Reading Fanatic Reviews
FantasyWild Type by M. Telsch-Williams
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Wild Type*
A Strange Blend of Elements
I am not quite sure what to make of this book. It’s kind of fantasy meets Indiana Jones. But the protagonist is an intelligent female in a society that does not value smart women. She is the daughter of the former top researcher in her land. The book was odd in that it seemed like it had some modern things, like microscopes, while other parts of it seemed somewhat primitive. The bulk of the book details a trip that she takes to the Farlands, a place her father always wanted to go but never did before he died. She discovers things about the Farlands… and her father’s past. She is in a power struggle with the leader of her area, who rules with an iron fist. Can wild type just define what she finds in the Farlands, or does it come to define her in her quest to be more than her society wants her to be?
Irish Magic by Susan B. Jamies
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Irish Magic*
Setup Doesn’t Pass Reality Check
Contemporary romance with a dash of the supernatural. I thought that the setup of this book was contrived, which kind of spoiled the rest of the book for me. It might sound silly, but even in fiction with fantastical elements, I expect a book to pass a reality check of sorts. So what in the setup bothered me so much? As someone who writes, I found it odd that the heroine would need to take a trip to find a new model for the hero of her book, which was supposedly in the revision stage. (Oh, and the snippets we read of the heroine’s “book” seem like stereotypical bad historical romance, which feels like a bit insulting to those of us who enjoy good historical romance.) If a writer really based characters so heavily on real people, she doesn’t have much imagination! And there is no way someone who quit her job and is living off her advances could do this. To me, it just seemed like a plot device to get the heroine to Ireland so the rest of the book could happen there. Once all players were in Ireland, the book did have some humor, and I did like the paranormal aspect and the concept of the heart wish and its fulfillment.
Archdruid by Tiffany Shand
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Archdruid*
Sibling Rivalry Ramped Up to Fight of Good vs. Evil
This book picks up where the previous one left off. Urien is still at it, even though he is trapped inside of Xander’s body. I actually quite enjoyed the conversations that Urien and Xander had in their conjoined minds; much resembled conversation as you might imagine it would be between brothers as different as this. The novel takes sibling rivalry to the next level in the classic fight of good against evil. I loved Ann’s strength. The book is very action-oriented with lots of twists and turns that will take you for quite a ride. It ends, unfortunately, at what feels like a cliffhanger to me as it is in the middle of a pivotal scene. I didn’t think the end of the blurb was wholly accurate, which is disappointing. However, I’m definitely curious to see where the series goes next.
Embrace of the Shade by Amanda Muratoff and Kayla Mansur
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
Embrace of the Shade*
Backstory Woven in the Way it Ought to Be!
I’ll admit that I’m a sucker for just about any fiction novel that in some way has to do with a mysterious book or library. This one has both. I love the chemistry between Kin and Amarie. It sizzles from the start and weaves its way through the book in a delectable way, including well-written, contextual sensual scenes. The story had plenty of action to keep it interesting. I love how the authors maintain a certain degree of mystery about the main characters’ pasts. Fantasy, unfortunately, is the genre that most often falls prey to my most hated thing in genre fiction: the information dump, overwhelming the reader with backstory right at the start. This was not done here, for once—yeah! Instead, we get to know about the world and the main characters slowly as we need to better understand them. In fact, I think the way the authors did it is inherent to and necessary for the story itself. If we knew it all the beginning, the story would not have been so gripping, or the novel itself such a page-turner. So, well done, ladies! I look forward to the next book in this trilogy as well as the greater universe that the trilogy is the starting point for.
Fae Hunter: Semester 2 by Amelia Shaw
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Fae Hunter: Semester 2*
Blurb Slightly Misleading
The blurb of the book makes you think that the bulk of it will take place in the Fae realm, but after a brief visit there, we stay stuck in the human world at the Academy until around the 50% mark. I thought this book was unbalanced in its pacing and action. It felt slow in the beginning and through much of the middle, but then really sped up–and the end was at lightning speed. The book has a little more profanity than I am comfortable with. I thought some sensual scenes, as well as regular ones, had elements that were slightly cringe-worthy. The heroine learned a lot more about herself, the Fae realm, and the Academy, much of which will come as a surprise to the readers of the first book. Not everyone is who or what they seem. The end of the book is a bit shocking, with a nail-biting cliffhanger at the end… so if you’re not a fan of those, be warned. This book cannot be read as a standalone; you do have to understand what went on the previous book to fully grasp what happens in this one. If you like the first book, you will most likely enjoy this one. While this book did have shortcomings, I am curious to see the resolution to the cliffhanger as well as what happens in the heroine’s evolving relationships with Fae princes.
Dragon’s Fury by Brian Meeks
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Dragon's Fury*
Character-based, Campy Epic Fantasy
Is campy epic fantasy a thing? That’s how this book came across to me. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the sequel to The Blues Brothers movie, but this reminded me somewhat of the idea of having “to get the band back together.” It is definitely character driven, and there are a LOT of characters (not always easy to keep track of them all, especially when some have similar names). An old nemesis is supposedly back, dredging up bad memories and opening old wounds as people come together to try to figure out what to do about it. The character vignettes were interesting, but I felt like the action itself was a little boring. It was more about reading about quirky characters and what they got up to as they sorted themselves out rather than a true edge-of-your-seat epic fantasy. By the way, I didn’t think either the title or the cover went along with the book at all; I do like both to reflect what is in the book; they set a tone and expectations, acting as the first gatekeepers and guiding me in deciding if I want to read it. Despite all this, though, I am curious to see where the author will go with this world.
