Serenya's Song - A review

Hi everyone. I have joined the bandwagon (again) of Mysti Parker’s book tour. This has nothing to do with this post, however.

I won a copy of her latest book, Serenya’s Song and read it…pretty darn fast, considering the fact that I just got married and had no time for silly things like reading. So, I wanted to share the magic with the world, since this book has left me satisfied :)

Serenya Crowe is trying to be the perfect wife to the Earl of Summerwind, Sebastian Crowe. With a birth defect and shady background, landing the most eligible bachelor and living in a mansion is pure luck…right?

Jayden Ravenwing (yes, it’s Jayden from A Ranger’s Tale), broken hearted by his divorce, decides to retreat into a small town. There, he meets Serenya and sparks start flying.

Add a creepy portal to hell in the mix and you’ve got one adventure with great promise.

I personally really enjoyed this story. It was a little harder for me to read than A Ranger’s Tale because I actually critted about 80% of it for Mysti. Even so, I still managed to get surprised regarding a particular twist and confuse the culprit.

What I liked most about this story: As opposed to A Ranger’s Tale, the plot is more focused. It’s actually sort of action-adventure with a very powerful romance plot, but it’s not the romance itself that seems to drive the story. And Mysti’s imagination runs wild. Lovely.

There is also extra world building. I already know the world of Tallenmere from the previous book, but more mythology and history comes through in this piece and I love that. We get more creatures, more spells, a deeper look into magic and some handy work from Jayden.

Sebastian is an awesome antagonist. He’s not the kinda person you love to hate, because, in my eyes at least, he wasn’t THAT despicable, but he’s in shades of grey. That’s what I loved about him – you know he’s a prick, but you can’t really hate him because you kinda get him.

Lilly was as kick-ass as ever, and I enjoyed finding out more about her and her people, the Haddo.

Caliphany and Galadin make a reappearance and show off their skills.

The atmosphere is also darker than ART, but me likey dark, so I enjoyed that. The setting is also superb and easy to picture.

Now, let’s move on to some criticism as well, right? Can’t be all kittens and rainbows.

Though I liked both Jayden and Serenya, the two of them are artsy, sensitive characters. The feistiest person in this book was Lilly. Now, as much as I love sweet romance and sensitive people, Serenya and Jayden together felt a bit like… sugar overdose, if you know what I mean. Mysti did handle this problem by giving them little love scenes together, and also by giving Serenya a…. okay, almost spoiled the story for you. Not gonna do that. So, yeah, bottom line is, they almost gave me diabetes.

There were also a few sections where I thought there should have been more of a reaction from characters. Like when Jayden and Caliphany meet again, and Jayden and Galadin come face to face – That part felt a little rushed to me, even if I agree that all characters were in a hurry.

Also, I didn’t get to feel much about Shade and Zephyrus before the end, and that was a shame.

But, of course, that’s just my opinion. Here’s my score for this book:

Atmosphere – 5/5

Characters – 4/5

Setting – 5/5

Romance – 4/5

Plot – 5/5

Side plots – 4/5

World building – 5/5

Entertainment value – 5/5

This is Mysti - teh awesome writer

So, yes, as you may notice, my second dive into the fantasy world of Tallenmere was very satisfying. The book was well worth the read and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next installment which will star one of the characters in Serenya’s Song.

If you haven’t grabbed your copy yet, you don’t know what you’re missing. Right now, you’re lucky. Until June 9^th, Mysti Parker is on tour and offers you the chance to win BOTH ART and SS. So join her for the chance at magic reading.

I'll be hosting my own interview with Mrs.Parker on the 4th of July. So drop on by for a chance to find out more about Mysti, her writing habits and maybe even win a little something. :)

If you’d like to purchase this awesome story, here are some handy links:

From the publisher (Melange)

Amazon

Contests, reviews and updates

Hello peeps!

I'm back before the end of the month, which in itself is a miracle. :)

So let me hit you with some news. First, I've qualified for the top five in the Unwritten 'Love at first sight contest'. Which means I have the chance to win some yummy amazon gift certificate to buy books. So, why not hop on over and vote (for me or for whomever you like). Here's the link: contest.

In other news, I've received another contract offering for Hunters. As flattering as that is, I'll have to tell them it's taken already. And speaking of which... I can't wait to see what cover they'll be cooking up for me :D

Now let's get to the point. I've been owing people some reviews of books. So, today, I'm going to give you my short thoughts on Rae of Hope by Wanita May.

