Twelfth Moon by Halli Starling

Twelfth Moon Reviews

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  Beasts & Villains

  
  
  Twelfth Moon:
  
  Rating:
  
  
  
  🌜Hello darlings! I hope all is going well✨! This being my first time trying any of Halli Starling’s works, I will say that this was mixed with diversity, fun, humor, and some sexiness!As for this review, I set it up to section off each story since there are a total of five within this ARC✨! Setting within Elise, a small~town where the sweet, humous love~matches occur for the characters within this book✨! Without further delay, here are the five sweet, laughter~inducing, and steamy stories within this ARC✨!🌛
  
  
  Five Stories:
  
  1. Twelfth Moon:
  Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕
  
  
  
  🌜Harriet and Dela {F~F}: Harriet Silkman who owns Twelfth Moon Store meets Delilah Atwater who is the leading woman of Nature Conservancy. Loved the wonderful humor between the characters, the eco~friendly/nature vibes, aroma~scent making session, sweetness, homely feelings, and just enjoyed their paring and story overall👏👏👏!🌛
  
  2. Goats, Drive~ins, and Boffers:
  Rating: 🌖🌖🌖🌖🌖
  
  
  
  🌜Nu and Miles {M~M}: Nu Silkman works with his aunt Harriet at her store Twelfth Moon and is going on a date with Miles Benewicz who works at the local Coffee Haus his brother Jones owns. LOVED✨ how sweet, funny, and sexy this one was! {Especially the goats🥺}! In particular how much of a gentleman Miles was with Nu’s health condition🥺🥺🥺! Definitely LOVED their paring and wished for more between them👏👏👏!🌛
  
  3. Collision:
  Rating: 🌗🌗🌗🌗🌗
  
  
  
  🌜Jones and Hollis: {M~M, POLYAMOROUS AND AROMATIC}: Jones Benewicz being the older brother of Miles and also running the local Coffee Haus, has some 🍆👅smutty time👅🍆 with Hollis, who was a good friend from his university days. As stated with the poly theme, Jones does not do relationships, let alone monogamy. He prefers smutty, sexual encounters with other men and women {no sex with woman on page} over a feelings. Also wanted to note there is a mention of Jones and Miles mother having cancer being treated! So pretty much, this one was the 😈👅smutty~dirty story out of the group👅😈! Enjoyed it for sure👏👏👏!🌛
  
  4. Like A Memory Well Kept:
  Rating: 🌘🌘
  
  
  
  🌜Maeve and Evie {NONBINARY~F}: Maeve works/owns at the local Speakeasy~Lamplighter where they meet Evie one night while on their shift. There is some hurt involved from Maeve’s and Evie’s past concerning deceased lovers. I think tackling such a subject was a nice in trying to add variation, but with how short these stories are, it was hardly romantic or even lustful between Maeve and Evie. More of a slight comforting between them and even then, I didn’t fell a connection between them that much. Two stars mainly for tackling such a theme and liking the bar~nature feel to this one.🌛
  
  5. To You, My Home, I Return:
  Rating: 🌑🌑🌑🌑
  
  
  
  🌜Yuri and Beckett {M~F~PANSEXUAL} / Audra and Savana {NONBINARY~F}: Yuri also works at Twelfth Moon Store who is also best friends with Beckett and has loved her ever since there were children. This one was sweet and yet touching with how Yuri’s lack of good parenting in his past was sad of course, but showed how much he was loved by Beckett, her mothers, and everyone else in Elsie✨✨✨! Loved the fact he was more reserved and effeminate to where he found true solace with Beckett✨! Then to note briefly, Audra Bates is the Mayor of Elise who is happily married to their wife Savana {veteran from military and ceramist}. They are both mothers to Beckett and were also a lovely couple within the read✨!🌛
  
  
  🌜Overall, ✨LOVED✨ the diversity of sexuality, as well as the atmosphere within this ARC✨! Was a fun, conglomerate of stories that I wished most of were longer since they were sweet, funny, touching, or sexy! Will have to look out for future books by Starling! Lovely job on creating such an open, diverse, and great atmosphere within this read Starling👏👏👏! Enjoyed many aspects to this ARC! Again, this is not long and has five stories in all! Great way to pass the time, have some laughs, read a tad of smut, and appreciate the simple things in life✨! Also, with a volume two following this one in 2022 presumably? Would love to check it out👏👏👏! As always, wishing you all the lightest of reads to soothe you and leave you In delighted laughter✨✨✨!🌛
  
  
  
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  🕊INSTAGRAM:🕊 @Angel_Dove_Beauty7
  👛TWITTER:👛 @🎀🕊Selene~Moon🕊/(@AyannaM41493002)🎀
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  Rebecca Crunden

  Oh my gosh, this book is like being handed wholesomeness! This short and sweet book follows the stories and romances of several folks in the town of Elsie, all centred upon, or connected to, The Twelfth Moon, a shop that deals in oils, scents and candles. I learned so many new words and scents! It's something wholly unique to this novel that I've not seen in a romance book before and I really liked how much detail Starling put in, in describing the way scents complement each other and smell differently on different people. Very cool.
  
