It took me a while to warm up to this book. Emily's/Charity's voice wasn't the most exciting voice to hear from. Let's go with Charity, Charity was dull and uninteresting for the most part until Link appeared. Maybe that was the intention of the author but it wasn't Charity that made this book interesting, Link brought a lot of relief to this book, he made Charity seem more interesting, he was charming, a little humorous, and supposedly a looker.

I wasn't sure how or when Link would show up in the story but I was pleasantly surprised that he was not a high school student like Charity. It made sense since Charity is actually older than seventeen.

The setting for this story also added another depth to the story, a good one. Telluride is a small skiing town in Colorado, the next hideout for the Johnston family.

In this book you can find almost every supernatural being you've come across in other paranormal novels. Vampires, witches, shapeshifters, you name it. As each being appeared in the book, the story takes a new direction and made it even more enjoyable.

I would say that the book got more and more interesting as it progressed. The concept was interesting so I was not bored out of my wits and was able to keep reading. As new characters appear the story got better and Charity's voice became more alive. Charity did come across as a seventeen year old not as someone pretending to be seventeen. I didn't get maturity or an old soul from her at all except for her dialogue saying she is a lot older than she seems. With my expertise from reading Twilight (lol) I know that supernatural beings should be able to blend into society seamlessly and not have any screw ups, but Charity could not get the knack of being human down, she kept forgetting to blend in. Now I can laugh about that, I should have realized that it was pretty funny, her forgetting to not be superhuman or much less her name.

Not a bad read at all.

( )

I am not sure that I liked this book. I feel like I have read a book just like this in the past. I am not sure why it seemed so similar but I liked it I just did not love it. It was interesting but just not something that I would want to read again in the future. It may be unfair because I have read some really great books lately so I added the extra star because of this. ( )

Read the full review at Witchmag's Boekenplank

It was a bit hard for me to sort out the feelings I experienced while reading this book. It’s easy to get in the story and turn page after page, without overly annoying things to take your attention away from the story. It was a nice book to read. Nothing breathtakingly good or I-want-to throw-it -away-as-far-as possible bad. Just an enjoyable story where nothing really stood out. These are the hardest books to write a review about, in my experience ;) .

Well, what CAN I say about the story? It felt a bit like I was reading Twilight, but then from Edward’s perspective. Not that this is Twilight in a new coat or that it resembles even a bit. It’s a total different book. It’s just that this was how I imagined Edward would have felt, the emotions he would have experienced when he met Bella. Except the problems with the drinking blood, the shiny part and the fact that the protagonist is a female. Although blood eventually plays an important role ^^

One thing I liked about the book is the connection between Charity’s past and Link (what an appropriate name ;) ). It was so touching, cause this way she’ll never forget and he’ll be always with her. And it just means that some things are meant to be (hope this was cryptic enough and no it’s not Link I’m talking about ;) ) It’s just a shame that nowadays most books I read rely on the instant chemical attraction or soul mate business. There’s no gradually falling in love anymore. Fortunately this book is different. Here the build up is slowly, gradually. And it’s not instant attraction, instead there’s the feeling of having met someone before ^^

A little thing that bothered me, though, was the way shifters are used. It wasn’t anything like the usual facts I’ve read about (for instance they can change in several different animals, which is cool ^^), but the way they were defined in this book wasn’t exactly to my liking. I’m just a very big Shifter Lover, so I prefer reading things a bit differently than that^^

Conclusion

3 HEARTS. A nice story about a new kind of vampire, without all the blood and shiny and I’ll-burn-in-the-sun stuff. With a love transcended through time. It’s a nice turn of events to follow the story through the eyes of the paranormal being instead of the mortal. The romance is slowly being build, not like the instant attraction you read about so often lately. Although I’m not that fond of the way shifters are portrayed. ( )

AUTHOR: S. L. Baum writes young adult, romance fiction. This author has written (4) books. I found the book to posses a lot of chit/chatter dialogue with very little action. Hug, kiss, hug, kiss, etc. What are we reading? Twilight? Hmmmmm

GENRE: Paranormal romance

SETTING: Modern day Colorado

CENTRAL FEMALE CHARACTERS: She is immortal repeating high school (Twilight);
CENTRAL MALE CHARACTER: He is immediately drawn to her (Twilight). He has no relatives but loves her family.

AUTHOR: S. L. Baum writes young adult, romance fiction. This author has written (4) books. I found the book to posses a lot of chit/chatter dialogue with very little action. Hug, kiss, hug, kiss, etc. What are we reading? Twilight? Hmmmmm

GENRE: Paranormal romance

SETTING: Modern day Colorado

CENTRAL FEMALE CHARACTERS: She is immortal repeating high school (Twilight);
CENTRAL MALE CHARACTER: He is immediately drawn to her (Twilight). He has no relatives but loves her family.

SYNOPSIS: Emily (changed her name when they moved to Telluride Colorado). She lives with her doctor Uncle and her designing Aunt, who are not really her uncle and aunt (Twilight). She has basically 4 friends in high school (Twilight). She and her family are being hunted because of what they are. The book is written in first person, "I" (Twilight). Lincoln discovers what her family really is (Twilight). Other paranormal friends show up to help in the fight (Twilight)....etc

SEXUAL EXPLICITNESS: Measured from Inspirational romance (not explicit) to Erotica (hot, steamy and sizzling). This book keeps it clean.

WHAT I LIKED: Not much as I have read the Twilight series too many times to count.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE: A repeat of guess what. Yup! Twilight. The book was written with characters talking a whole bunch (chitter chatter) but the action was minimal.

I give this book (2) stars because I was being nice. Was this book written before or after Twilight?

SEXUAL EXPLICITNESS: Measured from Inspirational romance (not explicit) to Erotica (hot, steamy and sizzling). This book keeps it clean.

WHAT I LIKED: Not much as I have read the Twilight series too many times to count.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE: A repeat of guess what. Yup! Twilight The book was written with characters talking a whole bunch (chitter chatter) but the action was minimal.

I give this book (2) stars because I was being nice. Was this book written before or after Twilight? ( )