WARRIOR'S MOON - Lucy Monroe
Children of the Moon , Book 5
Berkley Sensation
ISBN: 978-0-425-25442-4
July 2013
Paranormal Historical Romance

Highlands of Scotland - 1150

Cruelly betrayed by first her lover, then her parents, Shona was forced to wed a baron three times her age.  Now that the baron is dead, Shona's stepson is determined to make her his lehman, and Shona is also aware that her son Eadan's life is in danger.  Hoping to find refuge with distant relatives on Balmoral Isle, Shona and her small family are stopped while traveling through Sinclair lands, and she comes face to face with the last person she ever wanted to see again.

Crechte warrior Caelis of the MacLeod is stunned to see Shona alive and on Sinclair land, but what brings him to his knees is seeing the boy with her…his son.  Six years earlier, his Alpha and Laird would not bless a union between Caelis and Shona, saying that she was not his true mate, so he broke things off with her.  She and her family disappeared shortly thereafter, and he later learned that she had died.  Caelis came to understand that his Alpha lied about a great many things, but realizing that Shona is his true and sacred mate is the final nail in the Laird's coffin.  He has missed five years of his son's life and has been without his mate for six.  His wolf is anxious to claim the woman who has always been his, but that woman is not so amenable.

Revealing her pregnancy cost Shona the respect of her parents, forced her into marriage with an old man who made her skin crawl, and left her without the ability to trust.  Caelis's revelations about his Crechte heritage doesn't negate the fact that he put his Laird ahead of her, and adds to her feelings of betrayal when she understands that her father, as well as Audrey and Thomas, her two companions, have kept the secret of the Crechte from her as well.  She may still be bitter and hurt by the callous way Caelis set her aside, but she can't help the way her body responds to him.

The latest book in the Children of the Moon series, WARRIOR'S MOON reunites two lovers torn apart by lies.  Shona and Caelis grew up in the MacLeod clan and started seeing one another when Shona reached adulthood.  She always saw the way their Laird treated his “special” warriors different from the rest, including his own daughter, but no matter how she tried to make Caelis see the Laird the way she did, he was always loyal.  Of course, at the time Shona wasn't aware that the “special” warriors were actually Faol Crechte—shape-shifting wolves—and as one of the Fearghall (a secret group of Faol who believe themselves superior to humans and other Crechte, with plans to eradicate the Éan) the Laird would never have approved a mating between a human and a Crechte warrior.  While some of what's happening concerning the Fearghall, Éan and Faol is better understood if you've read the previous books, this really is Caelis and Shona's story.

Her life hasn't been easy since Caelis rejected her, and she isn't ready to trust him yet.  When he explains his Crechte heritage, she is enchanted by his wolf and feels a connection to the wolf that is easier to trust than the connection she has with the man.  Caelis is devastated by the knowledge that he abandoned his sacred mate as well as his son, but he isn't about to turn them away again.  Even Shona's daughter, conceived during her marriage, captures Caelis's heart, and once he challenges for the right to lead the MacLeods, he'll make this family his own, permanently.

A riveting tale that's part of a fascinating series, I highly recommend WARRIOR'S MOON.

Jennifer Bishop