I loved this gothic time travel story. A family moves into a centuries old estate that had been bequeath to them by a deceased aunt that they didn't previously know existed. They begin hearing noises and many of the community members express to them that the house has been haunted for as long as they can remember.

Enter Pixie! She realized as a child that she could time slide. She agrees to help the family by sliding back in time to hopefully figure out who may be haunting the house and if so, how best to help them move on. But as she pieces things together she also forms attachments to the individuals in that time. She must remember to not do anything that could potentially change the future, even the smallest thing could cause a huge ripple effect.

This was an absolute page turner. Once I started I couldn't put it down. The mystery part of it kept me guessing, and the gothic side had just enough romance.

Highly recommend especially for those who enjoyed Kelley Armstrong's A Stitch in Time series.

Thank-you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

There are so many things happening in this book...
- a haunted house
- time travelling (called timesliding)
- a missing child
- workers rights/riots
- romance

Once we got a few chapters in, I was all set up for the Outlander meets Downton Abbey vibes (really, with those two comp titles this should have been a 5-star for me).

I wouls give this a solid "ok". The plot was interesting enough but the writing was pretty repetitive and the twist was given away too early. Most of the characters felt a little one dimensional. My biggest criticism is the aggressive insta-love - you can't promise me Claire and Jamie and then give me ZERO yearning!

This book is for the historical fiction fans who want a little more fluff than history lesson.

There’s a ghost in St Sidwell Manor and it’s been haunting the halls for over 100 years. New to timesliding, Pixie Tate is willing to slip into the past and solve the mystery.

When a new family moves into St Sidwell Manor, they’re unsure as to how or why they’ve inherited it, but decide to give it a go. Within the first few nights, they realize they’re not alone. There’s shadows moving about in the night and unexplained crying that brings chills to the bone. When an eccentric Aunt comes to visit, she knows exactly who to call to take care of the melancholy happening in their home.

Pixie Tate has recently embraced her ability to timeslide into the past and is anxious and excited to see how she can help the Manor’s grieving ghost move on. Ready to slip off to the past to look for a missing boy, Pixie never could have imagined the affairs of the heart she was about to step into, hers and theres.

This is a new to me author and I’m so grateful and thankful to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book because I loved every second of it. I’m a big fan of time travel novels, so this was right up my alley.

What I Loved ~ I loved that Pixie Tate doesn’t just time travel, but she actually takes on the body of someone in the time that she’s travelling to. This makes space for great character development because she has to take all that she knows from her time and fit that in with the time she’s travelling to without disrupting the future. I love that her character isn’t reckless. She’s empathetic, patient, willing to learn and open minded. She has the true heart of a healer making her the perfect person to handle the ghosts with care.

What I Liked ~ I really enjoyed the plot. From the story of the missing boy and how he ended up that way, to who the original family was and how their actions contributed to a century of loss and sadness. There were multiple affairs that really added to the twist and turns of the Manor’s history and future inheritance. I also really liked the unexpected love story that unfolded for Pixie. It felt very exciting and heartbreaking at the same time.

Meh ~ I didn’t much care for the family that inherited the house. They felt a bit disconnected, the kids were kinda bratty and the Dad just really gave me 'bro vibes'. Kinda felt bad for the mom who had to keep it all together.

What I didn't like ~ you know what, I really just enjoyed this novel. I went into it with zero expectations and found that the writing was good, the pace was perfect and I really enjoyed how the story came together in the end. If I had to pick one thing, it would be the lack of diversity.

This is for anyone who’d like a mix of the Outlanders series by Diane Gabaldon and the Mistress of the Art of Death series by Ariana Franklin.

ARC Review

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and the author for the e-arc.

I enjoyed this one! It was a quick read and it hooked my attention because I really wanted to know what happened! I enjoyed the dual timelines, the historical elements in the Victorian era, and the concept of the butterfly effect. I’ll definitely be checking out book 2 in the series once it’s available.

Read this if you like:
-Paranormal elements
-Mystery
-Time travel
-Dual timelines

✦Series: Timeslider #1
This can be read as a standalone, but the ending sets up the next book in the series about Pixie Tate, a woman who can travel through time by simply sliding to the desired period through her mind. In this story, she has to help an earthbound spirit find her lost son (in 1895) or she will never rest.

