Forever Hers (Spirits of Saoradh #1)
by Caroline Cairn
Blurb:
Feisty twenty-four year old Holly, or Miss Greedy as her friends call her, receives a wooden cube as a gift from an enigmatic elderly lady who happens to be her mother’s new neighbour in Lossiemouth, a small Scottish fishing town.What she doesn’t expect, is for the cube to contain Blayne, a Spirit of Saoradh only she can see and touch. Blayne is a playful, headstrong ghost with no recollection of his human past and an ability to grant Holly’s wishes whenever she calls for him — as long as said wishes don’t raise any questions from the public that is. So a shiny new car might be out of the question, but the possibility of a flat stomach, a consistently spotless house or a perfect daily hairstyle more than make up for it.
Through their incessant banter, Holly and Blayne grow closer while fighting against their mutual attraction since they have no possible future together.
But when the painful reality of Blayne’s existence is revealed, Holly will realize that it’s not always the girl who needs to be saved.
My Review:
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review
This book was such a pleasant surprise. I liked the sound of the original premise, I haven’t read many books about spirits/ genie’s, so the blurb made me curious and I eventually decides to give this book a try. And I am glad I did as it was an enjoyable read. It gives a original twist to the genie genre and while it could be a tad predictable at times, there were some twists I didn’t see coming as well. The author has a nice writing style and once I picked up the book I got easily lost in the pages of this book and read it in a few days. The pace was nice and I enjoyed the general plot. I also liked the setting in Scotland and I could visualize the place pretty well.
While the series title and blurb mentions Spirits, they are similar to genie’s in that they can fulfill wishes. There are enough different things as well, but basically the spirits are ghosts or souls that only their bound human can see and they fulfill wishes for their bound human. While it might sound like a lot of the focus would be on that, it’s first a romance story and that’s what get’s most attention.
While overall I really enjoyed this book there were a few things about the story and plot that bothered me. First the frequent mentions of torture. Luckily there weren’t much details and the one scene that went a bit into depth I could easily skip. But it still made me feel uncomfortable, I sort of got the reasoning behind it, but I still didn’t like it. Torture scenes are just one of those things I can’t stomach. Then there were a few plot twists towards the end that I didn’t really care for. And the way it resolved things at the end I wasn’t 100% happy with. There was also a thing concerning Blayne’s past that got resolved a bit too easily and I would’ve liked to have that get resolved a bit slower over the course of the book.
I liked Holly the main character, she was an interesting character. Some bad events in her past, two slightly pushy friends who cared about her a lot, her mom who was always cooking and her love for pancakes. This book made me hungry with all the mentions of pancakes, yum! Holly was a very sweet and caring person and that really showed in her interactions with Blayne. While Blayne is basically her slave, she tries to make this life better and gives him some freedom.
As this is a romance the focus is mostly on Holly and Blayne, the other side characters stay a bit more towards the background. I kept confusing Holly her two friends, I couldn’t remember who was who at times. And thought they were a bit pushy at times, which rubbed me wrong especially during one scene, but I could also see how much they cared about each other and there are some scenes that really show that too. I liked Holly her mom, while we don’t get to learn a lot about her, I did like her and the part she played in the book.
The romance was done well. They get to know each other and slowly fall in love. There was a lot of build-up and banter and I liked these two together. They have some nice chemistry as well and there are a few very sweet scenes as well. Their relationship is pretty unconventional with how he’s a spirit and she’s a human, but I liked how they tried and make it work.
I already emphasized earlier that this is a romance story first and the world building is one of those things that illustrate that fact as well. While I liked the original concept of genie and twists this book added I also wanted more. I wanted to know what the limits were of the wishes and I wanted to see Holly use those wishes to make her life better. Even with small wishes there is so much she could do and wish for. I just thought this could’ve been explored a bit more. Then there a re a few things that remain unclear like who turns into a spirit, who the Judge is and The Punisher. And it bothered a me a bit that no one ever explained the rules and such to Holly and she didn’t seem to ask. I mean if you suddenly hear you got a magical genie who can fulfill your wishes you would be curious how that works and why, right? I just wanted to know a bit more about how the whole paranormal aspect worked.
To summarize: I really enjoyed this book and easily got lost into the pages while reading. It was a well written and original story. Holly is a great main character, compassionate, friendly and she loves pancakes. The side characters stay a bit to the background, but I didn’t mind too much as the focus was mostly on the story and the romance. The romance was well done, Blayne and Holly made for a great couple and it was obvious how much they cared for each other. I did have some small issues with the mentions of torture, the plot twists towards the end, how Blayne’s past got resolved and the world building. I would’ve liked to learn a bit more about how the whole genie and wishes thing worked. All in all I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to see what this author writes next!
Links:
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You can’t really trust anyone who doesn’t like pancakes. That is just wrong. LOL Sounds like a great book. I don’t mind dark reads where the stories have torture scenes. I’m glad you were easily able to skip that part since you didn’t like it. Looks like a great read.
Melanie Simmons @mlsimmons recently posted…The Undoing Audiobook by Shelly Laurenston (review)
I loved the mentions of food and especially pancakes in this book, yum! It was a great book and I am looking forward to the next book in this series. I don’t mind gritty books, but for some reason can’t stomach torture scenes. So I am happy I could easily skip over those scenes.
