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The Shadow of Moonlight
When she was swept off her feet at nineteen, even her husband's wealthy family didn't know about Meredith Sommerville's marriage to their son. But after Leigh's death his family had warmly accepted Meredith at their Australian homestead. Except for Evan Sommerville.
Convinced that Meredith was an unfaithful fortune huntress, Evan, the eldest son, made her life intolerable. His irrational dislike left Meredith torn between rage and her undeniable attraction to him.
Regretfully Meredith felt she must leave. Yet every time she tried, Evan, for some reason, was unwilling to let her go.
Convinced that Meredith was an unfaithful fortune huntress, Evan, the eldest son, made her life intolerable. His irrational dislike left Meredith torn between rage and her undeniable attraction to him.
Regretfully Meredith felt she must leave. Yet every time she tried, Evan, for some reason, was unwilling to let her go.
187 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
3 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
About the author
Lindsay Armstrong
318 books92 followersGillian Smith (alias Lindsay Armstrong) was born in South Africa. She grew up with three ambitions: to become a writer, to travel the world, and to be a game ranger. She didn't achieve the last one, but her fascination for wildlife and that special something about Africa and its big game still remains with her. When she went to work it was in travel, at an agency and an airline, and this started her on the road to seeing the world.
Lindsey met her New Zealand-born husband, who had been working in West Africa, when he was on his way home through Johannesburg. He did go home but in a matter of weeks he was back in South Africa, and six months later they were married. Three of their five children were born in South Africa. Then one in London and one in Australia, after they made the decision to emigrate from South Africa.
It wasn't until her youngest child started school that Lindsay sat down at the kitchen table determined to tackle her other ambition to stop dreaming about writing and do it! She hasn't stopped since. She's not happy unless she has a book under way, and she's discovered she can write through just about anything.
Lindsay and her husband have moved around a lot. They've trained racehorses,farmed, and lived on their boat for six months while they sailed it from the Gold Coast to the Torres Strait and back, an epic voyage! They currently live in Queensland, overlooking the water; they sold their farm, and they're looking around for another boat. She and her husband love to travel and have been back to Africa twice in the past few years. The highlight of one of their trips was a visit to the Serengeti, in Tanzania, where Lindsay did the one thing she swore she would never do: take a ride in a hot-air balloon. She was a nervous wreck as the balloon tottered upright, but will remember it as a unique experience to see the game spreading out on the Serengeti plain beneath her as the sun rose.
"They say you can take someone who was born in Africa out of the bush but you can't take the bush out of someone born there..."
Despite this passion for wildlife and Africa, Lindsay considers Australia her home now and loves the country. She travelled to Sydney to witness the closing weekend of the Olympic Games in September 2000; it made her proud to be an adopted Aussie!
Lindsey met her New Zealand-born husband, who had been working in West Africa, when he was on his way home through Johannesburg. He did go home but in a matter of weeks he was back in South Africa, and six months later they were married. Three of their five children were born in South Africa. Then one in London and one in Australia, after they made the decision to emigrate from South Africa.
It wasn't until her youngest child started school that Lindsay sat down at the kitchen table determined to tackle her other ambition to stop dreaming about writing and do it! She hasn't stopped since. She's not happy unless she has a book under way, and she's discovered she can write through just about anything.
Lindsay and her husband have moved around a lot. They've trained racehorses,farmed, and lived on their boat for six months while they sailed it from the Gold Coast to the Torres Strait and back, an epic voyage! They currently live in Queensland, overlooking the water; they sold their farm, and they're looking around for another boat. She and her husband love to travel and have been back to Africa twice in the past few years. The highlight of one of their trips was a visit to the Serengeti, in Tanzania, where Lindsay did the one thing she swore she would never do: take a ride in a hot-air balloon. She was a nervous wreck as the balloon tottered upright, but will remember it as a unique experience to see the game spreading out on the Serengeti plain beneath her as the sun rose.
"They say you can take someone who was born in Africa out of the bush but you can't take the bush out of someone born there..."
Despite this passion for wildlife and Africa, Lindsay considers Australia her home now and loves the country. She travelled to Sydney to witness the closing weekend of the Olympic Games in September 2000; it made her proud to be an adopted Aussie!
