{"id":4396,"date":"2025-10-09T23:55:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T23:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4396"},"modified":"2025-10-09T23:55:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T23:55:22","slug":"review-hummingbird-moonrise-by-sherri-l-dodd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4396","title":{"rendered":"Review: Hummingbird Moonrise by Sherri L. Dodd"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Synopsis:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The past two years have taken their toll on Arista Kelly. Once an eternal optimist, now she has faced the darkness and must recalibrate what true happiness means for her. Meanwhile, Shane, her ex-boyfriend, is pulling all the right moves to help keep her sane from her heightening paranoia. But it doesn\u2019t help that Iris, her Great Aunt Bethie\u2019s friend, has disappeared.<\/p>\n

Still, one additional trial remains. While searching for Iris, Bethie and Arista stumble upon a grand revelation in the eccentric woman\u2019s home. With the discovery, they realize their run of chaos and loss of kin may have roots in a curse that dates back to the 1940s\u2014the time when their family patriarch first built Arista\u2019s cottage in the redwoods and crafted his insightful Ouija table.<\/p>\n

This pursuit will not follow their accustomed recipe of adrenalized action, but the high stakes remain. Will the mysterious slow burn of unfolding events finally level Arista\u2019s entire world or be fully extinguished, once and for all?<\/p>\n

Favorite Lines:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is almost nothing worse than coming face to face with an agitated serial killer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwice, she had accidentally crashed a wedding by walking through at inopportune times. She would miss that lovely park.\u201d<\/p>\n

My Opinion:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.<\/p>\n

This is book three in Sherri L. Dodd\u2019s paranormal mystery series, Murder, Tea, and Crystals<\/em>\u2014you can find my review to the first two books here: Murder Under Redwood Moon<\/em><\/a> (book 1) & Moonset on Desert Sands<\/em> <\/a>(book 2).<\/p>\n

As the third and final book in this trilogy, Hummingbird Moonrise<\/em> blends cozy domestic rituals with creeping dread in a way that feels both comforting and unsettling. One moment you\u2019re sipping apple spice tea with Arista and her Auntie, and the next you\u2019re peering into shadowy rooms, wondering if the curse that has haunted their family for generations is about to resurface. I loved the way the novel keeps this balance\u2014never letting you forget the warmth of family bonds, but always threading in a sense of danger just out of sight.<\/p>\n

What makes the book stand out is how personal it feels. The Kelly family\u2019s history\u2014haunted by curses, betrayals, and supernatural debts\u2014doesn\u2019t read like distant lore. It weighs directly on the characters\u2019 everyday choices. Arista, still finding her place as a \u201cprophesied witch,\u201d doesn\u2019t get the luxury of choosing between a normal life and a magical one; the two are woven together, whether she\u2019s ready or not. That tension keeps the story engaging, because you\u2019re always watching her struggle between the pull of destiny and her desire for peace.<\/p>\n

The atmosphere of the California redwoods adds so much texture. The setting becomes a character of its own, cloaked in fog, filled with shadows, and alive with whispers of both natural and supernatural dangers. Dodd writes with a rhythm that sometimes lulls you with cozy descriptions and then jolts you with eerie details\u2014just like her characters, you never know when the ground beneath your feet will shift.<\/p>\n

At its heart, though, Hummingbird Moonrise<\/em> is about resilience. It\u2019s about how families carry their curses, their traumas, and their secrets\u2014but also how they carry one another. Arista and Auntie\u2019s bond is the emotional anchor of the book, and their mixture of banter, affection, and fierce loyalty gives the story its heart. Even amid possessions, missing persons, and malevolent artifacts, the real magic lies in love and perseverance.<\/p>\n

Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overall, Hummingbird Moonrise<\/em> is a paranormal mystery that works because it never loses its human touch. Yes, there are curses, possessions, and supernatural forces, but there\u2019s also cinnamon bread, inside jokes, and the kind of family loyalty that keeps people moving forward even when the odds feel impossible. What I admired most is the way Dodd lets the suspense simmer without sacrificing warmth. The book left me both unsettled and comforted\u2014a rare combination that lingers long after the last page. Happy reading!<\/p>\n

Check out Hummingbird Moonrise<\/em> here!<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Synopsis: The past two years have taken their toll on Arista Kelly. Once an eternal optimist, now she has faced the darkness and must recalibrate what true happiness means for her. Meanwhile, Shane, her ex-boyfriend, is pulling all the right moves to help keep her sane from her heightening paranoia. But it doesn\u2019t help that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}