Standard disclaimer: The opinions to follow are my own and you should keep in mind that different people have different tastes.

I read this book maybe a month ago.

The basic story is that Rae Kerrigan (loved the name) is enlisted in an exclusive boarding school for people with special talents. She doesn't know she has a special talent, but discovers it when she gets there. At the age of 16, she would sprout a tattoo(tatu) which gives her super powers. Also, she finds out that her father was kinda evil and her mother set fire to their house to kill her father (I guess that's a bit of a spoiler).
Rae tries to get used to this world and adapt, and also prove that she's not like her father. Some events take place and Rae learns to use her powers and trust herself.

As a whole, I liked this story. The concept was interesting and the writing flowed well. It was easy to get yourself lost in Rae's world. Also, the whole tatu thing was an awesome idea. The school was well thought out and easy to imagine.

There were some things in there that sort of bugged me as well. For instance, there is very little detail on what happened at their training courses. Also, there was a jumble of characters I found hard to keep track of, especially because most of them seemed to be acting the same.
Also, at some times I couldn't connect with Rae. Though she was mostly a nice girl and good character, the thing with Devon sort of bugged me - especially since she hated his girlfriend without any objective reason.
I found that bit a little unbelievable as well. Devon and his girlfriend had been together for a long time - couples like that don't just break up without a real reason.

As a conclusion to this rant, Rae of Hope is an enjoyable read. It makes me want to read the next book in the series and see where the author will take the story.

My rating for it:  3.5 stars

Well, this is it for now. I have more reviews to do, but I'll have to find more time. Meanwhile, check out Mysti's contest ;)

See ya!

Night of Horror

Hi everyone,

Just so you know, in my little corner of the universe, there's no such thing as Halloween. Unfortunately (just like Valentine's day), Halloween is starting to become a habit here as well. And I say unfortunately, because there's no trick-or-treating for kids. Just parties in lame costumes for teenagers and grownups, held in expensive clubs with lots of drinks. And then, there's horror movie night at the cinema.

Which is what I did Saturday through Sunday. It wasn't bad. I love going to the movies. Only that this year, the movies were kinda crap. Plus I still have that annoying cold, so it was rather sniffy for me.

What I will do now, is a little movie review. I know I haven't done that before, so I'll try to keep it short and simple. Here's the movie list: Final Destination 5, Fright Night, Shark Night, Dream House and Contagion. I didn't see contagion because we got bored/annoyed/tired and left. And got some sleep :)

Final Destination 5

What's going on:  Due to some freak premonition, a bunch of people escape death on a bridge. Only death isn't happy and kills them off one by one in gory freak accidents (which implies people getting crushed/cut/thrown out the window - you know, likely stuff like that).

What I think: The idea is interesting, but why make FIVE freaking movies using the same damn theme? This is not a horror movie. This is a gross-out movie. So if you enjoy those types of films, this one might be for you. (I thought it was better than Saw 6 or 7 whichever the hell I watched last year).
My grade: 4

Fright Night


What's going on: Some kid finds out that his neighbor is Colin Farrel (nuff said), I mean a vampire and tries to protected himself from him, then kill him to save his girlfriend.


What I think: I actually enjoyed this movie because... it was funny. CGI monsters don't scare me in the least, so I laughed through the whole thing. It's kinda like Zombieland with vampires, so if you liked that one, you might enjoy this one, too. So, no, this was not horror either.
My Grade: 6.5


Shark Night


What's going on: Some kids go on an island in the Bayou and are almost all killed by freakish sharks that are there for some lame reason, because they just couldn't stay the ef out of the watter.


What I think: This movie is like Scooby Do with sharks. The villains have a Scooby Do like plan (make money with sharks eating people videos - WTF?) and there's a dog there that kinda saves the day.

This movie was incredibly retarded. Here are a few examples as to why: in one scene, a guy out-swims a shark while carrying a human hand (don't ask how he found that). In the next scene, same shark out-swims a motorboat going extremely fast - so, yeah. There's an inserted plot device. The hero (who was wearing swimming trunks and a hoodie and didn't smoke) suddenly pulls out a lighter to burn off the plastic tying his hands together.... um, okay. There are stupid people. The MC cry-girl is shoved in a cage and thrown in the water for sharks to eat - only she can fit between the bars and get out - but she doesn't seem to realize that.