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 28, 2025
After reading a book about two brothers and the same heroine The Marriage Game, I found myself reading another story that potentially had the same ick factor. In this case, the heroine's husband is long dead. No one is pregnant. And the author gives this heroine a lot of time and many experiences with the hero (and without him) in order for her to know her own mind.
Boogenhagen has an in depth review with spoilers, so I won't go into all the plot points, but suffice it to say, our heroine *lives* in this story. She has endured the fickleness of a first love/infatuation, a near fatal car accident and a long recovery, grief, blending into a higher social strata, several holidays away from home where she actually thinks about her life (not just how hot the hero is), starting her own business, befriending a wounded child at the hospital, all while trying to take care of her family obligations and her growing attraction to the hero. Her very interesting backstory is feathered into the present day seemingly effortlessly. And as I sat down to write this review, I realized how much I knew about her - and how much I liked her.
There's also some levity in all of this angst. The trio of old ladies (Nurse, housekeeper and mother-in-law) create some unexpected humor - especially at the end when they are agog to know what's going on. All the characters seemed so well rounded - even the OW and the horse that the heroine cries all over.
As Boogenhagen mentioned, the ending is especially satisfying. I did enjoy the symbolism of the lighting strike and the final tearing down of walls to bury the past. A nice touch in a story with many nice touches (the blue moon, the island where a man went to die and lived 25 more years, etc . . ).
Boogenhagen has an in depth review with spoilers, so I won't go into all the plot points, but suffice it to say, our heroine *lives* in this story. She has endured the fickleness of a first love/infatuation, a near fatal car accident and a long recovery, grief, blending into a higher social strata, several holidays away from home where she actually thinks about her life (not just how hot the hero is), starting her own business, befriending a wounded child at the hospital, all while trying to take care of her family obligations and her growing attraction to the hero. Her very interesting backstory is feathered into the present day seemingly effortlessly. And as I sat down to write this review, I realized how much I knew about her - and how much I liked her.
There's also some levity in all of this angst. The trio of old ladies (Nurse, housekeeper and mother-in-law) create some unexpected humor - especially at the end when they are agog to know what's going on. All the characters seemed so well rounded - even the OW and the horse that the heroine cries all over.
As Boogenhagen mentioned, the ending is especially satisfying. I did enjoy the symbolism of the lighting strike and the final tearing down of walls to bury the past. A nice touch in a story with many nice touches (the blue moon, the island where a man went to die and lived 25 more years, etc . . ).
August 14, 2016
RE The Shadow of Moonlight - LA is back with more angst, this one with unspoken tortured longings and seething tension beneath a placid surface. This whole story is like LA was channeling an HP version of Tennessee Williams but with an HEA. Even the weather plays a part with it being sultry and hot, it is like a Southern Gothic set in Australia and all of it played out with the backdrop of a big family estate where the h lives with her dead husband's grandmother and intermittent visits by the dead husband's two brothers.
The h is 22 and widowed, she has been living at her dead husband's family homestead after she was seriously injured in the car wreck that killed her husband. She was almost paralyzed and she still walks with a limp, but she has been recovering and since her husband was a show jumper, she works with the horses in the family stud. She is a bit shy and gets along well with the matriarch of the family, her husband's grandmother, but lately the h has been thinking about moving on with her life and starting anew.
The grandmother is against it, she likes the company and the h is like another child to her, but the oldest brother - who is now planning on moving back to the family home and reviving the vineyards that are part of the land and reopening the winery built there- is extremely hostile to the h and has been silently persecuting her for years since his brother died.
He regularly berates the h with nasty names like gold digger, adulteress and harlot, and this h doesn't seem to do much to defend herself - there are reasons for all of this but we won't find them out for over half the book. The h decides she wants to leave and after another nasty confrontation with the H, who is seriously courting the neighbor's daughter who is also a master vintner, the h decides to tell the grandmother that she is going off for a holiday, but she doesn't intend to come back. She just cannot live in the same house as the H.
She takes off for her trip and we get the HP usual sightseeing, but a few days later the H hunts her down and drags her back. The grandmother has had an accident and is asking for the h. The H realizes that she meant to stay away, but the grandmum is over eighty and pretty fragile. The h loves her and feels like she owes her a lot for all her care after the h's accident, so she agrees to return and she and the H declare a temporary cease fire on the mutual aggression pact.
