By Stephanie Smith
Published 2011
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Synopsis borrowed from Goodreads:
Displaced in a strange and hostile city with no memory of her previous life, Breena finds a friend and savior in music shop co-owner Ciaran. Caught in a relationship he can't seem to end, Ciaran's whole life is upheaved by the arrival of Breena and the mystery of her origin. Yet neither Ciaran nor Breena can shake the feeling they've met before; and as Breena finds her place in the city and begins a new life the two find their easy friendship growing into something more. But as the truth of Breena's otherworldly origins comes to light, she soon finds that the very nature of what she is could make it impossible to ever truly be with Ciaran.
Darkfallen's thoughts:
For me this book was more of a 2.5 stars, but it was better than 2 so I decided to go with three. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed this story. I think it has some real potential to be great even, but it still needs some work.
Poor Breena wakes up in the middle of nowhere not knowing how she got there, or anything past her name even, when Ciaran finds her laying on the ground. With Ciaran's need to fix people driving him he insists she comes back to his house to sort everything out. After weeks of trying to jog Breena's memory, and with no record of a missing person fitting her description, the both start to give up. But something has changed since Breena came into Ciaran's life, and one thing he knows for sure is he doesn't want her to go.
After Breena starts having dreams of another world. One where fairies aren't just a fairytale, she starts to put the puzzle together that there is no record of her on Earth because she isn't from here. Instead she is here because Ciaran, a mortal man, is her mate. After seeing the way her a Ciaran's several attempts at happiness have failed over the centuries with his many incarnations will she choose to try again? Or give up and go back home to the realm of the fairies and live in misery without ever having her one true love?
Again like I said this story has great potential. I would love to see what it would be like after a good editor got their hands on it. First of all it is written in a 3rd person narrative kind of way. Almost like a third person party is telling the story. I think it would have been better told from just a regular third person POV. It would allow you to get into the characters heads a little better and draw a real connection.
Also the story jumps around a lot without giving you any notice. I felt that some parts needed to be flushed out a bit more to make the transition a little smoother, while in other spots there needed to be a new chapter started to break it up. This at times left me feeling a bit whip lashed when reading it. Speaking of whiplash OMG the ending! The ending is definitely a cliffhanger but not in a good way. It just felt rushed and out of place. I think there needed to be a bit more to it. It just felt abrupt and out of place.
Overall I did enjoy what the author was doing here. I like the story she is trying to tell, but I felt it read more like an outline to a first draft, rather than a finished work. With a few re-writes this could be something great.
Poor Breena wakes up in the middle of nowhere not knowing how she got there, or anything past her name even, when Ciaran finds her laying on the ground. With Ciaran's need to fix people driving him he insists she comes back to his house to sort everything out. After weeks of trying to jog Breena's memory, and with no record of a missing person fitting her description, the both start to give up. But something has changed since Breena came into Ciaran's life, and one thing he knows for sure is he doesn't want her to go.
After Breena starts having dreams of another world. One where fairies aren't just a fairytale, she starts to put the puzzle together that there is no record of her on Earth because she isn't from here. Instead she is here because Ciaran, a mortal man, is her mate. After seeing the way her a Ciaran's several attempts at happiness have failed over the centuries with his many incarnations will she choose to try again? Or give up and go back home to the realm of the fairies and live in misery without ever having her one true love?
Again like I said this story has great potential. I would love to see what it would be like after a good editor got their hands on it. First of all it is written in a 3rd person narrative kind of way. Almost like a third person party is telling the story. I think it would have been better told from just a regular third person POV. It would allow you to get into the characters heads a little better and draw a real connection.
Also the story jumps around a lot without giving you any notice. I felt that some parts needed to be flushed out a bit more to make the transition a little smoother, while in other spots there needed to be a new chapter started to break it up. This at times left me feeling a bit whip lashed when reading it. Speaking of whiplash OMG the ending! The ending is definitely a cliffhanger but not in a good way. It just felt rushed and out of place. I think there needed to be a bit more to it. It just felt abrupt and out of place.
Overall I did enjoy what the author was doing here. I like the story she is trying to tell, but I felt it read more like an outline to a first draft, rather than a finished work. With a few re-writes this could be something great.
Lymi...
Oof this cover is freaky! Too bad it fell flat it doesn'T sound like something I'd enjoy much either O_O
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