Hunt the Moon: A Cassie Palmer Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Let me start out by telling you the absolute worst thing about this book: the fact that it's over. I'm finished with the darn thing and I don't know how I am going to be able to wait to find out what will happen next.

The story begins with Cassie awaiting her coronation as Pythia. Mircea has her under constant guard; Pritkin is inundating her with self-defense training. Obviously, they're taking the threat of an attack very seriously. And they're right. A mysterious force targets Cassie in an assault and no one can understand how it was done. So Pritkin goes on a journey to Faerie to see what information he can dig up.

The only time the book dragged for me was in his absence. And perhaps Mircea fans will disagree, because for 100 pages or so, it's a Mircea-thon. He accompanies Cassie back in time to see her mother. But the plans get turned asunder as Mommy is kidnapped and attacked by dark mages. The rest of the action in the book centers on keeping Cassie's mother alive and figuring out what's behind the malevolent force targeting Cassie, herself.

But to me, all of that is window dressing for the fantastic interpersonal stuff that happens in this book. Cassie still isn't sure where she stands with Mircea and that confusion is compounded by his insistence on inflicting his will upon her. We get little more insight into his feelings for her as the book progresses. But where the story really shines is when the focus is on Cassie and Pritkin. He comes through for her time and time again; he is reliable; he is constant; he is selfless; and the sexual tension between them is Oh-My-God out of this world. Every book, I find myself wondering if this will be the one where Cassie realizes what she means to him --and what he means to her... Will this be the one where they finally, er, do the deed? I won't spoil you with the answers, but the journey is amazing and riveting.

A couple of the action sequences were just a bit too long for my taste, and the mythological motivations explaining the main story arc were a bit complicated. But the climax was fantastic. And the ending left me gutted. We've got a big cliffhanger here; a powerful one. And I don't want to wait! Karen Chance, you are a cruel woman. I don't even know when the next book comes out. 5 stars.

I am a huge fan of the Cassie Palmer Series and could not wait to read Hunt The Moon! Unfortunately, I found myself skipping through pages, as there were just too many action scenes for my liking. I understand that as Pythia & with death attempts abound, action scenes were bound to fill up parts of the book -- but in this case, they filled up the entire book. I missed the funny bantering back and forth between Cassie/Mircea, Cassie/Pritkin, and Mircea/Pritkin. While the ending left another cliffhanger (for which I hope we don't have wait another two years for), I just found myself not quite enjoying this installment as much as the last ones. Poor Cassie could not catch a break in this novel and I felt that the focus on action scenes was overkill. While, I do look forward to reading the next book....this has definitely been my least favorite.

In the previous book, Cassie did the impossible by defeating a god bent on destroying everyone. Yet no one seems to want to give her the respect she deserves. In fact, the opposite is true in that almost everyone is trying to find a way to kill her. She spends her days dodging assassination attempts as well as trying to get a handle on her abilities as pythia. Meanwhile things are confusing as ever when it comes to Mircea and what really is between them. Things take a turn for the worse when one of those assassination attempts it close to home as they try to take her mother out before Cassie is even born. She'll need a whole lot more than luck to make it out of this mess alive.

The triangle between Cassie, Pritkin, and Mircea became much more prevalent in these books. What makes the situation different is that Cassie doesn't quite realize her real feelings for Pritkin, so you don't have the typical angst issues found in most triangles. I am honestly not sure who I am rooting for at this point as both men are good for her in their own way. The chemistry between Mircea and Cassie is incredible and he has always been the only one to give her any stability in her entire life. However, when you take a step back and look at things he technically trapped her into the relationship. Mircea is used to getting his way, and life with him would be a constant battle of wills despite her love for him. He will do something that will turn me off of him, but then turn around and show some vulnerability in the next moment that draws me right back in. Pritkin on the other hand comes with his own mess of troubles due to his heritage and nature. I'm not even sure a relationship could even be possible between them, but if they could make it work it would be more than worth it in the end. Pritkin is so fiercely loyal and never tries to undermine her authority. It is completely obvious just how much he cares even if he doesn't feel he deserves her. She has a hard road of choices ahead of her with no easy answer, and I cannot wait to see where things go.

Hunt the Moon was in many ways a book about character growth as it was plot progression. There were countless revations about different character's histories, giving us a good incite into how those events shaped then. Also by revealing those personal bits to Cassie, she was able to open up her heart to them even more. Cassie herself learns some pretty interesting things about her own heritage, but you will just have to read Hunt the Moon to find out what those revelations were.

Cassie sure takes a lot of lickins but always seems to find a way to keep on tickin. The odds against her are incredible and a lessor person would have long crumbed under the pressure. You would think that after five books the constant threats would start to feel a little stale, but that definitely is not the case in Hunt the Moon. Karen Chance does a phenominal job at keeping the books both fresh and action packed. Each new book shows new revaltions and only sucks me in further. Fans of the series cannot possibly be disappointed in this latest installment, and I am already looking to the next book. Hopefully the wait won't be two long as I cannot a it for my next Pritkin and Mircea fix. Major kudos to Ms. Chance!

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