I’m happy you gave this book a chance and ended up enjoying it overall, Lola. I understand you discomfort with the torture and I’m glad you were able to mostly skip over it. And I’m sorry the twists near the end didn’t work for you. I am glad that there were enough other elements you liked so that you were able to connect with the characters pretty well. Nice review!
Bookworm Brandee recently posted…Blog Tour Review & #Giveaway ~ Prince of the Playhouse ~ Tara Lain (@TaraLain)
I am really happy I gave it a chance and am looking forward to read future books by this author. I don’t stomach torture scenes well, so I am glad I was able to skip over those. Overall I enjoyed reading this one 🙂
I don’t mind torture scenes as long as it goes along with the story. Glad you liked this one. Great review.
Mary Kirkland recently posted…Happy Raturday!
I just can’t stomach torture scenes for some reason, so luckily I could easily skip them them in this book. It was a great book!
I do hope book Two will get as good a reception from you as this one…
I hope so too! I am looking forward to reading book 2!
Lola recently posted…Review: Forever Hers by Caroline Cairn
It’s great that the torture wasn’t too descriptive but I think it’s powerful enough to give you a good picture of the story’s dark side.
I just would’ve prefer they showed that darker side in a different way, but I guess torture scenes are one way to show the dark side of a story.
Lola recently posted…Review: Forever Hers by Caroline Cairn
This one sounds interesting. I’m adding it to my tbr list.
As for books with genies, I’ve read a few and found them fun and entertaining.
Angela @Simply Angela recently posted…Hold Your Breath by Katie Ruggle: Excerpt and Giveaway
I think this is only the second book with genies that I’ve read. They definitely can be fun.
I hope you’ll enjoy this one when you get around to reading it!
Lola recently posted…Review: Forever Hers by Caroline Cairn
Ooh this actually sounds pretty good. I feel like I’ve been diverging away from paranormal romance lately, but it sounds like the characters have a fun relationship to read about, with the chemistry and the banter, and the torture sounds like it adds a nice dark element to the book, which I actually like. But that’s good that you were able to skip over it. It’s too bad there wasn’t more info about how the paranormal stuff worked, but I’m glad you were able to enjoy it anyway 🙂
Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight recently posted…The Weekly Update: 4/10/16
I hope we get more about the paranormal stuff later on, I guess I am just a bit impatient when it comes to that. The characters really made for a nice couple with their banter and chemistry and it was fun to read about. I just can’t stomach torture scenes, but those who like a bit of a darker read probably wouldn’t mind it as much. It is nice when it’s easy to skip scenes like that if you don’t like them. I am looking forward to the next book!
Glad to hear this worked for you! Thanks for sharing. I don’t think I’ve read that many book with genies or spirits, but it’s a fun/interesting topic.
Let’s Get Beyond Tolerance recently posted…LGBT+ Giveaways on Goodreads: Nonfiction and Fiction!
It sure is an interesting topic and I liked the author her take on it. It was a great book 🙂
I don’t think I’ve read a book like this, but I definitely like the premise. And I’m all for good banter.
Christy LoveOfBooks recently posted…The Raft by Fred Strydom
The banter was fun and I really liked how the romance developed between these two. The premise was a good one.
yay for pleasant surprises! 🙂 I’m very into spirit romance lately so I’ll check this one out. Especially if the writing is good. I hope the frequent mentions of torture don’t make it a DNF for me. 🙂
Daniela Ark recently posted…Book Review: Fury’s Kiss (New England Furies #1), by Nicola R. White
I hope you’ll enjoy this one if you decide to pick it up. And the torture scenes weren’t too frequent, I think only one or two where you actually see what happens and you can easily skip those. I just can’t stomach the, so I skip them. And the rest of the book was good enough to more than make up for that part.
I get squeamish about torture, too, but wow, the genie aspect of the story would totally hook me in. Glad it was a good one.
I might have read one book about a genie and of course the classic Arabian Nights stories, but I would definitely read more.
Sophia Rose recently posted…Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen #Review
There was a lot in this story that kept me entertained. I am glad I could easily skip over the torture scenes as I just can’t stomach them.
I think I’ve only read one other paranormal romance book about genie’s, but I didn’t enjoy that one as much. They sure are an interesting paranormal type to read about.
I like the genie trope a lot! This one sounds interesting! 🙂
S. J. Pajonas recently posted…How Sweet Potatoes Saved Japan
I haven’t read many books with genies so far, but I really like how the author handled the topic and gave it her own twist. I am looking forward to the second book in the series!
Lola recently posted…Review: April by Audrey Carlan
You know I don’t don’t think I’ve read ANY genie books so far… nope, none that I can think of, so that makes this one very intriguing. There was one Kitty Norville book with a genie in it, but that’s so not the same lol. Torture is something that sometimes works for me, sometimes doesn’t, so I guess I’ll just have to read it to be sure! Great review Lola! Hope you’re having a good weekend 🙂
I really like how the author handled the genie topic in this book. They aren’t really called genies in the book, but they can fulfill wishes and such. It was a great book. Torture usually doesn’t work for me, but I don’t always mention it, here it was an important enough part of the book that I felt like mentioning it in my review. I was happy I could easily skip over the scenes.
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