EXAMINED: Eternity and a Day by Aline Hunter

Book: ETERNITY AND A DAY
Author: ALINE HUNTER
Genre: URBAN FANTASY/PARANORMAL ROMANCE/EROTIC ROMANCE


I bought this book from the online bookstore Loose Id
Picture courtesy of Good Reads

EXAMINATION
Runa Charon is all dressed up for the Samhain Ball, certain that this could be her year to win, when she is waylaid by her scheming sister, Octavia. A man waits for Runa, and she must go meet him, and then Octavia drops the big bomb: the man is a Draigen. One of the beings that can only travel between the human world and the Otherworld during Samhain. It's a chance for Runa to meet a very tempting creature.

Only the creature is Eric Locke, and the only fey that he wants to meet is the criminal Octavia, so that he can bring her back to the Otherworld to face judgment for her crimes. Mistaking Runa for her sister, starts the two on a journey that will introduce Runa to the dangers of the Otherworld. Though she is half-fey herself, she is burdened with mortality, and has been sheltered by her celestial guardian and brother.

Now, she is the disputed property of a Draigen, whose kind mates for life, and cannot exist without the one who is made mate. After barely surviving her first night in the Otherworld, Runa has no trust for Eric, and she knows that staying with him condemns him to a mortal lifetime. He will have to move heaven and earth to prove that they belong together, for eternity.

The first that I heard of this book was from Twitter. It seems that I am getting more and more of my book recommendations from there, and from reading book blogs. It has opened my mind to books that I might not have found otherwise, and even if I had seen/heard of (in the case of ebooks like this one) the book, I might have been more hesitant to jump in. However, the author herself ( JA Saare, writing under a pen name) has a great personality, and she tweets about her own life, not just using Twitter as a solely self-promotional tool. I've found that the more I like an author in his/her tweets, the more I'm likely to like their writing.

ETERNITY AND A DAY was a departure from the type of urban fantasy that I have read lately, in part because it is adult, not YA, but mostly because I decided to blog about an erotic romance. This is a genre that I read in my own time, but have never featured on my blog in a full-fledged review. All I can say is that I am very happy that this novel was one of the first that I read for the blog.

Hunter introduced many characters in this book, the two main characters being Eric and Runa. But, my appetite was whetted by several minor characters that were featured. I was really interested in finding out more about the brother that protected Runa throughout her childhood, with the help of Runa's guardian. Some of Byron's past is alluded to, but I personally need to know more. Like right now! He is an immortal being, but somehow Byron has compassion and love toward his mortal sister. Unlike Octavia, the sister who sets her up for capture, Byron tries his best to keep Runa from the being a part of the atrocities committed in the fey courts.

I have a pretty high comfort zone when it comes to violence and fear, as well as gore. So, the fight that occurs near the beginning of the story, where Runa's mortality is discovered by Eric, could certainly be slightly disturbing to some readers. I thought that it was very well-written because of the impact that it had on Runa. Not just because it revealed her inability to heal herself, but because it showed the amount of damage that a fey could potentially take, and the Otherworld creatures wouldn't even consider it making an impact. The Otherworld is a rough place, and Hunter establishes this in the beginning.

I could say something about the first sexual encounter that Runa and Eric have. I think that it is another part of the novel that would challenge a reader and their comfort zone. Again, as with the rest of the novel, I was amazed at the language and writing. Even the dialog contributed greatly to the emotional aspect of the situation. If I hadn't been moved or affected, I would say that the author had missed out. But, Hunter pegged everything. I felt uncomfortable with the use of a certain band. Not that it was used at all, per se, but that it figured so greatly in the very first time that Runa was with a man. But, be it a love scene or a fight scene, there is no denying that Hunter has a great talent for storytelling.


My Examination Results:
4.5/5 for plot
4/5 for characters
4.5/5 for language

13/15 Highly Recommend


Find the author as JA Saare, and as Aline Hunter

EXAMINED: Soulless by Gail Carriger

Book: SOULLESS
Author: GAIL CARRIGER
Genre: STEAMPUNK/PARANORMAL ROMANCE/HISTORICAL ROMANCE


This book is from my local library
Picture courtesy of Good Reads


EXAMINATION
Gail Carriger has reimagined the Victorian era to include vampires, werewolves, and the soulless. Her female main character, Miss Alexia Tarabotti, belongs in this third category. She is otherwise known as the preternatural; vampires and werewolves being supernatural.

Miss Tarabotti suffers some of the worst difficulties that may plague a woman in her time. Namely, being a spinster, Italian and soulless. So, of course, she is quite surprised and put out when a ravenous vampire attempts to attack her, whilst she has tea. One of the very few that can ward off the supernatural by returning them to their human state with skin contact, it seems quite a mystery why she would be the chosen victim of a vampire.

This mystery kicks off the story in SOULLESS. Miss Tarabotti is joined by Lord Maccon of the BUR (Bureau of Unnatural Registry), who also happens to be the local werewolf Alpha. Together they will have to navigate the best of London's society to find out why werewolves and vampires are going missing. Aided by Lord Maccon's Beta and the vampire Lord Akeldama, Alexia sets off to prove that she is not involved in the recent disappearances.

I had seen this book in the bookstore many times before I even picked it up. Then, I read the back cover several times. Each time, I passed on the novel, for one superficial reason or another. Finally, I decided that I was going to read it. (Mostly, because I had a craving for something steampunk, but I wanted something a little lighter than the usual steampunk fare.)

The first sentence, though rather simple, really drew me in. I couldn't stop reading. I couldn't stop laughing. But most of all, I couldn't stop rooting for the heroine, Miss Alexia Tarabotti. She does an admirable job of warding off the undesirables with her parasol. That includes the wax-faced man who seems intent on her death, and her odious mother, a great parody of the 'proper' Victorian woman.

Her relationship with Lord Maccon has a decidedly scandalous nature to it, for the Victorian time. Carriger has written these scenes very well. After all, Miss Tarabotti is well past the age of expecting marraige; therefore, she has more freedom than the average woman. And she doesn't expect to trap Lord Maccon. Also, considering that werewolves, vampires and dirigibles are a part of everyday life, one can forgive the sexual encounters of the two, which (mostly) happen in private. 

Because I tend to read fantasy, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance, I am used to reading about vampires and werewolves. But, SOULLESS had a new take on the phenomenon. She manages to seamlessly incorporate the supernatural into known historical events (such as the rise of the British Empire) and create a reasonable explanation for their existence.

What I really liked about Carriger's novel was all of the different strings that she brought together to tell the story. There is the historical aspect to the novel. There is steampunk. There is paranormal romance. And somehow, they coexist with humor for a really absorbing read.

My Examination Results:
3/5 for plot
4/5 for characters
3.5/5 for language


10.5/15 Recommend