Review: Outstanding debut
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 17, 2014
4.5 to 4.75 starsSplinters opening pages do an amazing job of painting the scene of Allan’s predicament in vivid detail. I could really see it in my mind. That first chapter grabbed my interest and put me smack bang in the middle of Allan’s story right from the start. With the opening premise, this story could have been quite dark – had it been the story’s focus – but this is first and foremost a delightful romance between city-boy Allan and rugged cowboy Duke.The touches of humour and the flirting between Allan and Duke were thoroughly enjoyable and kept the story firmly as a sweet romance with a side of mystery. I absolutely adored Allan. He’s fun, open-hearted, unpretentious, unabashed in his femme tendencies and completely comfortable in his own skin. It really was a real joy to be in his head.As far as the mystery goes, it’s pretty obvious who the culprit is reasonably early on. And that’s okay, because it’s truly the romance that is the focus. The mystery is the vehicle to achieve that, and it does the job very well.The move from the story’s set-up into the romance felt a little abrupt for me. One second it’s about working out what had happened to Al and acknowledging that Duke’s attractive, with some fun flirting and then it’s suddenly speeding into serious romance territory. The story still remained interesting, the writing very good and I was enjoying it, but the transition from first meeting to romance could have done with a little more time and fleshing out.It’s written in present tense, but it’s written the right way, where it doesn’t feel awkward and contrived, but instead is organic and puts the reader squarely in the action.While the transition from the story’s set-up to the beginning of the romance element was a little abrupt, that was really the only thing worth mentioning in what is really an outstanding debut novel with top notch writing and a delightfully well-developed MC. I very much look forward to what this new author will do in the future. And special mention needs to made about the gorgeous cover art. Not only does it have a specific tie to the story, but it was also painted by the author. Overall, Splinters is a very impressive start to what I hope is a successful writing career.Read the full review at Live Your Life, Buy The Book