In this installment of "Into The West" we see more of Tina and her everyday life. There's more teen angst than in the previous installments but also mIn this installment of "Into The West" we see more of Tina and her everyday life. There's more teen angst than in the previous installments but also more character development. Tina is a teen age girl who's been uprooted, as is common, by a parents job, in case her father, to new town, worse, a new state. They live out in the middle of nowhere, she doesn't have a car and there's no public transportation (having grown up in a small, rural/suburban New England town that also lacked public transpo, I really felt her pain) which makes it difficult to meet people her own age. To top it off, her friend Jessica from back East is slowly pulling away. When Tina does meet some local kids her own age, it doesn't go well. Being the new kid sucks. Still, she starts to make connections.
I liked that we got to see more of Tina acting in normal, everyday situations. She even misses her boyfriend, though the circumstances of that are certainly not normal. :D Tina acts rashly towards the end, leaving us with a bit of a cliff hanger. At one point, I thought to myself, "Not smart, Tina, not smart."
It's a less action packed story but as I said earlier, we get more character development and in this one Tina really seems like your average American teen. There were more typos and copy edit problems in this one. I know the turnaround time on these stories is very, very tight, but it was frustrating that such a short story had so many. Some examples: Missing word - "Tina rubbed her face and tried soothe.", "His ungainly legs too cute."; typos or grammatical issues - "A couple went off to nurse when their mom's nickered to them.", "She'd already out the plastic bags in her saddlebags at the barn." I know that not every reader is bothered by this but it does bother me, especially when there are so many in such a short story. (And I can't wait to publish this post and see how many I missed in my editing. :P)
Overall, a solid installment.
The reviewer owns this ebook.
Merged review:
In this installment of "Into The West" we see more of Tina and her everyday life. There's more teen angst than in the previous installments but also more character development. Tina is a teen age girl who's been uprooted, as is common, by a parents job, in case her father, to new town, worse, a new state. They live out in the middle of nowhere, she doesn't have a car and there's no public transportation (having grown up in a small, rural/suburban New England town that also lacked public transpo, I really felt her pain) which makes it difficult to meet people her own age. To top it off, her friend Jessica from back East is slowly pulling away. When Tina does meet some local kids her own age, it doesn't go well. Being the new kid sucks. Still, she starts to make connections.
I liked that we got to see more of Tina acting in normal, everyday situations. She even misses her boyfriend, though the circumstances of that are certainly not normal. :D Tina acts rashly towards the end, leaving us with a bit of a cliff hanger. At one point, I thought to myself, "Not smart, Tina, not smart."
It's a less action packed story but as I said earlier, we get more character development and in this one Tina really seems like your average American teen. There were more typos and copy edit problems in this one. I know the turnaround time on these stories is very, very tight, but it was frustrating that such a short story had so many. Some examples: Missing word - "Tina rubbed her face and tried soothe.", "His ungainly legs too cute."; typos or grammatical issues - "A couple went off to nurse when their mom's nickered to them.", "She'd already out the plastic bags in her saddlebags at the barn." I know that not every reader is bothered by this but it does bother me, especially when there are so many in such a short story. (And I can't wait to publish this post and see how many I missed in my editing. :P)
I like Jaime and Jeremy so very much. I had hesitations about Jaime when she was first introduced but I like her more with each appearance. Unlike somI like Jaime and Jeremy so very much. I had hesitations about Jaime when she was first introduced but I like her more with each appearance. Unlike some readers, I've never hated Jaime. She is in many respects a normal person: she rarely uses her necromancer talent and never for money, she struggles with career choices and family issues, she deals with disapproval from her boyfriend's family, etc. She's not the most powerful supernatural out there although more than she once realized. In all, being a plan vanilla human myself, I find her relatable.
So it probably comes as no surprise that my favorite parts of the story were the interactions between Jaime and Jeremy. Loved, loved, LOVED them and a couple of hawt scenes. The mystery part was okay; some of it I guessed, some of it I didn't and there were a couple of real twists. The "problems" Jaime had with the production were predictable and I rolled my eyes a few times.
Overall, a good entry in the series but not the best.
Merged review:
I like Jaime and Jeremy so very much. I had hesitations about Jaime when she was first introduced but I like her more with each appearance. Unlike some readers, I've never hated Jaime. She is in many respects a normal person: she rarely uses her necromancer talent and never for money, she struggles with career choices and family issues, she deals with disapproval from her boyfriend's family, etc. She's not the most powerful supernatural out there although more than she once realized. In all, being a plan vanilla human myself, I find her relatable.
