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Friday, November 30, 2012

River's Recruit Blog Tour


Today is pretty exciting because not only is Charlotte Abel hanging out on the blog today, but we have got an awesome contest for you guys!  Woohoo!  Plus you'll get to read my review of Charlotte's awesome new release River's Recruit.  



Blurb:
Jonathan McKnight lost everything in Afghanistan. His left hand, his identical twin and his self-respect. He searches for redemption during a solo backpacking trip into the remote Sawatch Mountains of Colorado and discovers a secret tribe of shifters.

River, the beautiful young shifter that rescues Jonathan from certain death, wants to recruit him. He is equally determined to rescue her from her cult-like society — even if he has to kidnap her.


Review:  I was pleasantly surprised reading this book.  I have not read anything by Charlotte Abel before, so in my first experience reading something by her I am glad that I started off with River's Recruit.   First off I really like the cover of the book.  It isn't something that is overly edited like we are prone to see in a lot of books out today (not that that's a bad thing, but it's nice to have something different from the norm every once in awhile).    It almost looks painted, and after reading the book the way that River is portrayed makes total sense to me now.  

So let me be honest: when I first started the book I was panicking because we meet River when she is pretty young.  In my head I'm thinking well shoot I thought she would be older!   But, there is a time lapse and she DOES get older before we get into the meat of the story.  I thought the alternate perspectives between her and Jonathan were done quite well, and it was cool to see how much growth Jonathan's character achieved throughout the book.  

When Jonathan and River meet for the first time in the woods, their relationship was completely believable at least to me.  As they slowly got to know each other and friendship develops, you can't help but root for them to be able to be together.  But, of course there is Eli and Shula.  A mother/son duo who in a surprising twist are closer to Jonathan and River than they could ever have imagined.  

The plot in River's Recruit was a slow and steady build.  Charlotte Abel definitely knows how to take her reader on a journey and make you feel like you are along for the ride.  She creates a puzzle, every piece has a significant importance, and when you reach the end of the book your face will probably be like this :O no joke.  Charlotte has created a riveting story that you can almost believe is actually going on in our world today.  

Something else that I REALLY enjoyed were the secondary characters.  Reuben and Gabriel were vivid characters that I connected with.  Which is awesome when an author can do that not only with her main characters, but her secondary characters as well.  They were a great addition to the overall story and mythology behind the shifter society.

Overall, this is a great read.  There is so much lore and myth that Charlotte goes into great detail that it becomes the whole backbone of this story.  There is so much good going on in this book that it creates an overall awesome book.  When I first started thinking about what I was going to write for this review, I had pretty much determined I would be giving this 4/5 oh yeahs.  But, as I kept thinking about the complexities within the story it actually deserves 5.   This book is a definite recommend for anyone who likes paranormal lore, and some good and solidly built characters!  Can't wait to start reading some other stuff by Charlotte Abel!  You are awesome in my book!

Oh Yeah Count 5/5
     


A post from Charlotte Abel! 

I’m often asked which books and writers have influenced me the most. I don’t know why, but this is a really hard question for me. My answers change from one interview to the next, but there is a common denominator in all of my favorites. There is always a romance that drives the heart of the story—and the main characters have to make at least one life-changing, personal sacrifice before they earn their HEA.

Even as a kid, my favorite books had that sacrificial element. But instead of star-crossed lovers, the book had to have an animal (preferably a horse or a dog) as one of the main characters. I read every story about horses and dogs I could find in the book-mobile. (We didn’t have a library.) Some of my favorites were: Black Beauty, My Friend Flicka, Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows.
Today, at least ninety percent of the books I read are written by indie authors. My favorites include: Nancy Straight, Shannon Dermott, Shelly Crane, Amy A. Bartol, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Tammara Webber, Jus Accardo, Tiffany Heiser, Tammy Blackwell, Quinn Loftis, Abbi Glines, Michelle Leighton, Maddy Edwards, Christie Rich and Ann Charles. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! These ladies and their stories inspire me on a daily basis.

I guess it’s only natural that my own books feature ordinary people that become heroes when faced with extraordinary circumstances. Jonathan and River’s trials are just beginning, but they’ve already captured the hearts of hundreds of readers.

Okay, back to the question about which book has inspired me the most…

If I had to choose just one book, I’d have to pick Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. It’s not my favorite, but it is the one that launched my own writing career.

I loved the first three books, especially New Moon (I still cry every time I read it). But Breaking Dawn just pissed me off. All that build up with the Volturi and everyone just walks away? Stalemate? Oh come on! Really? Jeeze! Somebody needed to die. Irena and Bree don’t count. (BD2 is the exception to the rule where the movie is actually better than the book. I freakin’ love that movie!)

The whole imprinting on an infant thing bugged the crap out of me. What was going to  happen when Nessie hit puberty before her seventh birthday? Talk about a "jail bait" situation. Yikes!
Anyway…I started imagining how I might have finished the series if I’d written it. Entire scenes sprang to life in my mind. I had to write it down before it drove me nuts. 200,000 words later, I found the closure I was looking for. I also found an audience for my writing on fanfiction.net.

The response was amazing. The attention was addicting (over 2,100 reviews). But when the story won a couple of awards (including “Best Original Plot”) I gained the confidence to write my own original fiction. I'm not telling anyone the title of the story or the pseudonym I used when I wrote it. I'm proud of the plot and the original characters I created, but the writing SUCKS! So stop trying to figure out which of the bazillion Twilight fan fics is mine and grab a copy of River's Recruit. Just kidding. Sort of.


Download Kindle Bestsellers ENCHANTMENT and TAKEN by Charlotte Abel at Amazon
Get the new release, RIVER'S RECRUIT

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3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the great review and for participating in the blog tour for "River's Recruit!"

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great review. I completely agree...such a good book!

    ReplyDelete

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