I went into this with the best of intentions. I so badly wanted to like this book, I probably should have known there was going to be an issue when the author wrote a note letting you know you can read this as a stand alone. Just a hint...she lied, this is part of a broader world, even if you read it for this story you will be lost like I was. Now not saying she doesn't know what she's taking about but as a totally new to this series reader I was totally and completely lost.
We start off great with a snarky witch heading into the Dark Woods to create a spell, and I immediately liked her because she was awesome when she shared her feelings and why she as doing the spell. The beginning scenes description is amazing I felt like I was in the forest with Valor as the author is able to write the heck out of that scene. Then as the scene progressed it just went weird, not just what was happening in the woods but how much a virtual stranger especially a Fae was willing to give and do for a stranger. As the story progressed we were given more back story, more of the characters and it just didn't flow so well if you didn't know who the Saint-Pierre's where already. Every where they went and interacted with other supernaturals they all knew who he was and responded with respect, and I was kind of lost.
Our characters in this story are Kelyn who is a Fae who sacrificed greatly for Valor the witch from the woods and he's angry about it but doesn't want to be. He lost a lot and he's tired of her always apologizing when they see each other, he just wishes to be left alone. His family supports him and those that were her friends have cut her out of their lives, especially his werewolf brother Trouble. Valor is a Decadent Dame, she works at and partially owns the brewery with friends. Valor is a witch who is perpetually seen as one of the guys, she loves 'masculine things' and doesn't know what it means to be a 'real woman' and this is what drives her for most of the story. She also does quite a bit conventionally written witches don't do like bend people's will to her own needs, ignore warnings about nature, was super greedy and had to be checked several times about this by Kelyn.
This story takes conventional lore and turns it on it's head, a werewolf who is brother to a full fledged Fae, and a vampire. A vampire who is pregnant and therefore hormonal, calling demons at a party, drinking angel dust. Fae who put out glitter when they have sex. It was just all so odd. Nothing that we know of traditional lore was kept in the book, everything was something the author was making up and there wasn't any information about it until you were presented with that scene.
That's pretty much when I was over the story and just wanted it to be done. I work in the healthcare field and 'angel dust' isn't just something you made up it's an actual drug that
actual people can die from, that pulled me right out of the story and I could no longer suspend belief.
Then there were the things that Valor would say about women and not feeling like a real one. i understand not always feeling like you fit the mold of what a "real woman " should look, talk, or act like but to bash other women for liking what they like because you don't understand it is bullshyt and it's tired.
"Because only real girls cried; and she would use her tomboy for all it as worth right now"
It's 2017 write better character flaws without bashing other women for liking makeup and doing their hair and wearing stilettos, my IQ doesn't drop because I like these things, not does my ability to be a gear head drop because I like lipstick. Cut that shyt out.
For me it was almost impossible to get a good read on the characters because they felt disjointed, they at times felt like they were trying too hard to be different then kept thinking weird thoughts in their scenes and just genuinely weren't really likeable. I felt at times they didn't even really like each other then they were having sex and it just didn't spark anything for me. I didn't feel like we got a sense of the characters, what they looked like, or who they were it was disjointed and only mentioned when either of them was obsessioning over the other's body. It also didn't feel like they had any real chemistry because he was still mad at her for what happened even though he didn't want to be.
I didn't connect to the story at all, it felt like it was being weird just for the sake of being weird. From the names of characters, the anatomically impossible sitting scene between Valor and Kelyn post sex which leads into another sex scene; the douche bag of a brother named Trouble and the things he's done, the random characters that were introduced, the threads from being in Faerie which aren't answered. I just felt so confused reading this book, perhaps it would have been different if I read the first book, however when I looked it up this appears to be a spin off of another series.
I can say the author is very gifted in creating wonderful scenes that the characters interacted with, especially her description of places they visit on this journey.
I really wanted to like it, I even let the fact that she curses by saying the names of tv doctors slide, because I sometimes use fun ways to curse but even I wouldn't shout out a tv doctor's name during sex.
just not happening. This as clearly a book you had to read in the order of the series, and I wish I had truly known that.
★☆☆☆☆
Book Title: The Witch's Quest The Decadent Dames