TITLE: Starry Knight
AUTHOR: Nina Mason
INFO: Paperback, Fiction, 248 pages
PUBLISHED: Kensington, 2015
SOURCE: Received from Publisher for Review
FROM GOODREADS: Can these star-crossed lovers bridge two worlds?
British aristocrat Vanessa Bentley has beauty, fame, and fortune, but she gets no respect for her decision to become a paranormal investigator. Determined to prove the naysayers wrong. Vanessa ventures to the misty moors of Caithness, Scotland. There stands the immense Castle Barrogill, where a vampire is rumored to be stalking the dungeons - a vampire Vanessa is determined to find. She'll just have to get past the resident shape-shifter...
Callum Lyon is the gorgeous reclusive astrologer and faery knight who guards the castle. For free-spirited Vanessa, seducing him proves to be easy. After all, he was once a breeding drone to a Queen. But astrologically, their differences are harder to overcome Will Vanessa's mission - and Callum's secrets - be more than their burgeoning love can take? Or will flesh - and blood - win over the ghosts that haunt them both?
MY TAKE: The blurb on this book jumped out at me and seemed to have many of the elements I look for in a story: historical, fantasy, romance, Scotland, knights, castles - need I say more? While it did have all of those things, Starry Knight was just an OK afternoon's read. It did what a good book is supposed to do, entertain the reader, but it didn't grab a hold of me like I'd thought it might.
Ms. Mason has created an alternate/adjacent world that I believe has a lot of promise in the stories to come. Her building the imagery was done quite well. I could picture the scenery as she was describing it and could easily place myself into the setting. It was somewhere I'd be interested in being.
What didn't make this a "great" read for me, is well, pretty much Vanessa and the political/environmental messages. I could not connect or empathize with the woman. She'd say one thing while doing the opposite. Her "cause" seemed to be first and foremost with her when it was convenient. She had the spoiled brat thing down to an art form.
As for the political and environmental slant, it is not that I am not also very concerned about doing what is right for our world. I just don't want to be bombarded with it throughout a story that I'm reading to escape reality and be entertained. I am of the same mind when it comes to the political vein.
All in all, I think many readers will enjoy this story and the ones to come. As I noted, the author is quite adept at world building and creating a place you want to go back to.
Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:
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~~~~~ Disclaimer: All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own. I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links. I may receive books in order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one. Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.
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