Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: bought this book eagerly because I'm a Civil War reenactor and love the period. This book is a major disappointment. The hero and heroine don't get together until the last third of the book. The war is little more than a backdrop "Oh, this is going to be a terrible thing" over and over. Instead of real romance, we get child molestation, slave concubinage, the obligatory PC horrors of slavery....gag. I wanted history and romance and this book fails to deliver. The author also made a few mistakes with her research and does a poor job of depicting historical figures such as General Lee, Stonewall Jackson and others. She tries to describe the heroine looking sexy in pantalets (which were out of style by the time of the war) and a camisole (which is an undergarment that didn't exist yet - women of the period wore chemises). If you want to read real Civil War romance written by somebody who really knows the period, buy Heather Graham instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely wonderful.
Review: A story that has everything set against the background of the civil war. Really enjoyable. See Klausner review above.
Rating: 
Summary: Below average historical romance
Review: As a reader of historical romance, a civil war buff, and a fan of the Outlander series author Diana Gabaldon, who recommends this book on her web site, I came to this novel fully expecting to like it. I was severely disappointed. This is a middling, at best, romance novel with a pedestrian plot, predictable characters, and a hero and heroine who couldn't be more representative of all that's tedious in the genre. The author seems sincere and there's a sense that she did her civil war era research, but the book holds no surprises and little inducement for the reader to continue past the first few chapters.If you're going to write a novel about another spirited, plain but beautiful, impoverished girl-woman who makes a marriage of convenience with a gorgeous, tortured, secretly-sensitive man who-pretends-to-hate-but-really-loves-her than it better be exquisitely plotted and beautifully written. This book is neither.
Rating:
Summary: Very highly recommended
Review: Brought to the brink of bankruptcy following her father's illness and death, Annabelle Halleston agrees to honor a bargain struck between her father and Royce Kincaid's father. It allows her to save the family home while assuring her brother's futures. In addition to a few other demands, however, she changes their wedding day to April Fool's Day. Royce counters with his own expectations regarding inheritance of his property in the event of his death or the dissolution of their marriage should he survive the war. Indeed, should he survive the war, Royce intends to go west and wishes no further contact with Annabelle. It does not take long for Royce to realize that if he does not die in the coming war, he would live to regret this marriage. Author Kathleen Eschenburg recreates the beauty and the grace of the south before the Civil War with all possible poignancy and pain of that lost era. She deftly exposes the flaws of slaveholders, for example, yet they can be ethical, sympathetic and terribly flawed. The result is a story that springs vividly alive with the tragic nuances, triumphs and perplexities that makes it truly believable. From the main characters to the slaves, these are characters readers come to care for. One of the most entertaining Civil War stories I have had the privilege to review, SEEN BY MOONLIGHT comes very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: I bought this book eagerly because I'm a Civil War reenactor and love the period. This book is a major disappointment. The hero and heroine don't get together until the last third of the book. The war is little more than a backdrop "Oh, this is going to be a terrible thing" over and over. Instead of real romance, we get child molestation, slave concubinage, the obligatory horrors of slavery....gag. I wanted history and romance and this book fails to deliver. The author also made a few mistakes with her research. If you want to read real Civil War romance written by somebody who really knows the period, buy Heather Graham instead.
Rating:
Summary: An Enlightening Tale
Review: I just finished reading this book this very night and decided to review it while it was fresh in my mind. This is the second book that Eschenburg has written and the first that I have read. Gordon Kincaid's tale (the younger brother to Royce in this book) was actually given his story first. And then Eschenberg decided to write Royce's story. I've yet to read "The Nightengale's Song" which is Eschenburg's first book, but now I am going to find it to read.
Now, back to "Seen by Moonlight", this was a very good read. The author - unlike so many romance authors - put a lot of depth into the history behind the tale and truly painted colorful pictures in you mind of the characters, their lives, and their Virginia home, Riverbend. The book sparkles with detailed, heart-felt writing that I have dearly come to enjoy and have missed without knowing until I picked up this book to read. Royce is a man embittered by injustices done to him as a child and thinks himsefl worthless, thus trying to keep the sprite of a woman, Annie away to save her from his "black heart and evil ways". But Annie knows her heart and despite the harsh words of her husband, she attempts to win him. But though it may be a familiar plot, the story is given more of a climatic feel when all of this is happening in a four year period during the Civil War and a man's duty to his country calls him away.
