Laura Eno

I was given this book to read through the Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Fanatics, ‘Read to Review’. Thanks for giving me a chance to read this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it.


This book is written in first person through the eyes of an 18 year old girl named, Emma. I have to give kudos to the author for getting me to actually enjoy a book that was written in first person. Usually I will avoid first person POV books like the plague, but this book captivated me. The book blurb and other reviewers pretty much tell the background of how Emma went to live in England and why, so I will skip repeating the information and go on to the points I wanted to cover.

I found it very easy to visualize all the people and magical creatures depicted in the story. The description of the physical appearance of the person, or being, was not extensive, but the manner in which the characters spoke and acted, filled in the details very nicely.

The action moved quickly and smoothly from paragraph to paragraph and from chapter to chapter. The only time I noticed a slow-down in the action, was when Randolph and Emma fell into the Underworld. Until they escaped, I was thinking, “I hope they get out soon, the story is more interesting when they are on the surface.” I believe I found the Underworld boring because there weren’t many characters that Emma was interacting with. I think the strength of the book comes from Emma’s relationship with the other magical creatures in the book and the discovery of her powers. Wandering around in the Underworld didn’t carry enough action for me. Although the image of Emma and her Hellhounds at the King’s Palace was very cool. I probably would have liked more description like the Hellhound companions to make the Underworld more interesting. The second time Emma went into the Underworld wasn’t as boring as the first time, probably because the scene wasn’t as long and I was anxious to find out what had happened to Matthew.

I loved the ending where Emma invites her family and best friend for a visit and they all accept her life and friends. I’m very curious as to how Matthew will turn out and what actions he takes in the future. Matthew had matured because of his trip to the Underworld and learned to accept himself for what he was. He turned into a pretty hot character too, lol.

The story reminded me of Lady Gaga’s song ‘Born This Way.’ Accept yourself for who you are, because you can’t escape who or what you are. You don’t need to be ashamed and when you can accept yourself, all your good parts, and what other people might consider bad, you’ll be happy. Also, a family doesn’t have to be a group of people you were born into. It’s about love and respect for each other. I think the author conveyed this message very well.

I enjoyed this story very much and the book ended where a person could read this story as a stand-alone if they wanted. But it was also left open for further adventures if the author chooses to continue this story, which I hope she does because I would love to read more about this world.

… (más)

My Enchanted Life is a very fluffy, fast read. It probably took me a few hours to finish it and there’s definitely no deep thinking required. In the book Emma finds herself inheriting a home in England and moving there right out of high school. The house is in a mysterious, magical town that only other magical people can see without help. Her role is to act as Sentinel, a type of guardian watching over Wode Gates. These gates open between worlds, ours, Chaos, the Underworld, etc. Demons would love nothing more than to slip through said gates and wander through our world. This is a big change for Emma and if that wasn't enough, someone is out to keep her from getting her job done, not that she even wants the job. If you love light fluff, instant spark and romance and good guys winning, here it is. If you like depth, a little darkness, and an emotional, lyrical read, this ain’t it.

Emma is a typical teenage girl (?) just graduating from senior year (?) and living in Georgia (?). I think. The start is rushed. There’s really no introduction and the beginning is used to build heavy handed foreshadowing. Emma mopes about missing home throughout the book but I never felt for her because no relationship was built with the place and people of her home. How can I miss something with a character when I have no connection?

I wanted to like this book. I’m a sucker for fairies. I’m an even bigger sucker for ya fairies. Emma is literally handed a house in England as part of an inheritance and yet has no questions. There’s a minimum of protest from her aunt and uncle and Emma never once thinks “this could be bad” with any real feeling. When she arrives in England, surprise, she’s got special powers. I like this idea, my issue is with the execution. There’s a hot guy trying to teach her of course and another guy who is oh so wrong, but she has a special magical mind connection with. Oh, and she can teleport which no Sentinel before her could. This was Mary Sue territory for me.

I might have overlooked this but the writing didn't suck me in and felt very rushed. I have no idea if the setting is beautiful, I know how many rooms the house has, but for all I know they’re all blank. I know the guy is hot, the housekeeper is hot/not and the dragon is pretty, but they aren’t described in any way that resonates with me as the reader. There’s a slew of characters we are literally introduced to as “XXXX pops in, says something to character, gives blow by blow description of self and vanishes”. Emma's perfectly sweet, but she's perfectly boring and I didn't see the attraction for 90% of the characters who apparently thought she walked on water.

I’m still not sure what Emma does to protect the Wode Gate, as she does very little protecting the gate, and much more getting into trouble. And what do demons do if they get here? All the demons we met were pretty boring. I assume once here they do things like produce reality television and drive hummers, because there’s no real sense of danger from them. We hit the 50% mark before even a sniff of any such trouble. I’d like to see Emma’s role get built, but there’s none of that. Instead Emma rescues one boy with her magicalness (at least she doesn’t need help, but please don’t confuse weak adversaries with a strong MC dear readers), and then has to save another magical boy with her magicalness because he sacrificed himself for her. I’m not sure how he saw his pansying out as sacrificing because it didn’t protect her from anything and just took her into more danger. Once again dear reader, do not confuse weak, silly males with a strong female.

So – this is a fast, fluffy read with a boy-meets-girl-falls-deeply-in-love/lust story. I've read 'em. I've enjoyed a few. This was unfortunately one I could not lose myself in. Some of you are going to love this. I am not such a person.

This book does not execute "show not tell" with any quality. “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” – Anton Chekhov. Love this. Showing is about imagery. Imagery should be painted, not penned. This book does not achieve anything like this. The author has a great imagination and creativity, but she doesn't take me into the story with her.… (más)

With hints of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, crossed with Game of Thrones perhaps, Laura Eno’s The Jewel of Shaylar introduces readers to a beautifully imagined magical world, where women weave powers for men to wield, and satyrs are just one of the strange creatures yet to be met.

Shaylar itself is a fallen kingdom, its jewel and its magic long lost. The kingdoms of men strive to keep the magic going, while neighboring realms waver between wanting more power for themselves and wanting balance restored. Enter David, via a curious portal from earth, seeking to recover or escape the memories of his lost father. And just maybe, enter David’s father, many years before.

When dreams of superpowers threaten to come true, and when the path ahead is unclear, will David return to the known world or continue into mystery? Two girls love him, one magic binds him, a jewel beckons, and mysterious strangers seem bent to twist his path. Some seriously sensual scenes might suggest this book’s for mature readers only. But it’s beautifully intriguing, set in a wonderfully well-wrought world, and the smooth clean writing offers only a very occasional glitch to slow you down. Highly recommended adult fantasy, my only complaint is I want to read book two!

Disclosure: I was given a free ecopy by the author and I’m just sorry it took me so long to get around to reading and reviewing it.… (más)

I received this book to review from a Goodreads group as part of the R2R event. It was a really nice, fast, light read. After the serious mysteries I'd been plunging into the past couple of weeks, "My Enchanted Life" proved to be the distraction my brains needed.
It was intriguing though I can't say it swept me off my feet. I enjoyed it though, so it earned its 3 stars with no question.
There were problems with it however. For example, there was so much telling rather than showing, that I caught myself rolling my eyes on a number of occasions. Conversations were retold instead of written out as they should've been. Many descriptions were cliched rather than thought out exclusively. It was a nice imaginary world, but there was nothing original about it.
Also, the main character, Emma, was constantly talking to herself in what were supposed to be witty little remarks. Yet, instead of sounding witty, they were rather dull.
What annoyed me the most was that every other chapter someone would say something, Emma would look at them wide-eyed and they'll ask her "What? Nobody told you?" Seriously, by the second time I read that, I was already in the know that she had no idea what was happening and the repetition was getting old.
The falling in love was awfully quick and not exactly to my taste.
There was hardly any intrigue, but I guess that made it so light in the first place.

My favorite character was the dragon Cussard. He was funny and friendly and can I say pretty?

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to breeze through something to clear their mind of any difficult/heavy novels.… (más)