Book Review: A Jayne Ann Krentz Forced Proximity/Enemies to Lovers Mystery

 The Shop On Hidden Lane

By Jayne Ann Krentz

Book Review by Ariella Moon

Readers will be hooked by page one of The Shop On Hidden Lane. Jayne Ann Krentz spins an engaging mystery centered around a generations-long feud and secret pact between the Harper and Wells families.

 

Sophy Harper’s paranormal talents have freaked out more than one potential boyfriend.  But her psychic talent is exactly what rival Luke Wells needs to find his uncle and Sophy’s aunt when Deke Wells and Bea Harper go missing. Their disappearance may be connected to the two families’ agreement to safeguard certain dangerous information.

 

The banter between Sophy and Luke, and their amusing inner dialogues, kept me smiling and enjoying every charged page. Krentz seamlessly weaves beloved tropes— forced proximity and enemies to lovers—into Sophy and Luke’s investigation.

 

One murder has already occurred. Not knowing if Deke and Bea are still alive, Luke and Sophy follow the psychic and physical evidence into a little-known vortex. A suspicious art colony within the vortex may be hiding a dangerous secret related to the pact—and the missing couple.

 

 AMAZON   THE POISONED PEN BOOKSTORE

3 Novels That Will Keep You Turning The Pages!

Summer is a great time to lose yourself in these amazing books.

 My favorites so far: 

After Life by Gayle Forman, Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer, and I'll Find You Where the Timeline Ends by Kylie Lee Baker.

Great writing will draw in adults, teens, and young adults to these fabulous summer, or any time, reads. Here are my reviews:

In After Life, Gayle Forman creates such a beautiful, mysterious tale, I didn’t want it to end.

Life ended for Amber, the novel’s teen protagonist, during a hit-and-run accident seven years before the book begins with Amber’s inexplicable reappearance. Imagine how you would react to the sudden resurrection of your child or sister. Imagine how disorienting it would be to have no memory of dying, or of time passing without you. Is Amber’s return a miracle? A cruel, heartbreaking hoax? A collective hallucination brought on by grief, guilt, faith, or love?

 Forman keeps readers guessing. (And I will, too. No spoilers!)

AMAZON      BooksShop.org

Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer

Instant Karma is an entertaining and superbly crafted enemies-to-love teen romance. 

Meyer is pitch perfect in her depiction of teens, and how their passionate convictions and goals often afford no gray areas. Perfect example: Academic overachiever Pru is quick to disparage certain classmates, especially Quint, her seemingly lazy lab partner.

 

Pru can magically cause instant karma on others — except Quint. How frustrating the universe keeps blocking her! But when Pru’s desperate quest to improve a bad grade forces her to volunteer at Quint’s family’s sea animal rescue center, she realizes how badly she had misjudged him.

 

Meyer goes beyond stereotypes, giving each character emotional depth. She realistically depicts the push-pull of teenagers’ feelings. Teen concerns, including the environment, family economics, and animal welfare, are woven seamlessly into the love story. 

 

Instant Karma takes readers on a layered, magical journey they won’t soon forget.

AMAZON     BookShop.org

I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends, by Kylie Lee Baker

 

I loved I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends! Baker creates a fascinating world, where a shadow organization trains descendants of dragon gods to protect the timeline. In Seoul, one such descendant, Mina, is grappling with her infiltration assignment and high school calculus, when she is assigned her first field assignment. A rogue descendant had gone back in time and prevented a deadly amusement park accident. Mina, accompanied by her ever watchful and intimidating mentor, must use time travel magic to ensure the horrific accident occurs.

 

There can be no deviations from the original timeline. Rogue agents, when tracked down, will be “erased.” Which poses a problem when Mina falls for Yejun, a handsome, charming rogue who has infiltrated her high school and asks for Mina’s help.

 

Can Mina believe Yejun’s claims that the organization she and her parents work for is corrupt? Or that her sister was erased and Yejun will help Mina find her?

In less capable hands, the shifting timelines, paradoxes, butterfly principle, and “Echoes,” might be confusing. But Baker expertly guides readers, sometimes inserting jaw-dropping twists. 

 

This is the first book I’ve read by Kylie Lee Baker, and I gather from her acknowledgements at the end of the book, it is her most lighthearted. Loaded with tension, humor, and heart, I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends is a beautifully crafted delight.

AMAZON     BookShop.org

Free Kindle e-Book Promotion ENDS TODAY!

 

The free Kindle eBook promotion for The Beltane Escape has sped by!  