Lol, I ranted a lot on this one. I laughed out loud because it was THAT stupid. So, no, this was not horror either.
My grade: 2 (that's actually just for the entertainment value)

Dream House


What's going on: Some editor guy quits his job and moves into a small town with his family. While there, he finds out that the house was the scene of a crime. Big spoiler - he's the one who supposedly murdered his family there and his family is one big hallucination.


What I think: This movie wasn't half-bad. Except it was too much of a rip-off of Shutter Island. I personally loved Shutter Island and thought it a very smart movie. This one asks for a bit of intelligent thought and then simply insults your intelligence. In an effort to not make it a complete rip off, he finds out pretty fast that he's imagining that stuff and wants to find his family's killer (even if it's him). Well, it's not him, it's the neighbor who sent an assassin to kill his wife (for Scooby Do like reasons), and the guy got the wrong house. So... no, the conclusion is pretty darn retarded.
My Grade: 6.5 (for trying to be smart, I guess)

So this is it. Meanwhile, tomorrow is Nov 1st, which means NaNo is starting! I'm so excited about that. I'll keep everyone up to date with what I'm doing.

The Hunger Review

Hi all!

I've been meaning to do this for a while, but I took some time to let it sink in. You all know I've been on top of The Hunger Games trilogy recently. I've made short work of it. So I wanted to do a mini-review on it and show what I liked, what had me going meh! and what I've learned from all this.

The Hunger Games

Is a great book. The concept is amazing, the characters are strong and the writing is... I have no idea since I read it in Romanian, but in Romanian, it was really nifty. It was one of those books where I couldn't stop and crit. I found nothing wrong with anything as a writer. It hooks you and keeps you there until the very end. As a stand alone, it is marvelous. - Of course, this is all my opinion.

What it's all about: You all know the concept of the Capitol and it's surrounding districts. One revolution brought on the wipe out of one district and the birth of the Hunger Games. Each year, 2 teenagers, boy and girl, from each district are put in a CGI arena and fight for their lives. Katniss Everdeen is one of them - she actually takes her sister's place and becomes part of the Hunger Games together with Peeta Mellark, a boy she knew but never talked to. -> very basic story line.

I liked the characters, the setting and all the world building in this book. Even if Katniss wasn't sure about her feelings and what she should do, I loved how her instincts took over and she did what she had to do. I liked that she grew attached to people, that she was fair, and that she tried to do the right thing.

The little things I can snark on:  The first chapter isn't exactly gripping. It has a good hook, but it's a little slow to start. The whole getting out of bed thing was a little disappointing.
The ending was a little disappointing - the whole Gale vs Peeta thing and the thought of marriage coming out of the blue. It showed a little of Katniss's selfish, jerky side, and I didn't like that much. Especially since I've grown to really like her.

Overall verdict: 5/5 stars. I think this book truly deserves it - because of the entertainment value if nothing else.

Catching Fire

I started reading this right away after finishing the first book. It felt like the middle book of a trilogy as the action seems thin. I know it's not, but that's how it seems to me. Probably because most of what happens is a repeating of the first book - getting ready for the tour and then the second Hunger Games for Katniss and Peeta.

I did like the twist with Snow, and how he played a big part in this book. I liked his idea of getting rid of Katniss and I especially liked the budding of the revolution, played subtly. There were some great scenes in this book - like their visit in District 11 (when the old man got shot). The fall of the Capitol was also painted well.
And I can't help but applaud the ending - a great hook!

Things I can harp on: Katniss is starting to turn into a jerk in this one - what with the whole Peeta-Gale-no, Peeta- no, Gale part. She's really inept in keeping up a relationship with people. I understand where she's coming from, but I expected her to grow.
 The second Hunger Games didn't have the savor and feel of the first - they almost seemed a bit rushed and too many people died too fast and too pointless, IMO.
Not sure I liked Peeta's latest lie about her being pregnant. I liked him, though :D

Overall verdict: 4.5/5

Mockingjay

This is a good book. But it annoyed the crap out of me. I might be one of the few who feel this way, but I kinda saw it as a fail. I read it fast, but found myself annoyed and getting bored. And that's only because it felt less...good compared to the other two books.

The book mainly focuses on the rebellion and brining the Capitol down. But the rebels are jerks, lead by district 13 and a president which is just as bad as Snow, and it's annoying that no one realizes that.

