Monthly Archives: August 2013

Book Review of Shanon Grey’s The Shoppe of Spells

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The Shoppe of SpellsI grabbed The Shoppe of Spells, by Shanon Grey, off of the KDP free list.

Description from Goodreads:
When is a whole more than the sum of its parts? 

When it has ties to the quaint little town of Ruthorford, GA, as Morgan Briscoe discovers when a cryptic message threatens to change her life forever. Morgan’s relatively normal life is turned on its ear when she learns not only that she is adopted, but her birth parents are dead and she now holds half-interest in a business with their ward, Dorian Drake. 

Dorian is running The Shoppe of Spells and despite his riveting good looks, he can barely conceal his hostility toward his new partner. 

Morgan discovers that she is more than she seems and together she and Dorian have the ability to control a portal to another dimension. Unable to control their growing attraction, Morgan and Dorian dance around their desires and her burgeoning abilities, until danger forces them to face their destiny.

Review:
As a basic piece of fluffy entertainment I generally enjoyed this. The writing was pretty good and, though I noticed a few typos, it was fairly well edited. I liked both the main characters and Ruthorford, GA sounds like the kind of place I would love to live. I did have a couple problems with the plot, however. These may not be the sort of thing that bother everyone. I’ll just put that out there at the forefront. But I was annoyed.

First, I just didn’t understand the logic of the bio parents. They were happy with their lives, even if it was a rough life. On having a daughter born with the same abilities they choose to give her up for adoption with the expectation that at twenty-five(ish) they’ll invite her home and teach her everything she needs to know to take over for them. (Seriously? If you’re happy, why wouldn’t your daughter be?) They then take in a ward who they train all through his childhood, but as an adult he barely knows everything he needs to know to take over the family duty. Thus, inferring that a lifetime of training really is necessary to do the job. (So how was Morgan supposed to catch up?) What’s more, the abilities she was born with didn’t go away once she was put up for adoption. So they condemned her to a life as an outsider with no one to turn to for answers or explanations. NONE OF THAT MAKES ANY SENSE! Why would you do that to her? So, right off the bat I’m lost.

Second, I always have a little bit of a problem with story-lines based on the formula of ‘I’m a male so I have ability X. You’re a female, so you have ability Y. Together we have super XY abilities.’ I tend to spend a lot of time wondering how, exactly, those symbiotic abilities would develop in the first plea. Combine that with the whole paired mate element and I’m extra skeptical. It felt very much like any two moon touched individuals who got within close proximity would be attracted like magnets, regardless of their personality, personal wishes, etc. Certainly Ian inferred this to be true. How not romantic is that?

Third, there didn’t seem to be a beginning, middle and end. I don’t mean the book ended on a cliffhanger or anything. It didn’t. But it felt very much like Morgan found out she was adopted, met Dorian and then a lot of random things happened until they finally fell in love. I mean, what did Rob and all of his drama have to do with the rest of the plot, for example? I couldn’t pick out a single plot peak that felt like it marked the culmination of the action that afterwards tapered toward an ending of any sorts, if you know what I mean. It wasn’t necessarily boring, but I just kept waiting for the plot to take off and indicate what THE barrier to overcome would be…then kept waiting and waiting.

Lastly, everyone was just so darned pleasant all of the time. All parents are gloriously loving. All friends are loyal, dependable BFFs. All neighbours are friendly and helpful. The main characters flawlessly go out of their way to befriend the weak and help the needy (who then go on to become more lovely friends). There were bad things that happened in the book, yes. There was a bad guy, who in the end wasn’t all that bad, yes. But everywhere else the reader looked there was an unrelenting feel-good factor that felt incredibly unrealistic. This always irks me. I know I’m probably on my own on this one, but there you have it.

Again, as pure entertainment the book is pretty good. I just had to set some of my expectations aside to enjoy it. Some of those are personal to me and others won’t share them, so I don’t really have any problem recommending the book. Depends on the reader really.

A Hidden Fire

Book Review of Elizabeth Hunter’s A Hidden Fire (Elemental Mysteries #1)

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A Hidden FireI downloaded a copy of Elizabeth Hunter‘s A Hidden Fire from the Amazon KDP list. It’s still free BTW. 

