Book Review: The Elf Tangent by Lindsay Buroker

The Elf Tangent
Author: Lindsay Buroker
Publication: Lindsay Buroker (March 15, 2022)

Description As a princess in the impoverished kingdom of Delantria, it’s Aldari’s job to look pretty, speak little, and marry a prince.

Studying mathematics and writing papers on economic theory in an effort to fix her people’s financial woes? Her father has forbidden it. With war on the horizon, they must focus on the immediate threat.

Reluctantly, Aldari agrees to marry a prince in a neighboring kingdom to secure an alliance her people desperately need. All is going to plan until the handsome elven mercenary captain hired to guard her marriage caravan turns into her kidnapper. His people are in trouble, and he believes she has the knowledge to help.

But with an invasion force approaching Delantria, Aldari’s own people need her. She must do everything in her power to escape the elves and make it to her wedding in time.

Never mind that her kidnapper is witty, clever, and offers her a challenge that intrigues her mind even as his easy smile intrigues her heart…

Aldari can’t let herself develop feelings for him. To fall in love and walk away from her wedding would mean the end of her kingdom and everyone she cares about.

My Thoughts: Princess Aldari lives in the impoverished kingdom of Delantria which is under threat from the larger, and much more powerful, empire next door. While she would rather study and write papers on economics to help her kingdom, she agrees when her father arranges her wedding to a prince in a nearby country who has promised an alliance with Delantria.

Captain Hawk and his band of elven mercenaries are hired to get Aldari and her bodyguard Theli to the neighboring kingdom for her wedding. But Hawk has another plan; he intends to kidnap Aldari and bring her home with him in the hopes that she can solve puzzles that will let them get to a weapon to save his kingdom. 

The elven lands have come under attack because of a curse. It turns elves into the Twisted who want to kill elves. It has turned a peace-loving, magical people into warriors fighting a losing battle for their own survival. 

Aldari is sympathetic to the elves' plight, but her own kingdom depends on her coming marriage. Even as she becomes more intrigued with both the puzzle and the man, she is torn between her wishes and the need to escape. 

I really liked Aldari who is smart, kind, and caring. Hawk's desire to do anything to help his embattled people makes him a sympathetic character too. I enjoyed the banter both between Hawk and Aldari and between Aldari and her bodyguard.

Fans of fantasy with competent and feisty heroines and dreamy heroes will enjoy this action-packed adventure. 

Favorite Quote:

"Go ahead," she called. "I've got Theli. And a book the size of a coffee table."

Theli shot her an exasperated look. "Get your dagger out, Your Highness. Just in case."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: A Brush with the Moon by Raquel Lyon

A Brush with the Moon
Author: Raquel Lyon
Series: Foxblood Book 1
Publication: Self-Published (November 28, 2010)

Description: One moment is all it takes to change your life. For Sophie, it happened the day the fox attacked her.

All Sophie ever wanted was a way out. Only a few weeks ago, she was a quiet art student with an overbearing mother and no higher dream than starting university and reuniting with her BFF, but destiny intervenes in the form of a fox bite.

If being attacked by a rabid animal isn't freaky enough, her new town has secrets. People are dying, and Sophie feels she is being watched. Then there's the arrogant and annoyingly sexy Sebastian with his plummy accent and come-to-bed eyes creeping her out. She should stay well away, but then he does live in the spooky manor house, and curiosity is her middle name.

My Thoughts: Sophie is looking forward to getting out of her dead-end town and studying art at a nearby university. She already has plans to live with her best friend Beth who has found a nice apartment above the local undertaker. But a fox bite changes a lot of her plans.

Beth has always had vivid dreams but now her dreams seem to be turning into premonitions. One of the first guys she meets at the university is Sebastian whose eyes have been haunting her dreams for years. Sebastian and his cousin Connor are both attending the university though they are a few years older than Sophie and her friends.

Sebastian introduces her to a whole new world filled with werewolves, vampires, demons and other paranormals. He tells her that she has been chosen by the goddess Tokala to fulfill an epic destiny. Sophie isn't sure what to believe but she is developing strange new powers of her own.

I liked the worldbuilding in this one where their are different worlds each with different varieties of paranormals. It seems that Earth has become something of a battleground where they are all fighting for power. 

I didn't really care for Sophie. I didn't like the way she treated her mother or her best friend. I also couldn't quite buy in to the massive personality change she exhibited in the story. She didn't seem like a very nice person and I wondered why the goddess had chosen her for a great destiny. I also thought that she hooked up with the wrong cousin. Connor showed caring and concern for her while Sebastian went off without a word and just left her behind and confused. He also seemed to be careless of her feelings and seemed to find it easy to dismiss her when he had other things to do. 

This book is the beginning of a trilogy and the trilogy is part of a much larger sequence of stories set in the same fictional universe that only loosely resembles the real world.

Favorite Quote:

Where was the young student with dreams of being an artist? She certainly wasn't visible in the mirror before me. I had secretly undergone a complete metamorphosis into bitch lady of the manor, and I wasn't sure if I was wholly comfortable with that. It felt like a pretty lonely position, and loneliness is scarier than any monster.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: A Brush with the Moon by Raquel Lyon

 Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

"Soph? Sophie! I can tell you're daydreaming again, you know." Beth's voice echoed through the receiver. "Do you think you could quit playing with the fairies for just one minute and listen to me? This is important!"

Friday 56: 

"Well, it sounds to me like he came on to you...and it's totally not fair. You've had a nightclub owner and the hottest, richest guy in town after you this week, and I haven't had a sniff. What's going on? It's not normal. It's like the Twilight Zone around here."

This week I'm spotlighting A Brush with the Moon by Raquel Lyon. This is a free Kindle book and starts a series. Here is the description from Amazon:

One moment is all it takes to change your life. For Sophie, it happened the day the fox attacked her.

All Sophie ever wanted was a way out. Only a few weeks ago, she was a quiet art student with an overbearing mother and no higher dream than starting university and reuniting with her BFF, but destiny intervenes in the form of a fox bite.

If being attacked by a rabid animal isn't freaky enough, her new town has secrets. People are dying, and Sophie feels she is being watched. Then there's the arrogant and annoyingly sexy Sebastian with his plummy accent and come-to-bed eyes creeping her out. She should stay well away, but then he does live in the spooky manor house, and curiosity is her middle name.