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Half Moon Ranch #2
Renegade Moon
Half Moon Ranch
Somewhere in the lush grasslands of Texas hill country was a place where the sun had once shone on love and prosperity, while the night hid murder and mistrust. There, three brothers and a sister fought to hold their family together, struggled to keep their ranch solvent, while they awaited the return of the one person who could shed light on the secrets of the past.
Quince
No sooner had he rescued spitfire Glory Townsend from deadly quicksand than Quince found himself trapped in a quagmire, of emotions far more difficult to escape. His homecoming after five years tracking renegades hadn’t changed his father’s drinking, lessened his rivalry with his brother or resolved the mystery surrounding his mother’s death. But those issues felt like easy going compared to the shaky ground he traversed with Glory. Every time he looked into her flashing green eyes he felt himself sinking deeper. Maybe it was time to stop struggling and admit that only her love could save him.
Somewhere in the lush grasslands of Texas hill country was a place where the sun had once shone on love and prosperity, while the night hid murder and mistrust. There, three brothers and a sister fought to hold their family together, struggled to keep their ranch solvent, while they awaited the return of the one person who could shed light on the secrets of the past.
Quince
No sooner had he rescued spitfire Glory Townsend from deadly quicksand than Quince found himself trapped in a quagmire, of emotions far more difficult to escape. His homecoming after five years tracking renegades hadn’t changed his father’s drinking, lessened his rivalry with his brother or resolved the mystery surrounding his mother’s death. But those issues felt like easy going compared to the shaky ground he traversed with Glory. Every time he looked into her flashing green eyes he felt himself sinking deeper. Maybe it was time to stop struggling and admit that only her love could save him.
368 pages, Paperback
First published June 29, 2003
67 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Elaine Barbieri
59 books51 followersAKA Elaine Rome
Elaine Barbieri wrote over thirty historical novels that have been published worldwide. She was certain young adult readers would enjoy the excitement of historical romance if given a chance, and she welcomed the opportunity to write Miranda and the Warrior for this new audience. Elaine lived in northern New Jersey with her husband and family, and with Harrison, a demanding male who she is sure would be the ultimate hero -- if he weren't a cat.
Elaine Barbieri wrote over thirty historical novels that have been published worldwide. She was certain young adult readers would enjoy the excitement of historical romance if given a chance, and she welcomed the opportunity to write Miranda and the Warrior for this new audience. Elaine lived in northern New Jersey with her husband and family, and with Harrison, a demanding male who she is sure would be the ultimate hero -- if he weren't a cat.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 2, 2025
Second Rating: Add on meh / 5
Add on another reason to my meh-ness of this book: the heroine sucks. "Contrary heroine" to the max, folks!
Basically, I think that the author is trying to set up an enemies-to-lovers relationship between Glory and Quince, but, here's the thing: it doesn't work, because Glory's the driving force of the rift between them, and unfortunately it's for no good reason.
Literally.
Like...when they first meet, Quince is forced to make a difficult decision to save Glory's life, but instead of thanking him for it, she's convinced that he did things on purpose just to make a fool out of her, and continues to call him a "bastard" in her mind. That in itself got annoying real fast, lemme tell ya! The fact that she persists in this unfounded prejudice--which Quince himself admits is for absolutely no real reason--is also annoying as heck, and quite honestly made me wish that Quince would dump her ass and actually make a fool outta her, so that at least her prejudices were justified.
Not exactly what you want readers thinking about your romantic leads, now issit?
Rating: Meh / 5
Just couldn't get into this one that much. My caring was just kind of off, like I saw the characters and understood them and all, but at the same time I kind of just knew what was going to happen and so I didn't care to follow it until the end. Have to mainly skim through this after a while though.
Clear Note: No reflection on the author's writing skill, intent, or storytelling ability.
Just the timing wasn't right for me for this kind of story, I guess.
Add on another reason to my meh-ness of this book: the heroine sucks. "Contrary heroine" to the max, folks!
