Review: Review of All Four Books! Great Series!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 19, 2013
Book 1 - I will tell you that I struggled at first to get into the book, but that is not because of the story. It was a HUGE shift from the book I read before it. That being said, it was a wonderful story. Tasmyn is the main character, a junior in high school. She's been moved around a lot due to her father's job (no she's not a military brat) and she has struggled to have anything that resembled a friendship due to both her gift and moving around. She has learned to tune out the thoughts of others. What I mean by that is that she hears people's thoughts as if they are talking to her. This means that like someone who really is talking to her, she has to concentrate not to hear those thoughts. What this means is that she appears aloof and uncaring of what others are actually saying to her because she is actually focusing on their spoken words instead of thoughts. It's a catch 22. People think she isn't listening to what they say because she has to concentrate so much on exactly what they are saying. It results in very little friendships until she moves to King, Florida. This town is full of old mysterious history which actually is a good thing for Tasmyn. She fits in without even knowing that she does.One of the aspects of the story that I really liked was that Tasmyn falls in love for the first time with Michael. Michael has a family history of the male line falling in love with a girl and never falling out. They love only one and really don't pay attention to girls until they meet that one. Love at first sight is their curse/blessing depending on how you want to see it. Luckily Tasmyn falls in love right back. Like teenagers, they move fast and admit their feelings very quickly. However, unlike most teenagers, they do not consummate their love. I really liked how Tawdra Kandle (author) hints at what they could be doing, but then makes a point that they actually are not doing it. Both Michael and Tasmyn avoid situations where they could get themselves in trouble and both respect each other enough to not jump into a physical relationship too quickly. Now-a-days teenagers get physically involved very early (I was one of them) and it can have devastating results. I feel like this story gave a really good positive example for how a loving teenage relationship can be without that physical intimacy. I applaud Tawdra's ability to write a paranorml romance without the steamy scenes since her story is one a teenager is likely to want to read.So if you are interested in reading a light paranormal romance, this is definitely a good book for you. I say light paranormal just because there aren't any vampires, werewolves, or other shape shifters. That's not to say that there won't be further along in the King Series, but this book does not contain them. It is strictly an empath and witchcraft. This is definitely a great book for your teenagers if they are into the paranormal.Book 2 - I read Fearless (book one in the King Series) as one of my first book reviews. I had not read many stories about people with psychological supernatural abilities or about witches in general. I found the first book to be wonderfully written and pleasantly surprised by Tawdra's ability to maintain a PG 13 (approximately) novel that also included supernatural elements. I have to say that Breathless is written just as well. The story is one that shows what happens at the start of senior year for Tasmyn when her boyfriend (and assumed future husband) Michael goes off to college four hours away. Michael is Tasmyn's first boyfriend and Michael's family has this wonderful trait of the men falling instantly in love with one and only one woman in their entire life. This makes it appear that having a long distance relationship will be easier because Tasmyn and Michael both feel this deep trust that the other will be waiting for them to either come home or graduate and go to college as well. Unfortunately, Tasmyn takes Michael's departure so hard she practically turns comatose.Once the initial disaster of being alone passes, Tasmyn moves on to starting her senior year. She meets a new guy who is desperately interested in her and has a unique ability much like Tasmyn's mind-hearing ability. No they don't end up together. I will spare you thinking that Tasmyn walks off with another man. However, Rafe (the new guy) does create some interesting situations and even saves Tasmyn's life towards the end. Tasmyn loses a lot of friends in this book because of them going off to college and because of her latest enemy. What is surprising is that Nell, the murderous witch from book one, turns up again and again to help Tasmyn. You will be surprised at how that turns out. I know I was. I was also a little disappointed with how unwilling Tasmyn was to accept Nell's help. My biggest disappointment was her ignoring Nell's final warning and instead walks right into the arms (or classroom) of the enemy while not telling Michael of her choice. That is definitely going to cause problems in book three.Overall I found the book easy to read and pretty enjoyable as well. I still found myself wondering if the Tasmyn and Michael would make it past second base, but even though I knew they wouldn't, I was still happy to see that they kept to their moral beliefs. Another great book by Tawdra Kandle.Book 3 -  I have read all of the King Series by Tawdra Kandle. It actually was one of the first books I wrote a review for and I have been following Tawdra around ever since. I love how her books are truly YA. There is nothing in them that you wouldn't want your teenager reading. In fact, other than the paranormal elements, everything is something that your child will see in school on a daily basis. It is a series of life experiences that nearly every teenager can relate to. Even the paranormal elements are things they can relate too without actually being able to perform magic. I can explain this better by telling you a little more about this particular story.Tasmyn was pretty much forced to take an independent study with Ms. Lacusta at the end of book two, but what you learn is that she doesn't really feel all that forced into it in book three. Ms. Lacusta decides to teach Tasmyn everything she knows about magic. She sees potential in Tas as her daughter's magical twin (that is explained in books two and three). Tasmyn eventually decides that it would be a good idea for her to learn how much magic she really can perform. Rather than learning it on her own, causing potentially bad things to happen, she sees Ms. Lacusta as the better of two evils, a mentor. What she does not realize is that she will have to tear apart her life as she knows it in order to gain control of the magic within her. She begins lying to nearly everyone. She does things to her friends that she normally would never do. She starts using people. All of these things are what our kids will eventually run into in one form or another. For Tasmyn, they were all because of her desire for power over the magical realm. She must learn some valuable lessons that will have even you feeling a little guilty. It's a very emotionally charged book, and I am looking forward to reading book four, Endless.Book 4 - I love this series. Tawdra Kandle has an amazing way at writing YA in such a way that it is not only appropriate, but completely believable. This is the fourth book in The King Series, of which I have read them all. At the end of Restless, book three, Tasmyn and Michael return to their amazing relationship which was temporarily ended in the story. Tasmyn happened to hear Michael think thoughts that indicated he doubted that they were really meant to be. This resulted in Tasmyn's downward spiral in which she started dating Rafe (or using), learned how to access the elements with magik but not how to control them, cause Marica Lacusta to go insane, and nearly killed Nell.In Endless, Michael and Tasmyn are together and working through everything that happened when Michael was out of the picture. Tasmyn is also seeing a special psychiatrist who is supposed to help her learn how to control her newest powers. This is perhaps the primary focus of the entire book. Tasmyn ends up working for a company called Carruthers who finally is able to teach her how to control her many abilities. She is also sent out under cover to use her gifts to help other people. This is a dream come true for Tasmyn. Michael diligently stands by her side, forgiving her for her previous actions and supporting her newest decisions. But what will happen when Tasmyn is called to an assignment involving Nell's father? Will she and Michael finally consummate their relationship? Will they decide to take the next step and get married? You'll have to read to find out! It's well worth finding out as well!