Moon of Little Winter

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Paranormal Romance!
Review: Chely Austin loved her grandfather and was devastated when he passed away. The only thing she had left from him was his old house in Cades Cove, which he hadn't inhabited for over twenty years. Chely didn't know why he refused to live there, but she was determined to make it her home. So she was outraged when Ty Walker snuck in her house late one night and claimed that the home actually stood on his grandmother's property! She chased him out with a gun and tried to avoid him, but Ty was pretty hard to ignore. For one thing, he was gorgeous and sexy and seemed to be attracted to her, but strange things had a tendency to happen when he was around. Chely wasn't sure if she trusted Ty or wanted anything to do with him, but she did feel safer with him in the house so she agreed to let him stay while they investigated the old property claims from decades before. Chely could feel the sexual tension building between them and wasn't sure if she wanted to try to have a relationship with Ty or not, but Ty sure as heck knew better than to get involved with a woman. No one had ever accepted him for what he truly was - a male witch who could shapeshift. He was desperately afraid that Chely would not believe him or worse, shut him out of her life entirely!

But when the body of a missing child is found underneath Chely's grandfather's house, Chely & Ty are suddenly drawn into the mysteries of the past. Neither can remember much about their childhood and Ty's grandmother insists that they need to remember the events that happened twenty years ago on their own. All Chely knows about her past is that her mother left her with her grandfather and her life starts from there. So when Chely starts seeing a strange woman in a red cloak and having weird dreams, she thinks that she is seeing her mother - but what does she want and why does Chely fear her? Ty can feel that there is an ancient evil at work in the house, but he doesn't know where it is coming from and is unsure how to counter it. But he does know that Chely's life is on the line and he is running out of time to save her...

Moon of Little Winter was a very good paranormal romance. Both Chely and Ty were strong, independent characters who did quite well at working together to solve the mystery and beat the bad guys. My only complaint with the plot was that their being thrown together in the house was a kind of flimsy excuse and they denied their feelings for each other for most of the book, which didn't make for a very satisfying romance. Still, the paranormal elements of the romance were worked in very well and made the story much more exciting and readable than your typical romantic suspense story. A great read for paranormal romance lovers!

Rating:
Summary: Moon Of Little Winter
Review: Moon Of Little Winter
By
Margaret Marr
Publisher: NovelBooks, Inc.
...
Genre: paranormal
Isbn # ebook: 1-59105-050-2
Isbn # trade paperback: 1-59105-075-8

Synopsis:
Chely Austin inherits a house in the NC woods from her grandfather. Strangely no one ever seemed to have lived in this house for all of the 20 years it has been sitting around. During one of her first nights in the house, intruder Ty Walker startles her.
Ty, it turns out, is the neighbor's grandson and he comes with an outrageous claim: half the house is built on his grandmother's property.
As the property lines are drawn up on an old-fashioned map with old-fashioned instructions the task of determining which part of the property is whose, becomes a bit more drawn out than one would expect.
In the process many unforeseen things happen. First a set of bones is dug up, eventually becoming the first of several skeletons.
The police investigation surrounding the bones interferes with Ty and Chely's quest to determine the property lines, forcing them to stick it out together a little longer than they had anticipated.
Both unattached and attractive the inevitable happens: they fall for each other fighting the growing enticement for different reasons.
Chely has been hurt one too many times and does not desire to ever get hurt by a man again.
Ty has a weighty secret: he is a male witch, his specialty being that he can shape-shift into a wolf. This has kept him from finding true love as he does not believe anyone could ever love him as such.
Ty's grandmother Mae Walker knows a terrible secret that involves both Ty and Chely as children. Both have forgotten what happened 20 years ago, but their return to this area stirs up paranormal events that Mae would rather not expose to anyone.
What happened during the 'Moon of little Winter' 20 years ago?
Will Ty and Chely remember that they were once close friends, but a terrible accident brought a stop to it?
And who is the woman in the red cloak, why is she after Chely and Ty?
A chase of wolves through the woods, Chely's cat acting as though he has a Jekyll and Hide personality, blue bottles with hair and fingernail clippings appearing and a hidden burning candle, the key element of a spell that might kill Chely all lead the reader through a world of witch craft divided into good and evil.
In the end of the book it burns down to these two most important facts:
Will Chely survive the horrifying spell that has been cast on her and will she then still be able to love a male witch?