Basically, I think that the author is trying to set up an enemies-to-lovers relationship between Glory and Quince, but, here's the thing: it doesn't work, because Glory's the driving force of the rift between them, and unfortunately it's for no good reason.
Literally.
Like...when they first meet, Quince is forced to make a difficult decision to save Glory's life, but instead of thanking him for it, she's convinced that he did things on purpose just to make a fool out of her, and continues to call him a "bastard" in her mind. That in itself got annoying real fast, lemme tell ya! The fact that she persists in this unfounded prejudice--which Quince himself admits is for absolutely no real reason--is also annoying as heck, and quite honestly made me wish that Quince would dump her ass and actually make a fool outta her, so that at least her prejudices were justified.
Not exactly what you want readers thinking about your romantic leads, now issit?
Rating: Meh / 5
Just couldn't get into this one that much. My caring was just kind of off, like I saw the characters and understood them and all, but at the same time I kind of just knew what was going to happen and so I didn't care to follow it until the end. Have to mainly skim through this after a while though.
Clear Note: No reflection on the author's writing skill, intent, or storytelling ability.
Just the timing wasn't right for me for this kind of story, I guess.
June 5, 2019
I found Blanche's story interesting and I'm starting to appreciate the overall story of this series. More sex in this one than the first book. Still I find the characters a little too two dimensional, but it's fine for a historical western romance.
December 12, 2010
Didn't like the heroine in this book.
From the back cover:
Half-moon ranch...
Somewhere in the lush grasslands of Texas hill country was a place where the sun had once shone on love and prosperity, while the night hid murder and mistrust. There, three brothers and a sister fought t o hold their family together, struggled to keep their ranch solvent, while they awaited the return of the one person who could shed light on the secrets of the past.
Quince...
No sooner had he rescued spitfire Glory Townsend from deadly gicksand than Quince found himself trapped in a quagmire of emotions far more difficult to escape. His homecoming after five years tracking renegades hadn't changed his father's drinking, lessened his rivalry with his brother or resolved the mystery surrounding his mother's death. But those issues felt like easy going compared to the shaky ground he traversed with Glory. Every time he looking into her flashing green eyes he felt himself sinking deeper. Maybe it was time to stop struggling and admit that only her love could save him.
And my review:
As another reviewer has stated, this is pretty standard fare. This is a 350 page book, but only because the print it quite large (almost the size of a largeprint book). I'd guess this is more of a 200 page shorter story than a full-length novel.
One really annoying thing was that this book doesn't really work as a stand-alone. There are a lot of loose ends left dangling, in an effort to entice the reader to read the next book in the series. Most authors can manage to write linked books that still work on their own, but unfortunately, that didn't happen here. Still, nothing about this book was compelling enough to induce me to read the next one.
The characters were rather flat and uninspiring. He's a tortured hero. She's a spitfire. Yawn. Been there, done that a hundred times over. I've got no problem with the same sort of plots or characters, but the author needs to be able to breathe new life into them. That didn't happen here. And I had a hard time liking the heroine. Instead of coming across as "spirited", she came across as more of a shrew. I mean really, when a man saves your life, you should be thanking him, not spewing venom at him. It wasn't like he tried to take advantage of her after saving her or something. If he had, the heroine's reaction would have been understandable. As it was, I was left wondering why someone would be so immature as to return kindness with witchiness.
I do think that Barbieri has writing talent, but I think she needs to develop more likeable characters. If I had been able to like the heroine, I would probably have enjoyed this book. As it was, I was left wondering what the hero saw in her.
From the back cover:
Half-moon ranch...
Somewhere in the lush grasslands of Texas hill country was a place where the sun had once shone on love and prosperity, while the night hid murder and mistrust. There, three brothers and a sister fought t o hold their family together, struggled to keep their ranch solvent, while they awaited the return of the one person who could shed light on the secrets of the past.
Quince...
