Deep in the heart of London, a young photographer named Tom Argent walks the streets and captures whatever catches his eye: an old man drinking coffee; a striking woman sipping champagne in St. Pancras station; a cloud of moths taking flight across the sky. He’s orphaned, lonely, and lost in his work. He certainly has no intention of falling in love.
And yet, love finds him in the shape of beautiful Vanessa, who lives a dangerous double life in the heart of the city. Tom’s pursuit of Vanessa leads him to discover an alternate world, hiding in plain sight among the streets and rooftops of London. A world unseen by common folk and inhabited by strange and colorful beings, in which two warring factions—one nocturnal, one in the light—wage war for the sake of a long-lost love, which can only end with one side’s total annihilation.
The Moonlight Market will enchant readers with new worlds and epic romance and in this captivating modern fairytale about what could be hiding in the corner of your eye.
Dear Ms. Harris,
A few years ago, I read “Honeycomb,” and when I saw this title, I had a feeling that it would be in the same vein. Yes, I’m trying to make a pun about the veins in the wings of butterflies and moths. There were times when the hero of this book tried my soul and my patience but when I had finished the book, I realized why he acted the way he did. And it all made sense.
I’m going to try and avoid spoilers because the story lovingly turns and twists and to know how it turns out ahead of time would ruin the “aha!” moments. It has a great start as an eerie yet also frighteningly fairy tale – these are not charming little sprites but creatures who don’t think or feel the way we do, they almost have no comprehension of how humans feel nor would they care.
Then the human – the Sightless Folk – part begins with Tom Argent the photographer (and who is his boss, really) who takes lovely street photographs including ones of a “homeless” man who carries around books tied with colorful silken string. Then a beautiful woman who, to Tom, *shines* enters his store and buys a photograph. Tom is, of course, smitten and tracks her down only to discover that the world is not what he remembers it to be. Soon he’s caught up in an age long battle between two types of Silken Folk.
To keep your sanity, for the section when Tom is first learning about the Silken Folk, look at him from their POV because you will be as frustrated with Tom’s continual “I don’t understand” statements as they probably are. Tom goes beyond naïve and into “thick as a brick” at times. He does mean well but wow, he can make some stupendous mistakes.
There’s about 40 pages of Tom driving me nuts as he initially enters and begins to interact with the Silken Folk. He doesn’t understand anything but barges ahead in making decisions based on outcomes he doesn’t understand. Bless his heart, various “people” try to give him advice but he’s caught up in what he feels right now and that is twue lurve for One whom everyone tells him time and again, won’t and can never love him. Tom, who still doesn’t understand, and who demands explanations which he refuses to believe, is the epitome of the Sightless Folk. The Daylight Butterflies and the Midnight Moths really have named us well.
It takes Tom awhile to “get it” and readers need to be patient with him until he does. There are reasons why he sort of remembers stuff, why memories tickle his mind only to drift away, why a certain person is so frustrated with him and why he will not give up the certain feeling that he has found his soulmate and true love. At times, I wanted to gently bop him upside his head but when everything becomes clear, we see that he comes by this feeling honestly.
The background of the story is wonderfully made and the details are gorgeous. The creatures involved are definitely of the dark and cruel variety. They are concerned with their own affairs and only use the scorned Sightless Folk. Is there true love? Yes, of course. I kind of suspected it but enjoyed it when the scales fell, so to speak. In the end, I’m glad that they end up where they do. B
~Jayne
AmazonBNKoboBook DepositoryGoogle
Related
Jayne
Another long time reader who read romance novels in her teens, then took a long break before started back again about 25 years ago. She enjoys historical romance/fiction best, likes contemporaries, action- adventure and mysteries, will read suspense if there’s no TSTL characters and is currently reading more fantasy and SciFi.
