Leigh EvansReseñas
Autor de The Trouble with Fate
Reseñas
It all started with a day dream, a blue eyed hunk and boob grabbing stone.
Heidi, was just trying to make it through the day and not get fired when the dreams came. If that wasn't bad enough, he walked in the door to her coffee shop. All her control slipped, her memories warred between hate and love. This was only the beginning of her storm to come. She will be dragged into a fight they never wanted any part of. She is betrayed, heartbroken, beaten, and yet there is so much hope and *ding dong* some happiness to be found. She is half Fae, half Were, not excepted by either. Stuck in the middle of the two worlds, a spilt person. Her family was murdered, her twin taken away and her only family is a crazy Fae Aunt who seems to be drifting near death. She is basically alone.
Bridge, a rouge were, son of the pack alpha has been hiding away. He just wants to forget the death of his wife, killed the same night as Heidi's family. He is seen by Heidi but does not recognize her. Something is up and he's trying to find out what while staying under the radar of the new pack leader. He grieves his mate and does not understand why he lived after she died. He wants to know the identity of the wolf that killed his family. He is in for a shock when he finds Heidi in his bed stealing his amulet after a kiss and cuddle session he thought he dreamed.
Then it all begins, everything hits the fan. Backstabbing, lying, death, truths and much more than any of them have time to prepare for. Their story is not an easy breezy love story. It get's dark, twisted, oh so painful. It also is sexy, sweet, funny and exciting. It is one of those 'forget sleeping" reads, you just have to read one more page.....then BAM it ended with me sniffling at one huge cliffhanger.
I am addicted, and NEED to read book 2.
Another go to author.
This second book in the series was even more thrilling that the first. I found myself transfixed to this story of two worlds, two hearts, two realities with combined heartbreaks. These lives torn by necessity before they even got to connect, to share, to love as a couple. She is left with doubts about everything, including her, Hedi's place as Alpha by Proxy to this pack of wolves. He is in the land of the Merenwyn, his fate unknown. His return unknown, she can not open the portal. It's been six months of on the edge of the knife living this lie. Waiting for his return, for him to rescue her from this nightmare. Everything is a mess and it's only going to get worse. Karma is one nasty, evil master.*It had many snicker and snort moments with her dealings with Mr. (Ralph)Cordelia, Biggs, and Harry become Hedi's right hands. Cordelia, steps in as the friend to back her up and pin her up if needed. They guide her through the pack dynamics. There is so much to cover up with him being in Merenwyn. Covering her non scent with his to trick the pack into thinking he is still there is one thing that much be done. It is against the treaty to have sent him to the Merenwyn lands, it must never get out. The trio take over many of the details, meetings, and conflicts that arise. The cover up can only go for so long, word finally gets out and major trouble come to call. This trouble will cost them much pain and suffering. Life will never be the same.Just when things gets darker then black. A mysterious Fae, The Dark Mages Shadow, comes through the portal and he hands out darkness, lies, a horrible history and even more trauma to the mix. He has opened the portal and with him comes a shocking and heartbreaking surprise. Trowbridge, he's older and he's not alone, he has a young wolf with him a female that carries his scent. Hedi, at her lowest point is kicked down even lower, her life, her heart and even her position are in question.
What a nail chewing, heart thumping, hair pulling, tear inducing, heart warming, thrill ride ! I love Trowbridge and Hedi. She is a young naive, insecure, oh boy was she insecure* with good reason people be gentle with her. He is The Alpha, strong, steady, unwavering, loyal, sexy sexy, and looks mighty fine naked, which he is often. The supporting cast are quirky, lovable, hatable and laughable. The author did such a fabulous job writing them even the jewelry won me over. This series hits every happy reading happy button I have, twice ! She is on my list of authors not to miss. I can't wait for the next installment in this series.
The Trouble With Fate has its merits, and it's definitely not a bad start for a first novel. I particularly liked Hedi's talent of mystwalking and wished for the author to explore it more than werewolves involvement.
