Reading Fanatic Reviews
Paranormal RomanceWhile the Dragon’s Away by Joynell Schultz
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While the Dragon's Away*
Growth and Evolution in This Installment
Roommate issues, which start the novella, are the least of Ruby and Ty’s problems in this book. Ruby doesn’t only have to balance her human concerns but also magical ones. Secrets are revealed as Book 2 delves deeper into the world acknowledged in Book 1—and these will have an impact on Ruby and Ty’s future. This book asks questions that I’m looking forward to future ones answering, particularly about the magical realm that Ty is a part of (and Ruby is to a certain degree). Ruby seems more grown up in this book, and her relationship with Ty continues to evolve. Magic, when used, appears to have consequences that can’t always be foreseen.
As I’ve come to expect from Ms. Schultz’s work, the world of this book is fully imagined and well described, yet she doesn’t overburden the narrative with too much at once. At this point, we’re only getting glimpses of the full extent what magic means and the mostly unseen magical realm, but it is enough to tantalize and make you wonder about the full extent of it all. I, for one, am looking forward to the next installment of the series.
Color of a Soul by Katherine McIntyre
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Color of a Soul*
Can She Find Her Soulmate Before It’s Too Late?
Jason is at a tourist location on Lake Ontario that was supposed to have been a special getaway spot for him and his near fiancee, but she broke up with him. Unfortunately, the place they were to stay has a no-refund policy, so he decided to take the romantic vacation by himself. Here, he meets Kelsey, and they fall into a surprisingly easy and empathy-provoking conversation. She is quite unlike any other woman he’s met, but that is an understatement! She’s not a woman but rather an undine. She has come from the Otherworld and only has a few days left on Earth before she must go back to her Realm because she has been unsuccessful in finding her soulmate. To remain on Earth, she needs to join with another soul.
Some writing in this was a little awkward, but still the author was able to convey the feelings of both of these characters convincingly. I can sense how Jason was at a true crossroads in his life, not only losing his girl but his job as well; it was fun to see him perk up and come alive in his discussions and interactions with Kelsey. For our heroine’s part, it was lovely to see her unfolding wonder as she began to realize that Jason had potential to be the one, first in his acceptance and understanding and then in his obvious growing affection. The author did an excellent job describing the scenes and the settings—I felt like I could visualize them—though I wished at the end that she had given a little more detail on the exact undine-soulmate process that had to take place. I think that could have been fascinating to read if it were like the other well-done descriptions. I loved that first scene with the pixie!
I felt like this story needs a little more conflict and tension because the middle was mostly just delightful scenes between the hero and heroine. Still, though, I did enjoy these characters and their story. I like that the author has a brief epilogue that shows how they fare.
Shift of Destiny by Carol Van Natta
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Shift of Destiny*
Danger for Woman Newly Coming into Her Power
Heroine Moira is on the run from a man who believes she has magical powers and wants to harness them. She doesn’t believe she has these powers. She chooses a small town in Wyoming as her destination. This little tourist town has secrets of its own; it is home to all manner of magical creatures who are able to hide themselves from the tourists by wearing a special charmed pendant that only shows what the wearer wants the non-magical person to see. Moira meets Chance on her first night, and the shifter handyman sees her to the place she will be staying. The book follows their blossoming romance and the attempts by more than one person to capture her.
I enjoyed the quirky little town that Moira ended up in. In fact, I wish more time was spent there as it was such a fun place to hang out with all the different types of magical beings present. I thought Chance was a good hero. He is a decent and kind person/shifter who is protective of those he cares about even if he has been a loner for much of his existence.
I was surprised at the level of profanity and crude words in this book, especially as the book went on. I just personally find this off-putting and distracting from a story. The book was mostly well edited, but I did find one peculiar fault, given that it was professionally edited—commas were used with compound predicates (verb phrases), and they don’t need to be.
If you enjoy shifter romance, you will most likely enjoy this book with a well-imagined world and well-drawn and sympathetic characters.
In the Land of the Vultures by Paula Scardamalia
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, Mondadori, Angus & Robinson, and Indigo (Chapters)
In the Land of the Vultures*
Beautifully Written Tale of Love and Death
Samara is the priestess of the goddess of death in her small community, which is now on the move after no rains and the river drying up. Her people seek a better land that can sustain them after many of their numbers have died. When a child appears to be at death’s door, the head of their village asks her to do her duty and take the child’s spirit to the land of the dead while they continue forward. Samara knows that this most likely will mean her own death, as survival in the desert in a group is hard enough, let alone on your own. After performing her duty, Samara is rescued and brought to a palace to be healed by the queen. The queen herself has suffered a significant loss and is grieving, and Samara’s rescuer believes that Samara will be a good distraction and may perhaps help bring the queen back to herself.
