Werewolf and professor of literature Hugh spent nearly 200 years to find his soulmate, Zoie, but others betrayed him, working with rivals to take her away in only an instant. Revenge was swift and unsatisfying.
Welcome to the October 12th stop on the blog tour for Gibbous Moon by Katie Groom with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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Author Guest Post
I very often think about how one star reviews have sold me on some books. Those reviews that everything that they hate about the book is something that I love. Those reviews that make me laugh so hard that I have to give the book a shot. My friends and family know that I love a particular series that many people would give zero stars to if they could. Some won’t even read it. So, I thought it would be fun to write a one-star review for Gibbous Moon. (But, to be clear, I love my book, and I think people that enjoy the things that our dear reviewer, “Delta Rose”, doesn’t will love it, too).
Gibbous Moon (Book Two – Cardinal Moon Saga) by Katie Groom
Review by Delta Rose
One Star out of Five
The book starts with action right out the gate — doesn’t even give you time to get to know the characters. Apparently I was supposed to do that by reading the first book in the series (Fixed Moon), but I didn’t. I think that it’s ridiculous when I can’t just pick up a series on — I don’t know — book five and just dive in. Why do I have to read the entire thing? That’s how they //get// you. And of course they did. I picked up the first book so I could skip to the last bit of the book to see if I could figure things out.
Anyways, I digress.
After we get reacquainted with the characters, we find that the mated lovers — a werewolf and a witch, both of which are of course super powerful and super uncommon, respectively — are separated and miserable without each other. They don’t have a way to contact each other, and one of them them thinks the other is actually dead. Of course — the good ol’ fated mates trope mixed with separation and longing trope. Ugh.
Well, of course, the werewolf (that doesn’t change with the moon, by the way) and not-so-wicked witch have their own stories, but it’s so predictable that they would find their way back to one another. There’s of course a disagreement but everything gets mended — and you know what?! Someone they wronged in book one actually is seeking revenge and they had orchestrated what caused the argument. I bet no one saw that coming /sarcasm.
Anyways, their little group of friends grows and now includes **shock** a vampire. Next thing you know, we’ll be getting dragons, too.
I don’t want to go too far with spoilers because someone else may want to read this “new adult” paranormal “romadventure” (the author made that up — romance + adventure; so not only does she make up entire worlds within the world, but she makes up words now — does she think she’s Billy Shakes?). Anyways, I did read the entire thing, and yeah yeah yeah, I’m going back to read Fixed Moon, and apparently she somehow scored a third book — a trilogy for paranormal romance?! Ugh whatever — so I’m going to read that. And probably give it one star, too.
About the Book
Gibbous Moon
The Cardinal Moon Saga
by Katie Groom
Published 3 October 2023
Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC
Genre: Paranormal Thriller/Romance
Page Count: 276
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
Werewolf and professor of literature Hugh spent nearly 200 years to find his soulmate, Zoie, but others betrayed him, working with rivals to take her away in only an instant. Revenge was swift and unsatisfying. More people need to pay for what was stolen from Hugh.
Zoie’s death had been orchestrated by powerful beings in the supernatural world. Exacting revenge will require precision and planning.
Biding his time before acting, Hugh reverts to the patterns that finding true love had disrupted. Walking through life in a fog, he does his best to appear as if he is moving forward, though nothing feels the same.
As Hugh tries to start the next chapter in his life with Rosalie, he is haunted by the memory of Zoie. The literature professor cringes every time he’s reminded that Rosalie doesn’t like to read, but he tells himself that opposites should attract. That Rosalie can patch the hole left in his heart when Zoie died. His revenge will take time, and wallowing in grief won’t help.
Just as Hugh is still focused on revenge, his enemies are still plotting to harm Hugh further. It’s dangerous to oppose a bereaved werewolf, but even werewolves can be hurt.
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Excerpt
Zoie ran, but soon tripped and scraped her hands on a rock and grazed her head against a branch. She glanced over her shoulder every once in a while to shoot flame in his direction. It was inevitable that he was going to catch her.
She heard leaves and twigs in front of her rustling, and there stood Jack, having jumped over or flanked her at some point. “You can’t escape, girlie.” He circled her, taunting her. “I can either kill you and leave you here, or I can leave you within an inch of your life and send you back to your coven, witch.”
She didn’t answer. His circle became smaller with every time around. When he was just in front of her again, Zoie closed her eyes in preparation for what was surely going to be her real death.
Eyes still closed, she heard a struggle and Jack growling and thrashing. She opened her eyes to see. Branches were growing from the trees and wrapping around his wrists and ankles. A dark, thick fog formed across the forest floor, and black vines started to grow and wrap their shapes around Jack, lifting him until he was suspended between two trees.
Zoie fixated on what was happening. The vines wrapped around him, pulling more and more tightly as they climbed his body. She gasped as the vines tightened around his neck, causing Jack to strain to breathe until his throat was entirely crushed. The black vines crawled into his nose and then out of his mouth. Then, they suddenly stopped growing.
About the Author
Katie Groom grew up in rural Pennsylvania, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Business Management from PITT and her master’s in Employment and Labor Relations from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In 2016, she decided to move to Alabama in order to avoid as much snow as possible (and to advance her career in Human Resources).
When she isn’t working, Katie enjoys reading, writing, jokingly critiquing movies and TV, and campaigning that the plural of moose should be meese. She also loves to take in live music (especially Hanson) and traveling, with the goal of reaching each of the continents. Katie’s favorite pastime, however, is spending time with her beloved Shih tzu, Delta.
Website | Twitter | Amazon | Goodreads
Giveaway Alert!
Katie Groom will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway| Oct 2 | Joanne Guidoccio | Oct 3 | Literary Gold |
| Oct 4 | MacKade ~ V.V. Strange | Oct 4 | travel the ages |
| Oct 5 | Hope. Dreams. Life… Love | Oct 6 | Sandra’s Book Club |
| Oct 9 | Fabulous and Brunette | Oct 10 | The Writer’s Blog |
| Oct 10 | Author Deb Bailey | Oct 11 | Gina Mitchell |
| Oct 12 | Westveil Publishing | Oct 13 | The Avid Reader |
| Oct 13 | The Key of Love |
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Thanks for hosting today.
Did you have any say in the cover design?
I look forward to reading this.
The excerpt sounds really intriguing.
Good evening, Gibbous Moon sounds like a story that I will enjoy reading and I am looking forward to meeting the characters. Who is your favorite werewolf from a movie or TV series?
Who influenced you to be a writer?