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.
Showing posts with label Pagan Elements. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pagan Elements. Show all posts

Nov 5, 2010

Harvest Moon by Krista D. Ball


THE PAGAN & THE PEN BOOK REVIEWS

Title: Harvest Moon
Author:
Krista D. Ball
Buy Link
Publisher:  MuseItUp Publishing
Genre: Romance, fantasy, Native American
Length: 35 pages
Other: 
No violence, sexual content or bad language
Reviewed by: C. LaForce

RATINGS FOR:
Cover: (3.5)  The cover is lovely, and I like that it is dark and focused on the individual as that matches my mental imagery of the story, however, the hands of the person in the photo are elderly and masculine. The story is focused on two young people. The elders spoken of most, are female. Minor detail, but irksome. It wouldn’t have stopped me from picking up the book though as I wouldn’t have understood the discrepancy until after reading the story.
Presentation: (4)
Editing: (4)
Story: (4) This is not my usual genre, but I enjoyed the story enough to re-read it.
Writing Ability: (4) “Harvest Moon” is the first story that I have read by this author.

Overall Card Rating: 
                                

About The Book:
Dancing Cat angers her Ancestor, whose harsh punishment teaches her that true strength comes from the spirit within.

Cursed, abused, and desperate to know her future, Dancing Cat sneaks a glimpse inside her tribe’s Sacred Bundle, a powerful source of spirit magic. Instead of the future, she sees her most powerful ancestor, Small Tree and incurs her wrath. Small Tree strips Dancing Cat of everything — her home, her identity, even her gender – and drops her in the middle of enemy lands.

Injured, and in a strange, new body, she is befriended by Bearclaw who is on a spirit quest. He offers her assistance and asks for nothing in return; a kindness Dancing Cat had forgotten existed. She struggles to weave a path around the obstacles of friendship, identity, and longing in order to survive her eventual return home to face even further punishment.

And she does it while wearing someone else's skin.

The Review:
It was dark and foggy and close. Or not. Perhaps that is not what the author intended, but in my mind’s eye, that is what I pictured. Rather than the warm fall sunshine that likely lit the setting of the first part of the story, or the bright white of sun on snow in the latter part, I pictured dense fog and darkness. Less weather, and more my own mental process of shutting out the rest of the world and focusing on the main characters. There was a world, with details, in which this story is set, and there were other important characters, but I didn’t care about them and banished them all into the haze. I found that the only thing important to me were the two lovers.

Dancing Cat was a young woman of her tribe, cursed by misfortune, not her own doing. In misery, she turns to the spirits of her people for an answer, any answer, or lacking a reply, she was ready to make her own desperate choice. Her answer is magical transformation, with a twist, and transportation that dumps her into the lap of another troubled young soul on his own spiritual quest. The beauty of this story is how these two unique beings, neither fitting in well amongst others of their tribes, find each other and fall in love. They discover in each other, matching needs and perfect soul mates. I hesitate to give more details of the story in this review as it is a short story and I might steal something away and spoil things for the reader. Suffice it to say that the first thing I did when finishing this story, was to turn back to page one and read it again. 

Pagan Elements: Spirit quest, magical transformation. Refers to Native American spirit magic.
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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.

Holiday Spirits by C. R. Moss


THE PAGAN & THE PEN BOOK REVIEWS

Title: Holiday Spirits
Author: C. R. Moss
Buy Link
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Genre: Paranormal/Romance/Menage (M/M/F)
Length: 69 pgs.
Reviewed by: Keri Stratton Alley

RATINGS FOR:
Cover: 2
Presentation: 4
Editing: 3
Story: 2
Writing Ability: 4
Overall Card Rating:    


About The Book: At the start of the Las Vegas marathon Jenna bumps into a man from her past and embarks on a life changing journey by just the touch of his hand.  As recollections of a former life assail her, she makes a promise that Artim will be an early holiday gift to herself.

After ages of searching for the love he left one fateful day, Artim finally encounters her.  When he realizes Jenna not only remembers who he is and what she was to him, but also the heartache he caused her, he believes it would be for the best if he disappeared again.

Can Jenna keep Artim, her holiday spirit and the present she promised herself around long enough to enjoy?