I'll go straight into things that annoyed me: Katniss spends most of this book wondering around and being emo. There's a brief flash of her old personality when she wants to go hunting again and asks for the former Hunger Games winners to be spared. I liked that part, and when she wants to save the burning hospital. But most of the time, I grow to hate Katniss. She's so incredibly selfish, it makes me want to slap her.
I hate how many people died pointlessly (and here come spoilers) like Finnick and Prim - I mean what was the point in killing them off? And in such a confusing way? They deserved better. The bloodbath was so overwhelming that by the time that Prim died, I couldn't care anymore.
What annoyed me the most? Katniss falling unconscious so many times and denying us of great action scenes - like the fall of the Capitol after Prim died and beeing knocked out after she killed the president of district 13 - I felt cheated and also felt that the strategy had been used a lot in this book/in this series.
And I had a problem with what happened to Peeta - why screw him up like that? And why have him still be better than Katniss even if he was screwed up?
The ending - felt rushed - even if she and Peeta got married and they had kids and there was no more Capitol and the President was decent, it still feels like they didn't win. I get that Katniss still has nightmares, but there's no joy, no nothing. It's kinda depressing - like all the fighting, all the death was for nothing. MEH!

Overall verdict: 4/5 - I know  I ratted a lot on this book, but it was still gripping and had some really good scenes and managed to get emotions across well.

So, this is it. I'm currently reading Mary's A sign in Blood and A Game of Thrones (since I can't read on the computer for a long time - sorry Mary - I am making progress though :D). Maybe I'll give you some thoughts on those.

Oh, I was supposed to tell you what I've learned from the Hunger Games:
Mostly that chapter length doesn't matter and that even a brilliant book can be completely brought down by the ending. So... I'm thinking twice now about killing all my characters off in the last book of my series O:)

What I've learned part deux. Or Salem's Plot

You know what I've been up to these past few days? Yeah, me neither. Where the heck did this whole month go? Can you tell I'm trembling in my shorts right now? This time tomorrow, I'm taking the exam that's been causing me to freak out all over the place and I'm... super scared. If you don't hear about me after this post, you should know I probably died of a terror induced heart attack (or drowned in kittens).

Right, now that's out of the way...
I've finished editing Hunters - version 2.0 should be hitting CC as soon as I take out my scholarship money and pay for a premium membership.

Until then, I've finished 2 more books. That is right - Salem's Lot by Stephen King and Fallen by Lauren Kate or what the hell her name is (mopey girl crying in the forest cover). So here's a few things I've learned.

1. Omniscient... eh, not so much.

I know I used to write omni, so this is a bit nasty of me, but I don't think it works for horror stories - but I'm glad I read the book, since I remembered what it was like to read decent literature in Romanian.
What I did realize, is that opposed to close third (which seems to be the trend right now), it's harder to care about the characters in omni. I did like some people in Salem's Lot (one of them dies - NOOO, Jimmy, come back to us!), and the other two survive (I'm glad I liked Ben and Mark before I knew they would be the ones to survive).
Fallen is close third so it doesn't come in here.

2. A lot of characters are... normal?

Okay, if anyone ever gives me hell about a lot of characters again, I will personally flip them off. I mean, WTH? Salem's Lot had a million characters and you found out a lot of nasty, gory details about mostly all of them. And no one complained, and everyone thinks Stephen King is a genius. They bothered me at first, until I started not giving a damn. Anyway, I enjoyed how everything was wrapped up at the end.

Fallen doesn't have a ton of characters - it falls into normal character section. So not commenting on this yet.

3. I don't get scared reading books.

Salem's Lot did give me some nifty dreams though (as did Fallen, since the atmosphere was really well described). But, no, I don't get scared - not even rapid pulse or anything. I enjoy them, but that's about it for me. And it kinda pisses me off - Me want to get scared!

That's about it - I've learned less this time, I know, but I've been busy freaking out to pay proper attention to the technicalities of these books.

Mini Review for Salem's Lot

Ben goes back to Salem's Lot (where he grew up) to write a book. The town is full of freaky people and there's a weirdo house there which scares the crap out of all the people (don't know why no one set fire to it at some point). It takes about 300 pages into the book to reach the vampires. IMO, the first 120 pages are useless. But the read is entertaining. The writing flows, most of the sections are short and it's not boring. Not overly interesting, but not boring. When the vampires pop out, I'm not really scared because they seem to have a lot of weaknesses (crosses, holly water, not being able to open doors and other such). The action scenes are pretty good, I liked some of the characters and I enjoyed the ending.

Overall verdict - pretty nifty. 4/5 stars.


