Title: A Brush of Darkness
Author: Allison Pang
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Abby Sinclair #1
Publisher: Pocket Books
Number of Pages:
Source: My copy 343
Six months ago, Abby Sinclair was struggling to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Now, she has an enchanted iPod, a miniature unicorn living in her underwear drawer, and a magical marketplace to manage. But despite her growing knowledge of the OtherWorld, Abby isn’t at all prepared for Brystion, the dark, mysterious, and sexy-as- sin incubus searching for his sister, convinced Abby has the key to the succubus’s whereabouts. Abby has enough problems without having this seductive shape-shifter literally invade her dreams to get information. But when her Faery boss and some of her friends vanish, as well, Abby and Brystion must form an uneasy alliance. As she is sucked deeper and deeper into this perilous world of faeries, angels, and daemons, Abby realizes her life is in as much danger as her heart—and there’s no one she can trust to save her.
Confession: I almost gave up on this book. I got to the halfway point and was bored. I thought there was a lot of world building info dumped, and honestly I felt like I kept missing something because I just couldn't connect with Abby.
However, something happened about 120 pages into the book. Brystion suddenly became appealing and he made Abby much more likable to me. The info that was dumped in the first part of the book suddenly made sense, and I found myself enjoying this book a lot more. I'm so glad that I stuck with it and didn't give up on it like I had planned on to it. The secondary characters: Mel, Brandon and the unicorn made the story much richer and I realized that while I had a hard time buying into the romance part of the book, it didn't matter because I was enjoying the mystery so much more.
I think what sold me on reading the next book was that there were a few twists and turns at the end of the book that I didn't see coming, and I love it when that happens to me. While I wasn't in love with Abby or Brystion, I was intrigued enough to want to continue reading the series. This book was good, but I think I had built it up too much because of all the hype it received when it first came out and there was no way it could live up to what I had built it up to in my mind. That said though, I still enjoyed it and read the next two books back to back.
This ended up being a good, solid start to a new series and I'm glad I didn't give up on it.
Barrons Hero Hotness Meter: Medium
Curran Crush Meter: Medium
Martini Sigh Meter: Medium
Rhiannon Kick Butt Heroine Meter: Medium
Finn Sidekick Meter: High
Title: A Silver of Shadow
Author: Allison Pang
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Abby Sinclair #2
Publisher: Pocket
Number of Pages 384
Source: Publisher
Just when her new life as a TouchStone — a mortal bound to help OtherFolk cross between Faery and human worlds — seems to be settling down, Abby Sinclair is left in charge when the Protectorate, Moira, leaves for the Faery Court. And when the Protectorate’s away…let’s just say things spiral out of control when a spell on Abby backfires and the Faery Queen declares the Doors between their worlds officially closed.The results are disastrous for both sides: OtherFolk trapped in the mortal world are beginning to fade, while Faerie is on the brink of war with the daemons of Hell. Along with her brooding elven prince Talivar and sexy incubus Brystion, Abby ventures to the CrossRoads in an attempt to override the Queen’s magic. But nothing in this beautiful, dangerous realm will compare to the discoveries she’s making about her past, her destiny, and what she will sacrifice for those she loves.
Out of all the books in the series, this one is my favorite. The world building continued from book one, and moved at a much better paced. New characters were introduced, and a love triangle came into play.While there were times I had trouble buying into the triangle, I liked Abby much better in this one. She's strong, independent, yet vulnerable because of events that happened at the end of book one. Talivar is assigned to keep an eye on Abby, and I fell in love with him. I wasn't that big of a fan of the romance in book one, but this book had a much better mix of romance, mystery, adventure and fantasy then A Brush of Darkness did. I enjoyed that the setting was different and that we got to see Abby come into her own as a Touchstone. This book ended up with a major cliffhanger that made me glad I had the next one!
Title: A Trace of Moonlight
Author: Allison Pang
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Abby Sinclair #3
Number of Pages: 381
Publisher: Pocket
Source: Publisher
Abby’s pact with a daemon—whether or not she remembers making it—is binding, so she’d better count herself lucky that (in the words of a daemon who knows better) there’s nearly always a loophole. But her friends’ reckless attempts to free her, well intentioned though they may be, set off a disastrous chain of events. In no time at all, Abby turns her incubus lover mortal, then gets herself killed, cursed, and married to an elven prince whose mother wants her dead. On top of everything else, she’s lost the Key to the CrossRoads to her mortal enemy, who promptly uses his restored power to wreak havoc on the OtherWorld and put its very existence in jeopardy. Only one person can make things right again, but to find her, Abby must place her trust in allies of mixed loyalties, and conquer her nightmares once and for all.
A Sliver of Shadow ended with such a great cliffhanger that I was super excited to read this book. I really enjoyed the first half of it. Then something happened: for the first time in a long time I couldn't get into the romance part of the book. I had trouble with the love triangle. I thought that Abby was too indecisive and treated them both kind of bad, and I couldn't understand why they put up with it. Abby is a strong, independent character and I loved seeing her come into her own in this book. I just wish that I had been able to get into the love triangle because I liked all the characters, just didn't love them and I'm still trying to figure out why. I know that I'm in the minority with not being able to get into the love triangle, and I'm still surprised that I didn't get into it like I normally do with triangles.
While I had trouble with the love triangle, I did love Allison Pang's writing. She makes the OtherWorld come alive, and I loved seeing how Abby would get out of all the trouble she got herself into. This was a fun series, and while I had trouble with certain parts of it, I still can't wait to see what trouble Abby will get herself into next.
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