Moonlight Seduction isn’t quite sure what it wants to be

Moonlight Seduction is a weird mix of thriller, family saga, and contemporary romance, with lots of darkness thrown in to boot.

Sometimes, romance novels can handle a mix of genres. They’re pretty hardy that way. But that still requires a certain degree of execution, and this reviewer isn’t sure that Moonlight Seduction, sent to her by Avon, has a high enough degree of execution to pull it off.

Let’s wind it back for a moment. This is the second installment in the de Vincent series, which concerns the sons of the title family. Middle boy Gabriel hasn’t seen Nicolette Besson in four years; now 22, she’s back to help her parents, who work for the de Vincents, as her mother battles cancer. Also, she and Gabriel have a special connection … and he’s 10 years older.

This is just what the book asks us to believe at the outset. But there’s more, too; Moonlight Seduction also throws in family curses, conspiracies, attempted rape (and mentions of past rape, too, so put an extra trigger warning on that), and so much drama that it becomes difficult to keep things straight.

The thing is, other books that I’ve reviewed recently, like Too Wilde to Wed, also have that same over-the-top nature — but are also particularly fun, meaning it’s easier to accept what’s going on.

Make no mistake: Gabe and Nikki have some serious chemistry, but it’s somewhat hard to focus on that when the very premise weirds this reviewer out. Is it the big age difference? Well, a little bit. It’s not like older men don’t play parts in other romance novels. It’s more the idea that the novel really focuses on it, to the point of others commenting on it repeatedly.

This is not even getting into the thriller aspects of it all, which feel particularly out of place because of the vaguely supernatural veneer Jennifer L. Armentrout throws over it all by playing up the book’s setting: New Orleans. All these parts end up gelling into a sometimes pleasing but often just confusing read.

Next: 3 ways It Takes Two will charm

It’s not this reader’s favorite.