Today is the last day to get this first-in-a-series kindle ebook for free. 

Shop Now

A spell cast forward in time to medieval Scotland shackles a young Highland heiress’s fate to a powerful sorceress. Spellbound, and torn by conflicting loyalties and love, Fenella is pulled toward her fate — unaware, The Most Powerful Wizard stands in her way.

The heart-pounding energy of the Celtic fire & fertility festival, Beltane, is transformed in The Beltane Escape, into adrenaline-pumping suspense as time runs out for Fenella. 

Shop Now

Happy reading!

~Ariella Moon

An Awesome Enemies-to-Love Teen Romance Book

Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer

I loved this book!

Instant Karma is an entertaining and superbly crafted enemies-to-love teen romance. 

Meyer is pitch perfect in her depiction of teens, and how their passionate convictions and goals often afford no gray areas. Perfect example: Academic overachiever Pru is quick to disparage certain classmates, especially Quint, her seemingly lazy lab partner.

 

Pru can magically cause instant karma on others — except Quint. How frustrating the universe keeps blocking her! But when Pru’s desperate quest to improve a bad grade forces her to volunteer at Quint’s family’s sea animal rescue center, she realizes how badly she had misjudged him.

 

Meyer goes beyond stereotypes, giving each character emotional depth. She realistically depicts the push-pull of teenagers’ feelings. Teen concerns, including the environment, family economics, and animal welfare, are woven seamlessly into the love story. 

 

Instant Karma takes readers on a layered, magical journey they won’t soon forget.

AMAZON     BARNES & NOBLE   BOOKSHOP.ORG

Happy reading!

Ariella Moon

 

New Online Writing Class: Edit For Success 2026!

 

Hone Your Craft & Edit For Success 2026!

Palm Springs Writers Guild

Presenter: Ariella Moon

January 16, 2026

Zoom 1:00-3:00 Pacific Time

 

Start the new year with a fresh polish to your work-in progress or finished manuscript. In this interactive online lab, award-winning author Ariella Moon will show you how to scrutinize your manuscript through an editor’s eyes. We will review macro and micro edits that will help you identify common problems including structure, head-hopping, point of view, flat or AWOL characters, weak verbs, and much more, including:

• ·      Impactful story, scene, and sentence structure.

• ·      Word choices, including weak verbs.

• ·      Sensory descriptors to draw in readers.

• ·      Relatable/intriguing protagonists and their GMC. 

•     Creating a good balance between narrative and dialogue.

•     Meeting your genre’s needs and your readers’ expectations.

Learn more at Palm Springs Writers Guild

About Ariella Moon

When not immersed in her fictional worlds of medieval Scotland, Fairy, or contemporary high schools, award-winning author Ariella Moon presents writing workshops, and leads local and international seminars and rituals on healing, Earth Magic, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. She lives a nearly normal life doting on her extraordinary family, two shamelessly spoiled dogs, and a media-shy dragon.

Discover Ariella's medieval Two Realms fantasy series and her contemporary Teen Wytche Saga novels at online book retailers and at www.ariellamoon.com.

Kindle Ebook Sale Ends Today!

There is still time to get this sweet Halloween Romance

kindle ebook for free!

(But today is the last day.) 

"Spell Check is a great story for the young adult or the young at heart. I enjoyed the vicarious experience of falling in love, dealing with secrets, and working out best friend issues." 

~Long and Short Reviews 

 

"Ariella Moon has written a beautiful book about what it means to be a teen." 5 stars Amazon review

Halloween looms and so does the anniversary of Evie O'Reilly’s father’s death. She can hide from bullies, but she can’t escape her guilt over her dad's demise.

Evie needs to pull herself together. Her best friend is about to cast a binding love spell on Jordan, Evie’s secret crush. Despite a falling out, Evie never forgot Jordan. Now they are lab partners and the chemistry between them definitely sparks. But Evie's friend possesses a brimstone-hissing spell book and plans to cast the spell by Halloween.

 

The clock is ticking. Can Evie get her mojo back in time to check this spell? 

AMAZON 

Read The Teen Wytche Saga for free with

SPELL CHECK is also available for purchase in paperback and audiobook.

Happy reading!

~Ariella Moon

The Solstice Secret is Live, Plus A Free First-in-the-Series E-Book!

 I am super stoked to announce 

THE SOLSTICE SECRET is now available on Kindle!

THE SOLSTICE SECRET

Cover Reveal Day!

I am so excited to reveal the title and cover for my next book,

 The Solstice Secret!

