That Devil Moon

by Dana Taylor

Book by Taylor, Dana

Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Fantasy, Ebooks, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance

234 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Dana Taylor writes uplifting stories filled with inspiration and humor. Born and raised in California, she graduated from the University of Redlands. She lived for many years in Oklahoma and raised two daughters with her husband. She is a level II Reiki therapist. Her love of music is currently reflected in her work as the President of the Board of the La Mirada Symphony in Southern California.

She has been published in various magazines, including the Ladies Home Journal. She hosted the Internet radio program Definitely Dana! at HealthyLife.net. and won various contests with the Romance Writers of America, including Best First Book from the Desert Quill Awards. She has been posted on the Amazon Movers and Shakers List. Ever-Flowing Streams recently received 1st Place in the Religion & Spirituality Category of the E-Festival of Words Awards. "Jaguar Jack" was named a 2013 EPIC Award Finalist. She also runs the women's fiction blogsite www.BookLuvinBabes.com.

Reviews

[Marti · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I did give this delightful little romance 4 stars, I will be the first to admit this certainly is not great literature. It was, however, tender-hearted and a real pleasure to read. Maddie, the prim assistant principal at the local high school, was burned badly in love three years ago and she is determined for that never to happen again. However, sometimes her hormones, assisted by some sort of influence from that "devil moon" get the best of her once in a while. After drinking entirely too much wine, she decides on a moonlit swim in the lake on her cabin's property. Phil, a former but NFL player whose career was ended abruptly by an injury, has hit bottom and done an admirable job of getting his life back together. He now goes to AA meetings and no longer drinks. He has left his good job as an assistant NFL coach to take a high school coaching position. He made that move in order to have an opportunity to repair his damaged relationship with his preteen aged daughter even though it meant dealing with his very difficult ex-wife. Read this book to discover the ways in which Maddie and Phil connect. There's a bit of fantasy thrown in with the gentle but still insistent meddling from Maddie's deceased grandmother. I would heartily recommend this lovely little book to anyone who enjoys a light-hearted romance every once in a while.

[Edie Ramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the devil moon is out, strange things happen to Maddie, a seemingly straight-laced assistant high school principal, and Phil, the former football star, former alcoholic who’s now the high school coach. They’ve both returned to Beaver Cove, Arkansas, to put their lives back together. Maddie is still recovering from a betrayal by her former fiancé. Phil wants to connect with his 11-year-old daughter whose money-hungry mother is keeping them apart. And then there’s Maddie’s theatrical gay friend (who has his own problems) and Maddie’s Grammy Harris with her wise and blunt advice. The thing is, Grammy Harris is dead.

Devil Moon is Southern women’s fiction with a mystical element, along the lines of Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. It has everything I love in a book. Great characters, great writing, and a great heart. It’s witty, poignant, and fast-paced. Though it’s not an erotic book, Taylor’s writing is sensuous. It’s a book I’ll be reading again, just because I enjoyed it so much.

[Dustyloup]

Scoop! Totally mismatched couple ends up falling for each other- After meeting each other in a rape-y "dream" where at least one of the parties doesn't even realize that they are really having sex, sensitive but buttoned down administrator meets neanderthal coach and they clash until their animal instincts take over because the moon made them do it or something like that. Corny advice from the ghost of grandma, manipulation from an ex-wife and pre-teen daughter. On the one hand, sort of cute. On the other hand, vaguely vomit inducing.

[Diane ~Firefly~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Prim and proper vice-principal Maddie is falling for new football coach, Phil.

What I enjoyed:
* I liked Reba and glad to see her life on the right track
* Melissa is also a good kid and I'm glad she finally saw through her mother's crap
* Lucifer, the dog

What could have been better:
* There was no conscious consent when strangers Maddie and Phil have sex the first time - he came across her naked and crying and was "comforting her" and she thought it was a dream. I almost DNF'd the book there. Somehow neither knows what the other person looks like.
* Unnecessary drama Wade didn't need to kidnap Maddie
* I can't believe Maddie and Randy actually got married to save her reputation

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet

If you love a good romcom this book is for you! The characters are so sweet, you find yourself giggling and quoting movie lines with them the whole way through. I loved Grammy the best tho - she’s a girl after my own heart! Which is not to say that there isn’t some good old fashioned drama either - because there certainly was. And some of it just makes you want to stamp your foot and tear someone’s hair out! But don’t you worry - folks will get their comeuppance, you’ll see!