Apparently Hedi is a mystwalker - a rare talent among Fae that is cherished by Fae courts where Mystwalkers are educated and become the bogeymen of Fae, invisible assassins who can drive anyone mad or even kill them in their sleep. There is one thing though. The Fae closed the borders between two worlds after Hedi's parents death, and her and her aunt stayed behind.
So this is the part I liked - Hedi's exploration of her talents, her trip into the mystworld and her animated amulet, Merry, who she constantly talks to.
Everything else felt a bit messy - the plot itself, the pace which was slow, patchy and uneven and even the characters' unusually fast development because the action itself only takes a few days and we still can't avoid the whole unfortunate business of true mates and/or imprinting which I really dislike in paranormal romance genre.
Werewolves of Miss Evans will appeal to the fans of Kelley Armstrong, Patricia Briggs and Rachel Vincent - I liked them and their viciousness. I also liked the main villain and his rationalised cruelty. He was a bit of a snake. Cold and slow but with lightning fast strikes in between.
The whole ending is very intense and quite gory, and obviously creates a great buzz for the next book with its interesting twist. I just wished to hell the action was more even and linear, and the Fae side of the story was represented more equally, but I'll reserve my judgement until I read book #2.
After reading the debut novel, I dove into this one with anticipation and high hopes. Although I didn't think it was quite up to the first one, I was also not disappointed with it. I say this only because I thought there could have been a bit more depth to the story, especially concerning Robson and Shadow. Found myself wanting to know more of the story there then what was given. Still overall, I found the book very enjoyable and once again found myself comparing the writing to that of Patricia Briggs. The characters bounced to life for me, Ralph being a bit less interesting than Merry, but still a personality all his own. It was very easy to picture each character and not be able to help but grow fond of each one.
I'm looking forward to the third book in this series!
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book going in, but I found myself enjoying it. I found myself comparing the book to those of Patricia Biggs, who is an author I really enjoy reading.
The characters in the book seemed to pop for me, and could easily relate to Heidi, who seems to live under the rules of karma, mostly bad. She is an enjoyable character, and I couldn't help but love Merry, the pendant with attitude! An enjoyable character to say the least.
This is a great 1st novel, and I am looking forward to reading more by Leigh Evans.
Quick & Dirty: Heidi Peacock’s continuing story and loads of angst.
Opening Sentence: I don’t know why Weres think the moon’s so beautiful.
The Review:
I have previously reviewed book 1 in this series, The Trouble with Fate and my review can be found here and book 2, The Thing About Weres is a continuation of the same story. I strongly suggest that you read book 1 prior to reading this book because many of the characters and plots are intricately woven through both books, and will allow you the best over all vision of this book. This book is definitely not a stand alone and should be viewed as such. Now on to the actual review.
After finishing the first book I was anticipating this book with some relish because I enjoyed and was fascinated by the worlds that I as the reader was thrown into. Unfortunately, most of my joy for this book left in the first 50 pages. Heidi’s story is gripping but she is so mixed up trying to choose between her Fae, wolf and human side that I began to really be annoyed by her.
One of the other strengths in the previous book was the descriptive visuals that Ms. Evans was able to paint. Unfortunately, she seems to have thrown these out nearly entirely and instead we are given angst and more angst. I find this truly puzzling because we were given all those images and descriptions in a book of 344 pages but we aren’t in a book of 422? Call me mystified and perplexed.
Now don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy this book. We learned more about Heidi, the necklace she was entrusted to care for, Merenwyn and Threall. Not to mention Robson Trowbridge is back even if only in Heidi’s dreams. We are also given a look at Heidi’s style as the Alpha by proxie and it isn’t pretty, but I think it truly reflects Heidi as a character.
We are introduced to three new key characters in this new book, and they have direct impact on Heidi’s journey. One of them helps explain her past, one helps explain her present and the final one impacts her future. The interesting part is that this realization only came to me as I was typing this review, which is a shame because this does weave directly into Heidi’s journey and directly correlates with her actions in the present and future.
Some of the outstanding secondary characters in the first book are here, but they seem to push the story along and don’t have any direct impact on the reader, which is unfortunate. I was truly looking forward to getting to know Cordelia, Biggs and Harry, and we got glimmers instead of a vision about their past or what made them stand with Heidi against the rest of the pack.
