Review: My first paranormal romance, but not my last!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 3, 2012
As a rule I don't normally read paranormal romance. However, the author requested a review on my blog (for which I received a free copy of this book) so I figured, why  not? For my first real taste of paranormal romance, it was a pleasant experience. The paranormal half of this was fantastic! The romance half....not so much.The descriptions were rich and it was easy to visualize yourself in the places that Ms. Felices describes. However, I felt that at times she carried on with describing places that maybe we didn't need to know so much about. These words would've been better utlized elsewhere, in my opinion.The backstory for each character was well thought out and engaging. It was fun getting to know each of these characters and taking this journey with them. With that said, there were a LOT of characters. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but in a shorter work such as this, I found it to be a bit overwhelming and at times confusing trying to keep them all straight. What I particularly liked was the dialogue and joking that occurred between Arun and Daniel. Those two play well off of each other and I would've loved to have seen more of that.Of course, there was a ton of action packed into just 173 pages. It was handled very well, it was believable, and I was able to visualize the fight scenes as they were taking place. There were a few plot twists that I didn't see coming--of course this could just be because of my lack of knowledge about this genre, but I found these twists exciting and fun to read. I found the ending very surprising....I'm not exactly sure why I was surprised, but I was.I had two issues with this book:1. Early on, Felices jumps around in POV and settings a lot--to the point where I questioned whether I was going to continue reading it. It felt disjointed, choppy, and confusing. As a reader I was getting into a particular scene and then it would abruptly end and we'd jump to something else---almost as if the author suddenly thought, "Oh no, I have to get this information to the reader. I'd better do that now."  Thankfully this only happens for the first few chapters and then it levels out to where we're only getting one scene, one setting, and one POV per chapter. Trust me when I say it's worth it to get through these chapters and on to the rest of the story.2. The romance between Rachel and Daniel was completely, totally, and almost ridiculously unbelievable for me. They meet at Daniel's club when Rachel checks out a Halloween party, he buys her a drink, they dance, they kiss and the next time we see them together Daniel is treating her to a romantic picnic on the roof of his building. Next thing we know, they're in love and they're both willing to die for the other. Okay, let's put on the brakes here! There was no build up, no real interaction between the two to build an attraction--besides the physical, of course--and there was no real foundation for the level of love and devotion that had toward one another. Even having finished this book I'm still not sure I buy into the romance between these two.So, if you're looking for a great, fast paced, action packed paranormal story then this is definitely the book for you. If you're looking for a strong romance with paranormal elements, then you might be mildly disappointed. Either way, this book is worth checking out and I will recommend it to others.