A review by sherleysreadingcorner
Under An Endless Moon by A.L. Jackson

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

*๐Ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐‘๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ : 5.0 โญ
*๐’๐ฉ๐ข๐œ๐ž ๐‹๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ: 3.5 ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ

โ€œ๐’€๐’๐’– ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’‡๐’Š๐’“๐’”๐’• ๐’•๐’‰๐’๐’–๐’ˆ๐’‰๐’• ๐‘ฐ ๐’‰๐’‚๐’—๐’† ๐’˜๐’‰๐’†๐’ ๐‘ฐ ๐’๐’‘๐’†๐’ ๐’Ž๐’š ๐’†๐’š๐’†๐’” ๐’Š๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’Ž๐’๐’“๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’๐’‚๐’”๐’• ๐’๐’๐’† ๐’ƒ๐’†๐’‡๐’๐’“๐’† ๐‘ฐ ๐’ˆ๐’ ๐’•๐’ ๐’”๐’๐’†๐’†๐’‘. ๐’€๐’๐’– ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’–๐’๐’…๐’†๐’“ ๐’Š๐’ ๐’Ž๐’š ๐’—๐’†๐’Š๐’๐’” ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’” ๐’Š๐’ ๐’Ž๐’š ๐’”๐’‘๐’Š๐’“๐’Š๐’•. ๐’€๐’๐’– ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’“๐’š๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐‘ฐ ๐’˜๐’‚๐’๐’• ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’๐’๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐‘ฐโ€™๐’Ž ๐’๐’๐’• ๐’”๐’–๐’‘๐’‘๐’๐’”๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’‰๐’‚๐’—๐’†.โ€

โœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจ
๐Ÿ†ƒ๐Ÿ…ท๐Ÿ…พ๐Ÿ†„๐Ÿ…ถ๐Ÿ…ท๐Ÿ†ƒ๐Ÿ†‚
I really enjoyed Otto and Ravenโ€™s story. These two, in my view, were created for one another. Since she was young, he has been a source of comfort, safety, and protection for her. Though they have had feelings for each other for years, it seems that outside forces just wonโ€™t allow them to just give in to their desire and love for one another. 

On one side, we have Otto who throughout the book, has this internal turmoil and guilt that he is dealing with from his past. Something happened to someone who he loved, and he felt like he should have been there to protect her and because he couldnโ€™t, he feels like he does not deserve love or happiness, and he fears that allowing himself to fall for Raven may lead to danger for her. He also made a promise, took an oath to protect Raven, bring no harm to her, and see her as just a little sister. We see his struggle to stay faithful to that promise throughout the story.

Otto also has a singular focus in the story: he is focused on rage and revenge and until he is able to get that out of the way, he feels like he just cannot give Raven what she deserves. Raven too is suffering. She has survivorโ€™s guilt. So, these two troubled individuals are trying to navigate a tumultuous outside world and though they can only find solace in one another, they are afraid to do so because of what could happen if they allow themselves to completely fall and be happy with each other.

This story was beautifully written. I just loved the dual timelines and how the author goes back and forth between the past and the present. This really allows us to understand the characters, their motivations, and their struggle to love one another freely and out loud. I loved Raven and Ottoโ€™s chemistry. They were not only lovers (yesโ€ฆthis one is spicy ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ ๐Ÿฅต ๐Ÿ”ฅ!!) but they were also really close friends. I loved the comfortability they had with each other, their funny banter, and how no matter what was going on around them, they were able to find peace with and within each other. Though this was a story of unimaginable pain, and how those we trust to be our biggest protectors failing us in life, this was also a story of joy, happiness, and love! Yes, this was a truly beautiful love story.

I also loved the secondary characters. The whole Sovereign Sanctum crew was so cool, from River to Cain, to Cash, and though this is a part of a series (and I did not have a chance to read book one {River & Charleighโ€™s story} before this book), I still felt like I knew all the characters and there was no confusion for me. This book makes me want to go back and read book one because I loved River, Charleigh, and Noland so much.  River was a great big brother, Charleigh, the bestest and loyalists of friends, and Noland was such a cutie. They are raising that little boy right with his love of family! I just loved it all.

In addition to the love story, I enjoyed the mysterious nature of the story. Up until the end, I had no clue who was messing with Raven and when that character was revealed I was flabbergasted but if you go backโ€ฆ.it makes so much sense. This mystery really kept me engaged as I wanted to know who was causing all this craziness.  

