Disclaimer:

Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author/publisher to The Pagan & The Pen Book Reviews. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.

Mar 20, 2010

The Fallen Fae by Connie Wood



Title:  The Fallen Fae

Author:  Connie Wood

Author Site
 

Buy Link
 

Publisher:  Freya’s Bower

Genre: Erotic Fantasy/Angels and Demons

Length: 55 pp 

Other:  M/F


Pagan & Pagan Elements: yes/yes

Reviewed by: Kim Clune


About The Book:

Shae, an unassigned guardian angel tempted by the bounty of an earthly realm, pines for a glimpse at free will, passion and excitement beyond his peaceful servitude in Heaven. Archangel Michael, Shea’s dear friend, does his best to dissuade the curious one from taking the leap, but is ultimately unsuccessful. Once Shea leaves his heavenly realm for one desired moment of bliss, he realizes he can never again return and his wings are painfully scorched during the fall.

On Earth, the Fae lives among the others who had fallen before him until summoned via a faery stone by Hamish Bradey, a Scotsman whose wife is critically injured during a rabbit hunt. Hamish is willing to pay any price for his wife’s salvation, even his family’s firstborn girl child. The Fae heals the wife and seals his agreement with Hamish believing that the girl, once a woman, will be his own chance for salvation.

Years later in Australia, when the family suffers a tragic accident and Hamish has later passed, the youngest granddaughter, Aleta, is all that remains of the family. Her grandfather had tried to prepare her for a fate he knew awaited. She was the Fae’s replacement for his firstborn granddaughter. Hamish shared with her the tales, but never alluded to the fact that they were destined to become her life.

Stories of destiny, with their presumable outcomes, have an interesting way of stirring more questions than answers. Will the Fae take Aleta or will he patiently wait for her to love him, honoring the free will he so desired, once upon a time? If they should find love, would it lead to eternal damnation? Will Lucifer allow the most powerful of the Fae to leave his realm? It is absolutely worth the read to find out, complete with whimsy, celebration, anger, suspense, tragic bloodshed, sabre rattling, heartache, and not necessarily a faery tale ending for all.

The Review:
   
The Fallen Fae is a captivating, if short, story that expertly blends pagan and Christian elements. Beyond Heaven and Hell, God and Lucifer, temptation and salvation, lies the world of Scottish faery lore, a mechanism for bridging these separate planes. Of course, to bridge these distinct and complicated worlds, worlds which are deeply connected to one another yet so very separate, invites conflict, drama and passion. This book is not short on these elements in the least. The passion of innocence, of the forbidden, of unquenched desire, all are ripe for the reading.

Ms. Wood’s writing style is beautifully fluid, revealing her characters’ most intricate and delicate emotions without intrusive narrative. In line with Scottish lore, the tone of her language is hauntingly ancient in its naturally poetic flow. It was refreshing to see characters of each gender equally weighted with moments of fear and bravery, speaking volumes toward masculine and feminine balance without pushing the point. As for the pace, it moves in perfect concert with each scene, never rushing yet, through economy of words, spanning millennia in a mere 55 pages. My only complaint, if I had one, would be that I wanted more.

Cover (Rated 1-10): 9 – The imagery captures much of the story, from the connection between the Fae and Aleta, the conflict that comes from the fallen one’s quest for salvation, and the sun-shielding haze of the faery realm.

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Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author to The Pagan & the Pen. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.
 

The Enchanted Flute by Nichelle Gregory

Title:  The Enchanted Flute

Author:  Nichelle Gregory

Author Site

Buy Link

Publisher:
  Noble Romance Publishing

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Erotica

Length - 21  pages



Other: M/F

Pagan & Pagan Elements: no/yes


Reviewed by: Monica S.


About The Book:

When a beautiful enchantress awakens from her slumber to soul-stirring music, she reveals herself to the gifted, gorgeous flutist playing nearby. Lanai is at once attracted to Arye and moved by his melodies. After a sizzling night of sex, the enchantress realizes she’s fallen in love for the first time.

