting, I think it's obvious that this book didn't disappoint.

This book followed a witch named January, who went back to her hometown after a divorce. Though a lot of the paranormal women's fiction I've read has this same setup, the fact that January was fully aware of her powers was a nice change from the stories where the characters discover them. I like those a lot, too, but this made a nice change. I loved watching January get out of the relationship with her controlling and emotionally abusiv ex. Her confidence had taken a massive hit, but reconnecting with her best friend, Ari, her aunt, and a new love interest in her neighbor, Killian, helped that a lot. January also got herself a job as a paranormal investigator, which I totally loved.

The setting of this book was really well-done. As in her Whisper Hollow books, I loved the descriptions, the atmosphere, and the general feel of the town of Moonshadow Bay. I loved January's friendship with Ari and her familial relationships, including some of the ghostly variety. I liked Killian, too, with his willingness to protect January and his attempts at making her feel more comfortable with herself. The two talk things out and are really good for one another, though things did move a little quickly considering she'd been burning her wedding dress weeks before.

All in all, I really enjoyed this. January was a character I liked and could see myself being friends with. She didn't make any really dumb choices, and she was always honest with those she cared about. The case she was working on was well-done and creepy, causing some action and suspense. Now, I think it's on to the next book for me.

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming story. Decent world building. Good setup for a new series. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of the fallout from this site as well as some of the less savory characters introduced so far.
Really liking January and Teran, Ari, Caitlin, Tad, Hank and of course Killian. I mean a guy who has M&Ms at the ready and just happens to be a vet and a sexy wolf shifter with just the right amount of possessiveness... yummy!!
I like the straight forward nature of their relationships. I like you, you like me, let's give it a go without beating around the bush endlessly.
I also like that this isn't a suddenly discovered new power, whether it be from a family secret or secret family (i.e. previously unknown magical parent), but rather that she was born and raised with it and only stepped back from it for personal reasons...

The one thing I really had an issue with because it was so distracting were the many consistency/ continuity issues,
e.g.: first her parents died in a plane crash chapter 1, page 11 and chapter 3, page 32 than they died in a car crash chapter 13, pages 160 and 164, and chapter 18, page 218
or when reporting an event the first time it happened in the morning, when she had to give the same report again later she said it happened in the afternoon.
Making a big point of ordering takeout, mac'n'cheese, fried chicken and biscuits only to sit down to eat pizza. And these are just some of the more glaringly obvious ones.
Like I said it's very distracting as you keep questioning your own memory and end up going back to check it out which of course disrupts the 'reading flow'. It rather have less details and focus on keeping the story straight

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s a good book, but it didn’t grab me. I almost quit halfway into it cause not much seemed to happen and I was bored. The last 25% of the book finally held my attention, but by then it was too late, and I’m not even sure if it truly got better of if I was just seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and pushing through to get it over with.

It’s well written, I liked all of the characters, and the world that the author was building, but it was taking its dear sweet time to get there, and the stuff that did happen was rather weak and mundane. She got a divorce, moved back to her childhood town, she has dinner with her best friend, she meets her hot neighbor, she goes shopping for new bedding, she interviews for a new job, she meets her new coworkers… yawn.

Even when stuff does start to happen, it’s still all fairly passive stuff. I don’t think she used magic once, beyond just opening herself up to seeing a malevolent spirit. She doesn’t even stand up to or fight the spirit that causes all the problems, she just finds someone else who can do it.

Oh, and the first and only sex scene is a fade-to-black scene (you know, they kiss and head to the bedroom and the author just says how wonderful it was without actually showing it). I’m okay with that, but only if the rest of the book held my attention and was worth reading, but it wasn’t.

I have a feeling things would improve in book two, since much of the world building is done now, but I don’t care enough to keep reading. Especially when I have 300 other books in my TBR list.

[Saltysalamander · Rating 4 out of 5]

