Title: Winter Shock
Author: Sally Dubats
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Age: Young Adult
Rating: 3,5 stars
“Trenton drugged and kidnapped me. I was powerless.”
Cassie’s neighbors have secrets, and she is one of them.
Taken against her will to an isolated, frozen wilderness on an impossible quest, Cassie defends herself against Trenton who has gone over to the dark side. One minute he’s adorable and charming, and the next weird, uncaring, and hostile. And now, Cassie fears for her life.
Winter Solstice draws near, and Cassie performs magical spells to gain clarity. Instead she is shocked by visions and mind jumps into the lives of strangers on the brink of disaster.
Why is she in a hostile, threatening wilderness? What is causing the horrific visions? Cassie discovers there is much more at stake than her own survival. To survive, she must overcome impossible odds.
“Winter Shock” is a paranormal fantasy novel that you’ll never forget! If you love paranormal romance, urban fantasy, Witches and Wicca, paranormal mystery, paranormal horror, action and survival, “The Grimoire Chronicles” series is definitely for you!
I have to admit that I didn’t get a chance to read Veil Between Worlds, the first book in the series before starting on this one. It was pretty easy to follow though, but I checked a few reviews to see what Veil Between Worlds was all about.
Trenton is one of my favorite love interests in YA literature. Why? Because he confused the hell out of me. Pardon the language, but I spend more pages saying “what the hell” than anything else when reading this book, up to the point he made so many twists and turns I was ready to give up. But then I began to understand that this was what he’s all about. He’s the epitome of mystery, a character you can never quite grasp or understand. He spends the entire book dabbling between the good and the dark side, and it tears him apart inside-out. That’s the kind of storyline I love, the kind of love interest I adore.
Then there’s Cassie, the main character. She didn’t whine, like some teenage protagonists, but she wasn’t exactly the most charming protagonists either. I liked her flawed sides though, whenever an author can give a flawed protagonist I enjoy reading about anyhow, that makes my day. What also intrigued me was the setting: this mysterious, abandoned island in the middle of nowhere. The island itself is quite hostile as well, and it’s clearly not an easy ride out.
What made the most intriguing part of this bok though was the dynamics between Trenton and Cassie, their constant bickering, their lingering attraction. And talk about attraction. This puts Bella and Edward from Twilight to shame. The romance itself is well done, the build up goes great, and there was tension from start to finish.
However, there were some downsides as well. At times, the dialogue was a little immature. Cassie is supposedly seventeen years old, but most of the time she acts like a fifteen year old. I can easily forgive this for the greater good of the book though. The plot was solid, and had plenty of surprises along the way.
I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment in the series. I would recommend this book to all fans of YA fantasy and paranormal romance novels looking for something new.
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