Quick Reads and Quick Reviews 23

  

• Fates Altered: Halven Rising Prequel, Jules Barnard
• My One and Only: Harper's Corner Book 1, Christina George
• Faking Lucky, Q. D. Purdu

It's certainly an interesting take on the Fae/Human world relationship in this story.  Both characters are quite young for their races and yet they both possess some mature qualities that make me believe in them as individuals.  This was a very slow-moving romance that felt very superficial only because the length of the story didn't lend itself to deep exploration of character motivations.  As written they are good characters that are interesting and truly set the stage for a love that influences the lives of all those that will follow in the actual series.  3.5 stars.

Well, I was hoping for more.  A lot more.  Both main characters had immense potential and with a lot of support and encouragement from most of the people around them I was hoping for more on the build of the romance.  Instead, most of the story shows just how truly frustrating Jessica is.  She was so weak.  Yes, I can see her vulnerability and her issues, but where they should have been something more like reasoning behind her actions, they became the complete focus of her character.  There was very little fighting through and growing in strength or resolve, it was her continually breaking down and reiterating the same thing over and over not just in her inner dialogue, but to her friends and Matt as well.  I don't feel she redeemed herself by the end.  I felt that Matt deserved so much more for a partner.  I do feel that the proposal came from the right person, though.  Aside from that, I was trying hard to like her enough to finish the story.  2.5 stars.

I can't say I'm a fan of the book.  It was written pretty well and had a lot of promise but I found Desdemona to be flighty, annoying, and immature.  I enjoyed reading the history flashbacks but everything in her current life was incredibly disappointing.  There's nothing wrong with sexual exploration and truly finding your own likes, dislikes, inclinations, and acceptance.  But where this story failed was in making the main character someone who didn't take true control of that.  Instead, she was continually rolled by every circumstance she found herself in.  It was more like reading about things that would be more appropriate in a New Adult book with someone who was a freshman or sophomore in college.  The scientific aspect to the story was informative but the way it was integrated into the story just made it seem like the author was trying way too hard to create an "enlightened" story with the science and reducing the stigma of faking orgasms and individual sexual exploration and expression.  Good points but extremely poor execution and a main character that had a past worth reading about but a present that was downright ridiculous.  2 stars.