Tangled by moonlight

Book: Tangled by Moonlight by Kes Winter

Reviewed by Your_bookish_fantasy

Rating: 4.5/5

๐Ÿ…ฝ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…พ๏ธŽ ๐Ÿ†‚๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…พ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ธ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ป๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ด๏ธŽ๐Ÿ†๏ธŽ๐Ÿ†‚๏ธŽ
๐”ป๐•–๐•ฅ๐•’๐•š๐•๐•–๐•• ๐•ฃ๐•–๐•ง๐•š๐•–๐•จ ๐• ๐•—- TANGLED BY MOONLIGHT

โ€œFOR ALL THOSE WHO KNOW THAT IF HE WANTED TO, HE WOULD. AND IF HE DOESNโ€™Tโ€ฆ HIS DAD WILL.โ€

โ„๐•’๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜๐•ค-
๐Ÿ—ฃ (out of 5 stars, my rating scale is at the end)
๐Ÿ“š ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.25 / 5
๐ŸŒก๏ธ ๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ/ 5
โ™Ÿ๏ธ๐——๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น- >>>โš”๏ธ<<<
๐ŸŽƒ: ๐ถ๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ฆ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘ฆ๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐ŸŒ‘: ๐‘€๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฆ โš”๏ธ: แต’แต’แต’สฐสฐสฐ หขแต—แตƒแต‡แต‡สธ แต–แต‰แต’แต–หกแต‰โ€ขโ€ขโ€ข ๐Ÿ’€: ๐‘…๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ MฬถEฬถNฬถUฬถ ๐Ÿ˜ณ -๐‘– ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘‡๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘”๐‘”๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Š๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”๐‘ !! โ˜ ๏ธ: PอŸIอŸTอŸCอŸHอŸ FอŸCอŸuอŸKอŸIอŸNอŸGอŸ BอŸLอŸAอŸCอŸKอŸ!

THINK YELLOWSTONE MIXED WITH THE BACK AND FORTH OF VAMPIRE DIARIES

๐•‚๐•–๐•ช ๐•€๐•Ÿ๐•—๐• :
โ€ข๐Ÿ“– 432 ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜€
โ€ข๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜? A day
โ€ข# 3rd person ๐—ฃ๐—ข๐—ฉ
โ€ข๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ- 16 January 2026
โ€ข๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜ or ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ driven? Characters
โ€ข๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ & ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ป๐—ผ- STANDALONE
โ€ข๐—”๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ on ๐—ž๐—จ? โœ…
โ€ข๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ- strong start, strong finish but drops out in the middle
โ€ข๐— ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ?โœ…
โ€ข๐—”๐—ป๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป? (Disability, plus size, mental health etc...)โœ… bullying
โ€ข๐— ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜€; ๐‘จ๐’…๐’—๐’†๐’๐’•๐’–๐’“๐’๐’–๐’”, ๐‘น๐’๐’Ž๐’‚๐’๐’•๐’Š๐’„, ๐‘บ๐’•๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž๐’š, ๐‘ฏ๐’๐’‘๐’†๐’‡๐’–๐’, ๐‘ท๐’“๐’†๐’…๐’Š๐’„๐’•๐’‚๐’ƒ๐’๐’† ๐’ƒ๐’–๐’• ๐’”๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’”๐’‡๐’š๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ, ๐‘ช๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’๐’†๐’๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ

โ—๐•‹โ„๐•†โ„™๐”ผ๐•Š
๐Ÿ˜ˆ๐•Š๐•–๐•”๐•ฃ๐•–๐•ฅ๐•ค & ๐”น๐•–๐•ฅ๐•ฃ๐•’๐•ช๐•’๐•๐•ค
๐Ÿงธ๐น๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘–๐‘™๐‘ฆ
๐ŸซฆOแด˜แด˜แดsษชแด›แด‡s Aแด›แด›ส€แด€แด„แด›
๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€โค๏ธโ€๐Ÿ‘จ๐™ต๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ๐š ๐™ผ๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ๐šœ
๐Ÿ”บ ๐ฟ๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘”๐‘™๐‘’
๐ŸงAษขแด‡ Gแด€แด˜
๐ŸŒก๐•๐•–๐•’๐•ฃ๐•Ÿ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜, ๐”ธ๐•Ÿ๐•˜๐•ค๐•ฅ, ๐•‹๐•–๐•Ÿ๐•ค๐•š๐• ๐•Ÿ
๐Ÿ’˜๐ป๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘  ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘ก
๐Ÿ’€๐”‰๐”ฌ๐”ฏ๐”Ÿ๐”ฆ๐”ก๐”ก๐”ข๐”ซ ๐”ฏ๐”ฌ๐”ช๐”ž๐”ซ๐” ๐”ข
๐Ÿ’ช๐’œ๐“๐“…๐’ฝ๐’ถ โ„‹โ„ฏ๐“‡โ„ด
๐Ÿ‘‘Daddy vibes
โšฐ๏ธ๐‘‰๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ 
๐ŸŒ•๐‘Š๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘“ ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘“๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘  that donโ€™t shift- NO KNOTTING

