Reading Fanatic Reviews
ParanormalHer Highlander by Alice Wild
Available at Amazon only
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Her Highlander*
Better Than the First
I have some issues with the first book of this series, but I always give an author another try or two to see if he or she can still impress me. While I’m not fully there yet with this author, she has come up in my estimation. One of my pet peeves about the first novel of this series was that the heroine seemed more like a petulant teenager than a princess preparing to wed. In this book, she is gaining in maturity, but she still has naivete about the world. I enjoyed the slow-burn romantic aspect of this book and the rivalries between the guardians as they try to figure out all that their relationships should be. I enjoyed the Scottish flavor of this particular installment. The book did feel repetitive in parts; it could have used a good editor. All in all, I enjoyed this portion of the saga and am looking forward to the next.
Her Betrothal by Alice Wilde
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Her Betrothal*
Somewhat Tedious, with Immature Heroine
This book had the potential to be interesting, or at least I found that of the blurb had intriguing elements. But the heroine, who is the main voice of the story, comes across as a petulant teenager instead of a young woman on the cusp of marriage and perhaps co-ruling her kingdom. The book uses the first-person present point-of-view, but the author didn’t seem to have a mastery of how to use tenses in this viewpoint, so they were sometimes wrong, which was jarring when they occurred. In general, I am not a fan of the first-person present point-of-view for several reasons, including this one. I think that it is actually distancing because it is so unusual. I read so many books in the third-person past that the viewpoint doesn’t even make much of a blip on my radar unless the author gets confused with tenses or calls attention to it in another way. I think authors mistakenly believe that the first-person present gives a book a greater sense of immediacy, but for me, I have never felt that to be the case.
The book had other issues as well. It has some strange problems with grammar, punctuation, and usage; commas seemed particularly problematic. I felt like the book was slow to start and quite repetitive. Much could have been cut out or condensed, which made of made this story tighter and better. As I was reading along, I felt like I was just waiting for something to actually happen; I don’t like that feeling in a book. I feel like this book could have used both a developmental editor and a copy editor/proofreader.
Highlander’s Caress by Joanne Wadsworth
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Smashwords, Mondadori, and Angus & Robertson
Highlander's Caress*
Complex Tale, Good Romance
I have read several books in this series, and I quite enjoyed Duncan and Elle’s story. Much goes on in this book, but the author sets the scene well early on, which keeps it from becoming confusing. Duncan and Elle have chemistry that sizzles off the page. With their clans at war, things do not look good for them even though they have a fated, mated bond. I really enjoyed the unique solution to their problems that happened at the end of the book. If you read other books in the series, you know that there is no huge resolution to the bigger, overarching plot in each book–in fact, each book seems to add to the complexity of the threads that tie the stories together–but I think this is one of the better happy-for-now resolutions that I’ve seen in this series. I love these stories of the Fae and the Highlanders.
The Time Traveler’s Magic by Anna Applegate
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The Time Traveler's Magic*
Glaring Medical Errors Distracting
While it isn’t relevant to the entire book, I am an RN, and I have to say that I thought the hospital portions of the book were way off, starting with the phone call that Ember received about her mother lapsing into a coma. As an RN, I have had to make those phone calls myself to family members, and I would have never have called a patient’s daughter at work in that circumstance or asked her to come in right away (when there is nothing she can or needs to do). The idea of having a hospital administrator latching onto a family member when she enters the hospital asking for bill payment wouldn’t happen either. There would be no team of doctors entering her mother’s room, trying to figure out what happened with her mother; there would be one hospitalist or intensivist working with her for the day, and perhaps a consultant or two, but they would rarely all be in the room at the same time unless a critical, emergent event is taking place (and even then it wouldn’t be likely). I could go on, but I won’t.
Aside from the above, I felt like the book was an odd mishmash of what are a lot of contemporary characters/themes in independently published books: magic, vampires, shifters, pirates, and time travel. If only one of them were a billionaire, then most of the common tropes in fiction would have been represented! I didn’t think these all necessarily played well together. I also did not like the heroine; she seemed too inept to handle either the present or the past, which made the reading a bit tiresome.
Lover Betrayed by J. P. McLean
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, 24 Symbols, Thalia, and Bol.de
Lover Betrayed*
Fascinating, but Odd, Retelling of Book One of Series
I found this retelling of part of Secret Sky from Jackson’s perspective to be a sometimes intriguing one. I have read a few books like this, where in one book of a series or duet the author tells the story from one character’s perspective, and then in another book recounts the same from another characters viewpoint, showing true motivations for actions and other, more subtle shadings. If you read Secret Sky, you know that Jackson is not wholly what he seems when we view him through Em’s perspective; we certainly don’t know why he acts the way he does. We get much more of his story, including what happened in his life leading up to when his and Em’s lives crossed paths (which is about a third of this book) as well as what happened after he left. He is a complex character, but not necessarily a nice one or a decent guy.
I found myself wanting to put this book down at times because I just didn’t like him and what he was doing. Like the other book, I sometimes felt that the pacing was off here. For long stretches, it didn’t feel like much was really happening–just a lot of talking–and then the pacing would pick up again. For it to be a truly good suspense, there needs to be a bit more evenness to the suspenseful actions or it is easy to become bored waiting for something to happen.