Mini Review for Fallen

Lucinda Price goes to a correctional facility because she's crazy/considered guilty for a mysterious death. There, she meets some peeps and Daniel (I'm starting to really like this name, but due to my Daniel) who flips her off on the first day. To cut a long story short, Daniel's a fallen angel and Luce is his long lost love who reincarnates every 17 years because she always dies a tragic death.
I mainly enjoyed this book - the description was good and not too much, since everyone was pretty freaky and crazy, the dialogue felt real (is that a trick?), and the characters were pretty good. I actually liked Luce - she seemed to have a personality up to some point. Also, the author is not afraid to kill, and that's always good.

What bugged me about this book:

For the death of her, this woman can't write action. It was so confusing, half of the time, I had no idea what was going on. The fact that I read this book in Romanian could be a part of it, but I've never read a more confusing fist fight.
The plot was a little like... eh? Get into the character's head is fine, but I don't want to have absolutely no idea what's going on. Most of what I got out of this book, plot-wise, I pretty much imagined myself. Daniel doesn't really explain what's going on, the pieces don't come together, and before a bigger explanation is given, the book is over... lul, what?
It did take a little long to get to the point - but I didn't mind - I kinda got a bit impatient one chapter before they made out - so I'm a trooper.
Daniel isn't done too well - he doesn't make me go swoon - she seems to have no reason to love him except that she's done it before - not a big fan of that - I wanted him to do stuff in the real world that would have her falling in love - and he didn't really seem to have a personality - except being weird and protective and confused/confusing. Could've been better.

Overall verdict - though I harped on it, I enjoyed it and finished it in like 3 days. So, 3.5/5 (because of the things I harped on, because I enjoyed it as much, if not more than Salem's Lot)

Well, this is it - have fun with my craziness. I'm reading the Hunger Games right now - wanna see what those are like.

Wish me luck! Tomorrow is the big day. Freaking out again... *runs off to solve more previous subjects*

What I've learned

Hi all!
I know it seems like I've been gone forever. Yeah, I kinda have. Maybe you're wondering what I've been up to these last days. Well... mainly this.

Goodbye Hogwarts!

And this

I look so smug, I know you want to slap me!

And now I'm just looking forward to a degree exam and college is officially over. Unfortunately, I still have a ton to study, so I might be MIA for a while.

I also wanted to discuss some writing stuff today. Can you believe that?
Remember that I mentioned getting a ton of books and reading for fun again. Well, it appears I can no longer read without at least attempting to crit. So I did some learning from my reading experience.
I've been reading The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare - I've only read City of Bones and City of Ashes as those are the only ones available in my country. And I read them in Romanian, so I haven't learned anything word-wise (which was a bummer). This is going to turn out to be a mini-review as well.

So here is what I've learned.

1. World building rocks! 

Honestly, I loved the world building in this book - the demon - Shadowhunter thing, the whole Downlanders (or how ever they were called (again, read this in Romanian)) legends and the new take on vampires and werewolves made  me dig the series. I came to the conclusion that it's one of the most important part of Paranormal and fantasy novels.

2. Your characters don't have to be very likable.

I don't know about you guys, but I couldn't give a damn about Clary as much as I tried and Jace was so annoying, with not knowing when to shut the hell up. And the whole relationship between them... I suspect they're not actually brother and sister and will hook up, but Jace wanting to hook up with Clary even if he thought they were siblings (saying no one had to find out) completely put me off him.
Clary was a bit too blank as a character - I think she's supposed to be a readers' surrogate (and if so, she's much better done than Bella Swan), but I like my MCs with a tad more personality. I can't tell you anything about her, except that she drinks coffee at 15, which I find quite wrong.
The only characters I can say I truly liked are Luke and Magnus Bane - they're fun :D

3. Description kills

And I don't  mean this in a good way. Honestly, the first volume was fine, but the second (seeing as I read it right after the first) was so repetitive it took me almost 2 weeks to read it (whereas I read the first book in 2 days). If I heard about how angel-like and golden Jace was one more time, I was gonna puke!
I know I'm a minimalist when it comes to description, but I think this took it to another level. It was just too much - Clary couldn't even think for 2 sentences before getting distracted by a crack in the wall.

