In a Moonlit Garden by Cathy Maxwell – In a Moonlit Garden is a whimsical tale that can be very enjoyable as long as the reader doesn't take it too seriously. It has a lighthearted, fairy tale quality where things just fall into place with a minimum of fuss, and HEAs all around. I settled into this novella with my usual earnestness, feeling very uncertain about the author's ability to make me believe in a love connection when both the hero and heroine begin the story pining after other loves and had a very short space in which to reconcile those feelings. I quickly realized that I just needed to lighten up and go with the flow, after which I very much enjoyed it even if everything did happen a little too easily. Normally, this would not work well for me, but Cathy Maxwell managed to infuse the romance with a tender, emotional quality that really pulled me in and had me believing in the impossible.

In a Moonlit Garden has a sweet, funny cast of characters that I couldn't help but like in spite of their flaws. As I already mentioned, I had my doubts about Michael and Jocelyn, the hero and heroine, still frequently declaring their love for others, but it was pretty obvious to me from the outset that they were well-suited for one another. The entire tale is something of a comedy of errors with nearly everyone thinking they love someone else, but finally realizing that the person they thought they loved was merely a comfortable crush, while the person right in front of them is the one who's best for them. Michael may have started out with an agenda, but he was smart enough to figure out that his “benefactor” may have had ulterior motives in asking for his help and that Jocelyn's uncle might be innocent. Jocelyn was a sweet young lady, an orphan who had trouble trusting because of her loss and being jilted by her longtime friend who she always thought she'd marry. She was very forgiving to overlook Michael's initial duplicity and also intelligent enough to understand that his feelings for her had never been a lie. The secondary characters were fun too. Jocelyn's Uncle Geoff is an eccentric scientist with a tendency to be forgetful and occasionally blow things up, but also wise in the ways of love. Jocelyn's ex, Thomas, was a bit spoiled, but not a bad guy, and his soon-to-be fiancée, Elfreda, thought the sun rose and shone with him. There were several other minor characters too, and all of them came together to create a charming little village in the English countryside.

Overall, In a Moonlit Garden was a playful, energetic, and delightfully amusing read for me. It may not have reached the heights of perfection, but I certainly found it to be entertaining in a way that many lighter stories aren't. It was my first read by Cathy Maxwell, and has definitely left me open to trying her other works when I'm in the mood for a gentle read to lift my spirits. Star Rating: ****

Hunting Season by Liz Carlyle - Hunting Season is another good story from Liz Carlyle. It starts off with a mild love/hate relationship as the heroine alternates between melting into the hero's arms and rebuffing him due to his forwardness and bad reputation. The early parts of the novella could sometimes be a little slow, because not much was happening aside from the back-and-forth dance of whether the heroine will or won't give in to her attraction to the hero. Once she does and his true purpose for being at the house party is revealed, things got much more interesting.

Christian is another of Liz Carlyle's tortured heroes. He has spent the last decade deliberately being the hellion his father seemed to believe he was and earning a scandalous reputation for it. After being away on the Continent for most of that time, he is now back in England to avenge the suicide of his beloved younger sister who was compromised and then abandoned by the man she loved. Christian feels very guilty over not being there for her and thinks he can make it right by provoking the man who put her in that position into a duel, and what better way to do that than seducing the man's intended wife. Christian was quite the charming seducer right from the opening chapters, but I wasn't quite sure what to make of a man who was offering to sleep with a woman he believed might be married. He was definitely a silver-tongued devil, but a little too arrogant and forward for my taste at first. Once his conscience caught up with him, he began to show some much-needed vulnerability, and after that I was a goner for him as much as Elise was. I also loved how sweet and fatherly he was with Elise's daughter, Henriette, right from the start, even though he had no real experience with kids, as well as how discretely he handled Robert Rowland's compromising situation. In these and other ways, Christian showed just how honorable he could be in spite of feeling like he was anything but.

Elise is rather an ordinary young woman, a vicar's daughter, a former governess, and fairly innocent for a widow. That said, I think she handled herself pretty well with Christian. Even though she was sorely tempted by his repeated seductive advances, she generally stood her ground until he started behaving in a more gentlemanly fashion. Once she fell for him, she was very accepting of Christian, flaws and all. I also admired her for being a loving mother to Henriette and treating her like her own daughter even though she wasn't her biological child.

Until now, I hadn't read a Liz Carlyle story in a very long time, so it was wonderful to have the opportunity to revisit some of her characters that I'd met in earlier books. Attending the house party was one of my favorite Liz Carlyle couples, Cam, Helene, and their daughter, Arianne (Beauty Like the Night). Cole Amherst (A Woman Scorned) turned out to be a cousin of the party's hostess who was also Elise's sister-in-law. He was there with his wife, Jonet, their four new daughters, and his two now-grown stepsons, Robert and Stuart (who becomes the hero of Wicked All Day). Robert is a very naughty boy who manages to get himself into a heap of mischief which may foreshadow what I perceive to be his upcoming role in Wicked All Day. Overall, Hunting Season was another enjoyable read from Liz Carlyle and, I greatly look forward to getting back into more of her books. Star Rating: ****

Note: While Ms. Carlyle seems to consider her books to be more of a community of characters than an official series and each seems to stand well on it's own story-wise, I would caution that reading later books first may give away spoilers to earlier books. Such was the case when I skipped one book and was left wishing that I had read it first. Even though it is a bit daunting, my suggestion for readers like myself who don't like any spoilers would be to begin with Ms. Carlyle's first book, My False Heart, and continue reading them in the chronological order in which they were published. It is also my opinion that the reading experience would be greatly enhanced by doing this, because Ms. Carlyle's character web is so complex. The entire backlist, in order, can be found on her website. ( )