Hey everyone! A little late, but better than never, WELCOME ONE AND ALL to my tour stop on the Shadow Fire blog tour! Here today I have all kinds of goodies along with my review! Thanks for stopping by! Before we get to my thoughts, let's learn a little more about the book and the author!
Shadow Fire by Kimber Leigh Wheaton
(The Light Chronicles #1)
Publication date: February 24th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Ashlyn – a free-spirited teenager whose peaceful life is shattered when the village elders honor her with a perilous quest to recover a stolen relic.
Zane – a jaded mercenary, torn by his undeniable desire for Ashlyn and the dark secret that could make her hate him forever.
Delistaire – a malevolent sorcerer driven by an insatiable lust for power.
All three are bound together by an ancient relic supposedly infused with the power of a Goddess.
Shadow Fire – adventure, passion, secrets, and betrayal
As Ashlyn and Zane race to stay one step ahead of the evil lurking in the shadows, their passions are ignited and their bond strengthens. But will they find the relic before Delistaire? Or has their entire quest been orchestrated from the very beginning by a madman in pursuit of ultimate power?
Kimber Leigh Wheaton
Kimber Leigh Wheaton is a YA/NA author with a soft spot for sweet romance and is a member of Romance Writers of America.She is married to her soul mate, has a teenage son, and shares her home with three dogs and four cats. No, she doesn’t live on a farm, she just loves animals. Her house is filled with dragons, though she does lament that they are the porcelain, non-flying variety.
Kimber Leigh is addicted to romance, videogames, superheroes, villains, and chocolate—not necessarily in that order. (If she has to choose, she’ll take a chocolate covered superhero!)
Her debut novel, Shadow Fire, is the first book in the Light Chronicles series. Watch for book two, Stolen Moon, a standalone sequel, coming August 2014.
Find Kimber Leigh Wheaton
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My Thoughts:
Okay. Here's the deal, I love a good fantasy novel. Can't get enough of them, but sometimes, sometimes I just can't do the "high" fantasy thing. Something about everyone wielding magic, dragons, etc just all has that "too much of a video game feel for me" and I have a hard time enjoying it. When I started reading Shadow Fire, I wasn't sure what to expect. Well, I have deemed it a "high fantasy", but it was unlike ANYTHING I have ever read before!
When I first read the synopsis, I really didn't understand what I was reading. The characters sounded intriguing, but what of the storyline? I took the plunge and came out in a way better place, Shadow Fire was awesome!
This book was an easy read that is suitable for mature-YA readers. It is a YA, but there are a few scenes of strong sexual tension, but nothing that YA readers aren't already used to reading! The only negative thing I have to say on that front is that I got a really strange vibe off of one of the characters and thought this book was going to take a turn for the NA real quick. I guess my mind is just in the gutter though.
One of the things I really liked about this story is honestly, how believable it is. I mean, obviously the magic is fantastical, and the creatures (magic wolves, demigods, a griffin, etc), but the storyline was actually pretty cool. It wasn't so farfetched, like other high fantasies I have read, that I wasn't able to keep my full attention devoted to the story. Like I said before, this was a relatively easy read that clocked in just short of 275 pages on my Nook, I tackled it in just a handful of hours. Honestly, I couldn't put it down at times. I usually never find myself saying this about books of this nature, but I really wanted more.
Our novel spends a whole lot of time building up to the action with an elegantly written story. The setting and scenes are painted for us so vividly, it's as though Kimber Leign Wheaton was writing from a booth of the Zodian Inn restaurant. THAT is always a true talent in writing style. I got so pumped for the action and kept waiting and waiting and then, it just "happened". There really wasn't a big show of it, which wasn't great, but my thinking is that it was probably just me that felt this way because I had such a fun time reading the preceding 250 pages! I was really expecting a bigger "bang" in the end. After the climax of the novel, the story really wraps itself up and ends very neatly. I liked that about it, but then again, I really would have liked to read more from these characters. Especially our villain. It would have been interesting to know a little more of his backstory aside from just his "evil-ness".
The characters in this novel were awesome. Ashlyn, Zane, Shadow, and my favorite, Freya the Griffin all come together to tell an amazing story! It's action packed, emotional, and seriously a heart warming tale! I enjoyed every minute of it! I am a HUGE Zelda fan, I'm not sure this means much to many of my readers, but this story seriously read like the plot of a Zelda game and I thought that was awesome. The perfect blend of humor, action, emotion, fantasy, and reality!
All-in-all I am granting Shadow Fire by Mrs. Kimber Leigh Wheaton a well deserved 4-star review! I was very impressed by the this debut novel and cannot wait to check out the rest in this series! According to the synopsis, each story in the series will be a standalone so you can read them in any order! I'll be sure to post my thoughts on book two soon!
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Where can you get your copy?
GIVEAWAY
This time up for grabs is a $25 Amazon Gift Card? Who couldn't use that? Enter the Rafflecopter below, you know the drill!a Rafflecopter giveaway
Alright readers, that's all I have for you on the topic of Shadow Fire by Kimber Leigh Wheaton! Thanks so much to the author and the amazing team at Xpresso Book Tours for allowing me to participate! Until next time, Happy Reading!
Thanks for participating in the tour. I'm so glad you enjoyed Shadow Fire! Book two, Stolen Moon, is touring with Xpresso in November :)
ReplyDeleteZelda is my favorite video game (Ocarina & Twilight Princess)
High Fantasy is not always a hit for me either i need to be in the mood for it. This one sounds great though and really unique, too! I also love it when an author makes a world or situation really realistic or even plausible (under the circumstances). Glad you liked it, Ethan!
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