Overall, this was a great read. This was my first A.L. Jackson book, but it will not be my last because I really enjoyed her writing style, her characters, and the world that they live in. I will be reading more from this author for sure.

๐Ÿ…ผ๐Ÿ†ˆ ๐Ÿ†ƒ๐Ÿ…ท๐Ÿ…พ๐Ÿ†„๐Ÿ…ถ๐Ÿ…ท๐Ÿ†ƒ๐Ÿ†‚ ๐Ÿ…พ๐Ÿ…ฝ ๐Ÿ…ฐ๐Ÿ†„๐Ÿ…ณ๐Ÿ…ธ๐Ÿ…พ๐Ÿ…ฑ๐Ÿ…พ๐Ÿ…พ๐Ÿ…บ
**๐€๐ฎ๐๐ข๐จ๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐‘๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ : 5.0 โญ

I had an opportunity to receive and ALC (advanced listenerโ€™s copy) of Under an Endless Moon and I must say that the narrators, Connor Crais as Otto, an Desiree Ketchum, as Raven, did a phenomenal job. They embodied the characters perfectly and were able to bring them to life and keep me as a reader totally engaged. And Ketchumโ€™s rendition of Noland was the cutest! I just loved their narration!

โœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจ
๐Ÿ††๐Ÿ…ท๐Ÿ…ฐ๐Ÿ†ƒ ๐Ÿ†ƒ๐Ÿ…พ ๐Ÿ…ด๐Ÿ†‡๐Ÿ…ฟ๐Ÿ…ด๐Ÿ…ฒ๐Ÿ†ƒ 
๐ŸฉตRoommates to Lovers
๐Ÿ๏ธBrotherโ€™s Best Friend
๐ŸฉตAge Gap
๐Ÿ๏ธForbidden Love
๐ŸฉตSlow Burn
๐Ÿ๏ธClose Proximity
๐ŸฉตTouch her and ๐Ÿ’€
๐Ÿ๏ธ Romantic Suspense
๐ŸฉตSmall Town
๐Ÿ๏ธChildhood Friends
๐ŸฉตMorally Grey Hero
๐Ÿ๏ธBand of Brothers
๐ŸฉตSecret Society
๐Ÿ๏ธNo Cheating
๐ŸฉตNo Third Act Breakup

๐Ÿ…ต๐Ÿ…ฐ๐Ÿ†…๐Ÿ…พ๐Ÿ†๐Ÿ…ธ๐Ÿ†ƒ๐Ÿ…ด ๐Ÿ†€๐Ÿ†„๐Ÿ…พ๐Ÿ†ƒ๐Ÿ…ด๐Ÿ†‚/๐Ÿ†‚๐Ÿ…ฐ๐Ÿ†ˆ๐Ÿ…ธ๐Ÿ…ฝ๐Ÿ…ถ๐Ÿ†‚ 
๐Ÿฉต โ€œLove. Protect. Never cause harm to the innocent.โ€
๐Ÿฉต โ€œโ€ฆyouโ€™re the only thing in this world that keeps me sane. Only thing that grounds me to reality when I feel it slipping.โ€
๐Ÿฉต โ€œโ€ฆsometimes, laws couldnโ€™t contain hearts, and his had busted right through it.โ€
๐Ÿฉต โ€œYou. Just you. You andโ€ฆeverything. You are the face of every hero in my books.โ€
๐Ÿฉต โ€œYou are the first thought I have when I open my eyes in the morning and the last one before I go to sleep. You are the thunder in my veins and the chaos in my spirit. You are everything I want and the one thing Iโ€™m not supposed to have.โ€

โœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจโœจ

* ๐‘ถ๐’—๐’†๐’“๐’‚๐’๐’ ๐‘น๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ & ๐‘บ๐’‘๐’Š๐’„๐’† ๐‘ณ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’ ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’๐’ ๐’‚ 5.0 ๐’”๐’„๐’‚๐’๐’†
**๐‘จ๐’–๐’…๐’Š๐’๐’ƒ๐’๐’๐’Œ ๐‘น๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ๐’” ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’ƒ๐’‚๐’”๐’†๐’… ๐’”๐’๐’๐’†๐’๐’š ๐’๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’๐’‚๐’“๐’“๐’‚๐’•๐’๐’“โ€™๐’” ๐’‘๐’†๐’“๐’‡๐’๐’“๐’Ž๐’‚๐’๐’„๐’†.

--> Thank you A.L. Jackson and Valentine PR of the ALC of Under an Endless Moon in exchange for my honest review. <--