Jove, $6.99, ISBN 0-515-12527-X
Historical Romance, 1999

Our hero Noah LeCroix is the scarred broody loner who lives in his swampy corner in Southern Illinois. One day, his quiet existence is interrupted by the arrival of the hot 18-year old Olivia Bond, who is hoping to escape the villainous clutches of Darcy Lankanal. Can Noah protect Olivia from that man, who only wants to have Olivia back as his pee-pee pincushion?

That’s basically the plot of Blue Moon. It’s a simple story, and indeed, it starts out well, with the slow, yet moving developing relationship between two damaged people portrayed in lovely, heartfelt hues. For a while, I like these two characters, and there is a believable kind of chemistry between them.

But eventually, I get tired of Olivia’s constant self-flagellation and haplessness, and I get especially bored of Noah’s stubborn, obtuse “Ooh, ooh, nobody can love me, so I’ll hurt everyone around me first before they hurt me!” antics. Sure, these two are not happy people, and they deserve some time to mope, moan, whine, and cry before they heal. But it gets to a point where their behavior becomes tedious and repetitive, and by the end of the book, I’m glad to see the last of these two.

Interestingly, the villain turns out to be the most interesting character as the story progresses, his unfortunate last name aside. He is evil, yet cunning, charming, and even… sexy. Maybe it’s because Olivia and Noah have become such boring characters as the story progresses, but Darcy is certainly a charming nutbag to appeal to the twisted side of me.

At any rate, Blue Moon is a well-written story that is certainly readable, but the story just drags on and on as I turn the pages. It seems odd to save this, but the villain is the one who ends up keeping things interesting!