So the final word is that if you have read book 1, The Trouble with Fate, you should definitely read The Thing about Weres, but please note that not all of your questions will be answered. In addition, there is a third book in this series, The Problem With Promises, so do not expect a happily-ever-after in this book because you will be disappointed. I do believe I will continue to read at least one more book in this series hoping that Heidi and Trowbridge do get their well deserved happily-ever-after story.
Notable Scene:
Gorgeous grimaced and pulled his fingers free from his damp locks. “Why does it always have to be water? I hate water.”
“You know, you look so real in my dreams. Sometimes I think—“
“That you’re not dreaming. Well, check the list, Heidi Peacock. Am I wearing any clothing?” Trowbridge ran his hand down his gleaming chest, sliding it along the landscape of all that lovely taut flesh, to disappear under the water. “That’s a definite no. Do you know what happens to skin when it stays in water for a long time? Things get shriveled. Important things, like—“ He frowned, his hand busy under the water. “God, they feel like stewed prunes.”
My mate pulled out his dripping paw, inspected it with a fierce scowl, and gave his hand a savage flick. Droplets of water sprayed—bulwhip of diamond beads. “Why here? We could have this conversation anywhere else. You know—“
“I know. Weres can’t swim. You hate water.”
FTC Advisory: St. Martin’s/Macmillan provided me with a copy of The Thing About Weres. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick thoughts/mini Review:
This had an awkward first half which was chock full of info-dumping which really bogged the pace down, but I really liked the heroine and I persevered and I am glad I did because the 2nd half really improved. And I was soon sucked into the story. I loved the world-building but I wished it was introduced in a much smoother way instead of long winded tangents and the romance was fun and realistic and I have to say the first love scene was surprising because it was so realistic and I liked that because it was refreshing.
Hedi is once again in the midst of trouble, her mate is stuck in the fae lands and she has to deal with pack politics which is becoming to get ugly. But after losing her magic to a fae ghost and getting tied to a tree when the werewolf authority comes to investigate that she has been lying the past 6 months. She is shocked and elated when a portal opens up and that her mate Trowbridge is back and he has brought back some companions, a werewolf called Anu and her long lost twin brother.
I enjoyed this followup to The Trouble With Fate although I found this was much slower paced and less action-packed to the first book which was one of the quibbles I had with that book. But I also felt this book was very much like a filler and the action only got going towards the final third part of the book. I did like the revelations and twists in the plot especially concerning Hedi and what it means to be a mystwalker, but I found that I was missing something that I really enjoyed in the first book. However, I loved the interactions and humour between the main cast of characters especially Cordelia. While the sexual tension with Trowbridge just sizzled and Lexi provided an interesting dynamic to Hedi's development.
Even though I didn't like this installment as much as the first book, I think it has cemented me in following the series because that ending has definitely got me hooked for the next book!
Rating: 2
Heat Rating: Mild
Reviewed by: A. Lyn
Courtesy of My Book Addiction and More
One of the more unique things about the Mystwalker series is Leigh Evans writing style which is part stream of consciousness, part lyrical. On the plus side, it gives readers almost unparalleled access to Heidi’s mind and thoughts. On the down side, Heidi’s mind is often a pretty chaotic place. In the opening chapters, Heidi’s voice tends to ramble a bit and it contributed to a slow start similar to the debut. Once the action started, however, the pace jumped into hyperdrive for the remainder of THE THING ABOUT WERES.
Once again the highlight of this series is the relationship between Heidi and Trowbridge. It is consuming to the point that I resented every scene that didn’t have the two of them facing off. They do everything full out: fight, mourn, love. The intensity is riveting. Less riveting is the mythology this time out. It was confusing most of the time and overwhelmed the story even when I did understand everything. It’s challenging to blend fae and werewolf mythology let alone add in something totally new with mystwalkers and dream/soul realms. It ended up being too much for me.
