Dark Moon Review

 Set in the romantic city of Cape Town, Storm tries to force a proposal from Trevor, and instead, she meets Jarred. Trevor has been preparing himself for what he plans for Storm, which is not quite what she expects. When she tells Trevor that she is carrying Jarreds baby, she releases true evil in Trevor. Storm, feeling that he ruined her life, refuses to have anything to do with Jarred, but he pursues her relentlessly. Donna, Storms roommate, bears the brunt of Trevors anger. Elle, Trevors sister, a fact unknown to them, makes it her mission to catch Trevor and bring him to justice, but he draws power from her for his evil purposes. Their mother senses what Trevor is doing and she uses her considerable knowledge and experience as a witch to curtail him. For a while it works, but he soon gathers his power, which he uses to his unfair advantage on Storm. Would Sybil and her helpers get through to Storm before she makes the mistake of her life.
 

 

     I wanted to first say I recieved this book from via the author. It in no way changes my review. My review is my sole opinion and we all have different ones.  

      I gave Dark Moon 4 stars because it started off very confusing to me. Though it did capture me with the very first chapter, there were so many different point of views that it was hard to follow for awhile. I prefer books with no more than 3 different views because I don't always have the time to sit down and read a lot. I only have time to read it in short breaks, and returning to a book where different people are speaking, it's hard to remember who's who and what just happened to each individual person.

      The storyline itself was very intriguing. We find out who the killer is almost right away but you still want to read to find out what is going to happen. I thought the way Storm treats Jarred wasn't very fair and wanted to smack her because of that. Other than that, I hated putting my computer down because I wanted to know what happened next, especially between the 2 of them.
I give this book an Adult rating. Not for sex; there aren't any explicit scenes but there is one where Storm and Jarred are kissing and she's in a towel and the towel falls. It explains somethings in detail there but it doesn't continue much further. This book also contains mature themes and violence. So I recommend you keep it from the kids.
     I only put this next part in because I try to write my reviews in such a way that readers can get a feel if they want to read the book, personally I didn't care too much. There are a few editorial issues. I pointed them out to the author. Almost all books have a small grammer or spelling issue here or there but these ones were pretty obvious. If you don't like to see editorial issues wait a little for the author to fix them (this was written 10/12) and then get this book!

Interview with Maggie Tideswell:

 

ME:  Hi Maggie and Welcome to Reviews That Bite.

MAGGIE:  Hi and Thank you.

 

ME:  So I finished reading Dark Moon and liked it quite a bit but was wondering, why did Trevor bite his victims?

MAGGIE:  The bite was Trevor’s ‘calling card’ along with the imprint ‘Servant’ from whatever he was strangling his victims with. Biting his victim gave him a sense of absolute power and control.

ME:  Since I have begun reviewing I started to really notice everyone has different opinions on what they enjoy in reading and what makes a good book.  What I like and makes a good book isn't necessarily what others will.  It made me wonder what do you think makes a good book?

MAGGIE:  For me, a book must be fast-paced or my attention starts to wander. The characters and dialogue must be realistic and believable and there has to be growth to a spectacular ending. I am not a fan of fantasy, sci-fi or anything set in the future, so for me a book has to be set in the real world, in real time.

 

ME:  Do you have another book coming out?  Are you willing to let us know a little bit about what it is about?

MAGGIE:  Yes, my second book, Moragh, Holly’s Ghost, will be out in 2013. It is a paranormal romance, set in the Cape region. Holly has a problem with her ex-husband over her visitation rights and her roommates advertise for a husband for her. From the moment Holly agrees to marry Joshua, a man she has never met, Moragh enters her life with the demand that her story be told. After the wedding, Holly meets the people from Joshua’s world, his mother and ex-fiancée, neither of whom are kindly disposed towards the bride. The ghost also follows Holly to her new home and Holly’s life is threatened by somebody who wants to keep the past a sectret.

 

ME:  Do you have any critiquing partners or beta readers that look at you books before they come out?

MAGGIE:I have about 5 beta readers who read my books and their function is not to edit, but to test the story line. They have to look out for mistakes, contradictions, and anything in the actual story that doesn’t work or isn’t clear. Any author needs fresh eyes to read one’s work before it is published, when there is still time to fix things. An author is too close to his or her work.

 

ME:  I like my readers to get to know a little bit about the authors I review.  Can you tell us a little bit about your family?

MAGGIE:  I have been married to Gareth for 33 years and we have 3 kids. Muriel is the eldest, married and lives with her husband in Durban. Cole is a paramedic and a bachelor and Evan, our youngest lives with his wife and little son in Mbombella, Mpumalanga. Gareth is a chef, though I do the cooking at home. We have lived all over the northern part of South Africa and have now settled in Johannesburg, Gauteng. I am not fond of the big city and prefer the country where the pace of life is a bit more sedate.

ME:  As a child what did you want to be when you grew up?

MAGGIE:  I knew from a very young age that I was going to be a writer, but as a teenager, I ran through the normal aspirations – nurse, teacher. I knew I would be a wife and mother too. As it was, I landed in catering quite by accident. Hospitality teaches one the foibles of human nature and how to deal with it. But always there was writing, creating characters and situations.

 

ME:  And do you have any suggestions for new writers?

MAGGIE:  Yes, there is only one piece of advice I would like to give new writers and that is never give up. Being an author is tough and there will be many rejections along the way and criticisms you might feel is unfair. Remember, it isn’t personal, learn the lesson from it and move on.

 

ME:  Once again thank you for joining us today.

MAGGIE:  My pleasure.

 

ME:  Please check out Maggie Tideswell's Website:  http://maggietideswell.weebly.com and her Dark Moon Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvFqnD20-IE