Title: Mona Lisa Betwining
Author: Sunny
Series: Monere: Children of the Moon #2.5
In: On the Prowl (Patricia Briggs)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novella
Publisher: Berkley
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: Or even by Blaec, Halcyon’s father, though he had been the tool in sending them on to the final darkness.

Among the children of the moon, Mona Lisa is of Mixed Blood- part Monere, part human, and destined to be alone. Then she meets a man who could be her salvation- or her downfall.

This novella sends goosebumps running up my arms – the raw sensuality of the words is enough to make you glance sneakily around for an audience. But the emotive descriptions of the night, the moon and the forests add to this heightened sense of reality which Sunny is able to so effortlessly create. This heady combination left me speechless and dreamy for a long time after finishing this novella – something that is incredibly difficult, believe me!

Mona Lisa’s grief and confusion at her feelings, lovers and new role in life are so tangible throughout the story. And it is Dontaine who appears to bear the brunt of her negativity – a man that reminds her of not only what she’s lost, but what she has unwittingly gained. However, his very compassion and understanding of her in ways that she is barely able to comprehend are such an endearing quality that you can only hope for his continuing presence in her life.

The vividness with which Sunny describes both the setting and Mona Lisa’s potent sexuality definitely makes this story feel more like a guilty pleasure than a bit of classical reading. The unabashed way in which she describes the couplings throughout the story are both erotic and romantic, a difficult balance for any writer to strike.

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Image source: Patricia Briggs