Alright, so I got a set of four books that are tied together into a series. I sat down yesterday, while doing massive amounts of laundry, and decided to get to reading them. When I have a deadline I like to get the books read before then just in case something massive happens at work or elsewhere. You never know when things will fall apart somewhere. The life of a social worker.
I am going to give you all four books here...
Book Title: The Witch and the Wolf
Author: Tricia Schneider
I received this book in exchange for an honest review (LoP
or Lovers of Paranormal).
So this was the first book in the series. I wouldn't call them full books, they were more like novellas and I would have surely found them in one book together, like the way Stephen King sometimes does his novellas. I am only using that format as a example. Tricia's books are not horror like Mr. Kings' books.
The idea behind the plot was wonderfully thought out. I did have some problems with this book though. I think that at times things were way too rushed. I know that idea behind the romance genre is find love, living happily ever after. I think that there were just not enough steps to get from point A to point B. I get that the characters come from the paranormal side of things, but I just feel like there were many steps left out.
I think that if the author would draw it out more, make it longer, she could give the story more depth. I felt like there were definitely things missing. You have a main character that is already in love in less then 24 hours. While I do believe in love at first sight, this was almost too much for me. I also think that the issues were all prettied up and finished too quickly. I get the happy ending idea, but I feel like there was no enough "struggle" for this ending.
Yes, we had a werewolf in this one, but it seemed to be a back story, not a main point. I wanted more on that. I felt like the author just threw that in there to give her male lead something supernatural.
Overall I think that the idea for the story had merit, but I think that Tricia should have fleshed it out more. I think that if she would take it from novella to full book she could flesh out the idea more and make the story into something grander. The idea of the evil family member that was going to do bad things to the main character was a great start, but I just felt like it was very rushed. She wanted to get from meeting your two main characters, the love interest and the protagonist, to them being in love. There was just not enough between there to make me see them really love each other.
Pros: The characters were likeable. The idea behind the story was great.
Cons: It was too fast. There was no depth. The ending was too rushed.
Overall rating: I don't know if I would recommend this to anyone until it is fleshed out more.
Book Title: The Witch and the Vampire
Author: Tricia Schneider
I received this book in exchange for an honest review (LoP
or Lovers of Paranormal).
So this is the second book in the series that Tricia Schneider wrote. I liked that it took place at the same time as the other story, just in a different location. Again, this was a novella, not a full book. I use that term because these are not full novel length stories.
I think that the idea behind this one was a bit more thought out. There was more struggle to this one and I liked that. The characters in this one were a bit more "grr" for me and I liked that. I think that it helped with the story.
This one was again still too short for my liking. I think that it needs to be drawn out more, giving the story more life. This one has a better struggle in it. The evil family member in this one is the same as the first, but we get a better idea about him. I still think there is more there. I think his part could be made larger, with more depth. There was just not a lot of depth in the story.
I know that romance is a way of escape, but there was not enough to escape to in this story. We are brought into the story at the right time but shoved right back out again before we can really settle in.
I do like her idea on vampires. She has put out there that they only feed on the full moon. I liked the idea, but what I really want is to know how he became a vampire. I also didn't like that he just threw out there that he was 100, with nothing else to go with it. That should have had something to go along with it. I get that the love interest understood what he was, but I don't care who you are, you tell me you are 100 and I am going to ask some questions.
I am also struggling with the side story that was in this one, with the vampire hunters. There was just nothing there and it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.
Pros: The struggle was a bit more pronounced in this one.
Cons: Still too fast. Too many openings that were left unopened.
Overall rating: I don't think I can recommend this one yet. If she can draw it out more, I might be able to tell others to read it.
Book Title: The Witch's Thief
Author: Tricia Schneider
I received this book in exchange for an honest review (LoP
or Lovers of Paranormal).
So as this series goes, the stories get more to them. When we get to the third in the series, it feels like the author is starting to flesh out more things. I still feel like the story is rushed in this one, but we see more then just getting from point A to point B in this one. As the series progresses, we see more in the stories and that helps a lot.
This one takes place in the same time frame as the first two, and I think that as we get to the end of this one we finally get to start moving past that time frame, due to needing the other characters to come to the location in this one.
I felt like this one has more potential and sadly we were left with a hanging issue. The "bad guy" in this one had no closure. I hated that and I wish we could have seen more into the reasoning and thinking of the evil man. I am being very vague here, but I am just not sure how I want to talk about him. I don't really know how to fit him into things. The mad, crazy man was shoved on us and I think that we need back story. We see the death in the very beginning and then never hear of it again until we are shoved into that story toward the end. We need more there.
I still feel like the story is lacking something. I think that there needs to be more added to this one. I do like that in this one we have a more plausible love story. They knew each other many years ago and have come back together. This was more real for me and I could see them coming back together, as opposed to the "I just met you but in less then 24 hours I love you and will marry you" idea we get in other stories.
Pros: This story was fleshed out more. The love interests were better portrayed.
Cons: Again, still far too rushed. We need more back story on the antagonist.
Overall rating: I think I could almost recommend this one, if it was given more back story on the bad guy.
Book Title: The Witch's Kiss
Author: Tricia Schneider
I received this book in exchange for an honest review (LoP
or Lovers of Paranormal).
Alright, so this is the fourth book in the series. Of the four, this one felt like it was on the right path from the very beginning. This one did not feel nearly as rushed. The main characters were in the last book and the struggles started there. Part of the back story in the previous book are the main point in this book.
So we have a demon and a ghost in this one. I love that they can't be together to start with and it was not until the very end they even told each other how they felt. The struggles in this story were better and it gave us a chance to see them trying to do the right thing before they ended up together.
We have a random fiancee, other women who have been with the male lead, and internal struggles that keep the characters away from each other. I think that this helped make the story more then the others.
I am still struggling with the shortness of the story though. I would love to see this one drawn out more. Give us more trying to fix the issues, give us more back and forth between the male and female lead, to show us how they work together. I just want more!
The ending was still very rushed for me. We did take longer to get from point A to point B but it was still very fast. The ending was too pretty, if that make sense. They took all the problems and tied them up in pretty little bow. I think it should have been drawn out more, made to feel more plausible. Well as plausible as a paranormal story can be, with witches, vampires, werewolves and demons. But I think you understand where I am coming from here.
This is the book that feels more thought out. I have to wonder if perhaps this was always the end game, but the others were just small steps to get to this one.
Pros: More story, more struggles.
Cons: Too short, the ending was too pretty.
Overall rating: This is the one story in this set of four books I can safely recommend to others.