I quite enjoyed this story. The author’s description of Samara’s difficult journey through the desert was palpable; you can sense her thirst and feel the burning soles of her feet. Her time at the palace was fascinating. She never expected, as the priestess of the goddess of death, to fall in love, but she does with her rescuer. But all is not simple. I love how Samara could see the dead child’s spirit still hanging around his mother. It sounds morbid, but it was actually beautifully done. There is a truly evil villain in the story in the form of the king’s illegitimate brother. The road to true love was not easy either, as the hero had issues with a very essence of what Samara was and represented.
The only things that I didn’t like about this book were some sexual aspects. The king’s half-brother was particularly vile in this area, and perhaps this is one instance where more could have been told than shown (and the “told” parts done so in less detail). I thought, too, especially considering that Samara is a maiden, that things progressed rather quickly with Samara and the hero in their sensual scenes. Especially in the one after she deals with the villain; I don’t think she truly would have been ready for consummation after that.
The author’s description of the palace settings is vivid so that they can be easily imagined. The queen’s grief is very real, and the resolution of it gave me great satisfaction. Part of what Samara sees in her last crossing (in the book) of the bridge between life and death was a surprise, but looking back, I could see hints of how this could be. So the author did an excellent job of delivering an expected and fitting end but with an element of surprise.
Black Hollow: It’s the Little Things by Robbie Cox
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, 24Symbols, Mondadori, and Angus & Ferguson
Black Hollow: It's the Little Things*
Magically Delicious!
Kerry has come to Black Hollow to find her sister. We first meet Kerry when she’s checking into the only inn in town. She believes the proprietor, Mr. Sandman, is pulling her leg about the rules of the establishment that have to do with the likes of banshees, brownies, sprites, and dragons! So you might imagine that she lets out a scream when she meets a leprechaun who can change from being three-feet tall—a leprechaun’s average height—to being a size that’s more normal in the outside world. The two team up to both find her sister and work on the mystery of who is stealing from the leprechaun bank, which is what her sister came there to help figure out.
Oh, my gosh! What an incredibly fun and magically delicious read (oh, yeah, I went there!). While I understand that Black Hollow is a series, this is the first installment that I’ve read, and seriously, it is a delight. The book is written with great humor, which is what makes it so much fun. In setting up the magical aspects of this world, the author employs dry, tongue-in-cheek humor that is just a pleasure to read. To the inhabitants of the town, their abnormal existence is entirely normal; the author plays this up well but then contrasts it with Kerry’s reaction to it.
As I said, this is the first book of the Black Hollow series that I’ve read, but it certainly will not be the last.
Burned by J. K. Harper
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Burned*
Dragon Shifter Beauty and the Beast
I’ll admit that I love stories that are new takes on classic tales, so I was intrigued by this dragon-shifter adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. We meet the heroine, Teagan, as she’s bumbling her way through a swordplay class. She meets the hero, Ash, in the parking lot when she mistakenly thinks that he might be ready to attack her. Even though she only has a practice sword, she approaches him like a fiery warrior goddess protecting herself. Ash calms her down, and they start to have an interesting discussion, but when the wind blows his hood from his face, she sees his scars. She gasps, and he thinks that she’s just another one who can’t or won’t be able to see past his physical deformity.
What a delightful reimagining of Beauty and the Beast! Both Teagan and Ash have wounds, some interior and some exterior. I love how both of them were able to see past the physical right away. Poor Teagan has such self-esteem issues that she couldn’t see her unusual features as anything but ugly, but Ash could only see beauty. Teagan is smart, nerdy, and a little bit clumsy… and really quite endearing in her awkwardness, both verbal and physical. How can you not love a character who is so enamored with Queen Boadicea and ancient Ireland? And Ash, he truly believes himself to be unlovable, and I adored how the author had him wrestle with his inner dragon when confronted with this woman who could mean so much to them both.
If you enjoy retellings of classic stories with lots of heartfelt emotion and realistic, wounded characters, you might find this book a compelling, sweet (but steamy) read.
Thrilled by J. K. Harper
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Thrilled*
Rollicking Good Writing Style
We first meet Gabi, intrepid undersea explorer, who has found a wreck that promises to be a treasure find. Kai is a water dragon shifter who has been cursed by his dying mate: he’s not been able to touch their combined hoard until he finds true love again. Is this what Gabi has found? How can she see it and him, when she shouldn’t be able to do either?