The Review: This concept seemed fairly interesting: an immortal man searching for the reincarnated soul of his lost love. However, the execution of the story left me feeling unsatisfied.
This story read like a bad porn – just enough plot thrown in so they can use the “plot based” classification, but not enough plot to hide the gratuitous sex. Though well written, the sex seemed to distract from the plot rather than enhance the story. It was also sudden; rather than waiting until after their dates had gone to “pay off the bet” the two male characters immediately retire to a bedroom for sexual shenanigans – without inviting the women along. Methinks they doth protest too much about their distaste for the male-on-male action…

Jenna’s reactions to the supernatural situations seemed unrealistically blasé. The author gave no indication that she had ever been, in any way, inclined towards paganism, magick, or past life regressions. I would have expected someone thrown into such an extreme situation to have at least a moment of doubt, confusion, or anxiety about being crazy. Jenna had none; she simply continued blithely into stranger and stranger scenarios, including stepping far out of her sexual comfort zone.

Pagan Elements: The story is based on the concept of a woman’s past life directing her to a lost love from the past.

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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.

Owl Woman by Elen Sentier

                                            
THE PAGAN & THE PEN BOOK REVIEWS

Title: Owl Woman
Author: Elen Sentier
Buy Link
Publisher: Pea Green Boat, Britain
Genre: mystery/romance/suspense 
Length: 287 pgs.
Reviewed by: Keri Stratton Alley

RATINGS FOR:
Cover: 5
Presentation: 4
Editing: 3
Story: 4
Writing Ability: 3.5

Overall Card Rating:


About The Book: Waking from a dream where her archaeologist father, Jacob, is killed, Vicki finds the phone ringing and his housekeeper telling her he is dead, just as she saw in her dream. She goes home to find out what has happened and old things begin to surface … her father’s obsession with his ancestors; his mistress’ mania to find the grail; Vicki's own lover from the past. And the village is in turmoil because Sylvie, her father’s mistress, has capped the spring and the village is dying for lack of water. Vicki meets Merle again, her ex-lover from whom she ran away, and learns Jacob had found the village’s famous 4000 year-old gold cup that he’d been searching for all his life. This re-awakened Sylvie’s own grail-obsession. She and Jacob fought. Now the cup has disappeared again, both Vicki and Merle suspect Sylvie of taking it and begin the hunt to find and retrieve it. Events are exacerbated by Vicki’s resumed but still rocky relationship with Merle. And by the shadowy Owl Woman, the spirit-of-place, who has her own agenda and wants to settle old scores. Vicki finds herself becoming this spirit… and the Owl Woman is wanting to settle old scores.


The Review: Blending ancient historical lore with modern characters, Ms. Santier provides an engaging story of magick, mystery, and romance.
The characters are believable; perhaps more so because of their varied reactions to the supernatural events that surround the story. Some of the characters who are regular magickal practitioners use their abilities as second nature, which I found to be true to my personal experiences with regular pagan practitioners. Those who are introduced to supernatural abilities during the course of the story have realistic reactions ranging from shock to excitement.
I especially appreciated Ms. Santier’s skill in portraying both dreams and journey states as part of the plot. Both elusive and difficult to describe, dreams and journeys can often seem hokey or out of place in a story. Neither was true for Owl Woman. Instead, the dreams and journeys were masterfully written and excellently placed for maximum effect.
I enjoyed the consistent rotating third person perspective; hearing the perspective of so many interesting characters was lovely. For the most part, Ms. Santier’s writing flows smoothly, keeping the reader engaged and interested. However, there were a few moments of transition between chapters and, subsequently, viewpoints that could have used a bit of polishing in order to maintain the flow of the prose.
Pagan Elements: This book is awash with pagan elements. From the background history of the location and magickal “far-seeing” techniques, to spellwork, psychic attacks, and interactions with both spirits and animals, Ms. Sentier does a wonderful job of liberally spicing the story with realistic and regular uses of pagan elements.

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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.

