Review: A Great Debut!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 25, 2012
The Darkest Day by Britt Bury''''Synopsis: ALL-CONSUMING DESIRE . . . Izel Campbell was raised to believe she is an immortal Fionn with the magical skills of persuasion. But when she travels to Scotland to visit her ancestral home, Izel discovers that she is actually the world's last living human. Forced to run for her life, Izel crosses paths with Kelvin Kerr, the Campbells' greatest foe-and the most magnificent warrior she has ever seen.  BURNS BRIGHTEST . . . A thousand-year-old battle chief of the Kerr clan, Kelvin lives only to avenge his father, who died at the hands of the bloody Campbells. Honor demands he kill the Campbell heir, but when he learns that the lovely Izel is both Campbell and human, Kelvin is torn between duty and desire . . .My Thoughts: The Darkest Day had my attention from chapter 1 and despite a couple of things that struck me odd during the course of the book I would say Britt Bury has penned a winner of a debut!What I Liked: Despite the similarities between Bury's book and Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series (there are quite a few similarities), I found the bulk of this book to be well put together and quite original. Normally if someone would have told me that a chunk of this book was just like the IAD series I might have refused to read The Darkest Day on principle. I love IAD and would hate for someone to make a less than adequate copy of it. However, Britt Bury did not make a horrible copy of a Kresley Cole book. The similarities are done in a way that is more of a shout out rather than a punk copying answers to the test kind of way. I wont get into specific similarities but if you read this book (which I think you should) and you're familiar with IAD you will see right away what I mean.The Characters: Izel and Kelvin are pretty amazing together. Their banter is fun and made me laugh a few times. Their passion is pretty sizzling too. I was fully invested in them as a couple that towards the end I admit I was a little bit weepy.The different types of beings: This is the first book I've ever read that has introduced me to a Pookah and a Fionn. I love that Bury didn't rely on the tired Werewolf/Vampire species when building her world. Yes there are vampires but they aren't hunky ones that you want to throw out your morals and bare a dozen undead children with. They are nasty buggers (they're eeeeeeeevilllllll...insert diabolical laugh here).What I Didn't Like As Much: Her Shielding Glamour...At the beginning you find out that Izel has been glamoured which masked her human-ness from leaking out making her highly sought after....and not in a good way. This, apparently, was done at birth. I had some unanswered questions regarding this. Why did her glamour fail at that specific time? Why did her entire appearance have to change? If the glamour prevented her from feeling emotions why did she never at least try to have a 'normal' physical relationship? She experienced pain so she should have experienced pleasure too. I always have a hard time believing in a 27 year old virgin in the year 2012.I also thought that even though the different species was interesting I was confused as to what a Pookah and a Fionn were through a large part of the book. Come to find out there is a glossary which helped out immensely. As this is an ebook flipping back and forth between the text and the glossary is something that I struggle with...but that isn't Ms. Bury's issue. It's mine. I just mention it because I want to make sure no one else wonders what the hell a Pookah is through so much of the book.Izel's Lack of Knowledge About Her Own World: It's like the woman lived in a bubble (which could have been true because of her human-ness but it wasn't). I am just wondering why she wasn't naturally curious about herself, her parents and the other species that are enemies of the Fionns. Plus it appears she is a major player in her Grandfather's Clan....she didn't know about that either. I understand that some of the book relies on her naivety but I would have liked her a little more knowledgeable.It's the Old Fated Mate Plot: Granted this has worked  very well in the past and Britt Bury pulls it off nicely. I'm just tired of this plot devise being so overused to explain why the couple should be together. Once again this is my issue and not necessarily the book's. I mention it because this review is all about my feelings toward the book.To Wrap It Up: Despite some drawbacks this book is actually very entertaining and enjoyable. I am really looking forward to reading more in the series and there are a few extremely interesting men who I am hoping get their HEA. Overall, 4 Stars.