The Immortal Mark by Amy Sparling – A Book Review

Posted March 13, 2019 by Booksandblurbs in NA, PNR, Reviews / 0 Comments

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The Immortal Mark

(The Immortal Mark Series – Book 1)

by Amy Sparling
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

YA/NA, Paranormal Romance

Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited as well as in Paperback

Down and Dirty

Not quite what I was expecting, but still a decent read and worth snagging from Kindle Unlimited.

What is it about? (Still in a cast, so you know the drill…. Blurb from GoodReads)

The only thing Cara got for her eighteenth birthday was an unexpected invitation to move out of her uncle’s house. College isn’t an option for a poor girl with average grades, so when her best friend Riley finds them a mysterious job opportunity that includes room and board, Cara is interested but thinks it sounds too good to be true.

The night before their interview, Cara has an epic night out with Theo, an impossibly handsome guy she just met. He’s charismatic, a little mysterious, and it feels like she’s known him her whole life.

When she runs into him at her interview, he’s cold and elusive. He makes it very clear that he doesn’t want her working with him, which only makes their mutual attraction burn hotter. Cara takes the job for Riley’s sake and promises herself she’ll avoid this jerk and his mood swings, no matter how hard it is to keep away from him.

Soon she finds out her millionaire employers aren’t normal guys who live and travel in luxury. They’re immortals. Theo wasn’t trying to ruin her job prospects. He was trying to save her life, because the girls they hire never make it out alive.

Thoughts

This was a touch different than my normal PNR novels. It reads more like a coming of age tale, which makes sense as this would be ya/na. Yet it is more than just the targeted age – it is the feel of the story and the substance of the narrative. You know the kind; It’s the perfect kiss, or that first date, or the dog that died and broke your heart…. those type of novels. That special inflection is here and just when I was ready to disregard the cover and look for the dying dog on the pier…. I get… immortals.

So, it really IS a PNR, but one of subtly, as we don’t really see anything that could account for the label until the end is near. Before that, its teenage angst, having to move, enjoying a new romance, feeling heartbreak…. seriously – ALL the required coming of age material. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I enjoy those stories, and I enjoyed this one – it just wasn’t what I was expecting based on the cover and the blurb.

Perspective

First Person, Single POV

Ending Type

Episodic with Hook

Pros:

Unique.
Flows well.
Narrative feels like an old friend.
FMC in a PNR that FINALLY goes, “Hey, something is not right here…”. Oh, she still makes the bad choice, but at least she questions it!!!

Cons:

Filler.
Hard to sink in to.

Favorite Line

We’re a coastal Texas town with a beautiful view of the Gulf of Mexico, which is to say, not a very beautiful view at all. (2%)

Verdict

3.5 out of 5 Stars

It is an interesting read, and one I recommend you pick up from Kindle Unlimited based on the concept alone. I am rating it only a 3.5 as there was too much ‘filler’ material here that could have been culled to make a better book. Still decent though, and still a great start to a PNR series.

Published January 31st, 2017

269 Pages