Jun 5, 2010

The Curse of Albrecht Manor by Christopher C. Newman


PAGAN & PEN REVIEW

Title: The Curse of Albrecht Manor
Author: Christopher C. Newman
Author Site
Publisher: Dark Roast Press
Genre: Horror/Mystery/Paranormal
Length: 179 pgs.
Other: Forced Seduction/Rape/Voyeurism/M/F/F/F
Pagan & Pagan Elements: Yes
Reviewed by: Violet Harper



About The Book: The women of the Albrecht family are cursed! For nearly three hundred years the hex uttered by a witch being burnt at the stake has stalked them down the centuries. Priests, herbal women, and even Inquisitors have been brought in to stop it from driving the Albrecht daughters to sexual-induced madness on their twentieth birthday. Nothing has worked; not even an uprooting from their native Germany to America has stopped it. Soon it just became an unfortunate fact of life if you are a female Albrecht.
It is present-day and Baron Markus Albrecht nervously awaits his daughter Elsa’s twentieth birthday. For a year he has searched for someone willing and able to halt the hex from driving his daughter as insanely mad as his sister, Franziska. Four days before her birthday he finds Noah Ravenswood, a practicing wizard and learned occultist. Noah, armed with hereditary mystical training by his mother, and Doctor Sarah Bookings his associate, he travels to southern Ohio to do battle with the Albrecht Curse.

But who or what is Noah really fighting? Is it truly a hex or perhaps a power-play by one of the Albrecht sons? Could it be the angry and distrustful Maximilan Albrecht, the eldest son and inheritor of the vast Albrecht Estates? Could it be the playboy Hans Albrecht, trying to dethrone his older brother and wrest control for himself? Can Noah and Sarah unravel the mystery before they become embroiled in the family politics, carnal activities, and deadly games at Albrecht Manor?

The Review: The story started out so promising. It seemed a little like The Dresden Files with the wizard man who dedicated his life to using his paranormal abilities to save people. After establishing some plot elements, the story degenerates in several aspects.

The writing style seems a little off. I kept trying to figure out if the writer was an American trying to sound British or an Englishman trying to sound like an American. I do like both styles, but not when cobbled together and not for characters that are American. I also don’t understand the heavy emphasis on the Albrecht’s German ancestry. If the family has lived in the US since before the Civil War, it is highly unlikely any of them would speak German, especially as a first language, or insist on using archaic aristocratic titles. Adding in the British butler and the French maid to a house in Ohio were either a failed attempt at humor or an overly clichéd casting of characters.

Additionally, all of the sex scenes were disturbing, but each for a different reason. Noah ‘forces’ his lover’s legs apart in a scene that is supposed to be romantic. Sarah’s voyeuristic experience ends with her giving head to the elder Albrecht who has children older than her, all in an effort to stop him from telling Noah, her boss, that she was watching two people have sex. I fail to see why Noah would care that she was watching.  During the scene, she describes trying not to vomit while the rest of the descriptors indicate that she is aroused. The first element necessarily cancels out the second for the reader. 

There is nothing remotely erotic about any of the sex scenes, though that may have been by design since most of them have their roots in evil. Some of them were downright disgusting. It would have been a much better story without the gory details.The best parts of the novel were those told through Noah’s eyes. The point of view shifts several times, which is fine, though it could have been a much stronger story if it hadn't. Noah disappears for so much of the novel that the reader forgets he exists He’s supposed to be the hero, the reader’s window into the story, but he ends up being an impotent and irrelevant tool.  Overall, I was very disappointed by something that could have been a great story.

Pagan Elements: Noah Ravenswood is a Pagan with paranormal powers. He uses protective charms and prayers to the gods/goddesses regularly during his cases where he helps people who are the victims of demons, curses, incubi, etc. Noah is a person modeled after Harry Dresden, and so worthy of respect for his adherence to his Pagan ideals. This added to the disappointment of the story because it had so many good Pagan elements.

Cover (Rated 1-10): 4-There’s nothing about it that would make me pick up the novel, but it does fit the storyline.

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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.

Romeo's Dead But Juliette Faked It by Christine McKay


PAGAN & PEN REVIEW

Title: Romeo’s Dead But Juliette Faked It
Author: Christine McKay
Buy Link
Publisher: Champagne Books
Genre: paranormal/erotic/comedy
Length: 63 pgs.
Other: BDSM *  M/F * M/F/M  * M/F/F * F/F * M/M * F/M/M *   Ménage * Multiple Partners/Spanking/Voyeurism
Pagan Elements: yes
Reviewed by: Brandi



About The Book: While landscaping, Gretchen Parks, a descendent of a powerful witch queen, uncovers a vampire in her backyard. Times are tough and she filches treasure from his staked skeleton, unaware she’s just broken her ancestor’s curse. Once awake, suave Frenchman Jean sets his sights on Gretchen. His belle laide, beautiful ugly woman, is far from being a romantic. Convincing a jaded middle-aged woman that she’s still smoking is tough work, but turning her into a vampire hottie may get him staked. Toss in a coven of goddess-worshipping witches and a pack of supernatural wolves and watch this cheery town squirm like a chemical-soaked anthill.


