Early Review: The Trouble With Fate by Leigh Evans
The Trouble With Fate by Leigh Evans
Mystwalker #1
Today I’m a half-breed barista working at a fancy coffee house, living with my loopy Aunt Lou and a temperamental amulet named Merry, and wondering where in the world I’m going in life. A pretty normal existence, considering. But when a pack of Weres decides to kidnap my aunt and force me to steal another amulet, the only one who can help me is the last person I ever thought I’d turn to: Robson Trowbridge. And he’s as annoyingly beautiful as I remember. That’s the trouble with fate: Sometimes it barks. Other times it bites. And the rest of the time it just breaks your heart. Again…
Hedi Peacock, half fae, half were, has been on the run ever since a werewolf killed her father and the fae executed her mother. They said she broke a centuries old treaty but Hedi knows better and she would do anything to avenge her family. Even if it means pairing up with her old crush turned enemy Bridge. After ten years of quiet, her world gets turned upside down when her aunt is kidnapped and Bridge shows up wearing the match to her own living amulet. She'll have to convince him to trust her and fast as it seems all sides are gunning for them both.
I'm really unsure about the way the romance progressed. Sure, Hedi's always been obsessed with Bridge, so the mystical thing on her side made sense. I get it, her fate made sure she was tied up in him no matter how hard she tried to escape. What I don't get is things on Bridge's side. He starts out being creeped out by her and thinking she is just a teen, and then once he learns Hedi's real identity, he's even more spooked since he remembers her always watching him. And then all of a sudden out of the blue he's defending her and then trusting her more than someone he's trusted with his life in the past. Huh? There wasn't any trigger for the change, it was one second creeped out, and the next second seriously protective and possessive. I mean if there was a mystical reason for it on his half, then what took it so long to trigger? I will say that by the end, I did "feel" their relationship a whole long stronger, I just wish the beginning/middle hadn't of been so wishy washy.
This book suffers from a lack of cohesiveness which left me rather frustrated. The writing seemed to just be all over the place as we were thrown from one thing to the next without any warning. There were several points throughout the book that I was thrown out of the story while I tried to figure out what had just happened. Shock and quick pacing is fine, but when the change in attitude/setting/action/events is so abrupt that the reader feels confused it doesn't make for a smooth read. Don't get me wrong, I think the author has talent, and I am definitely intrigued by this new series. I just think the story would have benefited from a good deal of tightening to hone it into the best it could be. I will put a disclaimer out that I read an ARC copy, so some of those transitioning issue could have been fixed for the final publication. But in all honesty since the whole book pretty much followed the stilted pacing, I doubt it.
As much as this book frustrated me, there still is the framework for a truly excellent novel. The characters were interesting, and three dimensional, and the world while a little undeveloped, was intriguing. I was able to read the book in two settings and never was put off enough by my issues that I couldn't continue reading it. I'm rather anxious to see what happens next due to that nasty cliffhanger ending, but even without it I still would have been continuing on with the series. Here's hoping the second book stands a little bit more solid as there just is a whole lot of unrealized potential here that I would love see come to fruition. So in the end, THE TROUBLE WITH FATE has earned a recommendation from me, if only one with a few disclaimers.
(Received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley)
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