Review: Prophecy's Healing by Brenda Dyer

Title:  Prophecy's Healing, Book 5, The Prophecy Series
Author:  Brenda Dyer
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Book Size:  904 KB / 322 Pages

Her love for him has spanned time.

After years of betrayal, Julia Murphy is starting over and attempting to leave her broken-hearted past behind. As a waitress at The Green Tree nightclub, she’s working to save enough money to finally take the college courses that will kick-start her new future. But fate has other plans. When two men viciously attack her, a tall, menacing stranger comes to Julia’s aid and thrusts her on a wild journey into a past that death has erased and a world she didn’t know exists.

His past and future collide

As the deadliest vampire warrior in the Surrey squad, Ace is feared and avoided, which is fine by him. He cares for nothing and nobody, including himself. But when he rescues a pretty waitress from a deadly attack, he can’t deny he’s drawn to her. However, this newfound attraction comes with consequences Ace never could have foreseen. He comes face to face with his tormented past, and Julia is the link. Now, he must decide whether he’ll fight for a love that’s spanned the ages, or if he’ll allow centuries old hate and betrayal to destroy their futures.

This is Book 5 in the Prophecy series and while it could be read as a stand-alone, it probably wouldn't make as much sense unless you read the whole series in order.

Throughout the series, Ace has always been grouchy and mean. He wasn't mentioned a whole lot, but the other books weren't about him. Fair enough. In Prophecy's Healing, we find out why he acts the way he does. Two hundred years ago in the past, he'd been betrayed by a woman he loved. A cliche' story plot, but fun to read nonetheless. In the end, her betrayal gets her killed and Ace lives with the residual effect of not only the betrayal, but the fact that he'd been the lucky soul who killed her.

Fast forward to present day Surrey, BC. Julia is working in a dive bar hustling drinks and hates it. Why she works there and not flipping burgers at a greasy spoon or making change at Wal-Mart is unknown, but that's beside the point. The author had to put them together and does so in a way that's enjoyable to read. I mean, what's better than a super tall, super muscular, long-haired, bad-ass alpha male vampire rescuing a weak human female from two drunk brutes after last call? Again, cliche', but well written.

Throughout the story there's all sorts of angst - should she? No! Should he - Hell no! Back and forth, push and pull....I almost quit reading because the overdone melodrama of it all. But again, the author's talent kept me turning the virtual pages. Kudos to Ms. Dyer.

Prophecy's Healing is a good book. I recommend reading all the books in order, however.

**** Four Stars

 

Review: The Vampire's Warden

Title:   The Vampire's Warden
Author:   S.J. Wright
Genre:   Classified as Paranormal Romance however there is no HEA ending.
Book Size:   201 pages/2905 KB

He moved. It was a flash in the moonlight, a blur of motion like I’d never witnessed before. No human had the capacity to move like that. When I found myself face-to-face with him there in the meadow, I knew without a doubt that the journal was authentic. I knew that my grandfather hadn’t been crazy at all. Because a foot away from me stood a vampire.

I tried to like this book. Really, I did. But I found the story confusing without a solid idea of who exactly is Sarah's love interest. At first you're lead to believe it's Alex. But then the interest shifts to Michael. Throw in a sister who's character fell flat and a housekeeper who we don't get a clear picture of, and the reader is left with pure literary chaos.

The least favorable aspect for me was the ending. To be classified as a romance, which the author has clearly done, the story must end in a HEA or HFN at the least. This is neither. Please - don't pass your work off as a romance when there isn't any romance or the proper ending!

WARNING: cliff hanger without an ending. (Which totally sucks.)

This confusing tale meanders around one flitting thought after another which string the reader along as we wait for it to get better. A redeemable factor for the author is an interesting concept of Vampire jail, called caretaking, which could have been so much more.

The book needed an editor to go after numerous and repetitive punctuation mistakes. I admit to being bored and skimming over large sections of the book to find the next interesting scene and yet lost no translation in the story.

I would not classify this book as an adult romance but as a regular YA paranormal story.

* 1-Star Rating

Review: Dark Genesis (The Darkling Trilogy Book 1)

 Title:  Dark Genesis (The Darkling Trilogy Book 1)
Author:  A. D. Koboah
Genre:  Science Fiction / Fantasy
Book Size:  299 pages / 722 KB

Life for a female slave is one of hardship and unspeakable sorrow, something Luna knows only too well. But not even she could have foreseen the terror that would befall her one sultry Mississippi evening in the summer of 1807.

On her way back from a visit to see the African woman, a witch who has the herbs Luna needs to rid her of her abusive master’s child, she attracts the attention of a deadly being that lusts for blood. Forcibly removed from everything she knows by this tormented otherworldly creature, she is sure she will be dead by sunrise.

Dark Genesis is a love story set against the savage world of slavery in which a young woman who has been dehumanised by its horrors finds the courage to love, and in doing so, reclaims her humanity.

 While this isn't the genre of story type I normally read, once started I had to read it through to the end.

The story is slow to start, almost to the point of dragging, but then picks up and you're on taking back into time with wonderful storytelling. There are a few nit-picky points that took the book down a notch - such as the British form of English when the story takes place in America. Another item that kept throwing me out of the story is the use of metric measurements in place of imperial (or standard). I wouldn't know how far a dozen meters is, for instance, and I doubt a slave would either.

I think the author must have researched her subjects and location extensively to bring it all to life the way she has. Linguistics is another High-Five as Luna's speech pattern is perfect and true to form from beginning to end. I did become rather annoyed at her constant bursts of anger which seemed a weak form of keeping the story's romantic element alive.

The ending was not one I enjoyed, but reminded myself this story wasn't a romance. I'm sure others will like it and I can appreciate a story well written and edited.

**** 4-Star Review