๐ŸŒ ๐•Ž๐• ๐•ฃ๐•๐•• ๐•“๐•ฆ๐•š๐•๐••๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜, ๐•จ๐•ฃ๐•š๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•’๐•Ÿ๐•• ๐•ก๐•’๐•”๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜:
I honestly felt this was a sure fire 5 star read at first, it was beautifully possessive and tense but still sweet and steamy! Until it wasnโ€™t.
KES Winter has an easy to read writing style that lures you in and gets you sling questions about yourself.

The world building was well thought about as we were shown around 2 different locations, the town and then the ranch- think Yellowstone tv series. I absolutely loved that it was based in winter because it set the story off from page one and lent itself to every scene, perfectly helping us understand the characters, their lives, and the context of each scene. The snow was especially impactful in the vivid beauty of the ranch, creating a magical and cosy atmosphere, and in setting up the many โ€˜reasonsโ€™ that the characters had to do -or not do things.

I have to applaud KES on the way she created the moods throughout the story, from moody, risky and atmospheric, to tense, naughty and down right dirty! (I will hold my hands up and admit I was hoping for ALL THE THINGS described in their flirtations and more!) I personally got addicted to the inner conflict, the delicious yearning and the awkwardness of the age gap / exโ€™s dad situations. I loved how conversations came up around things like โ€˜did my son do this with you, or show you that, could he xyzโ€ฆ.โ€™ My god it was just perfection!

I loved the mix of tropes in this book, the age gap and exโ€™s daddy was a sexy combo! Iโ€™m not normally a daddy fan but this one absolutely had me! Then we were also given cowboy shifters that happen to be millionairesโ€ฆ if she threw in an actual shift where we could pet that soft fur or some knotting then it would have made my day! To be honest the millionaire trope wasnโ€™t really used in a usual way, it was more to offer a comfortable life without struggle rather than tease at a life she could have if she chose him, which I liked.

The romance was emotional and intriguing, I loved how zaddy came across and how he held back but then knew when to let go. It had me engaged and hooked right away!

The bad bits: the middle of the book dragged on a lot, it got repetitive and annoying and after already growing more of a backbone she still didnโ€™t ask many questions or reach out and even though he knew she was his fated mate he didnโ€™t really do much ground work with her life- no getting to know the parents or bezzy, no asking personal questions. I actually thought it was close to becoming a miscommunication trope.

it feels like the author couldnโ€™t figure out what to do in the middle of the book so she threw in a type of second act break-up which just flopped! There was no angst or maddening yearning, that desperation and utter need disappeared, and I just didnโ€™t believe the story anymore let alone trusted or believed in what was happening. The author did such an AMAZING job of writing this tense relationship that when she tried to cool them down it didnโ€™t work. The MMC lost his burn the world for you, dark edge, and the FMC became whiney and people pleasing and just annoying. I believed from the start that she was a people pleaser, I knew she had trauma and I knew she was shy and hated attention- but then she started to develop a little self worth and was learning to trust and believe in not only herself but others.. it was incredible character growth and highly engaging. So to throw that all away was really upsetting, I kind of took it personally because I was LOVING this book so much and then got to a point where I considered stopping it and just dnf. But Iโ€™m so glad I didnโ€™t because the end was just as good !

๐Ÿงโ€โ™‚๏ธ โ„‚๐•™๐•’๐•ฃ๐•’๐•”๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ฃ๐•ค:
I loved the best friend! I always appreciate an author that can develop good side characters and KES did exactly that. The best friend was highly memorable, as was the additional pack members and then the family members were also well written, giving the reader plenty of reasons to love or hate them.

The main characters started off with a dreamlike tone to their relationship, mixed with a bit of awkwardness from the age gap it was exciting and intriguing to read. Individually they had both been given a good history/ background that got my attention and had me wanting to know more. The FMC had a dark past so itโ€™s understandable that she would be shy and reserved, and very untrusting. So I understand her reservation towards most things, plus her history with her ex allows for SOME understanding on the โ€˜will the, wonโ€™t theyโ€™ thing, but not enough to back up the choices made in the middle of the book.
The MMC was expertly written! Give me a zaddy any day of the week! He wanted to care for her and love her and show her off, he had respect and care and understandingโ€ฆ he needed her and his wolf came forward and demanded her but still he managed to hold back when needed, but, this was written in a way that he had waited his whole life for her and had to have her to the point that he actually struggled to be away from her, so when the plot twist came it made no sense to me at all that he didnโ€™t put up a fight or basic defence of himself. No questions again, no nudging or explaining things or just working through problems togetherโ€ฆ it didnโ€™t read as believable for his character at all.