Lanai offers her love to the Arye, a man that has never loved anything more than his flute. Although, the enchantress could use magic to win his heart, she wants him to love her on his own. Heartbroken and bitter, she casts a powerful spell over the flutist instrument that causes listeners to act out whatever emotion Ayre is feeling at the moment and disappears.

Unable to control his thoughts and fearful of harming his adoring audience, Ayre now only plays his enchanted flute when he is alone. Angry and determined, he spends his time searching for Lanai. Years go by and Ayre begins to give up hope that he will ever find the woman that consumes his thoughts and fuels his lustful desires. When he finally stumbles across the enchantress, Ayre is torn between fury and desire…or is it love?

The Review: 


This naughty little bit had all the elements you could want in a short story. The main characters were revealed enough so you got a connection but not too much that you were overwhelmed. There were a couple of mistakes in the book, but nothing that turned me off reading it.

The immediate ‘love’ between Ayre and Lanai was the one thing in the story that threw me off. I understand how love at first sight goes but in this book it was like love at first sound but. I couldn’t quite get the anchor for the love between these two characters except the hot steamy beach action.

Overall this story held my interest the entire way through and was good enough that I would definitely read more by this author.

Pagan Elements: There were only slight Pagan elements in this book. There is some magic and  an enchantress who resembles a Greek Wood Nymph

Cover (Rated 1-10): 7 I liked the cover, it portrays the book exactly as it is.

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Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author to The Pagan & the Pen. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.

Christma Sin: A Juliette Christmas Epistle by Ed Williams

Title: Christma Sin: A Juliette Christmas Epistle

Author:  Ed Williams 

Author Site

Buy Link

Publisher:  Champagne Books

Genre:  Mainstream Fiction/Humor

Length - 150

Other:  light M/F [Multiple Partners] no graphic sex


Pagan & Pagan Elements: n/n

Reviewed by: Jes L’Heureux


About The Book:

Christmas isn't just about sugar plum fairies and reindeer dancing across the sky. It can also be about red clay chunk wars, cock fighting, dead people who may really not be, and more! Get set for a wild, wild Christmas ride when you read ChristmaSin', Southern Outlaw Author Ed Williams' take on what a true Christmas in a small, rural Southern town is really all about! Learn about Christmas miracles happening in the most unlikely of settings, the early '70s in tiny Juliette, Georgia. A novel that could be true, in some places actually is, and one that will both warm the heart and tickle the funny bone!

The Review:

ChristmasSin: A Juliette Christmas Epistle is part of a series of novels written by Ed Williams, which are all located in the town of Juliette, Georgia. The story is written almost as a series of journal entries in that the reader is placed in the mindset of the main character. It starts off at Thanksgiving and runs through to Christmas, going through the mind of a young teenage male named Ed Williams, III. With the author and his character sharing the same name, the story is essentially a fictionalized version of some events in his own past, and adds to the journaling aspects.

One of the downfalls for me is the language of the story, the entire novel is written in Southern colloquialisms that as a Canadian, I found very difficult to follow at times, and was frustrated as a reader. I thought that using this language as a way of writing the narrative and overall style was a further barrier between the author and the reading audience. I can appreciate some of the writing such as the speech between characters and such being colloquial, but having the entire body done in such a way was distracting and had me “putting down” the book several times.

Past the language, the story is liquid and flows through different events, at times giving a sense of adventure that I can remember having experienced as a child. This was truly a snapshot of events, the anticipation of family gatherings and reminiscing about childhood and family life.

One thing I would say is that if you are from the South Eastern United States or perhaps have a better understanding of the colloquial linguistics of that area, this is a great read. For me it was too distracting in trying to force the language to find it anecdotal or enjoyable.

For our pagan readers, there are references on Christianity and God worship, in being a story about Christmas; but it isn’t enough to distract from the core of the story itself.

Pagan Elements: ~
n/a

Cover (Rated 1-10):  7 – Although on my forwarded copy for review did not have a cover attached, I did peruse the Author’s site and saw the cover that will be on the book. I found it to be well rendered, has a “homey” feeling with the ideal that you are about to read a nice Christmas story.

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Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author to The Pagan & the Pen. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.

Mar 2, 2010

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