Hiding the Moon

I fell in love with Burton when Amy started to share bits and pieces of him on her facebook page and when he meet Ernie, I went down a rabbit hole I never knew I needed. Dear lord, they were amazing, complex, innocent, jaded and both so desperate for love. I laughed, cried, cursed and loved on them so hard to get a happy ever after. I loved watching Ernie interact with Sonny, seeing Sonny and Ace together, and then adding in Jackson and Ellery. So much love in this book for 3 amazing couples!

“He let out an unhappy breath. “I know you probably think I’m just all moonbeams and sunshine and shit. But one of the reasons ‘my grades fell,’ as you so nicely put it, is that it’s hard. It’s hard for me to… to focus… when the world comes at me like it does. Knowing who’s good and who’s bad, if there’s donuts around the corner, if someone’s going to want me and listen to no, or trying to figure out how to say no if they won’t—it’s hard. I get lost. I forget what street I’m on or what day it is. So I need to sleep at the same time and wake up at the same time and do the same things every day.”

I have been on this ride with the author when this “novel” was just a bunch of shorts she posted on her blog until some of us started begging – hard – for the entire story of Ernie and Lee. Luckily for me the author was already percolating this book around in her mind so here I am, finally, getting the whole story PLUS being reunited with Ace and Sonny, two of my favorite people ever, along with Jackson and Ellery, two more men whom I adore. But, mostly, I wanted to see Lee and Ernie get the love and happiness they both truly deserve.

I strongly recommend that these books be read in order, at least the ‘Fish Out of Water’ books, although ‘Racing for the Sun’ is phenomenal and will give the background on Ace and Sonny. The reason I say this is because the evil men and the man who made them that way feature prominently in Jackson and Ellery’s novels, and he’s also the same man who used Ernie for his psychic gift in order to create the “perfect soldier”. Lee drops Ernie off with Ace and Sonny knowing they’ll keep him safe so Lee can go and join Commander Lacey’s team and take the man and his operation down.

“Ernie already knew what Burton felt for him. He could wait until Burton figured it out in his own head.”

Even though Lee and Ernie are very different people from Ace and Sonny, their romance and their love story shone with the same intensity, tenderness, and raw passion. I fell head over heels for Ernie. How could I not? He has been through so much in his life and having the ability to tell whether people are bad or good is exhausting sometimes. It’s no wonder that when Lee found him Ernie was using drugs and sex to quiet his mind enough to just survive in Albuquerque. I already adored Lee and the fact that he didn’t just kill Ernie as his orders were to do, but took the time to figure out that this guy is an innocent, just made me love him even more.

“The explosion happened, and… and I thought you were dead and I wanted to go with you. I almost… I almost killed all the fuckin’ things, do you get that? ’Cause if you weren’t there on the planet, there wasn’t any reason to hold back.”

‘Hiding the Moon’ is everything I hoped it would be and more. Lee and Ernie are incredible and seeing my other guys was like coming home. Thank you, Amy, for giving these men the very best happy ever after imaginable.

NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews

I love this cover. Since I have read A Few Good Fish (Book Three in the series where we meet Burton and Ernie)I love really being able to picture Burton and he is just what I imagined.
Hiding the Moon is book four in the Fish Out of Water Series. (I do recommend you read at least A Few Good Fish but the series does need to be read in Order. it also features characters from Racing For The Sun, however, you don't have to read this one to follow along. I haven't (but will).
Burton is a black ops agent sent to take out Ernie. As soon as he reads the jacket he feels something off. His handler does as well so Burton goes to scope it out and if he feels its a bad call he will walk away. He has no plan to take out an innocent young man.
Ernie is a psychic that can read peoples hearts and tell good from bad. Burton was going to walk away until he actually meets Ernie and he tells him he knew he would come. He also knows things about Burton that even he doesn't know
Others arrive to take out the hit so Burton sweeps Ernie up to hide him with friends he can trust Ace and Sonny are from Racing for the sun but they appear in A Few Good fish where this story crosses over.
I absolutely love all of these characters and we also get a little glimpse of Ellery and Jackson as well. I couldn't tell you my favorite character as every single one in this book are amazing (of course since it is an Amy Lane book). It is packed with action, romance, suspense, and of course some hot man-love.
I highly Highly recommend this book!

Hiding the Moon is the 4th installment of the Fish Out of Water series and focuses on two characters introduced in the last book - Burton and Ernie. I don’t know how Ms. Lane managed to improve on a fantastically witty, action-packed 5-star series, but she sure did. Hiding the Moon evokes an emotional tenderness that I didn’t realize was missing in the first three books until reading this one. While I definitely enjoyed reading about Ellery and Jackson seeing they were a well-matched pair and their genuine love, something about Burton and Ernie’s story just felt more connected and deep.

Ernie was just such a disarming and charming foil to Burton’s stone-faced soldier. His ability to see past the facade that was Burton to his true core and heart (that goes for anyone Ernie meets, of course) was just fascinating. I truly became invested in these two finding their happily ever after.

I’m also impressed with the plot timeline. It’s a parallel POV to the events in Fish Out of Water. Somehow, this new POV to already told events was just as engaging, if not more. Ms. Lane was able to add another layer to the events in Fish Out of Water to make an already great story even better.

The storytelling, rich and descriptive setting, and lovable characters made me feel like I was in that garage with Ernie or in the comms room with Burton. Definitely a page-turner and very well done!

*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***

**Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by DreamSpinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.**

Hiding the Moon by Amy Lane is listed as being book four in the Fish Out of Water series and a second book for the Racing for the Sun series. This is kind of book four, but not really book four in the series. You really need to read the first three books in the Fish Out of Water series before reading this one. But, this book runs concurrent to book three so you’re seeing another side of what happens in book three. I have not read the first book in the Racing the Sun series. If you want to read that book, you should read it before book three of the Fish Out of Water series because once you’re reading book three of the Fish Out of Water, it’s too late. Was all of that confusing enough?

This book introduced us to Burton and Ernie. Yes, the author went there. If you’ve read book three of the Fish Out of Water series, you’ve already met these characters. Honestly, if you haven’t read it, stop reading this and go do so. I think reading this book before that one will really ruin the enjoyment of it. Anyway, back to Burton and Ernie, who I struggled to take seriously throughout the story because of their names. And they were serious characters with serious issues, but it didn’t matter.

Burton and Ernie met because of Burton’s mission, he’s is an assassin for some organization. He saves Ernie, takes him to his friend’s to keep him safe but can’t deny they have a connection. Burton isn’t looking for ties, Ernie is looking for them and he’s found them with Burton and isn’t willing to give them up. He’s psychically linked to Burton so even though the men don’t spend physical time together, they have their mental connection. I liked these characters and many of the characters in the book, who I met previously and liked. It was interesting getting Burton and Ernie’s viewpoint on Jackson and Ellery.

I do not enjoy or read psychic/paranormal books, but no way was I going to pass up the chance of the fourth book in the series. I enjoyed this book, don’t get me wrong, but I went into it thinking that it was book four. Imagine my disappointment when the little bit of Jackson and Ellery included in the story was what happened in book three of their series. And then there were the psychic elements. And there was Burton and Ernie. If you love Jackson and Ellery, but hate psychic elements, this book may not be for you and you won’t be missing anything in their series. But, if you love the Fish Out of Water series, like or don’t mind psychic elements and would love to see another side of everything that happened in book three, definitely grab this book!

Rating: 4 stars