Someday, I will learn to read samples before actually agreeing to review something.
She Wulf Review
The folks at Novel Publicity sent me copies both of She Wulf and of the first book in the series, The Day of First Sun. I had originally intended to review both, but after the first couple of chapters of The Day of First Sun, I realized there was no way I could review it. It is, simply, too obviously a first novel. And not just a first-published novel, but a first-ever-written novel. I probably wouldn't have finished it if I wasn't participating in this blog tour, but I wanted to be completely fair, so I read the whole thing.
She Wulf is definitely better than The Day of First Sun in nearly every way. The plot is more coherent (possibly owing to the use of Beowulf, but even the non-Beowulf parts seem better constructed). The characters are a little less like cardboard cut-outs, though they still didn't ever seem like real people, and I didn't quite care what happened to them. The writing is better, though there are still a lot of missing commas, ungrammatical constructions, and other things that drive me nuts. To be fair, a lot of the things that drive me nuts are things readers more interested in pure story won't be bothered by.
So yes, it's a marked improvement. But... Yes, there's a "but." I still wouldn't have read more than a chapter or two if it weren't for this blog tour I signed up for. If I made it farther than that, I would definitely have given up when I hit the chapter with the horse, in which every single instance of the word "reins" was spelled "reigns" (yes, it's a word, but it's not the same word).
Maybe I demand more from fiction than other readers. I can ignore flaws in both writing and story if the characters grab me, but I can't forgive everything. But I'll stop there. I don't ever want to be the sort of person who tries to discourage people from writing, or even from self-publishing, and I do hope Sheryl Steines keeps writing and keeps getting better. Maybe someday I'll come back to her work and find I love it. Going by the glowing reviews Ms Steines, books have received on Amazon, it's possible the flaws are in me and not in the book. So my recommendation is this: download the sample first. You'll know by the time you read the first few pages whether or not this is a book for you.
Tour Notes
(The following text was supplied by Novel Publicity and is pasted in exactly as received.)
- Purchase your copy of She Wulf for just 99 cents
- Purchase your copy of Day of First Sun for just 99 cents
- Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicity
- Visit today’s featured social media event
About The Day of First Sun: A vampire, a rogue wizard and an army of soulless zombies are par for the course for Annie Pearce and Bobby “Cham” Chamsky of the Wizard’s Guard. But when the non-magical princess, Amelie of Amborix, is murdered by magical means, a deeper plot unfolds. Get it on Amazon.
About the author: Behind the wheel of her ’66 Mustang Convertible, Sheryl is a constant surprise, using her sense of humor and relatable style make her books something everyone can enjoy. Visit Sheryl on her website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.
While it's classified simply as "fiction" on the cover, this book really should be "paranormal romance" (or at least "urban fantasy") to make it easier for fans to find. There are vampires and there is romance, and most readers of "general fiction" probably won't be all that interested. That said, it's a decent entry in the "para-rom" genre. The writing is competent, though not inspired, and doesn't get in the way of the story (except for a couple of grammatical and word use quirks that, while a bit odd, almost add to the interest). The set up--vampires are real, but based on technology rather than supernatural forces--is interesting if not wildly original, and the plot is compelling and well-constructed. It's the characters that make