 

Against rich medieval backdrops, The Two Realms Trilogy’s spell-binding finale promises a thrilling romance, shifters—and a hidden heir!

 You can see the cover reveal video on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/authorariellamoon/

Stay tuned for more, including The Solstice Secret Release Date.

 

Meanwhile, you can read the first books in the Two Realms Trilogy for free with Kindle Unlimited.

 Two Realms Trilogy 

I hope the weather is glorious where you. Happy reading!

 

Ariella

New Online Writing Lab: Guide to Launching Your Next Book

Zoom Online Class

Friday, May 16, 2025

1:00 - 3:00 Pacific time

 

 

To learn more and register, https://palmspringswritersguild.org/event-6010777

It can be difficult to think of your recently finished book as a product and yourself as a marketer. But indie, hybrid, and many traditionally published authors must make that shift in order to have a successful book launch. Whether your goals are to garner enviable sales and multiple reviews, attract new readers, or all of the aforementioned and more, you need to plan a book launch. In this presentation, Ariella Moon will guide authors through pre-launch, launch, and post-launch marketing and promotion.

REGISTER

 

Beltane: Weaving a Celtic Fire Festival Into a Medieval Fantasy Novel

How do you incorporate a fire and fertility festival into a Young Adult medieval fantasy novel?

Very carefully.

Photo by Social History Archive on Unsplash
Part of a set of glass lantern slides of May Queen images believed to be from the early 1900s,
possibly in the Cheshire area.

In ancient times, Beltane festivals celebrated the Celtic sun god, Belenus, and heralded the start of the Celtic summer and growing season. Beltane symbols include the maypole, Green Man, May Queen, bonfires, May wreaths, and The Lovers tarot card. 

In The Beltane Escape, Book One in The Two Realms Trilogy, Beltane acts as a ticking clock. A spell cast forward to medieval Scotland strikes Lady Fenella and leaves her stolen, betrothed, and lured back centuries into Fairy. By Beltane, nine days hence, she must find her cousin in a dangerous world of magic, unshackle herself from a sorceress, and return through time before her kidnapper destroys all she holds dear.

The heart-pounding energy often associated with Beltane sexuality, is transformed in The Beltane Escape, into pulse-pounding suspense as time runs out for Fenella. She smells the nervous cattle about to be driven between balefires; hears the pipers; and sees villagers waving cowslip wands attached to peeled willow wands.

The one element that eludes her - a means to escape.

Amazon

In anticipation of the upcoming release of the epic conclusion to The Two Realms Trilogy, The Beltane Escape, The Amber Elixir (A Two Realms novella), and The Viking Mist can be read for free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Ebook and print versions are available for purchase.

Happy Beltane and May Day!

 

~Ariella Moon

 

 

New Online Writing Lab: Unleash the Poet Within

 

“Unleashing the Poet Within: The Distillation Process”

Presenter: Susan Detlefsen, PhD, 

April 18, 2025    1:00 pm  - 3:00 pm Pacific Time

A Palm Springs Writers Guild

Zoom Online Writing Class

Learn more here

Upcoming Book Festival, and A Writing Class!

 

Spring 2025 

Palm Springs Writers Guild 2025 Book Festival

Saturday, April 26 at the Rancho Mirage Library & Observatory, Rancho Mirage, CA

Book signing 10:00AM - 4:00 PM

10:00 Jayce Carter and Ariella Moon author panel

Free parking and admission

"A Step-By-Step Guide to Launching Your Book"

Friday, May 16, 2025

Zoom Online Writing Class 1:00 PM -3:00 PM

Learn More & Register

The Final Empire: Mistborn, Book One, Review

 

A Great Start to a Mythic Series

In Mistborn, Brandon Sanderson introduces readers to a beautifully detailed world of falling ash, feared mists, and a system of magic called Allomancy. Royals and skaas (slaves) inhabit this gray world, controlled by the cruel immortal Lord Ruler.

 

Vin, an abandoned, traumatized, half-skaa teen survives her harsh life with a gang of thieves by keeping herself small and fading into the shadows, where she hopes no one will notice her. But when her circumstances change, Vin is brought into a new gang that recognizes her magic and needs her to visibly mingle among the royals she fears. Vin isn’t supposed to fall for one, especially not the heir to the most powerful Royal House in Luthadel.

 

I loved Sanderson’s relatable characters, imaginative system of magic, inventive creatures, and vivid setting. Embedded in Mistborn are themes of hope, trust, and friendship, and how difficult those are to attain. 

