Back of Book: 

Newly Revised Edition with 45,000 words in New, Improved, and Expanded Scenes (released September 2023)!

A woman fated to die young, a man cursed to live forever, and a darkness that threatens to destroy everything they love.

Cassie was never able to experience the life that many take for granted, the freedom to dictate her own journey. No, her life had been spent sheltered, protected from an inevitable fate that would come for her regardless of what anyone could do.

After her medical condition goes downhill, she is left with a few years of breath in her lungs and a choice: die alone, without ever experiencing what it truly means to feel alive and free; or to find that light, that missing puzzle piece, that feeling of not feeling so alone in her final days.

When Damien appears in her life, her world turns upside down when he shows her the hidden magic that lies in the shadows of her world and within herself. Suddenly plunged into a hidden war that has raged for countless centuries between gods and monsters, Cassie begins to feel the weight of her secret, which she has kept hidden all her life.

Cassie must embrace the tragic, dark history that runs through the blood in her veins or risk her world falling into darkness.

Book Number: One

Genre: Adult | Fantasy | Romance 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟

A New Adult urban fantasy in which college-student Cassie learns that there is a lot more magic in the world than she ever could have imagined. 

Cassie has dealt with chronic illness her entire life and her doctor says she only has a few years left to live. Desperate to live as normal a life as possible, Cassie is attending college and trying to experience as much as she can. When she runs into a mysterious boy by the name of Damien again and again, Cassie can’t help but feel inexplicably drawn to him. As Cassie and Damien begin to spend time together, Cassie begins to wonder what dark secrets Damien is hiding from her. 

I listened to this one with Hoopla to continue my journey of reading a book by every author attending Midwest Bookish Fest 2027. This one also checked one of the attending narrators of my list, so it was a double whammy! 

I must say, it felt like I read at least three different books over the course of this one novel. The beginning starts out feeling super contemporary with Cassie attending college and starting to hang out with Damien’s crew. It was nice getting to slowly meet Cassie and learn about her chronic illness she is facing. At least a fourth of this book has no magic, with only a hint of mystery surrounding Damien’s gang. I was curious to discover if they were vampires or werewolves, because I could tell that they were hiding some sort of paranormal secret. Eventually, Cassie finds herself tangled in their mess and discovers the world is filled with beings called immortals. Which leads into the second part of the book in which Cassie and Damien start to date one another and Cassie is slowly filled in on the details. I think this second portion is my favorite, as we finally get some magic, but all the intense fighting and drama hasn’t begun yet. Also, it’s sweet to just watch the romance unfold. 

In the third segment of this book, Cassie ends up being held hostage by a dark force, which I felt was a little intense for book one. Somehow, she manages to escape and be held captive more than once throughout the course of this under four hundred page book, so that was quite impressive on her part. After she is free once more, she throws herself into her relationship with Damien and starts ignoring the other parts of her life, which I found to be a tad selfish but I guess it would be hard to resist once soulmate. 

As the book came to an end, I found myself gradually losing interest. Cassie and Damien begin to get physical with one another and many steamy scenes are packed in at the end. There is then another dramatic kidnapping scene which ends in the bloody climax of the book. I just wasn’t really drawn in by the ending and I found that I don’t have the will to keep pursing another thousand pages of this series anytime soon. 

I think my favorite parts of this book were the blossoming relationship between our main couple and some of the unique aspects of immortals. I am a sucker for reincarnation romances and the “I will love you in any lifetime” trope. Seeing Damien search so desperately for Cassie was super sweet, and I liked the fact that he was willing to wait patiently with her rather than rushing her into the magic of their relationship. The way he walks her through sex is also sweet, as she is a virgin, and immortals tend to have high sex drives. I also found it cool that immortals have more going on to them than the typical vampire. I can’t say that the lore building was always the best, but I enjoy the unique structure that Laurier took when creating these creatures that fall somewhere between gods and monsters. 