Can’t witches, goddesses, vampires, and townsfolk all get along? Apparently not in this memorable tale of how matches not made in Heaven sometimes work, and why walking in the woods at night is ill-advised (unless you want to catch your neighbors dancing naked in the moonlight).

The Review: I started out enjoying this book, but it went downhill quickly. I had a very serious problem with Gretchen (the female lead character) being presented as though there is something wrong with being over thirty years old and in double digit clothes. Even Jean (the male lead) doesn’t seem that thrilled with her appearance; until of course, he turns her into a vampire and she reverts back to how she looked at twenty years old, thin, young, and svelte.

The story is categorized as a comedy, and there are definitely some great one-liners and quite a few chuckles along the way. The story itself, while interesting and showing much potential, seemed to be rushed. The story could have been much better if the author allowed herself the word count to work out some of the finer details of the plot, specifically the involvement and motivation of the supporting cast, who the book is full of but never fully explained.

All in all, it was a cute story. Christine McKay has a unique voice, and it was an entertaining read.

Pagan Elements:

Cover (Rated 1-10): 8–very cute.

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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.

Apr 20, 2010

Reviewer Top Pick: The Bowdancer by Janie Franz


PAGAN & PEN REVIEW

Title:  The Bowdancer
Author:  Janie Franz
Publisher: Breathless Press
Genre: Breathless Press
Length: 31 pgs 
Other:  M/F
Pagan Elements: Yes 
Reviewed by: Kim Clune



About The Book: 
Jan-nell, a young healer and keeper of village lore, fears she will never find a worthy child to train and replace her as the next bowdancer. Nor does she think she will find a man worthy of her love. When a village wedding is interrupted by four strange men, one mawled by a mountain lion in need of help, Jan-nell treats his injuries. During the men’s stay, their arrogant, intelligent rogue leader, Bastin, questions the bowdancer's opinions on life, freedom and love. By doing so, he stirs her desire for these things and more.

The Review:
Janie Franz weaves a beautiful and intricate tapestry of duty, destiny, tradition and exploration of the soul into The Bowdancer. Her writing wastes not a single word and gives a strong, unique voice to Jan-nell, the loyal yet conflicted bowdancer and village healer. While stories of personal internal struggle are timeless, Franz breathes fresh life into this one, creating a rich and curious world among a non-specific tribe or creed.

All her life, Jan-nell is judged and defined by what she is not. During her tomboyish young adulthood, Jan-nell’s mother attempts to refine her femininity by keeping her chestnut hair long to balance her fair, thin and shapeless form. As Jan-nell matures, she learns to balance her physical insecurities with the confidence she carries in her bowdancing. Still, Jan-nell’s community sees her as an “other” when she colors her skin with dark, herbal oil rather than the traditionally colorful body paint of her predecessor at seasonal rituals. While her innovative and simple expression of connection with the earth and the One feels natural to Jan-nell, her mother-kin eventually asks, “Do you not fear you will make yourself so different that no man will approach you?” Jan-nell has hardly made herself different. She is different. Powerful, creative and intelligent with interests as varied and balanced as her well oiled bow, she simply has yet to find an equal to love within the confines of the village.

Embracing her community role, if not the community itself, Jan-nell attempts to resign herself to her life’s only known purpose, to be “the bow that sings the song of the One.” This devotion, although noble, conflicts with her fear of never marrying and having children of her own, a future she only half hopes to find. Not having found a child to train as her replacement for the next ten years may doom her to a fruitless marriage to the only typically available partner at that age, a widower.

It isn’t until Bastin and his band of bandits enter the village that burgeoning questions push Jan-nell to concretely define her desires. Bastin is the first to see her essence beyond her sense of duty and the first to demand her honest reflection. Uncharmed by his boastful stories, Jan-nell emotionally disarms Bastin and demands honesty from him as well. The two reflect each other like mirrors, one allowing the other to see his or her self plainly. This new dance is not that of a bowdancer nor of innocent love, but one of powerful equals vying for each other’s trust in a world of unlikely possibility. To say what happens next would spoil the story but it’s well worth finding out.

