A fantastic follow-up to Firelight.

This series of high action, high romance, historical paranormal romances in the beautiful Gothic setting of late nineteenth century London, is swiftly becoming a favourite of mine. It's often the case that when a series starts out really well, as this one did with Firelight, the follow-ups are almost inevitably a disappointment. Especially if the best character pairings were used in the first book. I was hoping and praying this wouldn't be the case with Moonglow, but my outlook was gloomy since I hadn't developed any great love for Ian, one of the main characters, in book one.

In Firelight Ian played the role of antagonist to Miranda and Archer's relationship, throwing a spanner in the works at every given opportunity, and generally being a pest. Although, even then it was clear he wasn't as bad as he wanted people to believe him to be. But, nevertheless, his interference and general attitude didn't endear him to me, so I began Moonglow with slight trepidation. And at the start of the book, his constant talk of whoring-- particularly with red-headed, green-eyed prostitutes-- didn't help his cause much. He tells the readers early on how he had fancied himself in love with Miranda (who is red-headed and green-eyed). And why not? She is stunningly beautiful, after all. But it is later revealed that his obsession with red-haired women stems from something much further back than we were led to believe, and he has a past that may make you forgive him for all of his sins.

I ended up enjoying Ian's character immensely. He was a lot more complex, gentle and caring than you'd have ever suspected. And he has a cheeky wit and rakish charm. His werewolf mythology that was explored was interesting and showed a new way of looking at immortality. It's not always a bonus for a race that has few females and a very low birth-rate. What's the point of living forever if you're destined to be alone?

Daisy, our other lead character, was wonderful also. She's Miranda's older sister and has been in a loveless, sexless marriage for the last six years to a complete pig. At the beginning of the story she's just finishing up her year of mourning his death (bah!) and wearing black to keep societies' tongues from wagging, and is looking forward to finally being free, throwing caution to the wind...and possibly getting a little som'n, som'n. She's a lady with a healthy appetite for pleasure- something her late husband never failed to make her feel dirty about- but that's in her past. No one is going to tell her what to do, say, wear or how to behave ever again! She's even more 'no nonsense' than Miranda was, if you can believe that. She's having absolutely none of it from charming rogue Ian. And he just doesn't know what's hit him when they meet. Miranda who?

I enjoyed their developing romance. The obstacles that were put in their way were believable and there were several really charming scenes, as well as the obligatory scorching hot ones, and some heartbreakingly tender ones. Moonglow had a slightly different feel to it than Firelight in that both Daisy and Ian worked together to solve a mystery, rather than one of the characters themselves being the mystery. This gave us some great scenes as their relationship developed.

I did find some of the descriptions of the seedier side of London, the side that Ian had previously been revelling in, rather crude and vulgar at times. All the talk of whores and such. Speaking of the seedier side, there was an appearance by the street thug Billy Fingers whom you might remember from Miranda's days on the streets in Firelight. I swear I have no idea what that man is saying. I'm a Brit, I can understand Cockney Rhyming Slang and the colloquial language of Londoners, even if it's not from this century I can usually decipher it, but what comes out of Billy's mouth is unlike any slang I've ever heard. It doesn't even make sense half the time. Oh well.

In summation, I'd say the romance side of things was just as compelling as book one. I also enjoyed some of the new world-building elements that were introduced, including the GIMs, this mysterious 'Mother' person, and several other things I shall keep schtum about for now, and it was altogether a great sequel and highly enjoyable.

If you loved book one, you will love this one, too. Go forth and enjoy!

4 Stars ★★★★