google-site-verification: google935433b691795853.html KRISTY BERRIDGE: Book Review: Soul Mates: Scent by Elizabeth Lance

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Book Review: Soul Mates: Scent by Elizabeth Lance

Soul Mates: Scent is an indie novel that I picked up based on the tenacity of the author's constant appreciation for the written word, whether by self promotion or the share and advertisement of other paranormal authors in the social networking world around her.
The novel starts typically of the young adult genre - schoolyard setting, jocks and cheerleaders, and the perpetual telling of boy meets girl.
Following the story of Max Fergus, high school football star, honour student, and all round stud - we fall into a world of incessant make believe. Max leads a somewhat ordinary and predictable life. He dates the head cheerleader, drives a corvette and surrounds himself with seemingly flexible friendships. It isn't until he meets Anna Lissa Felidae that his world begins to change. Max discovers that he was born a shifter, a fairy prince, and bound to be forever tied to Anna Lissa in matrimony and quick blooming love.
Okay, what I liked about this story was the great sense of imagination that the writer displays, the realms, the magic, and the never ending sense of danger that Max appears to stumble upon within each passing chapter. I positively enjoyed the sense of menace and looming action. I never questioned whether the author would deliver some crazy turn in events that would undoubtedly lead to conflict. The chemistry between Anna Lissa and Max as the story progressed was also very steamy and unexpected in a young adult novel but alas, welcomed.
Unfortunately what I didn't like about the story often outweighed the positives. The writing style was a little sedate with limited descriptive content when it came to outlining scenery, processing action, and defining aesthetic features. The base story was also a little unstructured, with characters interwoven into the plot when needed, and dispatched again when redundant, almost like an afterthought.
As I read from chapter to chapter, our protagonist constantly unraveled a new, somewhat convenient power to eliminate all possible resistance, thus eliminating the complexities of struggle, resolution and hard-won achievement. Definable plots also expand beyond necessary reason, addressing constant character re-structuring, which in turn re-shaped original, relateable behaviour that I enjoyed within the characters.
I would love to give this book three out of five fangs as I can see an exciting story blooming from this web of elaborate, fairy-tale inspired ideas, but unfortunately I can't if I'm being true to personal opinion - which I reiterate that this merely is. But I really do hope that the author develops this series further as there is a lot of potential for a great story.

Synopsis:
When the girl of his dreams walks into his homeroom class one October morning, Max Fergus, a seventeen year old quarterback and star student, has his world turned upside down. Everything he has ever thought about himself and his life is changed in that instant and nothing will ever be the same again, because once you know you aren't human, there's no going back, no pretending you are less than you are.
Anna Lissa Felidae, a pure-blooded shifter has been searching for her soul mate, the one guy that was meant for her, and just when she is sure that she is about to run out of time, Diana, Goddess of the hunt, appears to her and sends her in the right direction. With another shifter on her trail, one who is determined to have her no matter what the cost, Anna has just three short weeks to convince Max he is a pure-blooded shifter, among other things, and teach him to fight so they can be together. With the help of a few Fae friends, a motley crew of shifters, and Max's best friend Tony, they are sure to win.

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