Review – Runaway Fate (Moonstone Cove, Book 1) by Elizabeth Hunter (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Length: 344 pages
Publisher: Recurve Press, LLC
Release Date: October 27, 2020
ASIN : B08GQW1554
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Moonstone Cove series
Source: Borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Rating: 5/5 stars
“Katherine wasn’t looking for anything extraordinary in her life. She had a job she loved, a husband she adored, and a home in the beautiful seaside town of Moonstone Cove.
Okay yes, she worked too much and had fallen out of touch with all her friends, but that happened to everyone, right? And sure, she was feeling a little creaky in the mornings and couldn’t drink coffee after noon, but that was just life in middle age.
Four minutes was all it took for fate to run away with anything that resembled normal.
Now Katherine is trying to place mysterious psychic visions into her previously ordered life. She’s playing referee between a displaced Southern mama and a sarcastic mechanic with a chip on her shoulder. And her quiet life has been upended by a mysterious rash of violent acts by students at her school.
Thankfully, her new friends have powers of their own, and together they just might discover who or what has it in for the quiet citizens of Moonstone Cove.”
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Moonstone Cove series. This book is a sister series to the Glimmer Lake series and takes place after that series, it features a different set of characters but we do get cameos from some of the Glimmer Lake characters. I borrowed this through Kindle Unlimited to read.
Story (4/5): I really enjoyed this book a lot. The story features three women who are involved with stopping a shooting at a gym and as a result of the event find out they develop psychic powers. It is definitely similar in formula and theme to the Glimmer Lake series but different enough to still be a fun read. There is a good mystery here and the story definitely propels the reader forward. I loved how the plot came together, enjoyed the humor, and just had a lot of fun reading this.
Characters (5/5): The trio of women featured here was very well done. This book focuses on Katherine who is a psychics professor; she doesn’t have kids but has decided to focus on her career and is married to the most wonderful math professor. I loved Katherine as a character and could relate to her really well. The other women she meets up with are Toni (a car mechanic who comes from a large Italian family) and Megan (who has given up her job in the South to move here with her teenagers for her husband’s job). They are all fun and engaging characters who have a lot of depth to them.
Setting (5/5): I loved the small seaside college town setting in California. It’s different enough from Glimmer Lake that it has a very different vibe going. I love visiting college towns, they just have such a high energy vibe to them and Hunter captures that feeling really well in this book. I would love to visit Moonstone Cove in person and loved reading about it.
Writing Style (5/5): I continue to be very impressed with how readable and engaging Hunter’s writing style is. She does a great job of balancing an intricate and intriguing mystery with lovable and complex characters. I enjoy the setting of the story and how human all these characters feel. The way the psychic elements are blended into these women’s lives (women who already have husbands, kids, and jobs) is really well done and feels very real.
My Summary (5/5): Overall I loved the start to the Moonstone Cove series even more than the Glimmer Lake series. This book just cemented my love for Hunter’s writing style and makes me want to check out all of the series she has written (and there are a lot of them!). There is a very well done mystery here, some interesting psychic elements, amazing characters, and a fun setting. This is just really well done and I would recommend it to those who enjoy a good paranormal mystery in a small town setting.
