HALF MOON HOUSE by Theo Fenraven

HALF MOON HOUSE by Theo Fenraven

 

Pages: 175

Date: July 2015

E-book

The blurb:

“Abandoned by an industry that has been decimated by the economy, and struggling in a marriage that isn’t quite the stuff of dreams, Jon Donovan is ready for a change. It appears in the shape of Cass Allen—as comfortable in a skirt and heels as he is in jeans—who has happily spent his life drifting from place to place and job to job.

Pragmatic and practical meets mystical and magical as they start a new business, help solve a murder, and are blindsided by a devastating betrayal neither of them saw coming. 

The tiny house community has two new advocates, but Jon and Cass will only find their happy ending if they are willing to give up who they were and become the men they are supposed to be.”

My thoughts:

Disclosure: I was lucky enough to be allowed to beta-read Half Moon House for the author.

Anyone who regularly reads my reviews knows that I’m a huge fan of Theo Fenraven’s writing. Ever since I first read Blue River in December 2013, I’ve been in awe of the way he manipulates words and his huge range when it comes to subjects and genres. It therefore won’t come as a big surprise when I say that once again this author managed to write a story which blew me away. I can’t believe Mr. Fenraven managed to surprise me once again J

It is a lot easier to tell you what Half Moon House isn’t than exactly what it is. Without giving anything away, because this book should be experienced without any preconceived ideas, I can say Half Moon House gives the reader romance, devastating heart break, a mystery, ghosts, and legal drama all as experienced by two characters who appear to have very little in common and yet are perfect for each other.

In previous reviews I have mentioned how much I love it when a book manages to surprise me, and Half Moon House did just that. Most books will tackle one or two issues and, if there are more, they tend to show up in a logical if far from realistic sequence. Real life doesn’t work that way. We all know that when something goes wrong in one part our lives it usually means shit is about to hit the fan in several other areas as well. The same is true for Jon in this book. His simple, if maybe not quite satisfying and somewhat boring, life is blown apart in this story and everything happens if not at exactly the same time than at least in very quick succession. As a result, neither the reader nor Jon and Cass are given the opportunity to catch their breath while they are hurled from one issue to the next.

Cass *sighs*. I fell hard and fast for Cass. While I liked Jon and hurt for him as his life fell apart, Cass dug his way into my heart and took up residence. There was nothing I didn’t like about him but his easy going attitude towards life resonated with me on a deep level.

And just when I thought the book couldn’t possibly hold any other surprises or delight me anymore than it already had, Theo Fenraven made my day by allowing me to spend more time with Percy Callendar and Sage Donovan from The Haunted Maze.

Long story short: I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. Theo Fenraven’s writing is as beautiful, descriptive yet sparse as always. His characters touched me and the story made me think about several issues. As a reading experience this book hit just about every one of my buttons. I am once again impressed.

About the Author:

I live in south Florida with my dog, Suki. I edit books and write novels. I’m also a pretty good photographer. From time to time, I will post some of my pics.

I like hearing from readers, so don’t be shy. Leave a comment and say hello.

For more about and from Theo Fenraven visit his blog: Let Me Tell You a Story.

By links:    Amazon US           Amazon UK            ARe

THE HAUNTED MAZE a true Halloween Horror Story

I’ve reached the stage in my life where few things manage to upset me. There are exceptions to that rule though. It still gets to me when I expect a book to be available at a certain date and time, only for it to be delayed for whatever reason.

I was really looking forward to Theo Fenraven’s The Haunted Maze. In fact, I had been counting the days until its release on Halloween. Have a look at the cover and blurb and you’ll understand why.

Blurb: 

Still in his twenties, Percy Callendar is one of the richest men in the world. In an attempt to find the future love of his life—and because he likes to have fun—he builds the ultimate haunted house and assembles a select group of men to go through it.

Sage Donovan, owner of a fledgling IT company, is the seventh applicant to receive an invitation. He figures completing the maze—something no one has done yet—will guarantee fame and maybe fortune, and he immediately accepts despite having a little problem with anxiety.

Witches, spiders, ghosts and ghouls are the least Sage has to deal with, because before the night is over, he will face his deepest fear, changing his life and Percy’s forever.

As it is, Amazon has decided today is the day to fuck up. I’ve been stalking their website since I got up about thirteen hours ago and have been getting more frustrated with each passing hour.

Of course, if this is frustrating for me, imagine what it must be like for the author. He must be tearing his hair out by this stage. You perfectly time your ‘haunted’ story to be released on Halloween only for Amazon to ruin all your carefully laid plans.

I’ll continue my vigil of Amazon and will be one-clicking The Haunted Maze as soon as it appears. After all, a good story is a good story whatever day it's released on. And, unless Amazon makes an even bigger balls up of this, my review of The Haunted Maze should be up on Sunday. Still, somebody ought to tell Amazon exactly how badly they messed this one up.