The h returns and the grandmum recovers, the GM wants to have a big party for her recovery and the new wine venture and the h is helping her plan it. The H is frequently about with his new girlfriend, the vintner neighbor, and the H also tries to get the h to go into partnership with them for the new winery. The h asks the H if he is planning on marrying the neighbor, the woman is frequently around and doing her best to insinuate herself into the family's life. The H tells her he is thinking about it.
The youngest brother makes some visits too, and he likes the h a lot, but he is pretty astute in picking out the tension between the H and h. He asks a lot of questions and we know that the H found the h in a compromising situation while she was still married to his middle brother, but we don't get any details at this point.
The night of the party arrives and the whole family and the H's girlfriend are present. The youngest brother is a bit late tho, and when he walks in with his date, the h gets the shock of her life. The date he brings is the mistress of her dead husband, and the woman that he was going to leave her for. The family has no idear that the dead brother was unfaithful and the h was only 19 when she married him and then he died, so she never mentioned anything because the guy was dead and who would it have helped? The mistress was thinking she could go in and check out her dead lover's family home and relatives with no one being any the wiser, but realized that the h knew exactly who she was and the lady becomes aware of committing a big social faux pas.
She and the h have a pretty frank discussion where the mistress tries to reassure the h that the dead hubby had never wanted to hurt her and that she broke up with him cause she wouldn't run off with a married guy and the h rather sarcastically enquires that she would sleep with one but not take off with him? The mistress realizes that the h really does know everything and she apologizes. The h is pretty nice about it, she explains that her marriage wasn't working anyways and if it makes the mistress feel better, the dead hubby probably really loved her. The mistress takes herself off after warning the h about men and that is the end of the mistress.
The younger brother corners the h in the kitchen later and the whole story comes out. He heard rumor's about his brother's mistress from another party guest. The h explains that the h met her husband when she was 19 and alone in the big city for the first time. (Her father had died when she was 15 and she was an only child, her mum had died when she was a baby. She lived with her aunt and her large family but felt she did not fit in with all their fighting and crashing and banging.)
The husband met her at a horse jumping show and when she wouldn't sleep with him because she was a nice girl, he married her. The lust only lasted for a few months and then the husband met the mistress. The h was confused, she was really young, did not know what to do and when she found out about the affair, she was devastated. Which leads to the next part.
The husband drags the h off to a masked ball, mainly so he could canoodle with his lover, the h winds up outside by herself and there she meets a really handsome man who kisses her in the moonlight. Then her husband shows up looking for her and it turns out the handsome moonlight guy is her husbands' brother, the H. Things don't get much better after that. The husband insists that he will do whatever the h wants to do, basically he wants the h to make the decision to leave so he doesn't look like a cheating love rat. The h tentatively thinks she will move to New Zealand to be with her aunt but before anything can happen, they get into a wreck and the husband dies. The h winds up recovering on the family homestead and the H has tormented her ever since.
The younger brother is trying to console the h after the story gets told and the H walks in on them. There are some harsh words and the h storms off. Then the next day the H declares that his younger brother has declared his interest but the H wants his shot first. The h loses her temper in a huge way and shouts at him. The grandmother and her companion wisely decide that all the seething undertones are just too much for them and the grandmother gives the h her blessing to leave.
The h goes to Dunk Island and we get more HP tours along with the really cool Ulysses Butterfly which is blue and very pretty and the official butterfly of Dunk. The h is finally relaxing and thinking about what she wants to do with herself when the H shows up - again. (It seems she can't go anywhere without the H showing up to drag her back.) He tells her he isn't going to be mean to her this time and explains he now knows all about the husband and the mistress and that he was totally wrong about the h. It seems his girlfriend told him the story cause another neighbor had told her and they wind up lurvin it up on the beach and in the h's cabin. The H presents it as both of them getting it out of their system and the h is overwhelmed by the lurve club mojo.
