Book Tour Review: Her Loving Husband's Curse

Hello fellow readers I must start with apologies as I was supposed to have this review posted some time ago and had a scheduling mix up on my end. Read on to discover my thoughts about this book.

Title: Her Loving Husband's Curse

Author: Meredith Allard

Series: Loving Husband #2

Publisher: Copperfield Press

Published: April 20, 2012

Format: Kindle

Pages: 284

Source: Received from Author in 

exchange for an honest review

Synopsis:

How far will you go to protect the one you love?

Finally, after many long and lonely years, James Wentworth’s life is falling into place. Together with his wife, Sarah, the only woman he has ever loved, he has found the meaning behind her nightmares about the Salem Witch Trials, and now they are rebuilding the life they began together so long ago.

But the past is never far behind for the Wentworths. While Sarah is haunted by new visions, now about the baby she carried over three hundred years before, James is confronted with painful memories from his time with the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. Through it all, the persistent reporter Kenneth Hempel reappears, still determined to prove that the undead walk the earth. If Hempel succeeds in his quest, James and Sarah will suffer. Will the curse of the vampire prevent James and Sarah from living their happily ever after?

Her Loving Husband’s Curse is Book Two of the Loving Husband Trilogy. Book One, Her Dear & Loving Husband, is now available from Copperfield Press

Melissa's Musings:

My Rating: 4 Stars

I was pulled in from the very first page. I was immediately enthralled with James and Sarah's story. Their love story is very romantic, but not too overly done. It's simple realistic, and true.

I have the first book on my kindle, I had purchased it a while ago when it was free on Amazon. I had hoped to read it before I read this book for the tour, but I ran out of time. Her Loving Husband's Curse works well as a stand alone novel, but I did feel a slight lack of connection as I knew there was more to the story and that there were details that I was missing. The lack of cohesion in the story from my not being able to read the first book in the series in time was very slight, and not enough to detract from my enjoyment of the book.

I always enjoy when an author incorporates smells, colors, and other small touches into a story. Here it was smells. The author pointed out that Sarah's "smell" for James was strawberries and cream, and that their daughter Grace smelled like cinnamon. As much as I enjoyed this detail, I did feel that it was mentioned a few too many times and was over done.

There is a great deal of history that is intertwined with this story, which makes it both an enjoyable and somewhat educational (in a sense) read. I paid close attention to the author's descriptions and references to the Trail of Tears. It's not something I remember learning much about in school so those parts were particularly interesting.

I also enjoyed all the different paranormal elements and characters that are woven into this series. There are vampires, witches, werewolves, and ghosts. Sometimes such an eclectic mix of paranormal characters can make a story crowded. That's not the case here. I think this may be due to the fact that the author does such a good job of seamlessly weaving the paranormal aspects into the story overall that you really focus more on the characters as they are, not what paranormal species they are.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable series. I look forward to reading this series in its' entirety and to reading more from this author.

Shifted Perspective by J. Bridger

Title: Shifted Perspective (Tails of Change #1)

Author: J. Bridger

Publisher: Self-Published

Published: August 28, 2012

Format: E-book/Kindle

Pages: 231

Source: Received From Author

in exchange for an honest review

Read: November 24-25

In A Few Words: Interesting take on shape shifting

My Rating: 3 Stars

Goodreads:  Add this to your TBR Shelf

Goodreads Synopsis:
Caleb Byrne is a bright high school senior who has enough to deal with between college choices, taking care of his single dad, and dealing with his headstrong girlfriend Joanna and an eccentric set of cousins in California. He was managing to get by until the day he woke up a Cocker Spaniel. Even if it only happens monthly and is more embarrassing than painful, the so-called ability is something that he's anxious to be rid of.

He didn't realize his transformations would drag him into a hidden society of canine and lupine shape shifters as well as a family legacy he hates. To make matters worse, after moving to Los Angeles to learn more about his heritage from his Aunt Moira and his cousin Kalista, Caleb now struggles through life-and-death matters. He keeps angering the werewolves in charge of the shifter world, especially Kalista's boyfriend Peter, the Southern California alpha's son, who also happens to be grade-A sociopath. Worse, Caleb's floundering to keep his secret from Joanna.

While his family offers him some support, they may not be enough as Caleb realizes that the rules in shifter society---number one is supposed to be don't kill humans---are not so ironclad. Some werewolf out there is leaving a blood-soaked trail across the Midwest and it might just be with the alpha's blessing...

Melissa's Musings:

This is an interesting take on shape shifting. I don't think I've ever read a story where the main character shifted into a cocker spaniel. I have to admit that at first  I thought this was really strange. I just couldn't wrap my head around shifting into a dog. I know that werewolves aren't that far of a stretch, but a cocker spaniel was just...different.

I was slightly disappointed that there wasn't more backstory about Calebs' mom, and her leaving them. That's just a personal preference of mine though, I'm always curious about the characters' backgrounds. Even though I was hoping for more of their background, I see now how not explaining it works well to set up the story and leave Caleb wondering about his shifter heritage.  

The writing flows easily for the most part. There are a few patches where the wall is broken and instead of speaking in character, as Caleb, the author seems to be speaking directly to the reader. Sometimes this can work, but in this case it breaks the flow slightly.

There are a lot of nice touches in the details, regarding the shifting and Calebs' abilities. When Joanna starts having seizures, Caleb has times when he realizes when they're coming and helps her through them. 

The romance between Caleb and Joanna is sweet, and definitely realistic, not insta-love. I thought for a second that there might be a love triangle between Penny, Caleb and Joanna, but thankfully there's not. Though, now that I'm thinking about it would be unusual in some ways because most if not all love triangles I've read lately have involved a girl and two guys, so it would be interesting to see a love triangle from a guys' perspective. That being said, I hope that doesn't happen. Penny and Caleb's relationship is perfect as is: friends/working partners.

Overall the story is good. It's well paced and has just enough detail to leave you guessing.  I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a unique twist on shifter stories.