Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced reader. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The old wooden sign above the door of this bar showcases a carving of a crescent moon, and customers love pointing out how inaccurate the sign is when entering the Half Moon bar.

for a purpose and direction in their forties.

The reader is introduced to Malcolm, who worked at the Half Moon bar for twenty-four years before he bought it.

This bar holds a history for him because it is where he has learned everything from fixing a running toilet to soldering a pipe. He also seems to relish being the tried-and-true vessel for his regular customers' worries and complaints. However, his current preoccupation lies not in his joy in running the bar but in the lack of financial resources to make it into the bar he knows it can be.

Meanwhile, Malcolm's wife, Jess, struggles with her own. A successful lawyer, she's been trying for years to start a family but is coming to terms with the possibility that motherhood may not be in her future. This six-and-a-half-year battle consumes Jess's life, where her first waking thought is singularly focused on what her ovaries are doing.

As both Malcolm and Jess confront the reality of their aspirations and the ticking clock of their youth, they must also navigate the turmoil of a tumultuous week that includes the disappearance of a regular customer during a major blizzard in their town.

I loved how Keane writes about the challenges of trying to blend a family and the fertility challenges that her character faces in relatable ways that had me highlighting passages.

This book did not match my expectations of her finely crafted Ask, Again, Yes, but much of that also landed in weird structural waters.

The story jumps from past to present with no clear indication of the change for the reader, making it difficult to keep track of where in the characters' lives certain events occurred.

That doesn't discredit this storyteller, and if you enjoyed We are the Brennans and craving a quiet story, the two were similarly built.

This novel will hit store shelves on May 2nd!

The Half Moon

Mary Beth Keane