The Wind from Faerie by William Justus
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
The Wind from Faerie*
Nice Try, But Misses the Mark
This attempt at fantasy by a new writer didn’t quite hit the mark. There are whole-book issues as well as micro issues. For the overarching issues, I think the most significant problem was that there didn’t really seem to be one major conflict that everything should have been building toward. This made the book feel like it lacked direction and purpose. For me, it was the kind of book that, when I got to the end, I found myself wondering why I had spent the time reading it. Fantasy particularly, I think, really needs a solid structure; we need something it to hold on to when we are propelled into a world that is not like our own. That said, the author did a fairly decent job of world building. The world is believable and interesting. This is the first time I have seen movie-like ratings in the blurb of a book, and it didn’t seem wholly accurate as the book seemed rather tame to me. The danger of using that type of system is that it is generic and not really describe a book. I actually think it would be best classified as a YA novel in general, despite what the rating says.
There were smaller issues as well. I didn’t particularly like the protagonist, and that always helps when reading a book. I thought the author tried too hard to use sensory details to describe things, and this slowed down the pacing of the book as we got mired in long paragraphs of overly detailed language. Some authors can actually pull this off, drawing you into their world through the use of sensory descriptions, but it did not work here. The prologue didn’t really seem to fit with the rest of the book. I do think this world has the potential to be explored in future books, but I think the author needs to grow as a writer to fulfill his visions of the world.
Secret Sky by J. P. McLean
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), amd Bol.de
Secret Sky*
Good Fantasy Elements; But Unbalanced Overall
This book is a quirky combination of fantasy, romance, and suspense. I know the description of the book says it as a thriller, but I wouldn’t call it that. Even the suspense part doesn’t really happen until the end. The heroine is given a gift that feels more like a curse until she meets others who have it. Much of the book has to do with her trying to understand her gifts, first on her own and then with the group. The middle section seems to be heavily into the romance aspect of the story while the end is more suspenseful; the book did feel unbalanced to me; I would have liked to see the suspense element woven more throughout.
The first scene pulled me in right away because the action was just allowed to happen without a lot of backstory; authors of fantasy worlds are usually too tempted to describe their world (and sometimes in great detail) and let that to take up much of the beginning pages. But after these good early scenes after her “accident,” the pace of the book really slowed down as the heroine tried to figure out her gift. There was quite a long lull period before things got interesting again.
The author did an excellent job creating a fantasy world that coexists alongside the normal one; it felt believable. I felt like there were some cringe-worthy moments in the romance aspect of the book. This book is a long one, and I do feel it could have benefited from some judicious developmental editing.
The Surf of Time by Mariah Stone
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Free with Kindle Unlimited
The Surf of Time*
Fun But Sometimes Sad Viking Time-Travel Romance
I have read some of the other books in this series, and I find this one a worthy addition to it. I quite enjoyed this love story of Andor and Cathy. The author explored some serious themes, like letting go of a painful past, self-forgiveness, and when to let someone go. I was pulled right into the story by the prologue, and I couldn’t help but feel empathy for the hero for what he suffered. Sympathy for the heroine was similarly garnered in the next chapter. While this book definitely has some heavy moments for both of the main characters, there was also a fair amount of humor. I especially enjoyed the running gag about the Vikings and yoga! (The heroine was a super crunchy vegan yoga instructor in California before she time travelled.) I thought both of the main characters were well drawn and their motivations and fears understandable. All in all, I thought this was a well-written story.
The Janusite Trilogy by Anna Durand
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Smashwords, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
The Janusite Trilogy*
Supernatural Romance with Classic Fight of Good vs. Evil
If you’re familiar with Anna Durand’s work, you know she writes contemporary and paranormal character-driven sensual romance. This box set is all of her Undercover Elemental trilogy, and she delivers the goods in terms of character, plot, and steam factor. It is a supernatural romance that features the classic fight of good vs. evil as the impetus for the over-arching plot.
Lindsey, the heroine, discovers that while she’s mortal, she is also the Janusite, given some of the abilities of that god. She becomes involved with Nevan, king of the sylphs boyfriend. I love Lindsey, by the way. No matter what the story throws at her, she is strong and resilient. She has a way of looking at things that keeps it all in perspective. She even helps lift Nevan out of brooding, nonhelpful thoughts.
The twists and turns in the stories keep Lindsey guessing as well as the reader. Time shifts. Pasts are forgotten… or come back to haunt the characters. The author does an excellent job of showing us these wildly dramatic shifts through Lindsey’s eyes. We can sense her frustration, fears, and sadness and appreciate her doggedness to get through it all. The author has a natural writing style that pulls you right in, even though the books are about such fantastic events. She makes them feel like they could actually happen and do happen to the characters.
If you enjoy paranormal/supernatural romance with a high steaminess factor, this trilogy may be right up your alley.
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