It's that time again!
This week's teaser is from a yummy little read entitled Demon's Bride by Zoe Archer, and is the second book in her Hellraiser series.
So, let's crack this baby open and see what we've got.
Teaser #1
She looked at him, with the bruise on his face and the scabs on his knuckles, his sandy hair coming out from its queue, and suddenly understood that what made Leo so very dangerous wasn't his humble birth, nor his wealth, and not even his physicality. What truly made him dangerous was this: he honestly did not care what anyone else thought. And that gave him perfect freedom to do exactly what he pleased.
Teaser #2
"This must be the side of marriage that is so celebrated. A doting, fussing wife."
"I've little experience with the matter," she said, "having never had a wife before."
"Then we are equally innocent on the subject."
One word she would never choose to describe Leo: innocent.
Demon's Bride sports 4.4/ 5 stars and is available on Amazon.
Published: April 1, 2012
ASIN: B007QFRA4Q
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Tori
is a fledgling writer looking for her big break. She has poured her
heart and soul into creating her fictional worlds, but has a special
place in her heart for her character Avery, a womanizing cad that she
can't help but love. Due to her dedication and complete lack of ability
to nurture her real life relationships, Tori experiences a painful
divorce. But no matter how alone Tori may feel, she is anything but, for
the very man who is the source of her ruin is about to become her
salvation.
I had high hopes for this story. The description drew
me right in, but it was clear from the get-go that it was going to be a
tough read. There was just too much wrong to dismiss.
Despite
what the description says about Tori's husband being jealous of the
character she had created in her book, I didn't get that impression. I'm
not even sure it was mentioned, actually. I'm not positive on the time
frame, but I am fairly certain it's been about five years since the
divorce and all I get from Tori is that she suffers from extensive
writer's block, not that she is aching over love lost. But when her ex
calls her up out of the blue, which bothered me immensely (why would he
call her?), to inform her that he was remarrying and about to become a
father, I just found it out of place and a convenient excuse to push her
into depression and to further Avery's transition into reality.
Another
problem is Avery's existence. It is only (somewhat) explained nearest
the end. I gathered that Tori has been working on this novel for ages,
and he has been watching her for nearly as long through dreamscapes and
such. So just how long has this been going on, and why?
Tori
fell pretty flat to me. I actually didn't like her much. I found her to
be pretty annoying with her constant self-talk and mental jabbering. I
understand that she was alone in her world and all that, but it became
more an annoyance than an endearment. Her interaction with her mother
were very unrealistic to me, and had she used the term "mommy" I
wouldn't have been surprised. Thankfully, she did not. Also, her
relationship with her agent was kind of strange and didn't strike me as
deeply as it was meant to.
Tori's insistence that her mother and
agent not interfere in her love life was also a source of aggravation.
The two women were like twenty-somethings running around having drinks
and scoping the scene for men, and the minute they decide it's time to
set Tori up, she complies without argument. The date she is set up on is
actually pretty nice and I got a warm feeling from Roger (the date). He
seemed pleasant and charming and genuinely interested in getting to
know Tori, but by the second date, he has done a complete 360 and was
crude and bordering on being a rapist. It was almost like a snap
decision had been made here. As if the author wanted to shake up the
storyline to achieve the ending she was going for, rather than take the
longer, more logical route and have Roger become a possible love
interest that Avery would have to contend with. To me, it just didn't
work well.
The only attachment I held to any character was
Avery, which was actually quite well-developed and likeable. The writing
here was descriptive and the thoughts and feelings Avery conveyed made
him come alive in a way that none of the other characters did.
Unfortunately, these qualities made Avery's part a bit of a departure
from the rest of the story, almost like there were two stories smooshed
together. The writing styles were so different, they just didn't mesh.
Overall,
this could have been much better. The idea was great, the execution
needs some work. I was trudging through the first quarter of the book,
and the only thing that really held my attention was Avery's portion.
However, the many questions this left me with and some of the
unexplained things that I've already mentioned, really hurt my opinion
of it. I give this story three stars because I appreciate the effort
that went into it, and it isn't an altogether bad story. The problem is
that, even though I think I understand what the author was shooting for,
I shouldn't have to interpret it. It should be fairly plain and
straightforward to avoid guessing games.
Through the Shadows can be found on Amazon for $2.99 here.