This was a quick, enjoyable read filled with lovely, down-to-earth characters, a juicy bit of karma, and a little *ahem* steam brought on by a full moon and fueled by true love.

[Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love story

A good love story! Not my usual genre, but a cute story with some mystery and the usual small town problems,ie. exwife,bad habits, unplanned pregnancy, and all with that Devil Moon thrown in.!

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

good quick read

This is a story of two people one a football coach and the other an acquaintance. It’s how they move from a friendship to something more. I enjoyed it, it was a quick fast fun read. Can be read in one afternoon,

[Dana Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author's note: This review was written upon the tradeback publication of THAT DEVIL MOON, now reissued in the Kindle Store as "DEVIL MOON: A MYSTIC ROMANCE"


Round Table Review—That Devil Moon by Dana Taylor
Reviewer: Beverly Forehand

Maddie Harris has her life completely in order. She's a successful assistant principal with her own home. She has loyal friends and a loving family. She's perfectly happy with her life. So what if people think she's a bit prim and that her routine borders on anal-retentiveness? Maddie has everything she ever wanted--so why is it she needs to keep telling herself that? Why is it that too much wine, a few chocolate bars, and a case of the blues finds her strolling on a moonlit lakeside looking for trouble? Surely, its just a case of monthly madness--she couldn't be looking for anything more--her life is perfectly fine the way it is. She likes stability and comfort. Excitement, whirlwind romance, and midnight romps are something confined to paperback romances and youthful indiscretions, right?

Phil Wilcox had it all--wealth, fame, and a family. He was a football star that married the Homecoming Queen and had a beautiful baby girl. How is it, then, he wonders, that he ended up the coach of a small town high school football team teaching history on the side? He hardly sees his daughter or his ex-wife and his relationship could best be described as frosty. All he wants now is to clean up his act and gain his eleven-year-old daughter's confidence. Romance is something he doesn't want or need. Women only bring complications, and love, well, that's nothing that he can even hope for after all the screw-ups in his life. But, when a late night fishing trip throws him into the arms of a mysterious beauty, he finds himself wondering if he was wrong about what he wanted and needed in life.

THAT DEVIL MOON is a lovely romance full of whimsy, comedy, and bittersweet twists. The characters are real and compelling, filled with the little foibles that drive us all and make them automatically identifiable. Maddie and Phil are driven by their own delusions of themselves, by their personal fears and misapprehensions as to what life is really about, what they can hope for, and what they need. These characters have settled--they believe that there are no happily ever afters, when they are suddenly confronted with a story-book romance.

The surprises and sweetness found in THAT DEVIL MOON are as charming as any Cinderella tale. So what if Prince Charming wears sweats and drives a pick-up, or Snow White is a bit anal and wears power-suits? Isn't it possible to have it all? Isn't it possible to find what you've looking for without even knowing you were looking?
I loved this book. It made me laugh and cry. People who love romances from Jan Karon to Jane Austen will instantly find this book irresistible. The characters are wonderful, the writing is compelling and witty, the plot-twists are unexpected, and the love story is both steamy and sweet. Don't miss a chance to curl up with THAT DEVIL MOON this winter. This book and a cup of cocoa are just the ticket for the winter blues!

[Kirsten Lenius · Rating 1 out of 5]

This woman has a messy and public breakup that was publicized in the papers because she was a part of snobby society groups and her fiance had been taking advantage of his students... a lot of his students. So, she ups and leaves Boston to go to Arkansas where she owns a house inherited from her dead grammy, her father's mother.

So then she goes outside at night, gets naked and sobs until a strange man wanders by and 'comforts her.' Yeah. That. On one of her grandmother's old quilts which she has carried out to the lake shore. Which she leaves under the naked stranger, after she wakes up, then runs away home to hide.

