Craved (#1 in the Gwen Sparks Series)
by Stephanie Nelson
“Gwen Sparks just wants to live a peaceful life in the supernatural town of Flora, but from the moment she read about the first murdered witch, all hope of peace was abandoned. Possessing the rare ability to read the memories of dead, she volunteers to help catch the culprit behind the string of drained witches. Gwen has to team up with the one man who broke her heart, deal with a ghost who pulls her into the deathly realm at will, and a fight off the advances of sexy but frustrating vampire who not only craves what runs through her veins—he wants her heart.
This is a full length novel and contains adult content, not recommended for readers under 18 years old.”
Stephanie’s Contact info:
Website: http://stephanie-nelson.com
Facebook: Facebook profile
About Stephanie (from Smashwords):
I’m a Illinoisan where I live with my wonderful husband. I fell in love with books a little late in life. In my early twenties I found Stephenie Meyer’s books and had never experienced connecting with a book like that. From that moment on I needed more! Since then I’ve moved on from sparkly, fang-less vampire stories but I’ll never forget her wonderful stories that ignited my love of books.
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Favorite Quote:
“‘The first time I’d ever seen into the mind of the dead was right after an elder had given Aura to me. Witches were gathered for the celestial celebration that was held every five years, and Holly Humphrey, a member of the council, presented me with Aura. During the celebration, gifts were always exchanged, but I hadn’t thought much of the adorable black kitten I received; witches and cats went together like peanut butter and jelly.”
Theme: Magic can’t fix problems, in fact, it can cause them.
Characters:
We have witches that share their potions with anyone with money, werewolves that are the local law enforcement, vampires that are love sick and very sexy; familiars that hook-up the living with the dead. All living in small town USA. When you mix them together we get murder.
What’s not so good:
Formatting nightmare. I used a Kindle and paragraphs were either not separated, separated without indent or indented randomly. I found it very frustrating.
What stands out:
The writing was energetic, and fun throughout. The characters popped and filled the pages with a well paced murder mystery with all the extras. I loved the book until end–too many unanswered questions.
Rating 4.0
This story was well written and entertaining. I would have rated Craved higher if the formatting had been better and more of the story’s questions had been answered. The end was a disappointment.
My Rating System
5.0 = Outstanding
4.5 = Entertaining with a surprise that I’m still thinking about
4.0 = Well written and entertaining with a surprise
3.5 = Well written and entertaining
3.0 = Well written and entertaining but something let me down
2.0 = Find a better editor
1.0 = Find a better writing circle and start again
Unknown author.(n.d.). Stephanie Nelson Biography.In Smashwords. Retrieved August 25, 2012, from http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/stephanienelson
Unknown author.(n.d.).Editorial Reviews Product Description.In Amazon.Retrieved August 25, 2012. from http://www.amazon.com/Craved-Gwen-Sparks-Series-ebook/dp/B005EIQ0M0