✦POV: Multiple first-person
Pixie is our heroine, but we also experience the story through a few other female characters. Their perspectives lend depth to the story, and I thought it was cleverly done.

✦Spice: Closed door, but we had Pixie’s internal monologue about how different the romance would be if it were taking place in the modern age, rather than 1895. Cavill is progressive-for-his-time and charmingly swoon-worthy.

» The story is a mixture of plot and character-driven, moving briskly from event to event while still delving into characters' inner-lives. The plot twists were believable yet unexpected.

» I felt like the ending left me hanging a bit. I know this a series and Pixie continues to another “case” where she will hopefully find her HEA, but it felt like unfinished business. So, while it’s a standalone, I don’t doubt that her story will wrap up nicely down the road.

» The writing is where this really shines. It was poetic in some places which made me feel like taking a deep breath to fully appreciate the prose. Vivid descriptions made the setting in both time periods come alive.

♡ I recommend Shadows in the Moonlight to readers who love a mixture of romance, time travel, mystery, and ghost stories written in beautiful detail.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨ Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing an ARC via NetGalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Delighted to include this title in the August edition of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national lifestyle and culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

3.75 stars!

One of my favourite genres is time travel, one of my least liked is paranormal. This one has both, and it worked very well. Pixie Tate has a gift she feels obligated to help others with. Spirits who can't leave to enjoy their afterlife are helped by Pixie to solve their dilemmas. In this one, she is called to free the spirit of a woman whose six year old son disappeared in 1895.The present day owners of an Elizabethan mansion can only feel coldness, hear a sobbing woman, and the sense of misery saturating the very walls they live in. Pixie gets more involved than she should when she timeslides back to the nineteenth century. She has a romance with a man shouldn't, and the story is off to the races. I stayed up really late to finish, and am now looking for the sequel, out in July.

There is truly something for everyone in this book. It’s ghost story, historical fiction, and a mystery all wrapped up with a touch of romance. It swaps between past and present to tell a tragic, yet heartfelt, tale that had me guessing until the very end.

The quality of the prose was stunning. Each sentence had me racing with anticipation to the next. I also enjoyed how chapters set in the present tense made use of multiple points of view. It added an air of humour to some scenes as well as a sense of foreboding in others.

Overall, it reminded me of reading the Nancy Drew books I so loved as a child, with a gothic twist. The ending was cozy and I felt satisfied that all of the threads were wrapped up. I liked this book and will definitely be continuing the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy of one of my favourite authors: Santa Montefiore.

There hasn’t been a book of this fantastic author I haven’t enjoyed. All ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+. I only have discovered her in the last few years so I am thoroughly enjoying working through the extensive backlist.

**No spoilers***
Shadows in the Moonlight is the first of her newest series on “Timesliding”… a fresh take on time travel.

A haunted estate, overgrown gardens, weeping lady wails all night long… if you were inherited this home by an unknown relative, would you stay? And what ever is a “Priest Hole”?

Pixie is invited to help discover the mysterious past of the estate and its inhabitants through her ability to time slide.

Only Santa is able to transport you into the Cornish town with her unique talent. I could envision the countryside, smell the gardens, hear the chirping of birds, touch the garments worn and taste the wines served with meals.

Wow! I already want to dive into the second novel where Pixie is on her next mission across the ocean.

This is the first book in a new series that follows Pixie Tate as she helps rid a family of a spirit that is occupying their new home. She must travel to the Victorian Era to solve the mystery of a missing child, but while in the past, she accidentally meets the love of her life.

This book had a bit of a slow start for me, but ended up being 4 stars. The beginning of the book confused me at first, as we got quite a deep insight into the family that is living in this "haunted" house, and I felt like I was waiting too long to be introduced to our main character.

But honestly, once we went to the past, I thought the pacing was much better, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the romance, and the mystery. I'm also a sucker for a Victorian era man so naturally I loved Cavill. I thought they had a great love story, but I wish it were a little more satisfying.

Overall, I liked the concept of this timesliding, ghostwhisperer, and I think the author can take this storyline so many different ways.

A huge thank you to Simon and Schuster for sending me this eARC via Netgalley!