Did i mention she's the vice principle of the high school?

So she blames her dubious decision on the moon. Later, she blames her overly aggressive caterwauling on too much caffeine and sugar... is anything her responsibility or shall we just all go blame it on Twinkies?

I could even tolerate her new potential love interest calling her honey and cupcake before they've so much as introduced themselves.

But..

Argh #1

She goes away with the new fellow for a weekend, not long after they finally introduced themselves. She gets chased by a black dog ( she has feared them since she was attacked by one as a child,) and runs headlong away into the forest. The man chases her and finally tackles her. They roll through poison ivy. It affects him, but not her. While he is napping, after taking Benadryl to combat the effects of the poison ivy, she begins to make stew, becomes nauseated and goes to throw up. She suddenly has a revelation that she is pregnant and calls her gay best friend to come and get her. She writes a formal note to her... er... date and leaves with the best friend, leaving her car at the cabin for the hapless poison ivy stricken gent.

Argh #2

She runs off and goes to a glass church in the middle of the woods. Her dead grandma who she has been chatting with off and on the whole time appears to her and tells her that she better not even think about flushing any grandchild of hers away... has another revelation in which she now understands that the fetus is a person and she also suddenly knows that the baby is a boy. Did I mention she hasn't even used a pregnancy test kit yet?. Argh.

Argh the next:


She keeps wittering on about the baby kicking. She is less than 12 weeks along. Most women do not feel movement till about 18 weeks.

*rolls her eyes*

It didn't get better.

[Radella · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a weird book. I'm not entirely certain how to take it, but it was certainly an entertaining read.
Maddie's a straight-laced assistant principal from a small town. The devil moon draws her out one night, for a tryst in the sand with an anonymous stranger. When she finds herself pregnant from that misadventure, she doesn't want to look bad to the small town she's living in... and then there's Phil Wilcox. He's the new football coach, and in almost all ways he's the opposite of Maddie. Yet the chemistry between Maddie and Phil is... explosive.
The weirdity- missing blankets, a meddlesome Grandma (who is rather dead at the time) and some of the narrator's commentaries. But weird in a good way. There were some scenes that had me laughing out loud.
Some of the characters were a little typecast, like the students in school and the gay best friend drama director. But I enjoyed the story quite a bit.

[Sharon Tillotson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little romantic comedy with a bit of mysticism mixed in. The characters (main and secondary) were very likeable, the protagonists had been through the kind of life experiences that made for a good story. I liked that the plot wasn't simply cookie-cutter - until toward the end. I don't want to give away spoilers and this is a personal preference, but I've never been a big fan of catfights.

I'm giving this one 3 1/2 stars (I only wish GR and Amazon allowed for half-stars), which for my ratings makes it one that (as Goodreads designates for a 3) I liked and would recommend to a friend for reading.

I would definitely pick up any new books from this author...

[Mary C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, Dana Taylor has succeeded in bringing out a wide range of emotions in her reader throughout this book. You'll cheer on characters, worry for them, fret over their decisions, laugh, cry. Toss in some good, old, edge-of-the-seat suspense with a side of Grammy's ghost and you have a book you won't want to put down till you finish it.

[Trudi Jorda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute story with an entertaining cast of characters. I have been on a romance kick of late and this fit the bill. Not exciting but a pleasant journey to the Ark. Ozaraks-- a place that has many a fond childhood memory for me as my grandmother lived part of her life down there.

[Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe I forgot to review this book!
This was such a fun read. I am really looking forward to reading more by this very talented author.

[Toni]

didn't finish it just could not get into the book ... (there needs to be a way to get rid of a book with out finishing it)

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, a simple read that is good enough not to want to put it down.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute Romance. Light, easy read.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute! Loved the ups and downs could not put it down.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy little romance read. For sure not gret literature, but I enjoyed it. Not bad for a free e-read.

[Micah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute beginning. Free amazon book. But it was predictable and towards the end, it was dragging. But, worth a free read :-)

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not want to put this book down. I started it yesterday evening and did not go to bed until I had finished it.

[Christine Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was what I expected.