Review: The Broken Lake by Shelena Shorts

From the Publisher

In the aftermath of Sophie's ordeal, Weston will make some uncharacteristic decisions to distance himself from the past in an attempt to change the fu...more In the aftermath of Sophie's ordeal, Weston will make some uncharacteristic decisions to distance himself from the past in an attempt to change the future.

But, while venturing into the improbable, the present sneaks up in a chilling way that will lead to Wes' unexpected submission. Suddenly, Sophie will find herself watching as both his immortal secret and his own existence are threatened.

Continuously intriguing, The Broken Lake takes readers to a place where eternal bonds confront a division that is sure to leave everyone wondering whom they can trust.

My Review

5 out of 5 stars!

I'm usually wary of second books in a series, but I liked The Broken Lake almost as much as The Pace. The Broken Lake begins where The Pace left off and Wes is quickly forced to confront the aftermath of Sophie's abduction and Andy's death (which took place at the end of The Pace). Because of Andy's death, the research being done at Wes's laboratories is now putting Wes in the public eye, which is the last thing Wes or Sophie want. Too much attention could be a threat to Wes and the secrets he hides.

Because of the media attention and the history of Sophie's lifespan, Wes and Sophie take advantage of every moment they have together. And The Broken Lake spends a lot of time exploring Wes and Sophie's relationship. I enjoyed learning more about the two characters, and bits and pieces about their past. It was also nice to see their relationship grow as they tried to change what seems like an inevitable future. This book also gives an interesting explanation for why Sophie's lifespan is so short and I'm curious to see where that aspect of the story goes in future books. This book is definitely focused on the love story as opposed to Wes and Sophie's history and the science behind it, but at its heart, I feel like love is what The Pace Series is all about.

My one complaint is that The Broken Lake ends in a cliffhanger, which always leaves me feeling like I didn't get the whole story. Overall though, I really enjoyed the book and was happy to have another chance to live in Wes and Sophie's world. I'm excited for the third book in the series, The Iron Quill.

Thanks so much to Michelle at Windowpanes Memoirs Book Tours for including me in The Broken Lake ARC tour.

Eternal Starling Review (The First 3 Chapters)

If you've visited my website, you know I have the first three chapters of Eternal Starling posted on the site as a PDF. I know, I know, the merit of posting chapters is a hotly debated topic in the publishing world. Some people think it's a horrible idea because the author is releasing unedited work and there are some publishers who don't like it, period. As someone with a marketing background, I felt like putting a few chapters on my site would help me start to establish a fan base for my book. I've been pretty happy with how it's turned out. News about the chapters has spread by word of mouth through social networking and I get a lot of emails, Tweets, and Facebook and Goodreads messages from fans around the world asking where they can buy my book (even though I don't have an agent or publisher yet). Some of my fans have even taken the time to translate my PDF chapters into the language they speak (French and Arabic so far), how awesome is that!!!

Because of the chapters on my site and social networking, I've met some incredible people, including Michelle Benedict, who wrote a review of the first three chapters of Eternal Starling. Michelle is a fantastic reviewer who writes pointed and honest opinions about books. I'll admit, I was a bit terrified for her to read my chapters, but when she told me she really liked them and then said she could identify with my heroine, I wanted to dance around the house. One of the reasons I wrote Eternal Starling was because I was reading a lot of Young Adult books with heroines I just didn't relate to as a teenager. At all. Reading Michelle's opinion makes me feel like I achieved what I set out to write. You can read her little review here: http://benedictionary.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/eternal-starling-and-more-tudors/