Reviews

Moonlight on My Mind by Jennifer McQuiston

fishgirl182's review against another edition

3.0

Rating this 3 stars for now though I actually totally forgot I already read this previously. I didn't add it to goodreads though and thought I hadn't. Only realized my mistake when I opened it on my kindle and saw that I was already at the end. Read back through the epilogue again and it's vaguely familiar. Unfortunately it wasn't good enough to be memorable.

balletbookworm's review

3.0

Nice, but the characters felt less-developed than the previous book in the series, [b:Summer Is for Lovers|17331380|Summer Is for Lovers|Jennifer McQuiston|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1363872325s/17331380.jpg|24034660], and the plot felt overwrought with all the "revelations" so the actual "aha" moment didn't have quite the novelt that it should have had.

Spoiler

and in my own defense, i stopped reading 10 chapters in to read the entirety of Eloisa James's [b:Three Weeks With Lady X|18052956|Three Weeks With Lady X (Desperate Duchesses, #7)|Eloisa James|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1382507520s/18052956.jpg|25337638] and Moonlight on My Mind does not stand up to the comparison well

winterreader40's review against another edition

4.0

A marriage of convenience based on a false murder testimony, I'm sorry but what????
This was a different approach to this trope for sure. After almost a year in hiding after being accused of his brother's murder the woman who accused him shows up to tell him he has to come home because his father is also dead. Julianne being the impulsive girl that she is decides on a whim to show up in Scotland without a chaperone to track down the man she's now fairly certain she falsely accused of murder.
Patrick marries Julianne, he tells her it's to protect her reputation but it's really so she can't be compelled to testify against him, all he has to do is make sure she's content and this should work right???
This is tied with book 1 as my fave in this series now. Julianne's antics, Patrick's stoicism, a murder mystery and a horrible cousin or 2 made for a good time.

TW: memories of animal cruelty

fringebookreviews's review against another edition

4.0

Wait I love that he delivered his daughter 🫶

abderiandumpling's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

guiltlesspleasures's review

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m always going to love Jennifer McQuiston’s books, even if I have big problems with her plots. I just love her writing, and her settings, stories and characters feel really refreshing, using tropes but in different ways to the usual.

And so it is with Moonlight on My Mind. 

First, I will say that you should really read the first two books in this series—What Happens in Scotland because it is fantastic, and Summer is for Lovers because we meet Julianne, the heroine of MoMM, in it. I started reading MoMM before I’d read #2 and decided to pause and read Summer is for Lovers, because it felt like I needed to have an introduction to Julianne before continuing with MoMM. And it did help—she is such an enigmatic character that the initial introduction helped me get to know her character better.

Now onto the actual book. The premise is a little silly: Man suspected of murdering his brother marries the woman who originally accused him of it, ostensibly to save her reputation (she travels up to make amends without a chaperone) but really because a wife can’t be compelled to testify against her husband. Even though she should (and does, I think) realize the latter, she seems to keep her blinders on about it and gets a little upset later when she realizes. But by that point, they are in so deep with each other that it isn’t too big a bump in the road, thankfully.

Their chemistry is fantastic and based on more than the physical. ALTHOUGH, there is a brilliant scene at a house party they throw where he appears, all cleaned up, and then there is this amazing magnetic attraction as he makes a beeline for her. It gave me Sookie-seeing-Bill-for-the-first-time vibes—time stopped.

McQuiston, in her end notes, says her editor kept reminding her not to forget the romance, and that was good advice: This turns into more of a whodunnit than I normally like in a romance, but she balanced it out nicely in the end. There is some pretty shocking behavior from Patrick’s relatives, and lots of very effective red herrings.

Final note: I love that their first time is rubbish and awkward. So many virginity-loss scenes in romances end up with the heroine having about 3,000 orgasms easily, and it was nice to acknowledge that that isn’t always (ever?) the way.

P.S. Shoutout to McQuiston for naming the local pub the King’s Widge. Wonder if she’s read The Proposition??

cpikas's review against another edition

4.0

probably really 3.5 fine.

lindacbugg's review against another edition

I did 80 pages before I bailed. There were already too many coincidences pushing the H&H together. I expect a certain amount but this was ridiculous!

rachelini's review against another edition

2.0

This book felt like it was driven by the author thinking up plot obstacles to throw at the characters, rather than the characters driving the plot. Meh.

shadowmaster13's review

adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0