FOREST MOON RISING – P.R. Frost
Tess Noncoiré Adventures , Book 4
DAW
ISBN: 978-0-7564-0655-4
February 2011
Urban Fantasy

Portland , Oregon – The Present

Tess Noncoiré, fantasy author, and with the help of her imp, Scrap, is a Warrior of the Celestial Blade. She fights demons, and currently there is a Nörglein, or dark elf, inhabiting Portland 's city forest. The dark elves were considered extinct, but this one is here, and raping women. When the raped woman's baby is two years old, he claims the half-demon children as his own. Tess is going to stop this outrage, but a blackberry vine encircles her ankle and pulls her off a running path as she seeks out the elf. She ends up in emergency with a badly sprained ankle, which puts her plans on hold. Worse, since her mother's death, her husband's death, and having to give up the only other man she loves so he can take care of his wife, she has been in a depression, unwilling to trust anyone and unable to met the deadline for her book. Money is running low. Her only other viable companion is a fallen gargoyle. He is handsome and compelling, but Tess doesn't trust him. The only good thing is that her brother has come to visit bringing her best friend, Allie, with him. The pair has recently become engaged.

FOREST MOON RISING shifts between Tess's and Scrap's viewpoints. Scrap is a runt Imp who can move through dimensions and changes into Tess's blade when danger occurs. He is also gay, which only adds to all the unusual happenings. There are important characters from previous books, Donovan, the fallen gargoyle; Professor Van der Hoyden-Smyth or Gollum, Tess's lost love; Allie her best friend; and Lady Lucia, a vampire. In between all the action, Tess finds an orb of inordinate value that everyone seems to want. Author P.R. Frost writes so readers won't have to worry about not having read previous books. While throwing the reader immediately into the action, everything is explained in a logical way. More is endangered than just the Portland area, and if Tess is going to find the dark elf and save some children from his clutches, she needs all the help she can get. FOREST MOON RISING…an unusual, fun fantasy filled with adventure, suspense, and romance.

Robin Lee