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Shifting Shadows

Book Review of Amanda Kelly’s Shifting Shadows

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Shifting ShadowsI downloaded a copy of Amanda Kelly’s Shifting Shadows (Sparks Collide, #1) from the Amazon KDP list.

Description from Goodreads:
Party boy and werewolf, Jay Dellarson is stunned when his uncle hires a human to be his newest assistant. Kira Franklin is a sheltered girl with a mysterious past who’s finally taking charge of her life. When Jay and his pack begin to spend more time with the new girl in town, things start to unravel. Kira fights to keep her secrets hidden but when she finds out the truth of the town’s inhabitants it puts her in greater danger than ever before. While discovery of the werewolves’ secrets is dangerous, it’s discovery of Kira’s secrets that could place everyone in the middle of a vicious war.

Review:
This was an alright read if you like the kind of thing. It is told in first person, which I generally dislike. To complicate things it is told in first person from the perspective of two people. I found this really distracting and annoying. Now, I did appreciate being able to see both character’s POVs, but I’ve found myself constantly having to double check the chapter headings to remember who was currently narrating.

I really, really liked that this was not a case of insta-love. I found the romance a lot more realistic for the time it took to develop. But this was definately one of those books where the heroine manages to charm everyone effortlessly and by the end it starts to feel just a little too kumbaya for my taste–with everyone throwing wonderful affirmations around. This always strikes me as an underdevelopment.

The book seemed to throw the magic in all of a sudden. One moment Kira is going along as a normal girl unknowingly hanging out with the werewolves, the next she is suddenly off doing her thing. (I don’t want to give a spoiler, but suffice it to say there is no build up and so the reveal seems very abrupt.) I also didn’t quite grasp the seriousness of her situation. I understood she was in hiding because of the war. But she wasn’t anyone special to it, not a princess or the daughter of a leader or an active participant. She was just one girl so I saw no reason for her to be any more hunted than anyone else. Therefore all of her and her family’s precautions seemed really over the top.

It also ended without ending. I know that this is the first of a series, but my absolute, number one, literary pet peeve is…I would call it a cliffhanger, but that’s not right. A cliffhanger infers an actual conclusion of some sort while leaving some thread open for continuation. Nothing in this book concludes. There is one red herring event that substitutes an ending, but that’s just a cheat. The perpetrator of the mysterious attacks that plaque the whole book is not only not revealed it isn’t even addressed because it is still open and in the air.

I think this probably counts as New Adult as opposed to YA since the characters are all in their mid-twenties, but there isn’t any sex. I’m still figuring out what falls into that genre. I enjoyed the read.

Book Review: Karma in Camo, by J.D. Wylde

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karma in cAMO COVER

About the book:

Can lives based on lies lead to love?
Joe DeMarco of Nowhere, West Virginia, believes in love at first sight. From the first moment he sets eyes on the gorgeous, long-legged beauty stranded on the side of the road outside his town, he knows. She’s the one. Even if she’s standing in front of him, brandishing a bottle, threatening to blind him with hand sanitizer. He likes her idea of foreplay. He likes everything about her. Even when she’s maligning his character, calling him a terrorist — and he, the chief of police. He should tell her who he is. And what he does. And he would… soon.

Julia Stockton of New York City is having a bad day. Bad year, actually, now that Karma has it out for her. Or maybe it’s because of Karma. More likely, it’s because of the rat bastard of a man she’d loved. The one who lied to her, betrayed her and carved out her heart, taking her savings account and apartment as a departing gift. She’s done with lying men! So why has Karma dropped her on the side of the road in god-forsaken West Virginia? Taunting her with a handsome, blond-haired, broad-shouldered god? The kind of man she harbors secret fantasies about? The kind of man she could so easily love, if she was looking for it. Which she isn’t.

But Joe is very persuasive. And Julia willingly gives him a weekend. One she’s sure she’ll never forget. And then she gives him so much more. She gives him her fragile heart. And for a while, Joe is everything she wants. Until she finds out he isn’t what she thought. Or who. So, is it Karmo in Camo? Or is it love?

Review:

Oh God, I wish I hadn’t read that. Historically I’ve not been a fan of contemporary romances. I often find the female leads weak-willed, and the plots too sappy for me. I know that’s what some people like most about the genre, but me not so much. Despite my hesitations about the genre, I was tempted by the sarcastic tone of the book’s description, and this same tone runs throughout the story. It is just as funny as the description led me to believe, which was good. But I can’t say I much liked the story. Honestly, I’m not even saying it’s not a good book and everything that women who like mushy love stories and frail save me from myself heroines appreciate about the genre. I’m just not one of those women.

At 27% through the book, I posted this status update here on Goodreads,

I’m ~25% in and I know things are going to change, but as of this moment I’ve decided that a more satisfying rewrite of this story would be: Julia was having a bad day, week, month year. Stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire she doesn’t know how to change, Joe stops to help. She is then such a bitch to him that he gets back in his van, drives away and leaves her there like she deserves. Seriously!

The problem is that it didn’t change. Julia remained a completely bipolar, possibly psychotic witch who did NOTHING to deserve Joe–who was, of course, wonderful in every tall, blond, muscled, 8-inch, committed, loving way. I loved Joe, but despite my best efforts I couldn’t like Julia, outside of whether I generally like this sort of story or not. I just found her selfish and flat-out mean.

To top it all off, I don’t get the ‘he lied about being a cop’ theme that the plot hinges on. First off, so what? He a cop, big deal. Second, he DID TELL HER he’s the chief of police. The fact that she didn’t believe him doesn’t negate the fact that he told her. Plus, even if he hadn’t told her, he told her enough of what he does for a simpleton to figure it out. It’s not his fault if she’s just too stupid to read the large, neon, flashing, heroic sign he painted for her. It all left me groaning.

Wylde’s writing is perfectly readable, and, like I said, it is funny. But This was definitely not a good match for me.

Book Review: Jenala, by Cynthia Woolf

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jenala cover

Jenala Delasa is alone and in trouble. Someone wants her kalcion mine. They’ll stop at nothing, even murder. Jenala needs help.

Santro Baltin is just what the beautiful red-head needs. He’s huge, a master swordsman, and has a heart big enough to give her the room she needs to heal. When it comes to Jenala’s enemy however, he has his own agenda.

To defeat the notorious Zlaten Vandalar, they have to work together, mind to mind, shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart.

Review:

This was alright, I suppose. The story was pretty interesting, but I would have liked it more if it had been a little more fleshed out. Everything felt very rushed, and there was very little world-building or backstory. As a result, I was left with questions. What happened to the contract (or whatever it was) that Zlaten had that claimed Jenala would have to marry him if not paid? How did he get it in the first place? What is the difference between a claim and a marriage? This seemed important to the characters, but I couldn’t figure it out. Etc.

The book also tended to repeat itself a lot, with the narrative stating something and then a character saying the same thing and then later telling someone else about it. I think the reader is told three times in the first 10% of the book that Zlaten killed Jenala’s father, wants to steal her mine, and claim her through rape, for example. The narrative says it, then Jenala mentions it, and then the vet tells Santros about it. Once really would have been enough. This happened more than once.

I liked Jenala’s strong, upfront personality and Santro’s gentle, honourable way. I really did. But I also thought a lot of their dialogue was quite stiff. I honestly think Lottie was my favourite character. For a quick read (little more than a short story, really), it was entertaining enough, though. Plus, it was a freebie, so I can’t really complain. I have the sequel, The Swords of Gregara – Riza, which I’ll probably read at some point.