There are humans that know about the wolves and vampires, until the last third of the book I didnโ€™t have a clue what vampires had to do with anything, I didnโ€™t see the point in them being mentioned at all. In fact they could be taken out and the story would still work, I feel like perhaps there should have been more depth to the mother in law so that she landed with more of an impact, something perhaps to do with her marrying or her vampire lifestyle or something that makes the vampire tag necessary to the story. It just wasnโ€™t as impactful as it should have been for a vampire vs shifter trope.

๐Ÿ˜ฅ ๐•Ž๐•™๐•ช ๐•Ÿ๐•  ๐•—๐•š๐•ง๐•– ๐•ค๐•ฅ๐•’๐•ฃ๐•ค?
Just before the halfway point I was so sure this was going to be a 5 star read, but then the pace dropped out and the fmc had some weird personality transplant and became whiney and extremely irritating/annoying.
The lack of questions and answers between the MCโ€™s reduced their developing relationship down to something resembling an acquaintance or a boss and employee. All that hard work building them up to loose it all without a fight or much of a care.
Plus personally- I like my shifters to shift so she can pet his fur or cuddle up with him and knotting is a big thing for my alpha wolf books -but like I say, thatโ€™s a personal choice.

โณ ๐•Ž๐• ๐•ฆ๐•๐•• ๐•š ๐•ฃ๐•–-๐•ฃ๐•–๐•’๐•• ๐• ๐•ฃ ๐•ฃ๐•–๐•”๐• ๐•ž๐•ž๐•–๐•Ÿ๐••?
Yes I will re read but I know which section to skip past, and yes I would recommend-but, only to the right people that I know would put up with the middle and keep reading anyway.

๐Ÿชง๐”ฝ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•’๐• ๐•ฅ๐•™๐• ๐•ฆ๐•˜๐•™๐•ฅ๐•ค:
Amazing variety of tropes, starts strong, slows in the middle but finishes brilliantly! Itโ€™s emotional, tense, awkward and full of delicious spice oh- and its dedication is โ€œFOR ALL THOSE WHO KNOW THAT IF HE WANTED TO, HE WOULD. AND IF HE DOESNโ€™Tโ€ฆ HIS DAD WILL.โ€ So, say lessโ€ฆ

๐น๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ค๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘”๐‘”๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ;

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๐•„๐•ช โ„๐•’๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•Š๐•ช๐•ค๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ž๐•ค:
โญ๏ธ DNF

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
I managed to finish it but it was rubbish. I won't keep a physical copy and won't recommend it, but it's a shame as the plot could have made a good book in another author's hands

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
It was OK. I wish I didn't start this one as it didn't do it for me as I struggled to read it. It had an interesting premise that fell flat but I had to see what happened in the end.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
I don't regret reading it, and I will read the next one, but this one did have a few flaws. [These could be repetitive writing, gaps or plot holes, better character growth or world building, areas needing more detail]
Generally, the book lacked depth and became confusing. The plot resonated with me even though it annoyed me on the whole.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
I'm glad I read it. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to the right people, but I wanted more! Sadly, it's easily forgettable with a few issues I just couldn't overlook/get past.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
Good book! I loved it, but... I needed more! I really did enjoy it, but it had a few parts that needed more detail or added history/background or lore. But that's because the story or characters were memorable, and the plot was strong with brilliant twists. I would re-read if I needed to catch up for the next book and would recommend.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
Great book! I truly wish the story had been thought about more, or the author had been given more time as this book is so close to brilliance! I will likely read again and will definitely be recommending it to all!

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
WOW! Absolutely amazing book! Well written with great characters and a plot so memorable that it will stay with me. I will definitely read this again, I will be recommending it and sharing it with the whole world! Also- I NEED A PHYSICAL COPY!

๐Ÿ”ฅโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ๐Ÿ”ฅ
This is my God level tier. The book must be perfectly memorable. Even after reading 50+ more books, I will remember character names and emotions along with the plot. If there is a special edition, then I need to own it! If there is a conversation on books- I'm talking about this!

SPICE SCALE:
๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ segsual language and a little on-page action

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ a lot of segsual language and some on-page open door action, may be occurring a couple of times

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ a lot of explicit action and dirty talk, occurring frequently with 2/3 lurvers

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ โ€“ super graphic and explicit, occurring 4 or more times, can be more grey and taboo themed.

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ โ€“ Kinks and Fet!shism, explicit and super graphic. It is likely to be tushy play, toys, playrooms, and more dark / taboo fantasies and realities.

Read full review on ARC Library