This is not Margaret Marr's first book, however it is her first in the paranormal genre.
She chose to focus on witchcraft.
Years ago in the TV show 'Moonlighting' took many episodes jam-packed with sexual tension between Sybil Sheppard and Bruce Willis, before the viewers growing hunger for the real thing was satisfied. Marr's fantastic way of teasing the reader about the relationship between her hero and heroine reminded me of that show.
If it hadn't been for the many distractions in my household full of demanding children, I would have read the book in one stretch.
Every time I had to put it down I was irritated as Marr's description of the growing attraction between Chely and Ty left me panting for relief.
Ty's unusual secret is not kept from the reader which added my constant wondering if he might accidentally shape into his beastly alter self, while longing for Chely. That, however, would take away from the surprising ending.
Confusing at first the reader is confronted with little blue bottles, filled with fingernail clippings and hair strands; more and more skeletons of children get uncovered on the property and the intentions of the mysterious lady in the red cloak are not clearly good or evil.
In the end, however, it all demands recognition from the reader as important factors that lead to solving the mystery of the strange events surrounding Chely's house.
The book is not about the legal glitch leading to a house being built across two properties. It is not even so much about Chely and Ty overcoming obstacles and finding true love again.
The book is about one evil aspect of witchcraft and how it can be conquered with good.
True Wiccans might feel a bit appalled by the course of the book as according to true Wicca no witch can cast a spell to hurt another being and no spell can be cast without the castees' permission.
This book is not intended to give the reader a good look into the real world. It is meant to be entertaining and as such there needs to be a conflict to resolve. How could the antagonist of a good witch not be an evil witch? How much fun and tension would there be?
Whether I believe in witches or not, after reading this book one thing is for certain: I do not want to inherit a house in the woods. You never know!

Rating:
Summary: Witches and Wolves and Mystery...Oh My!
Review: Weird things are happening in Cades Cove North Carolina, and Chely Austin is living in the epicenter of the activities when she inherits from her beloved grandfather a house that has gone unlived in for the last two decades.

The house has been abandoned for a very good reason: it may or may not have been the scene of a several murders. And Chely's grandfather may or may not have been behind the deaths.

Mae, resident and much maligned witch of Cades Cove, knows what's going on and why, but she ain't talking. She's counting on Chely and her own tormented and restless grandson, Ty Walker, to remember their pasts and unlock the mystery behind the dead bodies and years-old skeletons suddenly popping up in the house and on its property.

Ty has returned to town after an almost twenty year absence and is interested in one thing and one thing only, that is establishing the property lines and ownership of Chely's grandfather's house. A romantic entanglement with his grandmother's beautiful and gun-toting neighbor is at the bottom of his to do list.

Chely and Ty's property dispute and plans for the house take a back seat when the Lady In Red shows herself and threatens not only Mae's freedom and Chely's grandfather's memory and good reputation, but Chely and Ty's very lives.

Ty Walker is a gifted witch with an "alter ego" and has taken it upon himself to protect Chely any way he can, which makes it that much more difficult to keep from her his secrets; secrets that if revealed may repulse her - the last thing he wants to do now that he's gotten to know her. What he doesn't know is that Chely already suspects he's essentially different and is attracted to him nonetheless and against her better judgment. She feels a deep bond between them, one based in their shared childhood, though she can't quite put her finger on the memories muddled with her continuing wolf nightmares.

Margaret Marr has crafted two engaging and sympathetic leads in Chely and Ty. The pair have excellent chemistry, their quickly burgeoning romance the cornerstone of a tightly-woven plot with colorful secondary characters that add intrigue and suspense to a well written story. The final revelation of the Lady In Red's true identity is a nice twist and topper to a satisfying climax.

I highly recommend MOON OF LITTLE WINTER to anyone who enjoys paranormal romance with witches and shapeshifters at the center of the story.