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Gifted Connections Book 1

by S.M. Olivier
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Slow/medium burn RH, NA Urban Fantasy

Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

Down and Dirty

Very entertaining, if complicated. Worth Reading.

What is it about?

17 year old Blake lives her life with her head down, her shoulders up and her mind clear. She gets good grades and never misses a day of school… even though she works too many hours at a local bar in order to support her 7 year old sister, Ella, and pay the rent her Stepmother snorts away. Its a desperate situation no teenager should experience, but she is Ella’s only chance, and she is determined to work and save until she can get them both out. All she has to do is work, save and stay unnoticed… but that is much harder than she thinks, because Blake is different. She has always been different. Soon, events conspire to bring those differences into the light, thrusting her into a strange world of gifts, connections, intrigue and danger.

Blake knew she could survive the drug addled molesters of her past, but this? This she isn’t certain any of them can survive.

Thoughts

I really enjoyed this book and fell into the story fairly quickly. Fans of the Seraph Black series will love it, as there are moments and similarities that play along the same themes, though it truly does stand apart – both in concept and substance.

Blake is amazingly strong, showcasing her fighting spirit from Page 1. Her heart and soul are on full display, and though she suffers from the occasional bought of self-doubt (as any 17 year old would) she rises above the fray in remarkable ways, portraying a maturity that could only have come from a tortured past. We walk with her as she discovers more about herself, and her strange gifts – learning the mystery through her eyes with little help from the narrator or even inner dialogue. This is fully Blake’s story, and we won’t know it, until she does.

By the time we are let in on the little secret of who, or rather, what, Blake is – the investment in her character is fully developed, leaving us rooting for a young girl with a soul too old for her age.

Perspective

First Person, single POV

Pros:

• Blake: Amazingly strong character who does what needs to be done and fights for who she cares about.
• Jax… what an amazing concept!
• Accurate portrayal of lives lived rough and damaged.
• Well written.
• Long! There’s substance here!
• By age, this would be a YA novel, but this is firmly a NA offering.

Cons:

• The reveal felt misplaced and out of flow with both character action and what we had come to expect.
• Girlfriends. Yeah, yeah… I get it, but Noah needs to buck up man!
• Editing issues.

Verdict

I really enjoyed this novel and would recommend it easily. There were a few issues, mainly editing and some long winded and unnecessary scenes, but overall – it was a great read and worth putting on your TBR List.

Published November 27, 2017

558 Pages 

Please note, this is a Reverse Harem Novel and features sexual content more suited to mature audiences. 

If you enjoyed this review, please be sure to check out a few of my other articles!

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• What do my Star Ratings Mean?
• Gangs and Ghosts by Katie May – Book Review

Your Turn

What are you reading today? Anything interesting? Drop a comment, let me know – I want to talk!