Review: You Are Mine by Janeal Falor

Title: You Are Mine
Author: Janeal Falor
Series: Mine, book #1
Publisher: self-published/indie
Publication Date: May 6, 2013
Source: from author for review
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Serena knows a few simple things. She will always be owned by a warlock. She will never have freedom. She will always do what her warlock wishes, regardless of how inane, frivolous, or cruel it is. And if she doesn’t follow the rules, she will be tarnished. Spelled to be bald, inked, and barren for the rest of her life—worth less than the shadow she casts.

Then her ownership is won by a barbarian from another country. With the uncertainty that comes from belonging to a new warlock, Serena questions if being tarnished is really worse than being owned by a barbarian, and tempts fate by breaking the rules. When he looks the other way instead of punishing her, she discovers a new world. The more she ventures into the forbidden, the more she learns of love and a freedom just out of reach. Serena longs for both. But in a society where women are only ever property, hoping for more could be deadly.

Fantasy is kind of my thing.  Throw in some magic and a new, uncertain world, and you have a captive audience in me.  So, I was pretty excited when the author offered me a copy for review.  Imagine my delight when I discovered that this is not only a great new start to a fantasy series, but also one that delves into women's rights and to an extent, women's suffrage.

In Serena's world, only warlocks wield power, magical or otherwise, and young women are essentially purchased from their fathers...arranged marriages steeped in magic.  The more magic in a girl's blood, the better the price she'll fetch.  And only the men in this world are able to access that magic for some reason.  But we'll get to that in a bit.

I always hope for a heroine who faces her adversaries head-on and questions the social norms, rather than submitting to the wills of those around her because it is what is expected.  In the beginning, Serena is under her father's roof, and she must be submissive or face his wrath.  She takes enough beatings for her sisters that she practically cowers at his feet to avoid further punishment, as he seems always willing to dole it out, even for the most minor of infractions.  In this way, she may be one of the strongest heroines of all.

But once Serena's fate is in the hands of the barbarian warlock, things become quite different.  Serena learns that there are other ways.  And she's caught off-guard that Zade, the barbarian himself, is the one to teach her this.  Their situation is tenuous at best, but they make the most of it, and in the end, it's a mutually beneficial arrangement.  I liked Zade's character right from the start.  It was obvious that he was different...somehow better than all the warlocks introduced up to this point.  His being Envadi, a foreigner, had a large bearing on how he ran his household, but it wasn't in any way that Serena had come to expect.

For the most part, I really enjoyed the story and how if flowed.  I would have liked, however, for Zade and Serena to interact more and spend more time exploring their feelings instead of dancing around the issue for the majority of the book.  It made the story lag in places where the romance could have been the focus.  The ending was a little predictable and the way it transpired was a bit too easy and felt a little contrived.  I also would have liked to understand the magic more.  Why was Envadi so different and how did it become so?  Why do women have any power to begin with if they cannot access the power within themselves?  I'm hoping these are questions that might be answered in the next installment.

This is a great beginning, and it hints at a lot of potential for the next book.  The characters and the story were equally intriguing, and I'll definitely be picking up the next book to see how everything plays out.

Rating:  

About the author:

Janeal Falor lives in Utah where she’s finally managed to live in the same house for more than five years without moving. In her spare time she reads books like they’re nuts covered in caramel and chocolate, cooks whatever strikes her fancy, and enjoys the outdoors. Her husband and three children try to keep up with her overactive imagination. Usually they settle for having dinner on the table, even if she’s still going on about the voices in her head.

Find Janeal:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Read More

Labels: fantasy, girl power, indies, janeal falor, reviews, you are mine

Teaser Tuesday #61: Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne & You Are Mine by Janeal Falor

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here are the books we're teasing this week:

Title: Truly, Madly, Deadly
Author: Hannah Jayne
Series: n/a
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: July 2, 2013
Source: received from publisher via Netgalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Sawyer Dodd has it all. She's a star track athlete, choir soloist, and A-student. And her boyfriend is the handsome all-star Kevin Anderson. But behind the medals, prom pictures, and perfect smiles, Sawyer finds herself trapped in a controlling, abusive relationship with Kevin. When he dies in a drunk-driving accident, Sawyer is secretly relieved. She's free. Until she opens her locker and finds a mysterious letter signed by "an admirer" and printed with two simple words: "You're welcome."

