Keary Taylor

Well damn.

I actually enjoyed the hell out of this, even though it was mostly a romance wrapped up in a mystery, cloaked in paranormal activity. And Taylor had me—she totally had me—until toward the end, when the control aspect was explained.

And then, it just all came crashing down. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say, I will never believe, and no one will ever convince me, that someone with that ability could do that to another person. No how, no way.

So, five full stars for the show more first 75-80% of this novel, and a single dented, slightly rusty star for that last bit. show less

I was going between 2 and 3 stars, but 2 star, "It was okay", it is.

I enjoyed this more than I wanted to, but too many things irritated me. This book was free, also, on Amazon, so I don't feel as let down by it.

The Bad:
•Repetitive sentences. Sometimes in the same paragraph. It seemed Taylor (author) wanted to get across an idea, but forgot she said it the same way just 2 seconds ago. Happened often.
•"Oh, look! This thing just happened! How strange!!! I bet this isn't important, I will show more brush it off," thing. This is one of my peeves when reading. It's like the author thinks they're tricking us into a twist that we can't see coming...when in actuality it's like seeing the plot device in the distance on the 15 fwy from L.A. to Las Vegas.

The Good:
•Overall story was fun. Angels are a different topic for me to read about so it hasn't been overdone yet for me.
•Liked Alex despite me hating when fictional men have "rippling abs" (oh, please) ;)
•Enjoyed some of the descriptive writing. show less

Three Heart Echo by Keary Taylor ended up on my reading list by yet another mislabeling on NetGalley, I must admit. As seen in the title image above, the book is a paranormal suspense. If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you’ll no doubt guess that I grabbed it from the horror genre titles. Fortunately, after revisiting its cover I can at least say that its actual genre is the right one. While Three Heart Echo does have some elements of horror, it reads more like a show more paranormal-themed Lifetime movie.

Taking place soon after the death of Jack Caraway, Three Heart Echo tells the story of two vastly different people meeting and, you guessed it, falling in love. It’s not that simple though, and several of the more twisted things that one might expect from a horror novel surface throughout the plot. Iona Faye, a frail woman mourning the death of her fiance, seeks out Sully Whitmore, a man rumored to be able to speak to the dead. Together, the two unravel the darkness of Jack’s past while racing against time to unravel not one, but two curses.

The plot is fairly linear, with only one unexpected twist at the end. That twist defines much of the book though, and I have to admit that I actually felt anger flare up within me. I’ve gotta give Taylor kudos for that one. What I don’t like, besides the heavily romantic subplot, is the fact that, as readers see in many romance books, we’re dealing with two Mary Sue characters. Iona is described as a beautiful fawn whilst Sully is a giant Viking of a man. Catch my drift? Oh, and poor dead Jack? Apparently, he’s a stunner too.

While the plot is straightforward, Taylor also alternates between perspectives on chapters. Now, as a reader, you may think I mean she goes back and forth between past and present. It’s common enough when we read books, after all. Unfortunately, what I mean is that Taylor switches between perspectives of Sully and Iona. For the most part, the switches follow a pattern. There is some story overlap/repetition within those shifts, but it isn’t terrible. What perturbs me about these perspectives is that every now and then, there’s a break to the pattern where it may take some readers a moment to realize that the book has suddenly shifted to the past without warning.

Back to the romance side of things, there are far too many cliches. Poor, helpless main character gets an indescribable pain in their chest and they can’t fathom why it feels like their heart races when they look upon their love interest. As if that’s not bad enough, you know from the get-go that there’s going to be a love story involved. It’s not well enough to leave it a paranormal suspense, we might as well make it a romance too. Because y’know, two attractive people can’t simply be friends!

Speaking of chest pain, there’s another thing about this book that absolutely irked me. I could understand if one character had an odd need to count things. It happens and OCD is a real thing; but, what I’m referring to, is the need by both characters to take exactly five steps, to blink four times, to wait for three heartbeats before they do something so much as take a breath.

Finally, what the hell is a grand opus? The actual term is magnum opus. I’lll hope it was just a typo that was fixed in the final, published copy of the Three Heart Echo. Overall, the story itself is engaging to a degree, but it definitely wasn’t my style. I think it belongs more in the paranormal romance genre than it does horror.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free copy for the purpose of review. show less

Angels. When you hear word spoken a certain image comes to mind, does it not? White robes, flowing hair, glowing auras. All of these things are what I used to think of as well. Now? Well after reading Branded my image of angels is much different. Vengeful, cold and calculated angels pop into my head now. Ones with eyes like deep wells and fury in their hearts. Thank you Keary Taylor! Thank you. This is how I want my angels. It's refreshing to see that they are not as perfect as they seem to show more be.

To say that I loved Jessica as a character is a huge understatement. I didn't just love her, I felt like I was a part of her. It went far beyond our similar first names. No, what I loved about Jessica was much deeper than that. She was so strong-willed, so brave. Despite the nightmares that plague her restless sleep, Jessica was able to lead a mainly normal life. She even went so far as to shut herself off from the world. It was her ability to be so stoic that truly impressed me and drew me in.

As for the story itself, well it is of course amazing! The two men that enter Jessica's life are wholly different from one another and mirror the emotions warring within her. In an effort not to spoil this book for all of you, since I know I will convince you to go and read it, I won't go to far into Jessica's relationships. Suffice it to say that both men are completely delicious, and both have their strong points. The ending? Absolutely stunning. Again, I won't ruin it, but if you don't like the ending I'm not sure we can be friends.

I'm kidding. Mostly.

Final thoughts? Branded is a one of a kind novel that I will never forget reading! I recommend it to all those out there who might be a little skeptical of angels as characters. This will put a whole new spin on your image of them. A solid novel, Branded is sure to become one of your new favorites this year. show less