Reviewed by K.J. Simmill for Readers' Favorite

In Jacqueline Church Simonds’s Mistress of the Rose Moon: Book Three in the Heirs to Camelot Series, the Goddess loved her numbers. There was power in them, so it came as no real surprise that on the approach of the 27th anniversary of the healing, when the land was restored and a new order gave birth to a new Britain, she spoke to her chosen children. What did come as a surprise was who was called to answer. Her chosen children were the obvious choice, for they were those who served her well and heard her. Instead, choosing the enemy who wanted nothing more than to pass laws allowing his followers to attack the temples of other religions and destroy this new peaceful era seemed to make no sense. One thing was for certain, there was a darkness surrounding this man, and if they were to succeed, they can’t afford to take their eyes off him or the plots he’s weaved behind their backs.

In this final installment of the trilogy, Jacqueline Church Simonds does well in making Mistress of the Rose Moon accessible to readers who haven’t read the earlier books. While there are obviously things I missed and don’t quite understand from the first books, there’s just enough information to ensure I could read this book without feeling lost. I liked how each chapter was labeled from a specific character’s perspective, giving the reader insight into their past and trials, and the interlude allows the reader to understand events and crucial information. The book is written in a gripping style that captures the reader’s attention with its involved and realistic character interactions. It progresses at a steady pace with an ever-building sense of dread, from the enemy within their midst to the potential for the new era being brought crashing down into a world of intolerance and persecution. If you like a book that merges the past and past lives with the plot, and a healthy dose of mystery, suspicion, challenges, and surprises, then this book is worth a read.