The Mystwalker series really is distinct from most of the other UF/PNR series on the market, and that’s both it’s strength and it’s weakness. The romance is dynamite and brighter than some of my favorite UF couples, but until the mythology becomes a little more accessible–and the pacing a lot more balanced–this is a series that will remain in the good category. The next Mystwalker book, THE PROBLEM WITH PROMISES, hits shelves on February 25, 2014
Sexual Content:
References to rape, a graphic sex scene
Quick & Dirty: First book from Ms. Evans and it shows promise.
Opening Sentence: We lived in a long flat bungalow in Creemore.
The Review:
Firstly, I am astounded at the word pictures that Ms. Evans is able to capture in my mind. She has a knack for expressing color and even light that is truly unique. But there are times in which I was lost in a myriad of words and the story was left behind almost casually which is a shame because I wanted to get swept away by this universe and characters.
Our heroine, Hedi Peacock is part werewolf and fae. She witnessed the murder of her father by a werewolf, the slaying of her mother by her own kind and her twin kidnapped when she was just a child. How Hedi handles and sometimes doesn’t handle these challenges are part of what made me adore her. Our hero, Robson “Bridge” Trowbridge is not the run of the mill Alpha Were. He is accused of killing his family, including his father, the Alpha of the Creemore pack, and his wife, Candy.
When these two characters start interacting with each other is where the magic really starts to fly. The love/hate and bad/good characteristics are on display for all to see and I’m sure that their story will continue to be just as challenging as their first meeting.
One of the side characters is Hedi’s amulet that she has named Merry. Initially it was a struggle to see a piece of jewelry with such life instilled in her but eventually I was won over by the sheer link between Hedi and Merry. There was even a tear shed about 3/4 of the way through this book because of Merry.
The world in which these three characters live is filled with murder, intrigue, passion, politics, betrayal and torture. However, one of the strangest portions of the book was the time Hedi spent in Threall. Hopefully more of this world will be explained in The Thing About Weres and I look forward to reading it.
To sum up, this was a good start for a first time author. There are areas that I hope to see improvement like maintaining the story and other areas that I look forward to experiencing again like Ms. Evan’s gift of word pictures. If you are looking for an adventure and don’t mind putting in a little work, this book is worth the time.
Notable Scene:
When Trowbridge had opened the coffee shop door–the second Were to enter in ten minutes–I’d dropped to my knees, stricken with the fear that I’d slipped into a hallucination of my own, and had done so without experiencing the usual shit-here-I-go slide that happens before Lou pulls me into one of hers. Then, just as quickly as it had swamped me, my fear eased. I don’t detect scents when I’m dreaming and my nose had picked up an aroma over the brewed coffee that was Trowbridge’s alone. Ten years ago, when I’d been a lovesick twelve-year-old, I hadn’t been able to put my finger on that unique thing in his personal scent signature that my hormones interpreted as “Yum, Robson Trowbridge.”
Even now older and a hell of a lot more bitter, I couldn’t find a word for it. It was just a truth, as tiresome and hard to deny as the notion that chocolate bypasses your stomach and goes straight to your hips. Trowbridge smelled different than the other Creemore Weres. He always had.
FTC Advisory: St. Martin’s/Macmillan provided me with a copy of The Trouble with Fate. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
I fell into INSTA-LOVE with the main character, Hedi Peacock. I loved her snaky attitude, I LOVED her wit, I absolutely fell for everything she held true and dear. She is definitely in my top 10 favourite female characters. I also appreciated that she wasn't your typical, toothpick thin, female protagonist that seems to populate books these days.
Robson Trowbridge, the male protagonist, was also SO amazingly written. His presence in the book added so much more to the experience. The interaction between him and Hedi was endlessly entertaining, and I pretty much couldn't turn the pages fast enough to get to their back and forth dialogue. He's a Were, but not your typical, brooding, "hear me roar" type.
Merry..OH my sweet Merry. I think she had to be my ultimate favourite "character" of the book. It was such a unique idea, and I applaud the author for the intricacies of her existence, and her relationship and importance to Hedi. She was her healer, her friend, and all while being teeny tiny, and a hanging fairy amulet from her neck.
Quick moving, and not ONE dull moment. This book had me anticipating every characters next moves-how they would react to confessions, and new developments. I ESPECIALLY loved the scene in the beginning when Hedi unleashes her pent up anger for Robson, and the fact that she believed he abandoned her many years back-UGH..my HEART.
