Review: Introductory Story To A Unique Paranormal World
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 6, 2013
I'm always willing and eager to try a new to me author, book or series particularly when it comes to a paranormal romance that promises to be unique.  Happily, I can report that here is one that met my expectations and delivered a satisfying reading experience.When I say unique, I'm referring to the fact that this one doesn't offer up werewolves, vampires, witches, or fae oh my!  No instead, it introduced me to something different- Immortals.  The best way I can describe Immortals are former humans who live forever that are reborn with some sort of gift like X-Men.The story opens with a two hundred year old Immortal, Mercy Green, contemplating the fact that its time for her to move on so no one suspects she's not aging and really doesn't have a background identity.  She's done it many times before.  In point of fact, Mercy's life is full of ennui after living so long that she had been around the block and every other block more than once.  But this time, she has discovered something new and unexpected or rather a someone that makes her linger longer and hesitate to move on.  She has run across a rare person who has a pure heart and lives a life seeing beauty.  Mercy is drawn to Adam trying to figure out the source of his light.Poor Adam has just gone through a break up with his girlfriend who cheated on him and stole all his paintings which are the source of his income.  Before he succumbs to all the alcohol he drank, he confides in her that he wished that she weren't off limits because she was so much younger than he (not hardly buddy) because he had been attracted to her since he met her.Adam's admission rattles her, but what really gets her antsy is bumping into another Immortal- a cocky, smart alec who claims that he's just being friendly.  Mercy isn't having any of it though.  She has avoided other Immortals after a few memorable bad experiences.  In fact, her habit is to skip town when she notices one.  They look no different than humans, but they smell different to her.  Shortly after meeting Nick, Mercy gets attacked in her home while she is asleep.  It was like someone was trying to slaughter her.  Then an adventure gone bad involving Adam makes running and starting over not an option for the present.  And the inexplicable and danger level just escalates from there.The plot is parts active and parts passive with the majority of the passive in the first half of the book.  It has that 'first book in the series' feel because its setting the reader up with the intro to the characters and the Immortals world.The pacing was slow to get going, but then it varied with the scenes.  It raced along at a heart-thumping pace at times.  The end was a real page-turner.  There is a lot of introspection and internal dialogue on Mercy's part.It is all told from Mercy's point of view so thank goodness Mercy was an interesting and enjoyable character to me.  She frustrated me with her 'bored with the world' Eeyore outlook, but I guess I can understand it a little.  Personally, I thought her attitude was more a sign of her issues with trust than living so long especially after I got to know Nick and Emily who were Immortals with a whole different point of view about the world around them.  Mercy does end up growing from the beginning to the end of the story because she learns from what those around her have to teach her- no more unemotional Mercy where nothing is new under the sun, but a Mercy tentatively stepping out and willing to give a new perspective a try.Speaking of Nick and Emily, they were a hoot particularly Nick.  He was a great foil for Mercy.Oh and Adam- now there is a guy that was perfect romance-material for Mercy even if it took her a while to see him as such.  I cracked up at times when Mercy was surprised by the real Adam because she had built up her own assumptions about him.  Living as long as she did gave her a sort of arrogance in thinking age gave her perfect discernment into other people's characters.  Her shock at his assertiveness was hilarious to me though I'm sure the scene was not written to be humorous.On the flip side, the bad guys were two dimensional.  Not that I cared because they were shadowy figures for much of the story.  Now when the one who was coming after Mercy was revealed, I just thought the identity of the villain was perversely amusing because it was so over the top in ways (I know- deplorable sense of humor).  Don't get me wrong, he was a freaky scary guy when all's said and done.I do have to give special mention to the dogs and cats that fill this story.  They are fun secondary characters in their own rights.So wrapping it all up, I have to say that I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more from this author.  I would recommend this to those who appreciate non-traditional paranormals in their Paranormal Romances.