Overall, “Of Shadow and Moonlight” was a decent start to a New Adult paranormal trilogy. I thought Cassie and Damien’s relationship was cute, and I came to enjoy them even more after their shared past was revealed. The lore building was a bit weak, but it is filled with creatures and ideas that I’ve only seen done a few times. This book wasn’t the most coherent, because the different segments of this book felt a bit like different stories at times. I can’t say I feel highly motivated to continue this series, but I didn’t have a bad time reading this one either. 

Audiobook Note: This one is duet narrated by Jacci Prior and Anthony Palmini. I think it was a bit of an interesting decision to have this one duet narrated as the entire book is in Cassie’s PoV. Then again, when one can get Anthony Palmini to agree to narrate their book, it doesn’t hurt having their male characters narrated by a guy. One thing I thought was neat about this audiobook was that when they were recalling memories or things that characters said in the past, a reverb filter was used to make the words feel more distant. I’ve never heard that done before, and I thought it was cool. If the rest of this series ever end up getting audiobooks, I could see myself being more convinced to continue this series, because the audio definitely enhanced this read. 

Edition Note: I listened to the audiobook of the 2024 revised edition of this book.

Back of Book: 

It's never easy taking a life, no matter how tainted their soul had been.

But what if it was against your will?

With winter's approach comes longer nights, and in the dark of night, Cassie's horrors come to life. Sleep evades her, and when rest finally comes, she finds herself trapped, forced to face the death of the one person she thought she'd wanted to kill. Thought it was by her hand that he died, it was not her will.

The threat of war with the darklings drives Cassie to grow stronger, and while losing herself in the training and companionship of her friends may help avoid the reality of what she'd done, it isn't a cure. With every step, she finds herself shadowed by a strange presence, a voice filling her mind with corruption... and she struggles to separate its desires from her own.

Watching the one you love suffer is worse than suffering yourself, and while Damien fights to protect his people from the darklings, he struggles to help Cassie fight her own demons. Winter Solstice nears, and he and the brothers work together to help Cassie through therapy, celebrations, and traditions, in hopes that they might pull her from the darkness holding her and help her find her place in their world and her new home.

But can a human truly find a place amongst immortals?

Book Number: Two

Genre: Adult | Fantasy | Romance 

Review: ? 

Back of Book: 

A secret threatens to be revealed, Lines between friend and foe blur, and a dangerous bargain is struck.

An unsettling energy has settled over the city of Johnstown. When the darkling’s behavior suddenly changes and immortal families start disappearing from their homes—Cassie and Damien are called to a meeting with The Council of the Kyrios, to discuss how they intend to bring an end to Melantha and her darkling brood. The time comes for Cassie to make her appearance known, rising to the role of queen of the immortals at Damien’s side.

Cassie battles with the inner turmoil left in the wake of Marcus’ torment and Cole’s betrayal. When she uncovers the truth, she’s left questioning everything, and the dark secret she’s guarded her entire life threatens to be revealed.

Damien works to expand the warriors of The Order to face the looming threat of the countless darklings building in the shadows while searching for a means of saving Cassie from the fate Selene warned them of. Instead of finding answers, he stumbles upon a terrible prophecy.

Foe becomes friend, friend becomes foe, and Cassie and Damien are left to pick up the pieces of their shattered reality.

Book Number: Three (Last Book) 

Genre: Adult | Fantasy | Romance 

Review: ? 

Back of Book: 

He was left to rot in prison for the murder of his family, she was forced to fight for her freedom, their destinies intertwined in ways they never could have imagined.

But how do you survive in a world where gods and monsters control your fate?

After more than 40 years of imprisonment for murdering his family, Barrett had given up hope of ever tasting freedom. That is, until he meets Lucia Archonis, the demigoddess queen of the immortals, who offers him a chance at freedom.

Dive 600 years into the past and glimpse into the dark secrets leading to Cassie’s present through Barrett and Thalia’s eyes in the first book in a thrilling Shadow and Moonlight spinoff duology.

Book Number: 2.5 (Book one in a spinoff duology)

Genre: Adult | Fantasy | Romance 

Review: ?