Then the H asks the h to marry him and the h is in total shock. They have a big discussion about the brother and the moonlight kiss. The h then tells him no, she won't marry him. The H gets mad and the h asks about his girlfriend. The H tells her he only thought of marrying her, he wasn't actually planning on doing it. Then the h gets mad and tells him that if that is really the case then he used the girlfriend, which was wrong.
Then she really nails him with the comment that she knew the H wanted her physically, but she had the suspicion that if she gave in, he would take her to bed and then his revenge would be the h still would have had to watch him marry his girlfriend. The H turns white, but doesn't deny it and tells her if that is the way she feels then she is right to turn him down. He apologizes to her and tells her to be happy and forget him and his brother. Then he runs off like a big ole baby the next day and the h is heartbroken.
She really does love the H, she fell in love when he kissed her at that party when they first met. And it horrified her, here she was married to a guy she thought she loved, is getting cheated on and finds out that the whole thing is a farce cause she fell in love with one look, a little moonlight and a kiss - it made her realize that she had no clue about anything at all and not only that, what kind of shameless hussy goes around falling in love with her husband's brother? The h has really been punishing herself by letting the H berate her, but now at least she can try to make a new life for herself.
So she does, the h writes off love for the time being and moves to Townsville cause she likes the climate and can maybe find a job. She winds up buying a coffee shop and she is really doing well at it. She has further plans for a clothing boutique with tropical fashions for people who aren't a size two and then she gets a letter from the grandmother, inviting the h back for her birthday. The h is leery about going but the letter assures her the H won't be there, so decides to show up for a few days visit. Everyone is really happy to see her and then the H comes home. The H manages to be nice and they have normal conversations about the h's new business pursuits. The grandmum gets a computer from the youngest brother and everyone is playing along nicely.
The next day the h decides to go check out her horses in the family stud and thinks about checking out the winery, but it is really too hot to move and she falls asleep in the stable. She wakes up when she hears shouting and she goes outside to find the winery on fire, lightening hit the thatched roof and started a big blaze. The H is out there and sorta goes a bit nuts when he thinks the h is in the winery, he is all set to go running in when she manages to shout that she is okay and the H turns around and sweeps her off her feet to carry her to the stables. He makes a big declaration of love but keeps getting interrupted by people coming to the stable doors to ask about things and finally he tells them all to quit bugging them and mutual declarations of love ensue.
The H tells the h that he loved her the first time he saw her. And he knew she wasn't what he kept calling her but he is an obsessed, irrational jealous person about her and probably has the potential to be a stalker as well. He hated that his brother had her and he went nuts. (It was pretty funny actually, every time the H would get into his big declaration and explanations, someone would come and shout through the door until the H finally tells his brother to take the front loader, knock down every wall on the estate with all the peopl under it, but quit bugging him - he had important things to declare and lurve clubbin to do.)
Eventually everyone takes the hint and they all go away. The H and h are now happy and getting married and all lurved up and have to contemplate going back to the house where the whole family is probably planning a reception committee for the HEA.
This one is very good, it starts really slow and really nothing much happens but a lot of tension and angst for the first two thirds of the book. It is very well done tension and the angst is all the more angsty cause we aren't really sure what exactly happened. It is kinda like nails on a blackboard, but in a good way. So by the time we get to the H and h actually being together, it like this big explosion and we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Then the h turns the H down, cause he is still simmering but hasn't quite gotten to the lurve declarations yet and the h knows that if he won't admit to loving her, the relationship is doomed under the weight of his jealousy. She thinks it is doomed anyways, but this is HPLandia, so we know better, but who knew it was going to turn out the way it did.
The ending is truly a masterpiece of relief and HEAness abounds - plus the addition of the humor really enhanced the big lurve declaration scene. There was so much wreckiness for most of the book that the humor is heightened at the end, kind of like hysterically laughing people who survive being missed by an avalanche by a few inches.
If you like the angst this one is a must read, if you like obsessive mean H's, this is also a must read. Interestingly for all the H's meanness, there is NO punishing kisses in this one. There is two kisses before the H shows up on Dunk Island and both of them are really smoochy romantic ones, so who says the H has to be all gropey handsiness with grabbings and lip smashings, LA proves that a really great romantic kiss can be even more devastating in the angst department than all violent roofie kisses in HPlandia and that alone makes this worth a read.