I definitely recommend this book to fans of the paranormal, but who also enjoy a whole lot of wit and humour as a side course. Leigh Evans is officially one of my new favourites, and I can't WAIT until the next books are out!!
I really liked the idea of a character being half Fae and half Were. I can not recall any other book where that has happened so I as intrigued with the idea. I felt Evans she did pretty well with her main female character Hedi. I liked the mix of powers and the struggle Hedi had with herself and her mixed heritage. The romance between Hedi and Robson went from mutual hate to sex/love in a blink of an eye. I thought there could have been another scene or two thrown in to make it a bit of a smoother act but I ended up getting over it pretty quickly. Both characters had major issues but ended up fitting together well and I like them together better than I liked them apart. Make sense? There were times where I couldn't put the book down and others I wanted something to happen a little faster. The transition from scene to scene did not always feel smooth. I often found myself waiting for the transition only to find out I missed it causing me to go back a bit to re-catch up on the new scene. There was great back story revealed at a nice pace to give you a good understanding to all the rivalry that is revealed between the different groups introduced. I like the amulet storyline and I enjoyed the supporting characters as well as the main ones.
The ending left me going "huh? Really after everything that just happened? Seriously?" Definitely not an ending I was expecting but even after feeling like that the cliffhanger makes me want to pick up book two because I have to know what will happen next so I guess the ending did its job!! So although there were some obvious flaws in places and I wasn't always 100% in to the book I still enjoyed it.
THE TROUBLE WITH FATE sort of snuck up on me with how good it was. The cover didn’t wow me, and the first couple chapters are a little slow. But, after the underwhelming start, this story–and more importantly the characters–completely won me over and made the first book in the Mystwalker series one of my favorite urban fantasy titles of the year.
The combustible and intense exchanges between Hedi and Trowbridge were fraught with sexual tension. Heidi had been nursing a crush on Trowbridge since she was a little girl, whereas he was much older and hardly aware of her. When they meet again after Heidi is an adult, events on both side have drastically altered both of their opinions of the other. Heidi has become a thief without any moral hangups about it. Her practical almost to a fault view of life was so entertaining and often at odds with the emotions she tries to suppress. Trowbridge, on the other hand, has been a rogue wolf for so many years that he’s mostly sharp edges and plenty of bark. The other character that really surprised me by being so ‘human’ was Heidi’s amulet, Merry. She never speaks, but Evans imbued her with so much personality and emotion, that her story-line was the one that ended up breaking my heart.
The character interactions are what I loved the most about THE TROUBLE WITH FATE, but the fae and werewolf infused world was also extremely well done. There is a long and volatile history between these two groups, and we are only scratching the surface of numerous interesting concepts related to them, like the sentient pendants. THE TROUBLE WITH FATE may not have started out with a bang, but it sure ended with one. The Mystwalker series has a lot more in store for us based on this debut, so I’m anxiously awaiting more when THE THING ABOUT WERES is released on July 30, 2013.
Sexual Content:
A mild sex scene. Scenes of sensuality.
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A book involving a half fae half werewolf girl named Heidi Peacock and a lot of adventure I honestly don’t know if I could ask for more in this debut novel by Leigh Evans.
The plot revolves around Heidi discovering a lot of things about herself and growing as a person. Along with meeting a steamy love interest. Heidi has been living under the radar with her Aunt Lou and a surprising mess brings her out of hiding. Leaving her in some interesting spots and forced to really learn about herself. Throw in the hot love interest to boot.
The book for me had a slower start, but I felt like that was completely compensated for with the ending! Bring me book two! I was ready to jump into it as soon as I finished this one. The slow start would be my only complaint really with the book.
The things I loved was that Evans did an amazing job building an interesting world while moving the plot along. Once I got past the ‘slow’ part I was left completely enamoured with the book and not wanting to put it down. I also fell in love very quickly with the head strong Heidi Peacock who didn't take anybody's crap.
Overall I give Evan's debut novel a 4/5 and say it's worth the cash! Especially if you are huge fan or urban fantasy.