  All the characters were so cute and adorable, the romances wholesome and big-hearted. You have couples of all types, each unique and sweet, a snapshot of how romance blossoms differently for different people. I do wish it had been a tiny bit longer, just so we could spend more time with each couple! But it's perfect reading for an afternoon where you want to smile at ALL THE CUTIE PIES.
  
  Thank you so much to the author for a review copy.
  
  ☆
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  November Hebert-Rose

  This book was perfect for cuddling up on the couch with a blanket and enjoying the ride. Sweet stories of varied relationships with genuine characters that you can’t help but like and want to get to know better.
  
  I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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  Tricia

  Five intersecting cozy vignettes about a small town where everyone is queer. Super cute! I love the table of contents that tells you what kind of pairing you’re in for and where the story falls on the scale of sweet to smutty.
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  Amur Thera

  Twelfth Moon (F/F first meeting to new relationship) - 4 stars
  Harriet owns a lovely shop where she sells scented products, of which she mixed and designed the scents herself. The descriptions of that process alone is great already. Then she meets Dela, a customer who is just as interested in the owner as she is in the products. Harriet, of course, offers private lessons to learn more. A beautiful start to a possible romantic relationship.
  My only niggle was the "Is there such a thing as a demi lesbian?"-conversation. I couldn't gauge how serious the characters were being.
  
  Goats, Drive-Ins, and Boffers (M/M first dates) - 5 stars
  Nu and Miles go on their first date, and Miles has thought of literally everything. He even brought a blanket for Nu to sit on because he has a body that sometimes hurts when he's sitting too long! And he remembered Nu loves goats! This story was just so romantic and adorable.
  
  Collision (M/M platonic friends with benefits) - 5 stars
  Jones and Hollis have been friends for a very long time, and started having regular sex about a year ago. Jones is aromantic, and I think so is Hollis. Anyway, I love how solid their friendship was and how open Jones was with his partners about his expectations and needs. Jones was so unapologetically himself, and it was lovely.
  
  Like A Memory Well Kept (F/X new friendship, possibility for more) - 4 stars
  Maeve and Evie are both intimately acquainted with grief, which lets Maeve open up to Evie more easily than they normally would. There was definitely a spark between them, but at least the start of a strong friendship is shown. Evie's boldness fit perfectly with Maeve. I was just missing a little bit of background story for Evie, which made it harder to understand her sad eyes.
  
  To You, My Home, I Return (M/F established long-distance relationship) - 5 stars
  Yuri and Beckett are high school sweethearts who are just it for each other. And Yuri misses Beckett like crazy while she's at school. The love and the strength of their relationship just poured off the page, and I love how open and honest they were with each other. A partner they can talk to about literally anything and read gay romances with? These two are going to last. They belong. I loved this story.
  
  
  This anthology followed some characters from the same town, each with their own little story. I loved these snippets and how different they all were. Yet each story still gave off the same calming and lovely vibes. I would definitely recommend this book!
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  Ivy Whitaker

  Twelfth Moon is a collection of five short stories, featuring queer couples of varying ages, genders, and sexualities. Set in a quaint, small town called Elsie, we follow these pairings through their connection and blooming romances.
  
  We follow Harriet and Dela as they meet at Twelfth Moon perfumery and begin a sweet romance. Then, we follow Harriet’s nephew, Nu, as he falls for Miles — a boy who works at the coffee shop next door. The same coffee shop is owned by Miles’ brother Jones, who explores intimate connections with people who respect and understand his aromantic nature.
  
  Across town, Maeve, the owner of a speak-easy, falls into a healing romance with Evie. Our final pairing brings it all full circle with Yuri, Nu’s best friend, who is ever-so-sweetly pining after his away-at-college girlfriend, Beckett.
  
  This sweet (and sometimes spicy) anthology was the perfect reset after reading denser, more emotionally charged novels. It is, in my opinion, the quintessential queer feel-good piece! Halli’s writing is beautiful, and engaging. I was amazed by how deeply I felt for each pairing, despite the small amount of time I got to spend with them. It left me yearning for more! I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of Halli Starling’s work in the future.
  
  It cannot go without mention that a part of the proceeds of this anthology are being donated to charity: The Ozone House, a nonprofit in Ypsilanti Michigan which helps at-risk and displaced young people!
  
  I definitely would recommend picking Twelfth Moon up as soon as you can!
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  nikki

  I'm on a serious cozy reads roll rn and I am loving it.
  
  Twelfth Moon is cozy, quaint, delightful, and extremely queer 🥰
  
  Centered in a small town, each chapter is a short story about a different couple, all interconnected, living in a darling small town Elsie located somewhere in the northeast. There's a variety of queer rep with themes of found family and newfound loves.
  
  All the stories are sweet, (one with spice) and I particularly loved the first story of Harriet & Dela. Taking place in the candle, oil, & perfumes shop which shares its name with the title, Twelfth Moon, Harriet's expertise in fragrance-making is explored in sensuous detail and complements the whimsical vibes.
  
  This is a great book to cuddle up under a soft blanket with a hot drink and read on a crisp or rainy fall day!
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  Sarah Bell

  This was a lovely selection of inter-linked queer short stories with great characters throughout.
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  Faliiza

  This was the cutes and coziest short story collection I’ve ever read 🥹♥️ so wholesome.