4. Moderation is the key

When it comes to plot twists as well. These books gave me a headache - okay, just the last one - the first was pretty easy to follow. But the second book comes to destroy everything that the first settled. Whoa! Slow down! I want to get time to get used to the changes - and I don't like to...like not trust anything the author says - even the real stuff. And the whole he's dead - oh, wait, no he isn't- oh, wait, yes he is - oh, wait, no he isn't thing really got on my nerves.
I did like Clary's super power, though. That was nifty. Though I can't believe no on bothered to train her.

5. Adverbs aren't that bad

Yes, there are adverbs in this book - and I think they were used well. Honestly, too much show is draggy and kinda boring (there was that in the books too). Why go through a whole phrase that slows the action when just a word can do it? Who cares if it ends in -ly?

6. Chapter length is not an issue

Not for me, at least. The chapters of these books are huge (including the chapter length epilogues, which kinda pissed me off - why not make them chapter n+1?). I've been worried about my own chapters, trying to keep them under 5000 words, but not anymore. And I suspect the Hunger Games are the same. I'll just say what I have to say in my chapters, even if it will make them longer.

7. Plot?

Okay, this plot is like... ultra simple with some background things thrown in to make it interesting. It's not a Wow! plot. Bad guy looking for stuff, good guys trying to stop him, other good guys are actually assholes. It's been done to death (including by me, but I usually come up with a twist in which I turn everything upside down - maybe she does too). I can't say the plot impressed me. It was interesting enough to keep me going, but not keep me on the edge of my seat. This might have been different if I was 14-15 rather than 22, so this could be me. ;)

8. Ending

Like there's another chapter following, only there's not. Which leads me to the conclusion that these books should be read in quick succession. Agreed. Then don't repeat all the descriptions a million times! (Sorry, had to get that off my chest)

So this was my reading experience. I'm currently reading Salem's Lot (hoping to get spooked). I'll probably learn something from this too ;)

Do you guys pick up writing tips from the books you read?

A Ranger's Tale - Book review

Hi peeps!

After my first author interview, I've decided to get on my first book review.

Disclaimer:  In my reviews, I am honest. It’s also all about MY personal preference. Just because I like/hate a book, it doesn’t mean that everyone else will too. Take this as what it is. A personal opinion. 

I’ve waited for a whole month until the united forces of the US postal service and the Romanian post bought “ A Ranger's Tale ” by Mysti Parker to my door (well, actually my mailbox, eleven floors below).

I was very excited to get reading and see what it was like. I was swept away after the first couple of pages.

Caliphany Aranea is a blonde bomb-shell, bad-ass fire mage, getting ready for her dissertation. But she wants more from her life than take her strict and famous father’s place as the next top scholar. She dreams of travel and adventure.

Galadin Trudeaux (awesome name, btw) is a ranger, ship captain and former pirate. He saves Caliphany from an attempted kidnapping and falls in love with her on the spot.

Their journey together begins when Caliphany pays him to train her in the ways of the rangers. What follows is a lightning romance, adventures, travels and a fast marriage.

Caliphany tries to bring her two lives together, but before she can even introduce her new husband to her family, tragedy strikes.

With a child on the way, Caliphany joins the L.I.O and seeks solace in her old flame, Jayden.

I won’t say more on the subject – all the twists and turns are worth reading and finding out.

I honestly didn’t expect to love this book so much. I expected to enjoy it, but not to like…love it. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt sad that a book is ending.

What I liked most about the book was how easily Mysti built the world around her characters – from names of places, months, and plants, everything felt as though it should be there, has been there all along, and will always be there. The description is not overwhelming, but enough to paint a vivid picture.

The characters are well developed, three dimensional and they grow on you. The fact that both Jayden and Galadin are decent men, both with their flaws, makes Caliphany’s struggle even more heart breaking and her suffering is well portrayed.

The romance is good. It was a little head-turning until Cali and Galadin got together, but afterwards, all flowed nicely. There’s some hotness in there as well. Nicely done, may I add. Not too graphic, not too tame, just enough to get the idea across and the heart racing.

The support characters are also very well done – the world is lively and natural and I guess that’s what drew me in the most.

Now, for my personal grades for this book:

Atmosphere – 5/5

Characters – 5/5

Setting – 5/5

Romance – 4/5

Plot – 4/5

Side plots – 5/5

World building – 5/5

Entertainment value – 5/5

So, that’s a total of…4.9 I think – which is like… Wow! Congrats, Mysti. I’m a picky reader :p

Would I recommend it? Of course. This is one of the books that I’ll most definitely pick off the shelf and read again. So, if you haven’t already, pick up a copy of A Rangers Tale and join the magic.