Violet Moon (Pitch Mountain Pack #1)
by Mel E. Lemon
My Rating: 3 stars
Genre: Cozy Paranormal Romance/ Cozy Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: f/f
Blurb:
A slice of life sapphic friends to lovers slow burn with werewolves and a bakerySeraphine’s days are filled with fresh coffee, fruit tarts, and doing her best to be the Beta her pack needs. But when Sera discovers she has feelings for Parisa, her best friend and pack Alpha, she decides to bury those feelings for the sake of the pack. (After all, what’s a little secret pining between friends?) Strong feelings can’t stay buried forever, though, and when they cause her to act rashly, Sera risks losing everything, but could gain so much more.
My Review
Violet Moon is a cozy paranormal f/f romance book about a werewolf pack that runs a bakery. I just loved that premise and knew I had to read it. I really liked the start of this book and the premise, but the further I got the more these little things started adding up and by the end I just wanted to finish it so I could move on the next book. Which makes me sad as this book had a lot of great things, but there were too many things that didn’t work for me that diminished my enjoyment.
Violet Moon is told from single point of view of Sera, the beta of the pack. She’s important for the running of the pack and is close to the alpha. Her friend who is a vampire keeps teasing her about her close bond with her alpha and eventually she realizes she’s in love with alpha Parisa. The romance progresses slowly as do the other plot lines. Then there is the whole thing with Parisa who is acting secretive and the pack isn’t sure what’s going on at first.
I loved the cozy vibe of this book and the whole premise of a werewolf pack that runs a bakery. It was just so fun and is what made me pick up this book in the first place and what kept me reading. despite that there were just too many things that I felt missed the mark for me. And these things kept adding up throughout the book. Things I hoped would get explained later on or get more details never got there and new issues popped up.
While I loved the bakery part, at times I wanted more of that as I thought it was fun to read about. There were werewolves, but again I wanted to see more of that and how it all worked. Pari and Sera have a clear connection, but I didn’t quite feel their romance and would’ve liked more of that. I felt like the author took the advice “show don’t tell” a bit too far, because at times I just wanted more information about everything and just have some things cleared up. It all dragged on throughout the book and by the end I was still left with a lot of my questions.
Sera seems capable as a beta to the pack, but also has her own worries and doubt. She has quite the low self esteem at times and I thought this would be a major plot point that would get resolved by the end of the book. It does get resolved, but more in the way it I had expected. It just kinda disappears instead of actually gets addressed. There’s also hinted so much about her past and how she became a werewolf, but again we never actually get the whole story. I liked her interactions with her vampire best friend as well as seeing her interact with some of the pack members.
I also didn’t fully feel the romance. Sera and Pari are cute together and have some nice moments, but I just felt like something was missing to fully make me feel their romance. The progression of their romance also felt a bit off. I liked the friends to lovers theme and how it takes Sera some time to figure out she loves Pari, but then after that there are some weird scenes and it felt like they were there to add some conflict. But then those conflict points kinda disappear without me feeling like the points really got addressed.
There’s also a plot line surrounding an antagonist, but it felt the antagonist was a plot device and not a real character. His motivations felt flat and didn’t really make much sense and it just felt like it was there to show some character change in the alpha. I kinda feel like I would’ve enjoyed this book more if it had either leaned more into the conflict and action or even more into the cozy side and have even less conflict.
There are a lot of side characters in the pack, but there isn’t a whole lot about them. There are a few like Jo, Edger, Wilma and Emmaline that have more prominent roles in the story and have more personality. The rest is more on the sidelines. I noticed this will be a series so I assume there will be more about these characters in future books.
I also felt this book lacked a bit when it came to the werewolves and world building. Only things that are directly relevant to the events are mentioned and even then I felt like all there was is snippets. I was left with so many questions like how the pack was created, how Sera became a werewolf, how anyone becomes a werewolf, what the old and news way are when it comes to pack, which type of supernaturals are out there etc. There just is so very little explained and I kept thinking that would happen later, but it never does.
To summarize: I really liked the premise and set up for this book. It’s a cozy paranormal f/f romance about a werewolf pack who runs a bakery. I enjoyed the start of the book, but the further I got the less I enjoyed it. Lots of small issues started adding up and by the end I was just glad I could finish it so I could start a new book. There were things like the characters, world building, past and some plot elements not being fleshed out enough with too many questions remaining. Then there is Sera and her self doubt issues that never really get addressed, but do disappear. I didn’t really feel the romance and the bit of drama felt off and got resolved without actually being addressed. There is an antagonist who feels like a plot device instead of a character. I just wished I could’ve enjoyed this one more as I love cozy stories.
Hmm, a solid premise, but somewhat under-developed. Maybe after the first book, there will be some additional development about their werewolf world.
I am not sure if I will give the second book a try, maybe. It had so much promise and potential, but just was lacking something for me. I do hope future books delve more into the world building.