     "That's what I meant," Cooper corrected, "our seats aren't crap enough. Maybe I can sit with you?"
     Sawyer laughed, loving the zing of heat that went through her each time Cooper looked at her. It only took one step onto the bleachers, though, for that delicious warmth to be replaced by a gut-wrenching guilt. She slid into her spot next to Chloe, Cooper sandwiching Sawyer.
     Chloe blinked at Sawyer. "I only asked for Red Vines."

-- Loc 842, 34% of galley

I still remember when I first saw this on someone's WoW. It sounded so creepy, but as you can see, it's also kinda funny. I think I'll like this Chloe character. Hope she doesn't end up being the, um, "admirer". o_O

Title: You Are Mine
Author: Janeal Falor
Series: Mine, book #1
Publisher: self-published/indie
Publication Date: May 6, 2013
Source: from author for review
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Serena knows a few simple things. She will always be owned by a warlock. She will never have freedom. She will always do what her warlock wishes, regardless of how inane, frivolous, or cruel it is. And if she doesn’t follow the rules, she will be tarnished. Spelled to be bald, inked, and barren for the rest of her life—worth less than the shadow she casts.

Then her ownership is won by a barbarian from another country. With the uncertainty that comes from belonging to a new warlock, Serena questions if being tarnished is really worse than being owned by a barbarian, and tempts fate by breaking the rules. When he looks the other way instead of punishing her, she discovers a new world. The more she ventures into the forbidden, the more she learns of love and a freedom just out of reach. Serena longs for both. But in a society where women are only ever property, hoping for more could be deadly.

     The sharp reply silences me. If I persist, he may break his promise and a fist or hex will fly my way. Except, this is Zade. Not my father or another warlock. He's only ever encouraged me. I have to believe that he's different and if he's not, I want to know it now.

-- Loc 3260, 70% of galley

I am really enjoying this book.  I've had it for over a month, courtesy of the author, but I finally made time for it.  And now I wish I'd read it sooner, except then I wouldn't have the pleasure of reading it right now.  :P

Mendy is between books, having just finished both her current read and current listen, and hasn't picked her next books yet, so I'm sharing two teasers again this week.  =)

What are you teasing this week?  Share it in the comments or leave a link so we can visit!

Read More

Labels: contemporary, hannah jayne, indies, janeal falor, magic, murder mystery, sourcebooks, teaser tuesday, truly madly deadly, you are mine

Official Cover Reveal + Giveaway: You Are Mine by Janeal Falor

Today, I get to help with the reveal of Janeal Falor's You Are Mine.  Ever since she posted the premise on her blog, I knew I had to add this book to my TBR.  =)  Without further ado, here it is:

Serena knows a few simple things. She will always be owned by a warlock. She will never have freedom. She will always do what her warlock wishes, regardless of how inane, frivolous, or cruel it is. And if she doesn’t follow the rules, she will be tarnished. Spelled to be bald, inked, and barren for the rest of her life—worth less than the shadow she casts.

Then her ownership is won by a barbarian from another country. With the uncertainty that comes from belonging to a new warlock, Serena questions if being tarnished is really worse than being owned by a barbarian, and tempts fate by breaking the rules. When he looks the other way instead of punishing her, she discovers a new world. The more she ventures into the forbidden, the more she learns of love and a freedom just out of reach. Serena longs for both. But in a society where women are only ever property, hoping for more could be deadly.

Publication Date: May 6, 2013

Yeah, I'm pretty excited about this book.  Fantasy is my go-to genre, and this one has a unique premise and world that I'm pretty excited to jump into.  I'll be reviewing this book here on the blog in the next few weeks.

About the Author:

Janeal Falor lives in Utah where she’s finally managed to live in the same house for more than five years without moving. In her spare time she reads books like they’re nuts covered in caramel and chocolate, cooks whatever strikes her fancy, and enjoys the outdoors. Her husband and three children try to keep up with her overactive imagination. Usually they settle for having dinner on the table, even if she’s still going on about the voices in her head.

To find out more about Janeal and her books, visit:

her website | Twitter | Goodreads

So, what do you think?  Think you'd like your own copy?  Then enter the giveaway below!

Rules:

• This giveaway is international, as long as you can receive ebooks.
• One entry per household.
• All entries will be verified.  Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
• Winner will be notified via email.  Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected.  Please check your SPAM folder!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read More

Labels: fantasy, indies, janeal falor, official cover reveals, you are mine