I was very excited to be asked to participate in this blog tour as I recently discovered Amelia Hutchins as an author through her Fae Chronicles series. Major book crack for me this author- complete with book hangover which saw me scrounging around Amazon looking for and failing to find similar books. I think I read the first three books in 5 days I couldn’t put them down!
Darkest Before Dawn takes us completely out of the world of the Fae and into a post- apocalyptic world whose population has been mostly decimated by a virus. Here’s the blurb at the back of the book:
Going through an apocalyptic event doesn’t mean the end of the world.
My dad is a modern day Noah, you know building an ark, trying to save folks and getting my brother, and I ready for the impending end of days – whatever that means.
Nothing in his prepper manuals had us ready for what actually happened.
I had nothing to prepare me for Jaeden and Lachlan. Heck, I don’t know of any girl that would have been prepared for those two.
There was nothing to prepare us for the things that go bump in the night or zombies, although now that I think on it, zombies might have been easier to deal with than what really happened. No, an apocalyptic event is just a set-up for things in our world to be shaken AND stirred.
What will rise from the ruins remains to be seen.
I’m not usually a fan of post apocalyptic stories as I find them too dark and depressing. AH manages to balance the inherent darkness of this kind of setting though with enough action and little snippets of humor that the story keeps rolling without falling down the well of being utterly depressing.
Some things that bugged me a bit about the book:
• Although AH is self published I found that her Fae Chronicles books were very well edited. I DID however find a few typos/grammatical errors in this one. They were extremely few but if you’re a grammar nazi, then you’ll definitely pick up on them
• I love that AH writes kickass, tough heroines but I felt that Emma did sometimes cross over into being argumentative for the sake of being argumentative which occasionally annoyed me. She does however, have other redeeming qualities which pull her back into being a likeable heroine.
• There’s a bit of a love triangle and for the love of all that is holy I am OVER love triangles. This is a personal pet peeve though so if you don’t mind love triangles then this shouldn’t bother you at all. I felt that Emma clearly preferred and had more chemistry with Jaeden and Lachlan was almost a bit of an afterthought so didn’t see the point of throwing the possibility into the mix. Girl having to choose between a vampire and a werewolf just brought too many uncomfortable Twilight flashbacks for my liking.
Things that made me do a happy dance:
• Although there may be other more technically perfect writers out there AH has this gift of sucking you into a story and I found myself almost frantically reading and flipping pages wanting to find things out
• As with the Fae Chronicles there is that story arc of the heroine being a little more than she thought she was and who doesn’t love that kind of Cinderella story?
• Emma, although very headstrong and argumentative does balance this out by being extremely capable and compassionate. I like that she was the leader of the Ark and that it was a female dominated group. She doesn’t take stupid chances with herself and her crew and she can shoot really well.
• Here is something that may be good or bad depending on the kinds of books that you read: The steamy, sexy factor? Through the roof. Although I found the Fae Chronicles a lot racier, this is definitely not a closed bedroom door kind of book. Multiple, graphic sex scenes and orgasms ahoy, captain! Don’t say you weren’t warned!
• AH does tall, handsome and brooding alphahole heroes so if that is your catnip then prepare to squee. Jaeden is still a bit mysterious but as this book is very obviously the first in the series I have to say that he was interesting enough to catch my attention. I really also liked Lachlan, my aversion to love triangles aside. A special mention must be made of the supporting men who were really fun to read- I found it very entertaining to picture huge Scottish brogue speaking, kilt wearing men who happen to turn into wolves. The other men were Vikings. Scots and Vikings all in one book in Western America, gotta love it!
I do recommend this author as I believe she is a great storyteller and has a gift for sucking you right into her stories. I adored her Fae Chronicle series so if you haven’t checked them out yet please do. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in either of her series. Below is more information about the author and relevant links. Enjoy!
About The Author
Amelia lives in the great Pacific Northwest with her family. When not writing, she can be found on her page Erotica Book Club hanging out with her favorite book junkies. She’s an avid reader of everything paranormal romance.
Website – http://amelia-hutchins.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/authorameliahutchins
Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/ameliahutchins/boards/
Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7092218.Amelia_Hutchins?from_search=true
romancefangirl 