Nicola R. White

What I Liked: Furies! I love Furies! No, not Furries, Furies! As in Greek goddesses of vengeance? Get your mind out of the gutter. :)

I love the idea of the Greek Furies coming back into the world, along with oracles, Hecate, and other Greek gods and demigods as yet unknown. I think it’s fun when any book brings old world mythology into the modern world.

I also really enjoyed the characters, particularly Ruby, the little oracle everyone is trying to protect, and Mrs. Hadley, the elderly neighbor who is surprisingly “in-the-know.”

What Didn’t Work For Me: I will admit that I was so excited by a Fury story that I didn’t read all the information about this book when I picked it on NetGalley. Fury’s Kiss is a paranormal romance, and I’m not so much into the romances. I don’t mind romance and relationships and implied sex in my paranormal stories, but I don’t care for the explicit sex scenes. However, I know a lot of people do, so if that’s your thing, there are a couple of hot scenes will satisfy.

I’m also not a fan of the “I hate you/let’s screw” method of building a relationship. Tara and Jackson spend most of the book terribly antagonistic toward each other, both before and after the screwing. Yes, I know there are reasons for it—probably some backstory on Jackson’s part we don’t know and a lot of Tara’s self-doubt. It’s just not a storytelling technique I care for.

Finally, there is an element to the writing that I have a hard time describing, not being a writer myself. Things in the story happen too easily or too fast, crazy things are easily accepted, fate is easily accepted. The storytelling seems simplified or lacking some depth. It’s something I know when I experience it, but I don’t know how to articulate it.

Here’s an example, but it’s a bit spoilery, so be warned! After the whole book has focused on Tara and her Fury, Alecto, her two friends, Rachel and Alex, suddenly become sister furies right at the end of the book and jump in to save her just when they are needed. Now, since Furies usually come in threes and Alecto talked a few times about how much she missed her sisters, it’s not like Rachel and Alex becoming furies was a surprise. But it just happened. It’s kind of a big deal to have a Greek demigod take up residence in your brain, but it just happened, all of a sudden, and Rachel and Alex had no troubles adjusting and jumping into the fray at the most convenient time.

Also, Jackson proposes to Tara at the end of the book. After knowing her for just a few days, during most of which he was being mean to her. And with a 10 year age difference between them. I know a proposal or declaration of love is de rigueur for a romance, but it just seems too ridiculous and unrealistic to me (as if Furies living in your head isn’t, right?). Guess that’s why I don’t usually read romances.

Conclusion: Overall, I had hoped for a lot more vengeance and a lot less erotica from this book, but that was my fault for not reading the description carefully. There was a lot about this book I did like. I don’t think I’ll continue with the series, but if the author ever came out with an Urban Fantasy book, I’d certainly check it out.

Copy provided by author/publisher in exchange for an honest review. Review courtesy of onebooktwo.com | one book, two reviews.… (meer)