So it probably comes as no surprise that my favorite parts of the story were the interactions between Jaime and Jeremy. Loved, loved, LOVED them and a couple of hawt scenes. The mystery part was okay; some of it I guessed, some of it I didn't and there were a couple of real twists. The "problems" Jaime had with the production were predictable and I rolled my eyes a few times.
Overall, a good entry in the series but not the best....more
Ever since Lydia Hawke aka Linda Poitevin first started talking about this book, I've been wanting to read it. In loved the idea of an older woman at Ever since Lydia Hawke aka Linda Poitevin first started talking about this book, I've been wanting to read it. In loved the idea of an older woman at the center of the story, as The Chosen One. So often, The Chosen One is a teenager (for example, Buffy). And genre fiction typically doesn't have older main characters; even middle-aged ones can be hard to find. But there's a growing trend of paranormal women's fiction, featuring middle-aged or older female MCs. Claire, the heroine of this book, falls squarely into that camp. I couldn't wait to gobble this book. I pre-ordered it, and then I got a review copy. Now I have two copies. :)
Claire is recently divorced and about to turn sixty. She'as at loose ends and looking for meaning, for purpose. Discovering she has a magikal destiny and magikal powers wasn't what she had in mind. She's slow to accept these changes and has humorous conversations with herself as a coping mechanism. As the action heats up, Claire steps up and meets the challenges.
I particularly enjoyed Claire's journey and growth. At the start of the story, she's finding herself again, starting a new life, pushing the limits of her comfort zone. From learning how to swear to giving no fucks to learning how to use magic, Claire rises, and sometimes stumbles, as she navigates the new world she's in.
Having read several of Ms. Hawke's books, and chatted with her on social media for many years, I found that this story sounded the most like her. Her voice was strong and if I didn't know who had written it, I'd have known just by reading it. "Becoming Crone" has Hawke's wry sense of humor, her quirkiness, and her supreme competence. Add in a modern take on the King Arthur story, mages and witches, gargoyles, magic trees, werewolves, evil garden gnomes, a hint of romance, and lots of action, and "Becoming Crone" was a fantastic story. There's strong world building and strong character development and the pace is brisk. Claire is not always brisk, she has arthritis in her hips (I can relate), but she keeps on going.
"Becoming Crone" was a delightful story with a heroine who has spine, experience, and feels like the neighbor next door. I'd be delighted to have Claire as a friend. I'm ready for book two, which is expected in December or January.
I totally picked up this book because I follow the author on Twitter. I read her tweets about the book as she wrote it and later edited. She caught myI totally picked up this book because I follow the author on Twitter. I read her tweets about the book as she wrote it and later edited. She caught my attention with talk of older characters (they're in their 50s), diverse characters, sexy times, and sweet romance. Even so, I held off on requesting it because 99% of what I read are male and female pairings or 1 woman with 2 males. I don't do much reading in other pairings but Ms Griffin made this book sound so appealing that I stepped out of my comfort zone and requested the book. I'm glad I did as I enjoyed it and it made me smile.
Talia is a bisexual Jewish woman who was married to a man and has grown children. She never explored her bisexuality before but has always been attracted to both men and woman. Eve was also married to a man but has spent many years involved with women. She has a grown son. Sparks fly between Talia and Eve immediately but Talia, new to the world of loving women, and rusty at flirting with anyone, is unsure if she's reading Eve's cues correctly, and there's the issue that Eve is her boss. Eve is a black gay woman, and conscious of the fact that she's Talia's boss. Despite the fact that they talk a lot about that problem, they don't ever really sit down and consider their options, and neither seems aware of the power imbalance between them.
The romance is sweet and fun. They are good together, have fun together, and are patient with each other. Eve is patient with Talia as she explores her first relationship and romance with a woman. Both of them showed a lot of respect for each and didn't play games. If one of them messed up, it wasn't drawn out. They talked with each other and they apologized to each other. It was, mostly, a relationship between equals. I say mostly because Eve was Talia's boss which can't help but create a power imbalance which was ignored. To Eve's credit, she treated Talia like another employee at work and both of them worked hard at keeping their behavior purely professional when at work.
I had mixed feelings about how well Talia's kids handled finding out she was bi. On the one hand, it was refreshing to have a lack of angst and fuss but at the same time, her daughters were casual in their acceptance. I suspect that says more about me than it does about the characters.
I think my favorite thing about the story were the relationships. Eve and Talia, Eve and her son, Talia and her daughters, Talia and Eve's son, etc. They were vibrant, strong, and sweet and drove the story. The story is low on angst and high on texture and depth and made me feel good. ...more
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