There is so much more I could say about the book, but you would be better off reading the book to witness for yourself this beautiful piece of artwork than reading my lacking review. So listen to these words: GO OUT AND GET THE BOOK.
Rating:
Summary: An Enlightening Tale
Review: I just finished reading this book this very night and decided to review it while it was fresh in my mind. This is the second book that Eschenburg has written and the first that I have read. Gordon Kincaid's tale (the younger brother to Royce in this book) was actually given his story first. And then Eschenberg decided to write Royce's story. I've yet to read "The Nightengale's Song" which is Eschenburg's first book, but now I am going to find it to read.
Now, back to "Seen by Moonlight", this was a very good read. The author - unlike so many romance authors - put a lot of depth into the history behind the tale and truly painted colorful pictures in you mind of the characters, their lives, and their Virginia home, Riverbend. The book sparkles with detailed, heart-felt writing that I have dearly come to enjoy and have missed without knowing until I picked up this book to read. Royce is a man embittered by injustices done to him as a child and thinks himsefl worthless, thus trying to keep the sprite of a woman, Annie away to save her from his "black heart and evil ways". But Annie knows her heart and despite the harsh words of her husband, she attempts to win him. But though it may be a familiar plot, the story is given more of a climatic feel when all of this is happening in a four year period during the Civil War and a man's duty to his country calls him away.
There is so much more I could say about the book, but you would be better off reading the book to witness for yourself this beautiful piece of artwork than reading my lacking review. So listen to these words: GO OUT AND GET THE BOOK.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Historical Romance!!
Review: I love the fact that Ms. Eschenburg was not afraid to add history to her historical romance. In this story our hero and heroine come to terms with life and love with the Civil War as a backdrop for their story. This story in many ways reminded me of the old classic "Gone With the Wind" in the fact that the time period was the same, pre civil war to the call of arms and the "excitement" that was felt by so many during this time period. Royce and Annabelle's story takes place in pre-war Virginia and they are forced into a marriage that does not seem like it will have a happy ending. It's really a deal made between Royce and his father with Annabelle caught in the middle. As both of these strong people come to terms with what life has dealt them, they are also facing the coming storm both realizing that war won't be glorious but that it's a foregone conclusion. Despite this they fall in love and their love story is wonderful. Full of all kinds of emotion. Secondary characters only enrich this already wonderful story. This is the first time that I've read Ms. Eschenburg but it won't be the last.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Historical Romance!!
Review: I love the fact that Ms. Eschenburg was not afraid to add history to her historical romance. In this story our hero and heroine come to terms with life and love with the Civil War as a backdrop for their story. This story in many ways reminded me of the old classic "Gone With the Wind" in the fact that the time period was the same, pre civil war to the call of arms and the "excitement" that was felt by so many during this time period. Royce and Annabelle's story takes place in pre-war Virginia and they are forced into a marriage that does not seem like it will have a happy ending. It's really a deal made between Royce and his father with Annabelle caught in the middle. As both of these strong people come to terms with what life has dealt them, they are also facing the coming storm both realizing that war won't be glorious but that it's a foregone conclusion. Despite this they fall in love and their love story is wonderful. Full of all kinds of emotion. Secondary characters only enrich this already wonderful story. This is the first time that I've read Ms. Eschenburg but it won't be the last.
Rating:
Summary: fine American Civil War romance
Review: In 1861 Virginia, Annabelle Hallston is unhappy that even in death her father has sold her out to pay his debts and those incurred by her two brothers. She accepts the deal between Peyton Kincaid and her deceased father only because she is worried about her younger sibling Bo. Still she adds a few stipulations as does Peyton's angry son Royce the other target. The two will wed, keep their marriage secret, and Royce demands Annabelle inherits all as he plans to vanish out west without any offspring. At the end of the Civil War, Royce returns home to fulfill one of his codas that he will give his wife one year to decide to divorce him. As he becomes better acquainted with the intrepid Annabelle, Royce realizes he prays she will not send him packing. Annabelle also loves her husband, but knows his freedom is what he desires so plans to let home go even though that is the last thing she wants in life. Fans of American Civil War romances will appreciate this pleasant tale. The story line is well written though the animosity of the hero towards his father and the lead female's brother towards her husband is not clear for most of the tale although her sibling may resent his inability to offer any options. The characters make the tale as they bring to life the years just before, during, and just after the War Between the States. Harriet Klausner
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