Book Bites: 3 Sentence Intro About What This Story Is

After Cordelia and her friends have a brief but enchanting encounter with a mysterious man on the night of the hunter’s moon of her senior year, she can’t stop thinking about the charming stranger. Shortly after Cordelia graduates from the illustrious and elite Schaffenbrucken academy, the stranger from that night, who introduces himself as Edward Compton, makes several more appearances in Cordelia’s life which leaves her more confused. He’s still on her mind as she takes up a schoolmistress position at an all-girl’s academy where she meets the infamous, provocative Sir Jason Verringer who she becomes intrigued by and suspicious of because all she knows about him is solely through the town’s incessant gossip about him.

*As usual, to see the official book teaser/summary of this, go to anywhere books are found and read up more about what this book is about.

2021’s Supernatural Spectacular Celebration Continues with The Time of the Hunter’s Moon

Check out 2021’s Supernatural Spectacular Celebration book selections to cozy up to under the full moon!

1. Son of Beauty, God of Death by Sera Trevor
2. Time of the Hunter’s Moon by Victoria Holt
3. Malorie: A Bird Box Novel by Josh Malerman
4. The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

Now on to My Commentary (**May Contain Spoilers: Read at Your Own Risk)

I am super excited about this one! I’m going back to my roots: gothic romance. I was furiously searching for gothic literature, particularly romance books, because I’ve been feeling drained and sad lately. HA! And what better way to cheer me up than to read gothic books right? Don’t judge me. I live and work paradoxically.

I’m a sucker for gothic romances. Just something about the alluring juxtaposition of a budding romance set within a dark, suspenseful atmosphere that seduces me into loving the story.

This is my first introduction to Victoria Holt and I thoroughly enjoyed The Time of the Hunter’s Moon.

One of the Best Gothic Romance Authors: Eleanor Hibbert

Victoria Holt is the pen name for cherished and award-winning romance writer, Eleanor Hibbert. She certainly is a prolific author and writes under various pen names for different genres (as per Wikipedia’s page): “Jean Plaidy for fictionalized history of European royalty; Victoria Holt for gothic romances, and Philippa Carr for a multi-generational family saga. A literary split personality, she also wrote light romances, crime novels, murder mysteries and thrillers under the various pseudonyms Eleanor Burford, Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow, Anna Percival, and Ellalice Tate.”

Yeah, she’s a cool lady. I mean her personal life is as interesting as the stories she writes.

I finished The Time of the Hunter’s Moon within two days. I probably would have finished faster if I actually read all through the night – like I wanted to – but I had to wake up for work the next day. I know, right? Damn work interrupting my time with a romance suspense novel.

Let’s Dive Into The Time of the Hunter’s Moon!

This book was different from the usual steamier modern romances I read – ahem Gena Showalter books (stay tuned for future reviews on Showalter’s books!). Though I found The Time of the Hunter’s Moon was just what I needed! No steamy love scenes. No sex with vampires or were-creature-shape-shifting-things or cowboys or whatever. The ominous and eerie atmosphere of the book is due largely to the mystery surrounding the Verringers and the legend of the hunter’s moon.

Romance can be alluring and spicy without graphic sex scenes. And I found that I preferred this over the more erotic romance stories. I know I’ve been saying that a lot lately! It’s a clean romance novel (and I rarely read completely clean romances). Great balance between the elements of mystery and sexual tension between the love interests.

The irritating yet oh so mysterious and smooth Sir Jason Verringer, landlord of the area, has taken an interest in the recent boarding school graduate now school teacher, Cordelia Grant. And he’s a recent widower. So…what are his real intentions with her? Cordelia’s trying to figure that out. But so far, she’s only gotten to know him through the gossipy townspeople.

His endless flirting and banter with her makes her wonder if he truly cares for her or if he’s just using her. And as she learns more about his past through circulating rumors, her opinion of Sir Jason gets even grimmer. Poor Jason!