🔮Starlight We b🔮
If you’re looking for a light, cozy, mysterious UF, that’s filled with magic and amazing supporting characters about a Woman finding herself again after an abusive marriage, then Starlight Web is the perfect read for you.
✨Divorcee—> cheating husband—> she 🔥 his new car (love that for her, as she should)
✨Witchy/Magical town
✨FMC-40, Curvy, Witch who’s trying to get back in touch with her magical roots while restarting her life back in her hometown.
✨I want her new job (PNR investigator)
✨LGBTQ+ rep
✨Urban Fantasy/PNR-🧙🏼🧛🏼🐺👻 and much more
✨Slow Burn
✨Narration of audio was done well
Parental loss
Definitely could tell it was starter for a series.
Things I liked:
-The side characters! Loved her work friends, her bff, her aunt, and Killian.
-The setting. The town seems so cozy and quaint, with the devious/creepy/mysterious woods.
-Loved her new job and the first assignment and how all of that was set up.
Things I could do without:
-The constant repetition about her ex. Some is perfect for the backstory and situation, but constantly still hearing it over half way through got a bit exhausting.
-A few of the inconsistencies: with food, her parents, and little story elements throughout that just felt like we were given crumbs of and never seen again.
Easily 4.5 stars and 100% believe the rest of the books in the series will be 5 stars once everything is ironed out. I cannot wait to read more about the Moonshadow crew.

⭐️Disclaimer: I received this book as an arc. All opinions are my own. Thank You NetGalley & Author for a chance to read this book.⭐️

[CiCi | bookameme · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Perfect Mesh of Paranormal Thriller and Closed Door Romance


Quote:📖
The town seemed more sinister than it had when I was a child.


Thoughts: 💡
Chilling, haunting, and sometimes downright spooky, but beautifully and eloquently written. I loved that the FMC was a little older, and a little wiser, but still figuring life out. The book looked at her whole life and the rich relationships she had with a wealth of characters from her budding romance, best friend, remaining family members, coworkers, and community.

Writing Mechanics: ✍️
This is beautifully written in a first person present tense single POV. The plot was engaging and at points downright chilling. The characters were deeply developed, extremely relatable, and very endearing.

Sound: 🔊
The sound was clear with a steady volume and easy to follow. The narrator was the perfect fit for this and delivered a stellar performance that had me completely hooked.

Fun Bits:
⚜️ Scary Scenes Straight Out Of Silent Hill
⚜️ Light Steam, but still SFW
⚜️ Creative Clap Backs, but still classy
⚜️ Eloquent Words That Are Almost Lyrical
⚜️ An Intricate Magical Community & System

Important Note:✨
This is book one but it stops at a point that feels satisfying.


Stats:📊
Closed Door
Character Dev: 5 💙💙💙💙💙/5
Audio: 5 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧/5
Narrator: 5 🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️/5
Genre: (PNR) Romance📕
Tropes: Witches, Vampires, & Shapeshifters, Post Divorce, Girl Getting Her Groove Back, Paranormal Mysteries 📘
POV: Single 💃🏻
CW: Mild Violence, the ex was a cheater⚠️

[Micky Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is how you write a female lead character who overcomes adversity! She is starting over after having had her life stolen from her by her cheating ex, but she doesn't sit around and cry about it. January Jackson is a strong, independent witch who isn't going to waste time on her ex, she moves back to Moonshadow Bay, the small town she grew up in, and starts reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. She takes on a new job that puts her in an investigation role. Think private eye for paranormal activities. While this is a fantasy world, it is a very well-done fantasy world that includes murder, mayhem as well as finding herself while strengthening relationships with new and old friends. This story is very well written and I am so happy to find that this is actually an older series so there are many more books for me to devour in this series! The narration was outstanding and really helped bring the characters, the action and story fully to life. An audiobook can really bring the emotion of the characters to life so that the characters feel more realistic. I felt like I was living in the story not reading about it. I absolutely can't wait to see what these characters get up to next as I think there may even be a love connection or two in the future, but make no mistake, this story is all about the mystery and investigation as well as January's personal life. Think action-adventure paranormal style with a bit of romance woven in to make things just a bit more interesting!

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moonshadow Bay, coast of Washington

January Jaxson: witch... returns to Moonshadow Bay, to family home at age 41, after her divorce.

Killian O'Connell: new next door neighbor; wolf shifter; 125 years old; veterinarian;

Ari : January's best friend;

The story is of a middle aged woman, who lost herself to her husband, invested herself in their shared art magazine, and lost her house, magazine, and husband when he 'swindled' her and decided he'd rather be with his young secretary... And she goes home (though parents passed a year earlier) to live her best life...

And... she happens to be a witch...
She takes a job as a paranormal investigator / online newspaper writer... and becomes friendly with Killian, who is fitting a nice niche in her life...

The mystery / investigation is of an insane asylum, for criminally insane, run by chaos witches, in the center of an Elemental's territory... and those who died ... their spirits are 'fused' with the elementals, and sucking the life out those who get too close.