I’m feeling oddly ambivalent about this book, and I can’t quite figure out why. I still found the sensual scenes to be a bit cringe-worthy. I was intrigued by the first book, and I think the author has actually done a good job creating a world that is so similar to our own with just this one bizarre fantastical element to it. Take out the Fliers, and the first part of the book could just be about any ruthless businessman we see in so many fictional books. I did like seeing so many of the familiar scenes from Secret Sky from Jackson’s perspective. It really did give a completely different look at what happened in that story; it added richness and fullness, making a complete story.
Lesser Magicks Complete Trilogy by Kellie Sheridan
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NOT with Kindle Unlimited
Lesser Magicks Series*
Complex Magical World
This box set contains the prequel and three books that make up the complete Lesser Magicks series. I don’t like to give too much away when I talk about a series, especially a set where one novella leads to another. This is about a young woman who possesses what in her world are called lesser magics. I totally wish I had her lesser magic for technology! Through the series of books, we see her grow in her understanding and abilities within her world and become somewhat powerful within it. I felt like the series started a little slow, but each book got better and more enjoyable. The author has created a complex world of magical factions. While I am not a fan of backstory in books, I do think there needs to be some spread throughout to explain fantastical worlds; I felt like this book needed a little bit more backstory sprinkled in to explain some questionable things that happened or seemed to be a part of the history of its magical world. At times, the heroine didn’t act the way one would think a person in her situation would act, and that got a little annoying; I wanted her to be smarter at times. But that seemed to improve as the books went on and as the character grew. A fascinating paranormal world to get lost in.
The Cursed Key by Miranda Brock and Rebecca Hamilton
Available at Amazon (currently paperback only; eBook Jan. 14, 2020), Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
The Cursed Key*
Nice Paranormal Aspects; Other Elements Off
I am not quite sure what to make of this book. There are elements of it that I enjoyed, but there were definitely some issues with it. I enjoyed the paranormal aspect and the idea that such a paranormal world existed was unknown to the heroine at the book start, but I didn’t feel like the MacGuffin, the key, was explained well enough so that the reader would know why it was so important to everyone. We weren’t really given much background about it to understand its significance nor were we told what exactly it did. I thought that the two main characters had grating personalities, which sometimes made them annoying to read about. I also thought the heroine acted unprofessionally and unethically at times. The opening jungle sequence was a good start to the story, but then the pacing slowed down to a crawl when the heroine returned to the United States; luckily, it did pick up again towards the middle of the book. Some of these flaws may be overlooked when you’re reading because the author actually has a good writing style. It is engaging, especially in the action parts, and easy to read. But then only when you start thinking about the story do its flaws truly become apparent.
Brotherhood of Dragons by Sarah J. Stone
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Free with Kindle Unlimited
Brotherhood of Dragons*
Nice Set of Interconnected Dragon Shifter Novels
Okay, I’ll admit it, I’m a massive fan of cheaply priced box sets. I love books that are written in a series, but sometimes it can be frustrating as a reader to have to wait for the next installment! How delightful to have them all together so you can binge read. While each book could stand on its own, each being about a different brother from the same family, the entire series has an overarching and interweaving plot which adds depth to the stories and reader experience. We also get to see the various characters interact throughout all the books. I love that. If you enjoy books about dragon shifters, this set should tick all the boxes for you.
Princess of Sky, Earth, Fire, and Water by Cassandra Finnerty
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Princess of Sky, Earth, Fire, and Water*
Head-Hopping and Odd Prose Hamper Enjoyment
I am not quite sure what to make of this book. I certainly enjoyed elements of the plot. So long as you suspend disbelief and fully buy in to the fantasy/magical aspect, the idea of such an Irish girl of those times being a commander of a fleet of merchant ships that go all over the world won’t rub you the wrong way—though perhaps it would have been better if the author had created a true fantasy world since this one is so different from reality. Aisling is a strong character, though I didn’t feel that her character arc was explored as much as it could have been. What I found more trying in this book included an at times dizzying head-hopping point of view and some rather dense sensory descriptions that I felt slowed down the pace of the action without adding really much to the story. For the latter, the way the author did it felt more like telling than showing, using lots of adjectives and adverbs describe a thing or an action (even rather minor ones, which made it feel like dense prose). For the former, the at-times rapid shifts of point of view were very distracting. Sometimes, the point-of-view character shifted within a paragraph, and I never like that. Interestingly, despite the dense description in the narrative portions, the dialogue was usually written almost in screenwriter format, meaning it was just dialogue line after dialogue line with no attribution or associated actions. Sometimes the lack of attribution made it hard to remember which character was talking. And I do like associated action with dialogue at times so I can visualize the conversation taking place; otherwise, it just feels like talking heads on a blank screen.
Abducted by Magic by Kelli McCracken and Elena Gray
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Free with Kindle Unlimited
Abducted by Magic*
Compelling World and Well-Drawn Characters Pull You In
This story pulls you right in, as the first narrator is a witch who has been fatally injured but wants to find someone to pass on her magic to. After this first chapter, the others are narrated by the heroine and her guardians. I normally don’t like first-person point of view, but these authors pulled it off very well. I felt like I was living the story with the narrators. Even though there were quite a few POV characters, the authors managed to give them unique voices and ways of looking at their world. That’s not easy to do in general, and it certainly isn’t easy to do when there are so many! I absolutely adored all the main characters, Katarina and her men. The story was so full of twists and turns. The combination of great characters, well-written prose, and fast-paced action made it a book that was hard to put down. I quite enjoyed it, and I look forward to the rest of the series.
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