No sooner had he rescued spitfire Glory Townsend from deadly gicksand than Quince found himself trapped in a quagmire of emotions far more difficult to escape. His homecoming after five years tracking renegades hadn't changed his father's drinking, lessened his rivalry with his brother or resolved the mystery surrounding his mother's death. But those issues felt like easy going compared to the shaky ground he traversed with Glory. Every time he looking into her flashing green eyes he felt himself sinking deeper. Maybe it was time to stop struggling and admit that only her love could save him.
And my review:
As another reviewer has stated, this is pretty standard fare. This is a 350 page book, but only because the print it quite large (almost the size of a largeprint book). I'd guess this is more of a 200 page shorter story than a full-length novel.
One really annoying thing was that this book doesn't really work as a stand-alone. There are a lot of loose ends left dangling, in an effort to entice the reader to read the next book in the series. Most authors can manage to write linked books that still work on their own, but unfortunately, that didn't happen here. Still, nothing about this book was compelling enough to induce me to read the next one.
The characters were rather flat and uninspiring. He's a tortured hero. She's a spitfire. Yawn. Been there, done that a hundred times over. I've got no problem with the same sort of plots or characters, but the author needs to be able to breathe new life into them. That didn't happen here. And I had a hard time liking the heroine. Instead of coming across as "spirited", she came across as more of a shrew. I mean really, when a man saves your life, you should be thanking him, not spewing venom at him. It wasn't like he tried to take advantage of her after saving her or something. If he had, the heroine's reaction would have been understandable. As it was, I was left wondering why someone would be so immature as to return kindness with witchiness.
I do think that Barbieri has writing talent, but I think she needs to develop more likeable characters. If I had been able to like the heroine, I would probably have enjoyed this book. As it was, I was left wondering what the hero saw in her.
November 9, 2020
Second Book Only So-So
I was anticipating a better book. I have read this author before and have enjoyed her stories and writing style. This book isn't one of her more enjoyable works. This is the second book of the Half Moon Ranch series. This story is about the second Hunter son Quince. I just don't understand why he fell in love with Glory. There was no chemistry between the two. I preferred Blanche but she was just a secondary character. The ending just wrapped up too quickly, almost as though the author had reached her desired word count and wanted to end the story. I was disappointed. I will read the third book in the series which is also by an author I've read and enjoyed before. Maybe that book will be more enjoyable.
I was anticipating a better book. I have read this author before and have enjoyed her stories and writing style. This book isn't one of her more enjoyable works. This is the second book of the Half Moon Ranch series. This story is about the second Hunter son Quince. I just don't understand why he fell in love with Glory. There was no chemistry between the two. I preferred Blanche but she was just a secondary character. The ending just wrapped up too quickly, almost as though the author had reached her desired word count and wanted to end the story. I was disappointed. I will read the third book in the series which is also by an author I've read and enjoyed before. Maybe that book will be more enjoyable.
August 8, 2017
Love
I'm loving this series even though i was very hesitant about the multiple authors. My complaint regarding book #2 is the editor- so many words are missing letters, it makes it a struggle to read smoothly. Thankful the words are correctly spelled, but still. This wasn't an issue in the first book!
Example: "He hesitatea, then said, “But it’s not over vet, darlin’."
I'm loving this series even though i was very hesitant about the multiple authors. My complaint regarding book #2 is the editor- so many words are missing letters, it makes it a struggle to read smoothly. Thankful the words are correctly spelled, but still. This wasn't an issue in the first book!
Example: "He hesitatea, then said, “But it’s not over vet, darlin’."
December 6, 2018
Good read
Apart from the editing errors
Apart from the editing errors
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 29, 2023
Good Read
Falling for Quince Hunter was easy for me .. this hero is good looking, well built, honest and in love with our heroine, Glory!
Falling for Quince Hunter was easy for me .. this hero is good looking, well built, honest and in love with our heroine, Glory!
September 19, 2024
AMAZINGLY ADVENTUROUS!
I lived this book! I had forgotten that a story could be written so well. Full of many characters with lots of adventures. Absolutely loved this story.
I lived this book! I had forgotten that a story could be written so well. Full of many characters with lots of adventures. Absolutely loved this story.
June 5, 2025
3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews