Nicole MacdonaldReseñas

Cat, Kassie, Sian and Loi are anything but damsels in distress.
Fed up with a lack of decent male specimens they cast a love spell in the hopes of finding their soul-mates. And inadvertently land themselves on another planet. Oops.

The Arrival, follows the girls' adventures as they stumble through a foreign and often hostile world where humans are NOT at the top of the food chain.
Friendships are forged and love teeters on the horizon while the threat of civil war looms thanks to the girls' very unexpected 'gifts'.
Will the girls master these gifts in time to survive a war in which, not only are they the ultimate weapons, but also the ultimate prize?

Nicole's website is Damsel In a Dirty Dress. Received in ebook format from netgalley and read on an ipad on kindle software. Formatting was generally ok, with correct page breaks etc, but random font size changes which was just mildly annoying.

Premise of the book is good - 4 women in a fairly tight group, all fit and with various skills, including a mixture of archery and martial arts, are fed up with the lack of decent available men (they can beat the ones in their martial arts classes every time), conjure up a spell to find their soul mates. This takes them to another planet, where they find themselves with magical skills in a world full of sorceress, dragons, griffons, and some men they are immediately attracted to.

The initial day or two when the girls meet the guard goes a bit slow, but when they start heading towards the castle to meet the Elena - who predicted the girls' arrival - it speeds up. The rest of the book details the time spent as the girls have a month to learn about and control their new skills as "Elementals" before they fight against the mortal enemy of the realm. They also have to get used to their attraction to the men identified as their soulmates.

The premise of the book is good, and some of the passages (such as the ball, the visit to the local town) show a lot of potential. However, as per other reviewers, the multiple POVs (changing 1st person in Catherine, to 3rd party for the rest of the characters), often multiple times within the same chapter, is annoying and distracting, and ultimately slows the book down. McDonald can write both perspectives well, but doing both this way detracts from the story.

Others have discussed about the ending, and I'm sure that you can find out more if you searched for it. I wont do a spoiler here, but will say it's a little disappointing for the story to end where it does.

Cat, Kassie, Sian and Loi are anything but damsels in distress.
Fed up with a lack of decent male specimens they cast a love spell in the hopes of finding their soul-mates. And inadvertently land themselves on another planet. Oops.

The Arrival, follows the girls' adventures as they stumble through a foreign and often hostile world where humans are NOT at the top of the food chain.
Friendships are forged and love teeters on the horizon while the threat of civil war looms thanks to the girls' very unexpected 'gifts'.
Will the girls master these gifts in time to survive a war in which, not only are they the ultimate weapons, but also the ultimate prize?

Nicole's website is Damsel In a Dirty Dress. Received in ebook format from netgalley and read on an ipad on kindle software. Formatting was generally ok, with correct page breaks etc, but random font size changes which was just mildly annoying.

Premise of the book is good - 4 women in a fairly tight group, all fit and with various skills, including a mixture of archery and martial arts, are fed up with the lack of decent available men (they can beat the ones in their martial arts classes every time), conjure up a spell to find their soul mates. This takes them to another planet, where they find themselves with magical skills in a world full of sorceress, dragons, griffons, and some men they are immediately attracted to.

The initial day or two when the girls meet the guard goes a bit slow, but when they start heading towards the castle to meet the Elena - who predicted the girls' arrival - it speeds up. The rest of the book details the time spent as the girls have a month to learn about and control their new skills as "Elementals" before they fight against the mortal enemy of the realm. They also have to get used to their attraction to the men identified as their soulmates.

The premise of the book is good, and some of the passages (such as the ball, the visit to the local town) show a lot of potential. However, as per other reviewers, the multiple POVs (changing 1st person in Catherine, to 3rd party for the rest of the characters), often multiple times within the same chapter, is annoying and distracting, and ultimately slows the book down. McDonald can write both perspectives well, but doing both this way detracts from the story.

Others have discussed about the ending, and I'm sure that you can find out more if you searched for it. I wont do a spoiler here, but will say it's a little disappointing for the story to end where it does.

Loved it!!!

I absolutely fell in love with all the characters in this trilogy. It was exciting, emotional, adventurous and well written.

Read my review, an author interview, two teasers, and an excerpt here: http://frommetoyouvideophoto.blogspot.com/2013/02/blog-tour-feasted-on-arrival-b...

While I'm still not so sure about the title of this book, Feel the burn, I thought this was a wonderful conclusion to the series. The final battle is exceptionally well done. I loved and hated the various characters in this book, especially the four elementals, Cat, Sianny, Kass and Loi and their soul mates, the members of the Griffon Guard. The book was an emotional roller coaster, touching and satisfying at the same time. It will bring you to tears as it did me. I was more then happy with the outcome and the few twists at the end worked well. There certainly was good character development and the sex scenes are well done and believable. I would certainly recommend this book and this series.
Jack Murphy

In a nutshell, "The Arrival's about four young women from New Zealand who cast a harmless "love spell" to find their soul mates and are transported to another world, where they find they have impressive magical powers. While it took me some getting used to as the story's told from various points of view, I thought that the story line was well developed and fast paced. I certainly enjoyed the interaction and relationship that develops between the girls and the Griffon guards, with Catherine (Cat) and the Captain of the Guard, Prince Alex as the main protagonist in the story. I think you'll find that the book appeals to both male and female readers. I found the story thoroughly believable that the Girls have Elemental magic in this new world in which they find themselves. I felt it works well and not too much time's spent on the girls mastering their abilities.
What a cliffhanger at the end and I certainly look forward to reading part 2.
Jack Murphy

Read my review, an author interview, two teasers, and an excerpt here: http://frommetoyouvideophoto.blogspot.com/2013/02/blog-tour-feasted-on-arrival-b...

I really wish I could have kept reading...

I loved the synopsis. The story sounded really unique and interesting. However, the changes in narrative from first person to third and back, sometimes all within a single page, were just too jarring. As soon as I started to lose myself in the story, the perspective would change, snapping me back out. If this book is ever rewritten with a single perspective then I will gladly give it another shot. As it is, you lost me only 29 pages in.

When I requested an ARC copy of The Arrival by Nicole MacDonald, I was so excited to read it, a paranormal fantasy/ romance with not one, but four kick ass heroines, bring it on! Unfortunately, a clever story was not enough to pull a five star rating with me.

This story is about a group of four friends, with extensive martial arts training, that can’t seem to find love. So they do what any strong, independent woman would do, they cast a love spell. But, as they must, the spell goes awry. They are transported into another world where they find themselves lower on the food chain then they are accustomed.

My highest praise for the book is the amazing world that MacDonald has crafted. She is able to allow the reader to fall into the world right along side the main characters and experience the new creatures and surroundings with the foursome. Also, MacDonald really conveys a strong girl-power message, even though the story revolves around the want/need for a partner. Every action scene further solidified the strength of the heroines.

To tell you the truth, I almost stopped reading the book a few different times out of boredom and an inability to connect to characters due to the constant, rapid changing points of view. Now, I think a shift in character perception can enhance the story on many different levels, but changing points of view multiple times per page can get confusing and leave the characters feeling a bit one dimensional. The characters personalities were lost among the shuffle. Eventually, the action would kick back up and pull me back into the story, but that is not enough to make me want to continue with the series.

Those that are fans of the genre, for the price the story is worth the read, despite my criticism, the writing is very well done, with just a few errors here and there. Just be prepared for the revolving points of view. Once you get used to that, it’s not a bad read.

This book got off to a slow start due to the changes in POV, the use of different nicknames, and the general lack of structure. But the story was good and full of action, especially toward the end. It was definitely worth the $0 I paid for it (many thanks to the author for the freebie) and I am willing to pay for her next ebook.

Review:
I found this book to be a bit of a tough read simply because it hit on my biggest pet peeve: bad editing. I struggled with multiple names of characters in addition to a nickname for nearly every one of them. Many of the characters expressed thoughts that were difficult to follow with the point of view shifting nearly every paragraph. Also difficult to process was the overuse of words (more specifically “and”) and misuse of verb tense (such as using has instead of had). The problem is that most of these issues manifested within the first chapter, making it difficult to proceed. Reading over a paragraph multiple times tends to interfere with the love affair created between reader and story. The introduction of 16 characters for a book 1 was a bit much. Hopefully with Book 2 each will prove necessary.

Never one to leave anything unfinished (especially a book), I continued on. I am glad to say that I hung in there and did not give up on the book. It was at about Chapter 10 that I found myself getting into the story a bit more. I had been skeptical about a working plot, but was happy to discover that the author has a good basis to work with. MacDonald also threw us a doozey in ending the story in the middle of what is likely a pivotal fight between the “good” and “bad”. I would classify this story as sort of an Eragon meets Avatar: The Last Airbender with a little Charmed surrounding it all. Short of telling the story, those familiar with the given references will understand why. I really enjoyed the use of Griffins, having always been fascinated by the mythical creature. I also appreciated that this was not a romance dripping in sexual encounters. Not to say that I don’t love such books, but it is nice to have a break as well as a book that can be recommended to the “faint of heart”.

In short, MacDonald has developed a promising story line that has potential. With a bit of polishing in the editing department and possibly making the story more focused on Alec and Cat, rather than the point of view of everyone, I would easily have been submersed within this book. If the girls are as close as they are supposed to be, Cat could easily convey how each one was feeling, rather than having each character express their own thoughts, unfortunately effectively pulling attention away from the story. I will be giving book 2 “Awakening” (due out in December 2011) a chance to see what develops for the characters.

I tried to read this book. And tried again - and couldn't even finish the first chapter. Who knows, the story could be awesome. Unfortunately the writing is not; especially the point of view shifts are confusing to say the least. I've got too many books on my reading list to give this one another chance.½