The author’s writing style is delightful and easy to read. She has made two such clearly defined characters that their thoughts and actions leap off the page as being authentic. Gabi is full of life, exuberant, and dedicated to her job and her grandmother. At times, the book feels light and airy, while at other times we can understand and feel the pressures that both Gabi and Kai live under. There are humor and good banter, which I always love in any sort of romance.
This book is a part of a series, but it could be appreciated as a standalone. If you enjoy shifter romance with a strong heroine, a little steam, humor, and heart, you might find this a satisfying read.
Blaize and the Maven by Ellen Bard
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NOT with Kindle Unlimited
Blaize and the Maven*
Chakras Bedrock of This Magical World
We meet Blaize, the heroine of the story, as she is undergoing trials after five years as an Adherent training to use her primary chakra, the navel, which signifies fire. The trials are grueling and have the potential to kill the person being tested. We meet Cuinn as he is being asked to take on a new Adherent. He is a Maven, one who is well skilled in using the power of their two chakras, the dominant and the auxiliary. He doesn’t want to take one on for a variety of reasons, the main one being that he has a lot going on with a dire prophecy that he is accessing during his dream walking. Blaize passes her test, and she does become Cuinn’s new Adherent.
I’ve actually studied chakras for a long time, so I found the bedrock idea of this book to be a fascinating one. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the chakra system used in such a way as the basis for a magical world. The author has clearly given this much thought, as the concepts are sophisticated but accessible. I wouldn’t say you need to know about chakras to appreciate this book, but if you do, you will find the way the author plays with them to add to your enjoyment of reading it.
This book is about the prophecy mentioned above, which is slowly being revealed, as well as the initially slow burn romance between Blaize and Cuinn. The prophecy does take away some of the conflict and tension in the book because it gives us such a glimpse of what’s going to happen, even if we don’t know all the details or what they’ll be able to do to counteract what has been foreseen. But there’s still enough going on to keep your interest. I thought the relationship between Blaize and Cuinn wasn’t quite as natural and organic as I like in stories with an element of romance. He was so dead set against having an Adherent, yet almost as soon as he meets her, this shifts quickly. Blaize can be unlikable, impetuous, proud, and sometimes a little rude, so it doesn’t quite seem that this person who has lived for so long would have an attraction so quickly to such a relatively immature young woman.
Weighing up the pluses and minuses of this book, I find that I like the chakra background so much that it outweighs what I might not like about it. So, if you like books about magical worlds—and perhaps an especially interesting one in that isn’t about witches and warlocks—you might find this a fascinating read.
Finding Her Vikings by Skye MacKinnon
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, Mondadori, and Angus & Robertson
Finding Her Vikings*
A Little Sleuthing, a Little Time Travel…and a Big Twist
In this episode, Lainie meets the archivist. He’s not super friendly, but he asks for her help to find the thief who took a Viking ring. In exchange, he’ll help her figure out some special tips and tricks with time travel that other have to experiment to find out. She is surprised at who the thief is and why the ring was taken. Her hunky teacher is planning to take her back to his time so she can experience a little of Viking culture. What happens on this first time travel for Lainie is both a huge plot twist and a cliffhanger. This episode also gets a little steamy. I found this to be a delightful, quick, short read. I’m definitely curious what’s going to be happening next.
Hide from the Heart by Jessica Lynch
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Hide from the Heart*
A Perhaps TOO Modern Retelling of Myth
I’m a sucker for retellings of ancient myth, particularly that of ancient Greece and Rome. So I was very curious about this retelling of the myth of Eros and Psyche. I haven’t read the other books in the series, so I may have been at a disadvantage reading this fourth book. I definitely felt like I didn’t understand key concepts of the world and the relationships between the characters, even though the author did a little bit of an information dump at the start of it.
Something about this book just didn’t sit right with me. For a book telling of the reincarnations of the ancient gods and goddesses, the language felt jarringly modern. I guess the author wants it to be that way, but it diminishes these larger-than-life characters by making, say, Psyche/Jolie talk and think like an immature valley girl at times. And I totally don’t want to hear Eros/Sebastian talk about certain bodily effluents when he saw a python. I’ve been reading another series that blends the modern world with the ancient Greek gods and goddesses, and my positive thoughts about those books are making me see this one in a more negative light because this author has not carried off the concept as well as the other one.
Still, I did find the story of Eros and Psyche working through their issues and coming together again to be a fascinating one. I just wish I wasn’t so distracted by all the modern talk.
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