As soon as I finished Mistborn, I read the next two books in the trilogy! Five stars for all three!

AMAZON

 

Work Smarter, Not Harder with AI

 Do you prefer spending your time writing your book, 

not social media posts? 

Join my upcoming class and learn how artificial intelligence can help you create engaging, effective content that stands out on every platform. 

Saturday, April 5, 2025

12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

The Mizell Center

480 S Sunrise Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262

In this workshop, you will learn:

 

·      How generative A.I. collects text, images, and other content

·      The #1 tip to achieve the best results from Generative A.I. 

·      Positive ways authors can use A.I. to increase their productivity & enhance their social media content and promotion.

·      Helpful A.I. tools for authors.

.      The US Copyright Office Stance on A.I.

·      Legal challenges and restrictions concerning A.I.

 

Learn more

Led by Award-Winning Author Ariella Moon

Presented by the Palm Springs Writers Guild

New Online Writing Lab February 14, 2025!

Collaborative World-building for a Book Series or Anthology

Palm Springs Writers Guild

Presenter: Ariella Moon

Friday 14, 2025 on Zoom

1:00 PM - 3:00PM PST 

Collaborating on a shared-world book series or anthology is a great way to hone your skills, bump your Amazon rankings, and expand your fan base through group marketing and promotion. Creating stories centered on a shared world can be fun and profitable, but requires structure and organization. In this workshop, Ariella Moon will draw upon specific examples to show the step-by-step process, so you can determine whether collaborative world-building for a book series or anthology is right for you.

 
 5 Things You Will Learn From This Class

1.     5 characteristics needed to be a collaborative world author

2.     The planning process for creating a shared world series or anthology

3.     What should be included in a shared world author contract 

4.     Collaborative marketing.

5.     Post project possibilities

To Learn More or to Register, Click Here

 See you on Zoom!

Ariella Moon

Escape Into Two Great Thrillers by Jacklyn Goldis

Book Reviews by Ariella Moon

The Main Character, by Jaclyn Goldis

 

In The Main Character, Jaclyn Goldis crafts a page-turning thriller with an unusual premise. Instead of mining her own life for inspiration, Ginevra, a mysterious reclusive author, pays people to be the main character in her novels. She extensively interviews and investigates them, digs up or creates mysteries, then fictionalizes their lives. Ginevra gifts her next main character, Rory, with a lavish, all-expenses-paid trip on the Orient Express.

 

The mere mention of the famed train ignites mystery readers’ suspicions, especially when Rory discovers Ginevra has also assembled onboard Rory’s brother Max, her close friend Caroline, and her former fiancé Nate. Soon, long held relationships slowly unravel.

 

Goldis skillfully weaves red herrings and other misdirects into the story. Will there be a murder and betrayals akin to Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express?

Amazon

The Chateau, by Jaclyn Goldis

 

In The Chateau, Jaclyn Goldis creates a tense whodunit set in a grand Provence chateau, where the owner has invited her granddaughter Darcy and three of Darcy’s longtime friends for a visit.

 

Paranoia sets in when Grand-mère is brutally murdered, and each woman’s unique relationship with the victim is gradually revealed. When the police order the friends to remain at the chateau during the investigation, long-simmering grievances, jealousies, and possible motives bubble to the surface.

 

Goldis keeps readers engrossed and guessing as relationships fracture, the plot twists, and the chateau itself is exposed as a silent secret-keeper.

Amazon

Happy reading!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, book-filled New Year!

Ariella Moon

 

 

Twentynine Palms Book Festival: Romance Books Author Panel

Twentynine Palms Book Festival

DATE: SATURDAY NOV 9th AT 2:45 PM

LOCATION: 29 PALMS COMMUNITY CENTER

6547 Freedom Way, · Twentynine Palms, CA

CHECK THE BOOK FESTIVAL AGENDA

Festival Agenda

 29 PALMS BOOK FESTIVAL 

Nov 9: EXPLORING THE DIVERSE APPEAL OF ROMANCE FICTION AMONG MODERN AUDIENCES. 

Join Jayce Carter and Ariella Moon, two distinct voices in the world of romance fiction, as they delve into the unique allure of the genre for younger generations. Jayce, known for her contemporary and paranormal romances featuring strong-willed women and the red-flag men who love them, contrasts with Ariella, whose shamanic experiences inspire magical tales of medieval Scotland and contemporary paranormal adventures. Together, they will explore what draws new audiences to their differing styles and how romance fiction continues to captivate across different worlds and narratives.

Learn More

See you there!

Ariella Moon