The Bowdancer is wonderful read and just short enough to devour every delicious word in one sitting. I highly recommend it and look forward to following Jan-nell’s next adventures in The Wayfarer’s Road.


Cover (Rated 1-10): 2 – A pretty face with frosted blue eye shadow would better suit the Twilight series than The Bowdancer. Jan-nell is a tribal-type woman rooted in all things natural,  prefering earthly pigments to decorative body paint and a doeskin to a black, velvet hood with red satin lining. Interestingly, this cover re-enacts the bowdancer’s struggle, pushing her to dutifully appeal to the greater romance audience yet denying acceptance of her true identity.

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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.

Winter Kisses (anthology)


PAGAN & PEN REVIEW

Title:  Winter Kisses (Anthology)
Author:  G. R. Bretz, Angela Nichelle, Dena Celeste, Barbara Sheridan, Kelley Heckart
Author's Sites: Click on names above
Buy Link
Publisher:  Noble Romance Publishing
Genre: romance, fantasy
Length: 116 pgs.
Other: Sweet- some kissing
Pagan & Pagan Elements: No/yes & yes for Winter Solstice Kiss
Reviewed by: Violet Harper



About The Book:
Winter Solstice Kiss by Kelley Heckart:
When Brianna decides to attend the Winter solstice masquerade ball, she never thought she would end up kissing a handsome knight beneath the mistletoe, but they part without exchanging names and phone numbers. How will they find each other again?

A Christmas for Carol by Angela Nichelle:
Imagine losing the love of your life right before Christmas. It's a nightmare Carol Christine Moore had to face two years ago. Unable to cope with the pain of losing her fiancé so unexpectedly, Carol closes off her heart entirely. She puts all of her time and energy into making the coffee shop she owns with her best friend a success. Consumed with customers and the daily grind, Carol has convinced herself that she doesn't need anything or anyone else in her life.  But all that changes the day Grant walks into the Cafe Bean.

Love in the Lights by Dena Celeste:
Abigail Bloch has been away at school for the last few years. Returning to her mother’s home renews her interest and need for the Jewish traditions. Unfortunately, the man who had been her best friend growing up, Joshua Cohen, gives her a chilly reception. Over the course of Chanukah, a time filled with food and family and friendship, the growing number of flames must melt away the hostility and illuminate the love that can grow between them.

A Schrödinger Christmas – Holly by G. R. Bretz:
She’s the girl who lives in his dreams, but she’s so much more than that. She’s the girl he was supposed to meet, twice. She’s the path he didn’t take, twice. That was forty years ago and you just can’t go back, except in dreams. But it’s Christmas day. Miracles have been known to happen. Who knows? The third time just might be the charm.

Christmas Rush by Barbara Sheridan:
Ellie Bouchard died just after formulating a plan to see that her only child Remy would be reunited with the one person he was too stubborn to acknowledge as “The One”. Determined to see her plan through, Ellie will do whatever it takes—including
heavenly blackmail and a few sneaky tricks—to see her son reunited with his childhood companion, Michael Carson. The stubborn young men don’t make Ellie’s job easy and she puts on one hell of a Christmas Rush to cement their bond before her time between this world and the next runs out.

The Review:
This is a sweet anthology of uplifting stories about hope and new beginnings.  Each was heartwarming, the kind of story that makes you say “Aww” when you’re finished.  The backgrounds of the stories vary greatly- Pagan, Christian, Jewish, gay and straight.  Each author brought their characters alive, inviting me into traditions and lifestyles both familiar and foreign without once making me feel like I didn’t belong. 

Though I loved each story, Winter Solstice Kiss touched my heart the most, probably because it was the only wholly-Pagan story.  The sweetness and tragedy had me reading the entire thing when I just meant to preview it.   I felt Brianna’s pain and I understood her reticence to move on after the tragic death of her husband.  I cheered for her when she finally allowed herself to heal and accept love into her life again.

Pagan Elements:  Winter Solstice Kiss has pagan elements—the symbolism of Yule being a new beginning and a return to light.

Cover (Rated 1-10): 7—The cover was romantic and warm.  It features an attractive couple on the cover done in shades of blue with a cozy winter cabin set below.
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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 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.