by Shelli Stevens is a paranormal tale about a woman discovering that shape shifters exist and some are being experimented upon by the company that she is trying to advance in. A subtext to the story is that she is struggling to live up to the exalted reputation that her father has as a leading researcher yet she doesn't have his spark. A past connection is rekindled when she gets caught in the middle of a rescue operation but she ultimately (naturally) has a larger role to play than she could have ever dreamed of. The heroine is a bit weaker than I like and there are inconsistencies in the behavior of some of the secondary characters but I realize that some of it is to move the plot along. The overall tone of the story is entertaining and undoubtedly subsequent novels will clear up some of the loose threads left dangling in this story.
My Amazon review is at this link under ELF2060 and a 'yes, this was helpful' vote is always appreciated. I was provided with a copy of this title in return for an honest review.
Meanwhile....
Outside of my comfort zone....
I am currently trying to stretch my horizons by taking a writing class but I find myself exhibiting avoidance behavior so I haven't been getting as much out of it as I should, primarily because I haven't been putting as much effort into it as it needs. The class is designed for authors and one of the reasons I started it was because I was trying to help an author analyze why a story wasn't getting very good reviews and one of my conclusions was that the secondary characters had no depth. The lessons are designed to help one analyze secondary characters and how to make them less two dimensional and more active in making the story compelling. Since I don't have my own WIP (work in progress), I am reduced to using other people's writings and analyzing what works and what doesn't. Unfortunately, I have commitments to read/review five books that are due on the 26th as well as promises to read and review 4 others within the next couple of weeks AND a commitment to finish a proofreading job...which means that I didn't want to pick up an entirely new novel to analyze for the class. So, I chose a novella that I really liked with the mistaken thought that it would be short and easy to use rather than picking apart (and possibly insulting the author) the novel that started me on this journey. That worked for the first couple of homework assignments...but it's not going to any longer...so, now I have to make the decision what to use...and it's going to require that I create my own scenarios, which I always fear that I lack enough creativity to do...so I have been putting off doing my homework for the past 3 days. Instead, I have been wandering around the myriad of blogs and reading other people's writings and entering contests.
It's time to buckle down and do my homework! My only consolation is that last time I checked...nobody else in the class has done their homework either, lol. Maybe I'm not the only one working outside of my comfort zone but this certainly gives me more sympathy for authors and their journey to produce a work suitable for publication. Wish me luck as I flounder around...if all else fails, it probably will make me a better reviewer since I will be better able to identify what irks me about some of the works I dislike.
I've loved all her books that I've read so far.
ReplyDeleteGood luck in all that you are planning to do.
Thanks for your good wishes. This was the first time that I have read this author and I was entertained by this story and look forward to reading more in the series.
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