Cordelia and Jason are very clever and witty. And honey, wit is enough to make me melt and swoon. I found myself immediately forming a wide grin and laughing every time they interact with each other. Sir Jason was a perfect male lead who you love because he’s charming but his shenanigans to try to get closer to Cordelia though she’s annoyed as hell with him are hilarious!

Granted, Cordelia is a well-mannered, even-tempered, wise, practical and perceptive person so she doesn’t buy into all the town gossip about their powerful landlord. But there is some very convincing “circumstantial” evidence that seems to support that Sir Jason has an insidious nature that even Cordelia finds difficult to refute. Though what she hears about Sir Jason makes her more suspicious and cautious of him, she is also drawn to learning more about him. To sate her own curiosity and find the truth about the attractive man who relentlessly courts her, she starts snooping around.

And let’s face it, when a mysterious hot guy is interested in you, who wouldn’t try to snoop and learn more about him?! AKA the Victorian England equivalent of today’s social media stalking. And who wouldn’t have some confusion over whether this man is being genuine or not? Poor guy doesn’t have a great romantic track record.

As much as Cordelia tries to focus on her own work and life, Sir Jason’s unyielding pursuit of her makes it difficult to erase him from her mind. Could he be the future husband that the hunter’s moon legend predicted would come if a girl were to be in that forest during that particular night? Or is her future husband someone completely different and Sir Jason’s intentions are not as pure as he portrays?

I appreciate a well-written romance. But what I appreciate more is the wonderful mystery plot weaved through the romance. No shortage of mystery in The Time of the Hunter’s Moon. Holt’s pacing is superb. There are twists at every turn. This book will keep you on your toes. And it’s written in first person so we only know as much as Cordelia knows. And dear girl tries to play detective but each clue adds to the growing pile of unanswered questions. As something gets revealed, a hundred other things become more mysterious. As she learns more about Sir Jason, the more she’s confused about who he truly is. Each character is as enigmatic as the next. Cordelia doubts whether she truly knows each character she meets as she hears more about them through other people. Right when she thinks she’s got someone figured out, details arise that cause her to reassess her initial judgment of them. Who is really an ally and who is a threat to Cordelia? Who can she trust?

It really is a cautionary tale on the dangers of gossip.

Gothic Romance Elements

This book as all the fundamental elements of gothic literature. Particularly the main setting being the Colby Abbey Academy for Young Ladies that contains aspects of a defunct monastery’s ruins. Already sets up the perfect chilly atmosphere. The abbey is just stunning. I want to live here! I have a feeling it might have been inspired by the real-life Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England (but I’m not sure).

You got your tall, dark, and handsome man. And like classic romantic suspense, the love interest is rumored to be connected to a murder. And it’s up to the heroine to figure out if he was involved in the murder or not.

Though the exact time period of the book wasn’t blatantly stated, it felt like the setting was in Victorian era England. They were still riding carriages and horses in their everyday lives. Writing letters as the only means of communication. Landlords still owned a huge-ass piece of land. Finishing schools were a big thing. So if you’re into Victorian era gothic romances, this is a great one to check out!

Final Thoughts

The Time of the Hunter’s Moon is essentially what I’m trying to replicate through my own novel. Boy, am I having a really difficult time as a novice writer doing so! Maybe that’s why I was so excited to read this book. It’s basically what I’ve been sweating and frustrating over to try to do for my own book. Without a doubt, Victoria Holt/Eleanor Hibbert is an icon in the genre for great reasons. So if it’s not this particular book, she has a treasure trove of selections that might be more your cup of tea.

I’m a huge fan of the book Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – love this book to death (no pun intended) –so if that satiates your palate, you’ll enjoy The Time of the Hunter’s Moon as well.

Check out this book if it piques your interest. Hope you enjoy it as your next read or a re-read!

And remember, “Every story is worth the read. Someone (some poor, overworked, ink-stains-on-the-clothes lovely soul) took the time to write it.”