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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.

Book Review: Flag of Bones, by Elle Pepper

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flag of bones

Twice brought to hang at “Pirate’s Cove” Captain Jalen Shenn, Captain of the Free Boards Dragon Wynd, finds himself driven by a promise made twenty years before to take a figure to a place where even those who fly the black flag fear to go.

With the Empire chasing him from every friendly port, his most trusted crewman turned traitor to his boards, and the mystery of his wife’s location still plaguing him, Jalen must find the truth of why the Shenn name is so feared that they would wage war for the very mention of it.

With nothing left and no place left to turn but Deep Waters, Jalen is faced with a choice, Defy the Empire and fly the black flag, becoming the man the Empire fears him to be, or hide under the Blue flag of Freehold and never find the reason for this war that has plagued him all his life.

And when everything is on the line Jalen will make a choice that will shape history for hundreds of years to come.

My Review:

There is sooo much potential in this book. The writing is beautiful. It has a lilting musical quality to it that makes it a pleasure to read. It also makes the layered meanings of the phrases believable. I really liked the way that a single phrase or gesture could have both a surface meaning and a secondary meaning, enabling the speaker to relay two messages at once. It is a testament to Pepper that she is able to relay both meaning in an easily followable manner.

Pepper has obviously put a lot of thought into the peoples of her world. The men in this novel (there isn’t a single woman) are men of loyalty and honor-bound by strong codes of conduct. These codes, tied as they are to real spiritual consequences, are so strong that people are often willing to die for them. The problem is that these codes/beliefs/religions aren’t adequately explained to the reader. Nor is the social structure of the world or the nature of the species that people it. As an example, I’m still not certain if the ‘dragons’ are actual dragons or simply a tribe that has some special skill and claims the totem of the dragon.

As much as this novel has to offer (and it is a lot), reading it is like reading every third page of the second book in a series without having read the first. I kept flipping back to see if I had missed pages. It is roughly 120 pages long, but I think it should be closer to 320 long to accomplish its task. So much preceded the start of the book and is left unexplained at the end. It would be a pleasant 320 pages to read, though. Pepper really is a talented writer. I’d be interested in reading the rest of the books in the series, but I would be more interested in reading the rest of this one first.