The h is 22 and widowed, she has been living at her dead husband's family homestead after she was seriously injured in the car wreck that killed her husband. She was almost paralyzed and she still walks with a limp, but she has been recovering and since her husband was a show jumper, she works with the horses in the family stud. She is a bit shy and gets along well with the matriarch of the family, her husband's grandmother, but lately the h has been thinking about moving on with her life and starting anew.
The grandmother is against it, she likes the company and the h is like another child to her, but the oldest brother - who is now planning on moving back to the family home and reviving the vineyards that are part of the land and reopening the winery built there- is extremely hostile to the h and has been silently persecuting her for years since his brother died.
He regularly berates the h with nasty names like gold digger, adulteress and harlot, and this h doesn't seem to do much to defend herself - there are reasons for all of this but we won't find them out for over half the book. The h decides she wants to leave and after another nasty confrontation with the H, who is seriously courting the neighbor's daughter who is also a master vintner, the h decides to tell the grandmother that she is going off for a holiday, but she doesn't intend to come back. She just cannot live in the same house as the H.
She takes off for her trip and we get the HP usual sightseeing, but a few days later the H hunts her down and drags her back. The grandmother has had an accident and is asking for the h. The H realizes that she meant to stay away, but the grandmum is over eighty and pretty fragile. The h loves her and feels like she owes her a lot for all her care after the h's accident, so she agrees to return and she and the H declare a temporary cease fire on the mutual aggression pact.
The h returns and the grandmum recovers, the GM wants to have a big party for her recovery and the new wine venture and the h is helping her plan it. The H is frequently about with his new girlfriend, the vintner neighbor, and the H also tries to get the h to go into partnership with them for the new winery. The h asks the H if he is planning on marrying the neighbor, the woman is frequently around and doing her best to insinuate herself into the family's life. The H tells her he is thinking about it.
The youngest brother makes some visits too, and he likes the h a lot, but he is pretty astute in picking out the tension between the H and h. He asks a lot of questions and we know that the H found the h in a compromising situation while she was still married to his middle brother, but we don't get any details at this point.
The night of the party arrives and the whole family and the H's girlfriend are present. The youngest brother is a bit late tho, and when he walks in with his date, the h gets the shock of her life. The date he brings is the mistress of her dead husband, and the woman that he was going to leave her for. The family has no idear that the dead brother was unfaithful and the h was only 19 when she married him and then he died, so she never mentioned anything because the guy was dead and who would it have helped? The mistress was thinking she could go in and check out her dead lover's family home and relatives with no one being any the wiser, but realized that the h knew exactly who she was and the lady becomes aware of committing a big social faux pas.
She and the h have a pretty frank discussion where the mistress tries to reassure the h that the dead hubby had never wanted to hurt her and that she broke up with him cause she wouldn't run off with a married guy and the h rather sarcastically enquires that she would sleep with one but not take off with him? The mistress realizes that the h really does know everything and she apologizes. The h is pretty nice about it, she explains that her marriage wasn't working anyways and if it makes the mistress feel better, the dead hubby probably really loved her. The mistress takes herself off after warning the h about men and that is the end of the mistress.
The younger brother corners the h in the kitchen later and the whole story comes out. He heard rumor's about his brother's mistress from another party guest. The h explains that the h met her husband when she was 19 and alone in the big city for the first time. (Her father had died when she was 15 and she was an only child, her mum had died when she was a baby. She lived with her aunt and her large family but felt she did not fit in with all their fighting and crashing and banging.)
The husband met her at a horse jumping show and when she wouldn't sleep with him because she was a nice girl, he married her. The lust only lasted for a few months and then the husband met the mistress. The h was confused, she was really young, did not know what to do and when she found out about the affair, she was devastated. Which leads to the next part.
The husband drags the h off to a masked ball, mainly so he could canoodle with his lover, the h winds up outside by herself and there she meets a really handsome man who kisses her in the moonlight. Then her husband shows up looking for her and it turns out the handsome moonlight guy is her husbands' brother, the H. Things don't get much better after that. The husband insists that he will do whatever the h wants to do, basically he wants the h to make the decision to leave so he doesn't look like a cheating love rat. The h tentatively thinks she will move to New Zealand to be with her aunt but before anything can happen, they get into a wreck and the husband dies. The h winds up recovering on the family homestead and the H has tormented her ever since.
