Review of ‘Share the Moon’ by Toni Logan

Share the Moon is an unusual story and yet a pretty traditional romance at the same time. When she died, Nora left her vineyard to her partner Kate and to her niece Jamie. Both women, along with Jamie’s best friend Kali, live on the premises and do their best to keep the vineyard going, including by branching out and hosting lesbian weddings. For as long as they remember, the vineyard has been haunted by a friendly ghost, whom they believed to be a teenage boy until the ghost introduced herself to Jamie as Ruth, a young woman.

As far as I can tell, this is Toni Logan’s debut novel. As often happens in first books, it sometimes feels as if Logan had too many stories to tell at the same time. The main story is a romance between Jamie and Ruth and Jamie’s efforts to right the wrong done to Ruth. In the background is Kate’s grief over Nora’s death and in the background of the background are Kali’s attempts at not sabotaging what looks like a perfect relationship with the woman of her dreams. Each of these storylines deserves its own book, especially Kate’s.

Besides, I’m all for sweet lesbian ghosts (it’s the main reason I wanted to read this book) and I love how supportive Kate and Kali are of Jamie’s relationship with Ruth but it’s almost too normal. Even Victoria, Kali’s girlfriend, who hasn’t had a lot of time to come to terms with the idea of hanging out with a ghost, doesn’t seem terribly fazed when she meets Ruth for the first time. Sure, she says it’s weird to have dinner with a dead person but that’s all. This story raises interesting interrogations though: what is the afterlife like? Is it the same for everyone? Why was Ruth held back? Where did Nora go?

I rather enjoyed reading Share the Moon but it left me feeling somewhat frustrated. It’s sweet and quite well-written, however, so I’ll keep an eye out for Logan’s future novels.

ARC provided by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.