In containing the problem, she meets a powerful, long-lived witch... a vampire (who buys the land, razes the building, and fences it) to whom she now owes a favor...

and she is 'adopted' by witchy angels - who predict she will be the strongest in her line...

[Laura Levada · Rating 5 out of 5]

January Jaxson tem 41 anos e acaba de ser troca por seu marido, por uma esposa troféu. Como se isso não fosse o suficiente, ele também arranjou um jeito de roubar sua parte no negócio que ela trabalhou tanto para ajudar a construir.
Ela também vem de uma linhagem de bruxas poderosas, mas deixou tudo de lado pelo marido que não aprovava que ela praticasse sua magia.
Com a separação ela volta para sua cidade natal a Baía de Moonshadow.
Lá ela aceita um emprego na Conjure Ink, um site de investigações paranormais.
Seu primeiro caso é um asilo abandonado que abrigou um assassino que matou um família inteira na véspera de Yuletide, e que segundo a lenda, volta todo Dezembro para encontrar novas vítimas. Lenda urbana ou verdade?

Gostei muito desse primeiro livro, a história é boa, a autora conseguiu mesclar, diversão, suspense e um pouco de terror em doses certas. A personagem é ótima, achei ela um bom exemplo de uma mulher na sua idade e situação, que tenta se encontrar e recomeçar, depois do que o canalha do ex marido aprontou com ela.
Obvio que tem de ter um mocinho, Killian, que acabou de chagar na cidade assim como ela. Ele é veterinário e um tipo encantadoramente misterioso.
Até os personagens secundários são legais.
Eu espero que o próximo livro da série continue tão bom como esse.

[Vannessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this first book in this new series from one of my favourite authors.

January K Jaxson, a 41 year old divorcee, just escaped from a bad, controlling 18 year long marriage and has returned to her home town after her parents' deaths. Being a witch, she was denied all the things she loved by her ex and it's time for her to find herself once more now she is free of his clutches.

Taking a job with Conjure Ink, a paranormal investigation team, meeting up with old friends and family and finding a little romance with the hunky neighbour next door, is all January needs to bring back some much needed happiness in her life.

I loved January - even though she has been downtrodden for many years, she is now growing, coming into her own and becoming the strong willed, determined woman she needs to be. No longer repressed, no more being told no and no more having to play nice for the sake of it! I can't wait to see how she grows even more now. As a witch who has not been using her powers properly for years, she needs to get back into being who she really is and I can't wait for that for her!

I loved the story of the asylum and the elemental there. A great first case to investigate for January, but I am very intrigued by what Val Slater wants from her now! Luckily she has people guarding her back!

Looking forward to reading the next book in this series now.

[Abra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book starts as January is leaving her home for the last time. Her ex has stolen the magazine she nearly singlehandedly built up, has taken the house, and dumped her for a 20 y/o. She returns to her home town for a new start. She closed off her witch side during her marriage because her husband hated it and now she wants to find the pieces she lost. I think we all do that after a divorce. I know I did.

January comes from a line of witches and her magic came down to her from her mother's side. She applies for a job at Conjure Inc as a paranormal investigator. She's also planning to hang out a shingle part time once she brings her magic skills back. She left home at 20 when she married and left town so her mother didn't get the chance to teach January as much as she needed to learn.

Her first case involves bodies being found on the grounds of an old asylum. A developer wants to build housing on the asylum, but there's a lot of dangerous stuff going on there that January has to confront.

I liked this book, hence the four stars, but I did think that Killian, January's love interest (there's no real hero in the sense that the hero is a main character), was a very weak character. He's pretty forgettable.

[Christine Rains · Rating 4 out of 5]

January Jaxson just got out of a horrible marriage and has moved back into her deceased parents' house in the magical town of Moonshadow Bay which she grew up in. She was born into a family of witches, and that, along with her writing skills, gets her a job at Conjure Ink which does paranormal investigations. Her first case is a doozy, though. There's a great big evil energy at the town's abandoned asylum and people are turning up dead there. Getting back on her magical feet, discovering secrets about her family's past, and a hot new neighbor make her life even more chaotic. Will January be able to figure out the mystery and how to rid the land of the evil or will it consume her as well?

This is the first book in a fun paranormal romance series taking place in Moonshadow Bay. There are all sorts of supernaturals living there, and we get a quick introduction to several as January settles back in. The world building is fantastic with all the layers and secrets in the town. January is working on getting her confidence back after a bad marriage, and I love seeing a smart, curvy middle-aged woman as the heroine. The whole cast is wonderful, and I would love to see more of Rowan and Val.

