Eighteen-year-old Mirabella “Mira” Owens grew up in Timber Plains, Kansas hearing all about the local legend—that werewolves had, many years ago, traveled to their small Midwest town to protect humans from the growing threat of a vampire enclave. Just a story of course, a fairy tale, one Mira had stopped believing in when she was young—just like she stopped believing in the idea of her mom returning, after she up and left without a trace when she was only thirteen.
Mira is grown up now, starting freshman year at the nearby Lakeland University. College feels normal, exactly the thing she’s been craving most... except for one particular classmate: Julian Santos, a mysterious boy with long hair, golden eyes, and a coldness that seems directed exclusively at Mira for reasons she can’t understand and he won’t explain.
When Mira receives an unaddressed letter from her mother, she’s told the world isn’t as it seems. She suspects her mom might be telling the truth when she stumbles across strange animal tracks on a hiking trail, and when she’s miraculously saved from a twenty foot drop by the one and only, Julian Santos.
The problem? Julian would have had to jump the length of the cliff to catch her, making him incredibly fast and strong beyond belief. When she confronts him about this, he denies everything.
But when a Blood Moon rises, Mira soon finds herself caught in the middle of an ancient, magical war, with Julian on the other side of the line. She discovers there’s much more truth to the old town legends than she could ever have anticipated—and her family’s historic role in it will change her world forever.
BLOOD MOON is a dark and thrilling, intensely romantic ride, a fresh take on a werewolf love story for a new generation of paranormal romance readers, and is the first book in a series. It is set against a high-stakes paranormal backdrop—a world ripe with secret identities, rich supernatural lore, and a forbidden romance... that comes with a deadly bite.
I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.
As soo as I saw the title, Blood Moon by Britney S. Lewis I knew I had to read it! Knew nothing else about it, but once I did read that description I was hooked! I love me a good werewolf book. Yes, vampires are my first love, but werewolves became a fast second love! Sometimes they top vampires too, it just depends! Lol.
Now you might be looking at that cover, seeing that title, and thinking is this Twilight but with a werewolf twist? In some essence, I'll say yes. This reads very much like a Team Jacob love letter to Twilight. Now I say this as someone who really didn't like Twilight all that much either, so me giving high praise to this book is still saying something! Lol. There are some very clear moments in this book that I just felt like were all the nods to moments that felt very Twilight-like. But with Blood Moon, I didn't get annoyed with our heroine, so again, this is saying something people!
Mira has just gotten a full scholarship to a college that is less than an hour away from home and it feels like a good enough path to go down. She doesn't really know what she wants to do now that she graduated high school. Things have just been tough for her ever since her mother left her and her father. At times, Mira struggled to adjust and she knows her father felt the same way as there was no hint as to why her mother left, no reason, no note. She just up and left one day and it's haunted Mira and her father ever since in their own ways.
As you might figure out, when Mira starts classes, she runs into the enigmatic Julian Santos. But things get off to a rough start when he basically tells her to leave the school and never return. Luckily, Mira isn't some girl who just takes to being bossed around, so she stays and goes on with her life. Things begin a path of normalcy until Mira receives a mysterious letter from her wayward mother and that's when things begin to slowly spiral into chaos.
We do learn that in this small town outside of Kansas City, the town has a history that's riddled with werewolves! I pretty much loved this right away because it was very intriguing. While we don't get a lot of details, there's just bits and pieces to help form a story involving werewolves...and vampires and an age long war.
Naturally, these things end up being important further down the line as Mira becomes involved with the world of the supernatural. More moments that will feel a little familiar, whether that's enjoyable, comical, or annoying depends on where you fall on the Twilight scale. Think of it more like the parody movie, Vampires Suck if that helps! Lol.
Things buildup in an epic way and the ending will present more questions than answers but it looks like we'll get at least one more book out of this possible series. Whether it's a duology or longer has yet to be revealed but I'll be sticking around as I am intrigued enough!
Another thing I loved about this book was how close to home it was! Mira's new friends are even from St. Louis and there was just so much Midwest nostalgia to this book that had me giggling and wondering what little things I picked up on were actually based off what I thought they were or if it was just coincidence.
There is romance to be sure! A possible, maybe love triangle and I loved how Mira's friends told her to deal with said love triangle! Lol. For the most part, Mira seems to be wrapped around Julian, but never fear there is another possible contender for her heart. But as to which "team" will win this time, is unclear. With the way things left, it's anyone's game and there's always a possible third unknown, not even introduced yet contender! The possibilities are endless!
While Blood Moon may feel like a werewolf ode to Twilight, I feel like it's also more than that. There's definitely a bit more lore to dig into with this one than that other book. I will say that some of the history and name usage did turn me around a bit. While we had werewolf and vampire thrown out, other terms were used as well and it did get me a bit mixed up with the who's who again? But I feel like this will become more clear in the next installment. As a lot happened in the end and we were given a lot of information in a short amount of time. Needless to say, the next book is going to be absolutely epic!
If you're a fan of good, old-fashioned YA Paranormal reads of the early 2010s then Blood Moon is right up your alley! Werewolves have always been an interesting character type and I loved with Lewis did with them! Eager to see where these characters will go in the next installment!
Overall Rating 4/5 stars
Blood Moon releases September 9, 2025