The younger brother is trying to console the h after the story gets told and the H walks in on them. There are some harsh words and the h storms off. Then the next day the H declares that his younger brother has declared his interest but the H wants his shot first. The h loses her temper in a huge way and shouts at him. The grandmother and her companion wisely decide that all the seething undertones are just too much for them and the grandmother gives the h her blessing to leave.
The h goes to Dunk Island and we get more HP tours along with the really cool Ulysses Butterfly which is blue and very pretty and the official butterfly of Dunk. The h is finally relaxing and thinking about what she wants to do with herself when the H shows up - again. (It seems she can't go anywhere without the H showing up to drag her back.) He tells her he isn't going to be mean to her this time and explains he now knows all about the husband and the mistress and that he was totally wrong about the h. It seems his girlfriend told him the story cause another neighbor had told her and they wind up lurvin it up on the beach and in the h's cabin. The H presents it as both of them getting it out of their system and the h is overwhelmed by the lurve club mojo.
Then the H asks the h to marry him and the h is in total shock. They have a big discussion about the brother and the moonlight kiss. The h then tells him no, she won't marry him. The H gets mad and the h asks about his girlfriend. The H tells her he only thought of marrying her, he wasn't actually planning on doing it. Then the h gets mad and tells him that if that is really the case then he used the girlfriend, which was wrong.
Then she really nails him with the comment that she knew the H wanted her physically, but she had the suspicion that if she gave in, he would take her to bed and then his revenge would be the h still would have had to watch him marry his girlfriend. The H turns white, but doesn't deny it and tells her if that is the way she feels then she is right to turn him down. He apologizes to her and tells her to be happy and forget him and his brother. Then he runs off like a big ole baby the next day and the h is heartbroken.
She really does love the H, she fell in love when he kissed her at that party when they first met. And it horrified her, here she was married to a guy she thought she loved, is getting cheated on and finds out that the whole thing is a farce cause she fell in love with one look, a little moonlight and a kiss - it made her realize that she had no clue about anything at all and not only that, what kind of shameless hussy goes around falling in love with her husband's brother? The h has really been punishing herself by letting the H berate her, but now at least she can try to make a new life for herself.
So she does, the h writes off love for the time being and moves to Townsville cause she likes the climate and can maybe find a job. She winds up buying a coffee shop and she is really doing well at it. She has further plans for a clothing boutique with tropical fashions for people who aren't a size two and then she gets a letter from the grandmother, inviting the h back for her birthday. The h is leery about going but the letter assures her the H won't be there, so decides to show up for a few days visit. Everyone is really happy to see her and then the H comes home. The H manages to be nice and they have normal conversations about the h's new business pursuits. The grandmum gets a computer from the youngest brother and everyone is playing along nicely.
The next day the h decides to go check out her horses in the family stud and thinks about checking out the winery, but it is really too hot to move and she falls asleep in the stable. She wakes up when she hears shouting and she goes outside to find the winery on fire, lightening hit the thatched roof and started a big blaze. The H is out there and sorta goes a bit nuts when he thinks the h is in the winery, he is all set to go running in when she manages to shout that she is okay and the H turns around and sweeps her off her feet to carry her to the stables. He makes a big declaration of love but keeps getting interrupted by people coming to the stable doors to ask about things and finally he tells them all to quit bugging them and mutual declarations of love ensue.
The H tells the h that he loved her the first time he saw her. And he knew she wasn't what he kept calling her but he is an obsessed, irrational jealous person about her and probably has the potential to be a stalker as well. He hated that his brother had her and he went nuts. (It was pretty funny actually, every time the H would get into his big declaration and explanations, someone would come and shout through the door until the H finally tells his brother to take the front loader, knock down every wall on the estate with all the peopl under it, but quit bugging him - he had important things to declare and lurve clubbin to do.)
Eventually everyone takes the hint and they all go away. The H and h are now happy and getting married and all lurved up and have to contemplate going back to the house where the whole family is probably planning a reception committee for the HEA.