[Emily Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This very much has a cozy mystery feel with a ton of paranormal elements. This ended up being right up my alley and I really enjoyed it. It was a cozy, fun time.

I loved the concept of a paranormal investigation firm and that January's first case with them was a haunted abandoned asylum. It was suitably spooky and interesting to read about. I wish that there was more fleshing out of the actual mystery and that they had actually spent more time actually on site. The romance and January settling into her new life took up the majority of the book. While that didn't necessarily bother me, I know some will not appreciate that. As this is the first in the series, I hope that this is just the setup for an even better book 2.

I also will say that it became annoying that January, every time she meets someone new in the book, she repeats the same story of what her ex did to her. She was giving a lot of personal details to so many people and it took me out of the story a little.

Overall, this was an entertaining paranormal mystery with a sweet romance. I'd definitely recommend it.

Thank you to Tantor Audio and Netgalley for the audio arc of this book!

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually I LOVE Galenorn, but lately she's not been up to her normal standard. Despite the 'this book has been edited' statement, there is quite a bit of what I felt to be redundancy and repetition of sentences. How many times does January need to explain her abusive relationship, with the caveat that, but he never hit me!... Elements of this book are also overused- the asylum reads just like from one of her previous Delilah books. She started a new series, and the main character immediately gains employment with yet another private investigative agency. This makes it the third, I believe. Also, does she have a female character that isn't curvy and addicted to coffee/caffeine? At least January doesn't wear corsets like many others. As much as I hate to say it, overall her last few books have been disappointing.

[Beth Shares · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starlight Web - not for the faint of heart

YIKES! What a book!
I love to read, and it usually calmed me after a rough day.
For the most part, this book did that. However; there were parts in here that scared the daylights out of me! The asylum tossing of January and hurting of her work buddies had me shaking in my boots!
This was the first time I’ve has to stop reading a book part way through and read another before coming back to it to finish it.
Loved Killian character as well as Ari.
What does Val, the vampire, want or desire of January? What about Rowan? What’s her role going to be? How do the shifters play their parts? So many questions left to be answered.
The woods behind January’s house are haunted, but with what kind of spirits?
Does one dare to go forth with the next book, or stop and be a coward!?

[Lisa Spofford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook review: Starlight Web by Yasmine Galenorn is the first book in the author’s new Moonshadow Bay series. Moonshadow Bay . . . where magic lurks in the moonlight, and danger hides in the shadows. One month before January Jaxson turns forty-one, her husband ditches her for a trophy wife. Adding insult to injury, he steals the business she helped build, and kicks her out during the holidays. So when her best friend Ari suggests she move back to Moonshadow Bay-a quirky, magical town near Bellingham, Washington-January decides to take the plunge. Born into a family of witches, January accepts a job at Conjure Ink, a paranormal investigations website. The job's right up her alley but she doubts that everything reported to Conjure Ink really exists. What happens next makes a really fascinating paranormal romantic suspense story involving witches, shifters, ghosts, vampires, and elemental spirits. The narrator added an additional event of spookiness to the tale, which the author penned with vivid descriptions that had me feeling the tension and fear that the main characters experienced in this single POV story. If you are a paranormal romantic suspense fan, I strongly recommend checking out this fresh start after a divorce audiobook. I am voluntarily placing this honest review after listening to an advanced complementary copy of this audiobook thanks to Netgalley and Tantor Audio.

[Alina Tache · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new Urban Fantasy series from Ms. Galenorn. I liked that the heroine is older (41) and already has quite the past and decides to start over. I also liked that we aren't told everything about the world right away. At the beginning, the only supernaturals mentioned are witches (because the heroine is one), then we move on to shifters, then we move on to others. It's easier on the reader's mind rather than throwing our way several races at once, and a whole world history about how they get along (or not). Overall, a nice read. I'll most likely get the next book to see what happens next with the heroine.

[Maggi Shelbourn · Rating 5 out of 5]

More Please

Once again I am spirited away to a magical world that is found in the pages of Ms. Galenorn's novels. It doesn't matter if it's Moonshadow Bay or Whisper Hollow or Seattle. Her stories grab you right from the first page. When you get to the last page, you are longing for more. This new series is no exception. We are drawn into the world of January Jaxson as she picks up the pieces after her divorce from a controlling jerk. She moves back to her hometown of Moonshadow Bay where she begins to rebuild her life. There is love and magic and danger. Everything I have come to expect in Ms. Galenorn's body of works. I cannot wait for the next book!