Review: The Moonlight Runner by Karen Robards

 

The Moonlight Runner by Karen Robards

Publication Date: March 24th 2026 by Park Row & Harlequin Audio

Pages: 368

Audio Book Length: 12hrs 2min

Narrator: Alana Kerr Collins

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

The Moonlight Runner was equal parts action, thriller and romance and completely riveting!

 

Ireland in 1918 is still recovering from World War I and there’s a rebellion against the British rule gaining momentum. Rynn Carmichael, works as a nurse to aid the soldiers still healing from their wounds. When Rynn overhears two British soldiers talking about apprehending gun runners that night, she rushes to the shore to warn her fiancé, Donal, knowing he’s probably involved despite telling her he’d have no part. It puts them all in grave danger.

 

From the first chapter the story was an action-packed read that I didn’t want to put down! I’ve read stories set Ireland during this period and have enjoyed learning about the events of this tumultuous time. The Moonlight Runner vividly depicts the danger and personal cost without making the story too gritty or depressing. There were friendships and romance, and one man that Rynn ends up counting on again and again. He was a charismatic presence!

 

This is a sweeping page-turner I wholeheartedly recommend!

 

I alternately read an e-copy and listened to an audio and recommend either version. This is the first time I’ve listened to Alana Kerr Collins and I thought her narration was fantastic! Her Irish accent sounded authentic to me, and she seamlessly performed all voices, male and female in a range of ages.

5 Stars

Book Description:

In the wake of the Great War, a young woman joins the Irish rebellion and risks everything for her country in this sweeping story of love, bravery and the relentless pursuit of freedom.

Ireland, 1918. In a world brutalized by the Great War and devastated by the Spanish flu, twenty-two-year-old Rynn Carmichael is suddenly pulled into the war of independence when Donal O’Reilly, the boy she has loved for most of her life, takes up gunrunning in support of the rebellion.

Raised in a small Irish village on the shores of Donegal Bay, Rynn is working as a nurse in a convalescent home for soldiers wounded in the Great War when she overhears a British officer gloating over the trap that has been set for Irish gunrunners bringing a boat full of smuggled arms ashore. Knowing that Donal must be involved, she rushes out at midnight to warn the incoming boat, only to find herself caught up in a terrifying and tragic series of events that take her from the glittering ballrooms of London to the narrow back alleys of Dublin as she and those she loves fight for their lives and their country.