Review: Intriguing story, but much too short.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 16, 2012
*DISCLAIMER* I received a free promo copy in exchange for an honest review.*It was a quick, easy read. The writing was crisp with almost no grammatical errors, the point-of-view was fairly consistent, with it slipping only once or twice, and the characters were very well written.Unfortunately, the start was a bit slow. The story opens with Abby in a crappy room, looking out the window, remembering the accident that changed her life. Personally, I think it would've been more engaging had the author wrote the accident as a prologue or even let the reader experience it through a dream or flashback sequence. I was happy when the pace picked up shortly after this scene.The action sequence near the end of the story was great! It was easy to understand what was happening without being bogged down with unnecessary descriptions and actions. I felt the tension, excitement, and fear that the characters were feeling.I only had one issue with this story: the romance between Abby and Matt. It felt rushed and a bit unbelievable. Abby meets Matt, he drives her to a Christmas party, helps her with a task that she's embarrassed to need help with, he drives her home, they get attacked, he saves her life and then they fall into bed together. Really? First of all, the story is set in 1866 London. How often did a lady sleep with a man she'd just me? (Unless she was a professional, of course.) Not only does it seem to contradict what was acceptable during the times, it makes the heroine seem sleazy and unlikeable. Abby's grateful that Matt saved her life and that he accepted her for what she was. Based on this line of thinking it makes me wonder, will Abby sleep with any man who exhibits these two qualities?At less than 30 pages in length and with the way it ended I was a bit disappointed. Maybe disappointed isn't the right word....confused. Why stop now? Why not just combine all the parts into one longer piece of work? And why is this being called book one when it read much more like a prequel?Overall it was a good story, a good start to a new, exciting series and well worth the time it took to read it.