This one is very good, it starts really slow and really nothing much happens but a lot of tension and angst for the first two thirds of the book. It is very well done tension and the angst is all the more angsty cause we aren't really sure what exactly happened. It is kinda like nails on a blackboard, but in a good way. So by the time we get to the H and h actually being together, it like this big explosion and we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Then the h turns the H down, cause he is still simmering but hasn't quite gotten to the lurve declarations yet and the h knows that if he won't admit to loving her, the relationship is doomed under the weight of his jealousy. She thinks it is doomed anyways, but this is HPLandia, so we know better, but who knew it was going to turn out the way it did.
The ending is truly a masterpiece of relief and HEAness abounds - plus the addition of the humor really enhanced the big lurve declaration scene. There was so much wreckiness for most of the book that the humor is heightened at the end, kind of like hysterically laughing people who survive being missed by an avalanche by a few inches.
If you like the angst this one is a must read, if you like obsessive mean H's, this is also a must read. Interestingly for all the H's meanness, there is NO punishing kisses in this one. There is two kisses before the H shows up on Dunk Island and both of them are really smoochy romantic ones, so who says the H has to be all gropey handsiness with grabbings and lip smashings, LA proves that a really great romantic kiss can be even more devastating in the angst department than all violent roofie kisses in HPlandia and that alone makes this worth a read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2021
"The Shadow Of Moonlight" is the story of Meredith and Evan.
Be ready for all kinds of heartbreak and feels.
Heroine is a widow, living with her late husband's family. His older brother moves in, but still resorts to calling her a slut, gold digger etc etc. Finally tired of his taunts, she decides to leave, only for him to trace her down and ask her to return for the sake of his sick grandmother. They continually lock horns- the hero takes pleasure in mocking and hurting the heroine, while she fights his attack away at every turn. Slowly, we are shown what happened in the past with the heroine's marriage, the reason for the hero's antagonism, their attraction for each other and obvious issues they are forced to face. There is wild attraction mixed with loads of angst, miscommunications and pain, until they are honest with each other and the book ends in a wonderful HEA.
I loved it!
Unsafe
4.5/5
Be ready for all kinds of heartbreak and feels.
Heroine is a widow, living with her late husband's family. His older brother moves in, but still resorts to calling her a slut, gold digger etc etc. Finally tired of his taunts, she decides to leave, only for him to trace her down and ask her to return for the sake of his sick grandmother. They continually lock horns- the hero takes pleasure in mocking and hurting the heroine, while she fights his attack away at every turn. Slowly, we are shown what happened in the past with the heroine's marriage, the reason for the hero's antagonism, their attraction for each other and obvious issues they are forced to face. There is wild attraction mixed with loads of angst, miscommunications and pain, until they are honest with each other and the book ends in a wonderful HEA.
I loved it!
Unsafe
4.5/5
August 24, 2016
Well worth the investment of time. I typically do not like the HP version of "sloppy seconds", but this one really worked for me. I had a hard time putting it down.
February 25, 2017
Yes! This one was great! I really like it when the heroes are just like this: obsessively in love with just the right amount of tortured angst. Also, all the characters including secondaries were not caricatures, even the "Other" woman (Nadia, although Sarah didn't seem so bad either). The buildup was good and even mysterious, with great pacing for each new revelation, and the ending was climactic and utterly satisfying!
March 7, 2022
3.5. Another crying heroine.
June 4, 2023
I'm getting to be such a LA fan girl. This was another good read, although handle with care if you are squeamish about the one woman-two brothers kind of plot. The h, Meredith was a very innocent 19 when she was swept off her feet by show jumping playboy Leigh and married to him before he introduced her to his family. He does the decent thing (for the plot) by playing her dirty and conveniently dying in a car accident so she can move on to hard, stern older brother Evan. My goodness did he put her through the wringer. There is a warm, welcoming in-law household with some humour (thankfully, or this could have been grim). Violet the nurse plays a good comedic turn. The H and h come together and then split again in one of those gut wrenching separations that RD also specialises in. Anyway, it (he) addresses the squick factor head on and the hea is very emotional (I thought). That said, my tastes are shared by few so strictly at your own risk ;)
February 3, 2021
This girl has it all !! The hero has 2 younger brothers, so that's totally three men in the story. And she gets to keep all 3 of them to herself ;)))
Basically the heroine gets to marry the first one (who gets conveniently killed), then flirt with the second one (who conveniently becomes brotherly midway) and then fall for the third guy (the HEA guy, so he better be the hero!)
