BOOK REVIEW

FALL FROM GRACE #1 by Christine Zolendz 

PARANORMAL ROMANCE

http://christinezolendz.blogspot.com/

BOOK BLURB

I'm finally home after struggling through my brother's illness and death. But, home is definitely a bit different. My best friend (the only person alive now that knows my secret) has a new boyfriend; and he has a friend. Shane Maxton: bad boy, tattooed rock god, eye candy extraordinaire. He is also New York City's most arrogant, self-serving, son of a, well, a definite one-night stand kind of a guy.

But, it doesn't matter to me because I've spent my existence looking for the love of my life, my angel. And, there is nothing that Shane Maxton can do to change that. 

REVIEW

I own an e-book copy

Firstly, how gorgeous is this girl on the cover? I don't know what it is, but she is absolutely captivating! I came upon this book by mistake, and of course something about this girl/cover kept pulling me in. I eventually gave in and bought it. I'm glad I did. This is completely different to your normal paranormal romance in that it's not filled with vampires, wolves, fairies and so on. In fact, throughout the book you know something is different about Grace, and although it's mentioned on more than one occasion - that she's different, I didn't really 'click' until three quarters of the book in, which for me was awesome. Maybe I was slow on the uptake, but I'd like to think not. 

Grace. I don't even know where to begin or even attempt to try and describe Grace. She's a tortured soul who's lived centuries and has spent them looking for the one soul who will complete her - he was her one true love. There are reasons as to why Grace is living what she terms hell. After her brother, Jacob, passes away she moves back to the apartment she bought with her best friend, Lea. Grace then meets Connor's (Lea's boyfriend and the one) friends who form the band 'Mad World', and whose leader Shane Maxton is drop dead gorgeous. However, he's your typical rocker bad boy and one who has more notches gouged on his bedpost than most tree trunks have age lines. But, Shane too has a reason for behaving the way he does. His one night stands of wham, bam, thank you mam is his way of not forming attachments whilst still dealing with the one true love he has lost. See? Two people mourning the same thing, and two people who really connect on more than one level. You'll see. 

Grace is gorgeous, every guy wants to date her and there is one in particular, Tucker, who got further than most and by this I mean she actually agreed to go out on a date or two with him. She soon realises, as did I, that he's an egotistical and moronic pig. The attraction and romantic tension between Grace and Shane is quite amazing and although there are numerous times you think, it's going to happen now 'cause how much more can she deny it, the author cleverly cuts it off. At some point, it got a bit further than Grace would ever have dreamt she'd allow it, when that 'in the back of your mind' realisation hits that it's wrong. Not only was she adamant that she would find her one true love again, and no matter how much Shane tried, she refused to be another of his 'notches' and rightly so. But, oh, I wanted to scream bloody murder, because as far as I was concerned they belonged together, although I appreciated exactly what Ms. Zolendtz was doing. The back and forth between these two drove me crazy, yet it was worth it once I got to the end of this story. It literally left me making like a goldfish. I sat with mouth wide open perfectly imitating an 'O'... and then cursed. Really? How-could-you-do-this-to-me-Ms-Zolendtz? There is way more going on in this book than just Grace and Shane looking for their soul mates. You will eventually know what Grace's existence entails. She also sports a 'sidekick' (not by choice) by the name of Gabriel - one of my favourite names of all time. I always, always associate this name with an angel. Oops... From the beginning, I kind of, sort of like Gabriel, but by the end of the book? -not so much. I thought he was full of it. For someone who feels no emotion to come out with what he did made me want to smack the living, or dead crap out of him. I'm glad Grace had the good sense to tell him off, but then she's one smart girl and one although filled with so much sorrow, I absolutely loved. 

Cliffhanger much at the end of this book? You bet your sweet patootie. I KNOW I am going to have to read the second installment, Saving Grace. If I'm honest, I loved this book. I really did, not only that, I'm invested in these characters. ALL of them - except for Tucker! Grrr. Damn, he irritates me. One person who truly touched my heart was Shane. Gosh. Despite his fooling around, this guy is down to the soul deep. And, Grace and Lea? OMW, together these two come up with some dialogue that is downright hilarious! Well, the author does and dang if I didn't think to myself why on earth can't I ever come up with stuff this good. 

My only issue with this book and the only thing that prevented me from giving it 4 stars is the fact that there were quite a number of grammar and spelling issues (both US and UK English used), including the incorrect use of words such as 'their' instead of 'there', and 'threw' instead of 'through'. These type of things make me (and other readers) pause, stopping the flow of a good story. Make no mistake though, this is a good story.

Still, I will be reading the second book. I need to know what is going to happen with Grace and Shane. I have no choice in this matter. This book was worth my time.

SANDRA'S RATING: 3 1/2 STARS