Description from Goodreads:
“No secret stays hidden forever.”

A phone call from an old friend sets Dr. Giovanni Vecchio back on the path of a mystery he’d abandoned years before. He never expected a young librarian could hold the key to the search, nor could he have expected the danger she would attract. Now he and Beatrice De Novo will follow a twisted maze that leads from the archives of a university library, through the fires of Renaissance Florence, and toward a confrontation they never could have predicted.

A Hidden Fire is a paranormal mystery/romance for adult readers. It is the first book in the Elemental Mysteries Series.

Review:
For a free Amazon read, A Hidden Fire was surprisingly good. I can honestly say that the dialogue was some of the best I’ve read in a a while. B and Giovanni are quick witted and sarcastic. I really quite enjoyed their banter. I also really liked each of them as characters. Their molasses-slow romance, however, not so much. I got really, really tired of seeing them deny each other.

There were also times when the influence of other popular vampire books was a little too obvious. One particular scene really could have been cut and pasted from Twilight with little alteration beyond being in a library elevator instead of a forest. Nothing in this book is anywhere near as angsty as Twilight though. So big sigh of relief there.

I did think that it wrapped up far, far too easily. B’s computer wiz magic seemed just a little too convenient and I had a hard time accepting that she could pull it off so effortlessly and without any ill after effects. Kind of reminds the reader that main characters often have preternatural luck on top of everything else.

I’m happy to say that the book does conclude to a degree. (So many PNR these days don’t. They end on ridiculous cliffhangers that really just equate to incomplete stories.) A lot of threads are left open though. So anyone, like me, who prefers their stories in tight little packages instead of drug out across a whole series might be frustrated.

As an informative aside, the book is a really clean romance. There is no sex–a few kisses and quite a bit of longing, but no actual culmination. I felt a little cheated by this, but those who prefer to avoid the erotic should really enjoy this one.

Book Review: Nette, by Barbara Rayne

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nette

In a world where gender was distinguished by the eye color, blue for female and brown for male, she had the misfortune of being born as brown eyed girl. Being ugly and a freak to everyone was the least of her troubles. Immortal and destined to be a queen, her mere existence was a threat to the king. After everyone she loved was brutally murdered, she had no choice but to pursue the path she was destined. In a world that made it obvious there was no place in it for her, immortal Nette will have to make room even if it means killing them all.

This book is suitable for any age or gender, because it’s a story about a girl that has been stigmatized in a society just because she was different. To make it more absurd, the first reason was the color of her eyes. Her immortality just added to the fire!
Be it the color of the skin or worshiping a different God; I see hatred in our present society as equally absurd. I wanted to show how different people are treated, how our noble deeds can be overpowered by hate, and I spiced it up with a bit of romance.

My Review:

This is a book about a girl who was never given the chance to be happy. What little happiness she does find is hard-earned and well-deserved. I’ve always liked this type of storyline. Life is hard, and I like it when characters work for their word count. It makes me root for them all the harder, and you defiantly sympathise with Nette in this book. She is good-natured, strong-willed, and likable. Though from a very different genre, she reminded me a lot of Scarlett O’Hara in her ability to face disappointment head-on, straighten her back, and get on with the difficult task of getting on-to hell with society’s (or the nobility’s) opinion. I found myself really hoping that the next chapter would bring a lasting happiness, and this kept the pages turning.

It is very easy to fall into pace with Nette, since the story is told in the first person from her point of view. You are never left wondering what she is thinking, as you are in her head every step of the way. The story starts when she is very young. Too young, in fact, to understand what is happening around her. The reader, like Nette, must face the unknown assailants and figure it out. It then follows her amazing and prophecied life.

The story is fast-paced and engaging, and there is a colourful cast of supporting characters. I particularly loved Raul. The only thing that kept it from being a 5-stars (other than that I am very chincy with my 5-stars) is that it felt a little rushed at times—I would have liked a little more explanation of the whos, hows, and whys-and Rayne has a habit of dropping particles that takes some getting used to. This should in no way discourage readers. It is a fun and imaginative book that is well worth the read. I’ll definitely be up for reading another of Rayne’s books in the future.