Crazy circumstances under which the actual hero meets her right at the start. Some dreamy encounter under the moonlight and stars. As strangers in a party, they kiss and cuddle, and discover that 'instant' connection.
Only to figure out 15 min later that she is the wife of the hero's wayward, playboy brother. The hero is livid. Keeps spewing venom at the girl for years, even after the husband conks. But he still carries a torch for her in his heart.
The heroine gets fed up of his sharp tongue and runs away from the family home. But he tracks her down. They get into bed and discover that 'special' connection.
Finally he realizes that the heroine wasn't an adulterous evil woman, but just a traumatized wife looking for some solace under the moonlight all those years ago. So Ta Da, all grievances resolved!!
There is a dramatic fire accident scene in the climax where the hero throws himself into the fire thinking the girl is trapped inside. This she sees from outside. Only then she realizes - under all that bluff and bluster, the hero is really crazy about her!
So all hinderances to the path of Eden are cleared. HEA. Somewhat crazy in parts, but entertaining nevertheless.
Basically the heroine gets to marry the first one (who gets conveniently killed), then flirt with the second one (who conveniently becomes brotherly midway) and then fall for the third guy (the HEA guy, so he better be the hero!)
Crazy circumstances under which the actual hero meets her right at the start. Some dreamy encounter under the moonlight and stars. As strangers in a party, they kiss and cuddle, and discover that 'instant' connection.
Only to figure out 15 min later that she is the wife of the hero's wayward, playboy brother. The hero is livid. Keeps spewing venom at the girl for years, even after the husband conks. But he still carries a torch for her in his heart.
The heroine gets fed up of his sharp tongue and runs away from the family home. But he tracks her down. They get into bed and discover that 'special' connection.
Finally he realizes that the heroine wasn't an adulterous evil woman, but just a traumatized wife looking for some solace under the moonlight all those years ago. So Ta Da, all grievances resolved!!
There is a dramatic fire accident scene in the climax where the hero throws himself into the fire thinking the girl is trapped inside. This she sees from outside. Only then she realizes - under all that bluff and bluster, the hero is really crazy about her!
So all hinderances to the path of Eden are cleared. HEA. Somewhat crazy in parts, but entertaining nevertheless.
abrierto-to-read-hr-other
November 12, 2022When she was swept off her feet at nineteen, even her husband's wealthy family didn't know about Meredith Sommerville's marriage to their son. But after Leigh's death his family had warmly accepted Meredith at their Australian homestead. Except for Evan Sommerville.
Convinced that Meredith was an unfaithful fortune huntress, Evan, the eldest son, made her life intolerable. His irrational dislike left Meredith torn between rage and her undeniable attraction to him.
Regretfully Meredith felt she must leave. Yet every time she tried, Evan, for some reason, was unwilling to let her go.
Convinced that Meredith was an unfaithful fortune huntress, Evan, the eldest son, made her life intolerable. His irrational dislike left Meredith torn between rage and her undeniable attraction to him.
Regretfully Meredith felt she must leave. Yet every time she tried, Evan, for some reason, was unwilling to let her go.
July 20, 2024
Emotional story and she grows up - a lot. She can’t forgive herself and H doesn’t seem forgiving either. I liked this a lot especially for how the backstory and tension unfold slowly.
He should have been able to see that she had fallen for him because of how awful and guilty she felt. After all she did was kiss a stranger at a masked ball, not good but not terrible tramp gold digger behavior, yet she acts as though he has something to seek revenge for. In fact he does not.
Reread and same observations. Plus I have to wonder how HP authors could cope without car crashes and fires.
He should have been able to see that she had fallen for him because of how awful and guilty she felt. After all she did was kiss a stranger at a masked ball, not good but not terrible tramp gold digger behavior, yet she acts as though he has something to seek revenge for. In fact he does not.
Reread and same observations. Plus I have to wonder how HP authors could cope without car crashes and fires.
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