A review by leelah
Guardians of the Haunted Moor by Harper Fox

3.0

3.5 stars

Just to be clear- I love Gid and Lee, one of my favorite couples in genre.

I couldn't really put my finger on what irked me about this installment, until I went through my thoughts on previous books of T&F series.

Ok, it's like this: Harper Fox and especially this series became my go-to rec when someone asks me what is good to read in genre: it's quality and it's (unfortunately) still obscure enough to be overlooked. But the main reason is, that there are pretty big chances it would appeal to majority of readers: there is that perfect balance of interesting mystery plot, a strong, beautifully developed romance and just a touch of supernatural. I really liked how this made me feel: I wanted to know 'who's done it', but at the same time I cared about MCs and what was going on between them.


Essentially, I felt like this installment detoured from this structure. Not just that focus was more on Lee's and Gideon's relationship, but I felt like mystery and Lee' clairvoyance was actually in service of developing romance even further. The biggest part of book is dedicated to baby plot(if you read Kitto- last line gives you pretty good hint what was going on). It's sweet and emotional, but totally predictable (which I even understand why- it's comfort thing).
I know this comes down to personal taste, but pouring everything into this for sake of establishing-not happy end- but even happier end for couple would not bother me if it's not on expanse of other parts of plot. I actually really liked the premise: reappearance of Bodmin Beast, superstition around town and especially Gideon's interaction with other people from Dark... The witch, Prowse and Gid's family were a picture of small town mentality and close-knit community. I wanted more of this and less baby stuff. :|
As for supernatural element, it's something I feared would happen after I finished book #3: making Gid "special"; giving him his own power, spiritual role. It wasn't really necessary, since it was more of a just another way for him to connect and understand Lee better. He was already perfect in that way.

And my biggest peeve is this:
This series has a theme: each installment revolves around holiday; festivities. This time it was Guldize, harvest festival typical for Cornwall area. In previous installments, the festivity theme was perfectly incorporated in story. It's actually a pretty big part of each book because it enhances the overall atmosphere: the appeal of Bodmin Beast in first book is due to fact it was happening during Halloween, for example. Here, the mark was missed and Guldize didn't play any role except to describe old pagan ceremony of Crying the Neck which was a nice bit of trivia, but just that.


All in all: another good installment, but not as strong as other in series.