Darklands Series

I just finished reading "Scent of Danger" by Autumn Dawn - one of a series called Darklands series.  I made the mistake of reading three romance books before finally opening this one.  Oh boy, I really do need to stay away from certain romance books... especially the cheesy ones.  Well, those are not worth mentioning other than as an annoyance, but I do have to say that by reading those over cliched, under edited books, it makes reading a book like this much more of a pleasure.  :-)  :-)

Scent of Danger is different in terms of being fantasy from a different world.  I kind of reminds me of Terry Brooks "Magic Kingdom for Sale: Sold" series.  You can get to this world through some kind of portal right here on earth.  :-)  I've always liked that kind of twist in stories.

Also, this book was  written with taste.  Yeah, you have your romance stuff going on, but it's not like some of the Laurel K. Hamilton books where it's a lengthy version of the letters to Playboy or whatever x-rated magazine is called.  I'm just as guilty to reading Laurel K. Hamilton because of the stories, but all of the graphic love making scenes are just a little too much sometimes.  If you can take away all of that stuff and just have the story, then I'd be much more comfortable reading those books over again.  :-)  Well, maybe now that I know what to expect, those pages wouldn't be so bad, eh?  There is only one way to know... but I certain wouldn't recommend that series to anyone unless they like reading that kind of stuff!

Okay, back to Scent of Danger...  I love reading fantasy novels and this was pretty good.  It kept me entertained pretty well, but I'm not sure if I'll read any of the other books in the series.  If the other books are more in the realm of romance like this one, you'll just have the same basic story as this book - boy meets girl and they fall in love with some kind of adventure in between.  If the same basic thing happens in each book, then I'm not sure I'd want to read it again, but with different characters and a slightly different adventure, so soon after reading the first one.  I used to do that a couple years ago, but it became a little boring after a while.  Going back the the Laurel K. Hamilton books... yes, she is very descriptive in her love scenes, but each book has a different adventure that differs just enough from the last to keep my attention.  Plus, Hamilton's female characters can kick butt.  :-)  :-)  Yes, I am a closet Anita Blake fan and a trying to complete my collection of books so I can re-read the whole series as I please.  :-)  :-)

As for Scent of Danger, though I liked Andrea's spunk and loyalty to her only family left, her grandmother (as annoying as she was), the fact that she was kind of sickly didn't really impress me at first.  I don't like the damsel in distress kind of stories very much and this was not all that different.  But Mathin sounded sexy as heck, and hey, if it meant being sickly to have a man like him take care of me, then so be it.  :-)  :-)  Maybe because I was so impressed with Dawn's description of Mathin and had me drooling, but I don't remember seeing a description of his friend, Fallon.  Maybe he was overlooked because this is a series and he's to be better described in a later book?  I don't know, but it was kind of hard to imagine Fallon in his few appearances in the book.

Now, I know that it was just me... the writing and story telling is very well done and I applaud Autumn Dawn for her work in describing all of what is going on in that wonderful imagination of hers.  :-)  I may have to reconsider downloading another one of her books at a later date... maybe after reading a few more nasty written romance novels and I get a craving for better writing again.  :-)

I downloaded this book as a free Kindle book from Amazon.com and I am very grateful for talented writers like Autumn Dawn for sharing their books like this.  It is an opportunity to read the works of some talented (and sometimes not so talented) writers out there...

Now, I know that most of my friends from Facebook are almost all of the crafting kind, so I have to mention that there is a 'crochet sighting' in this book.  :-)  Andrea's grandmother is a crocheter and teaches Andrea and one other character how to crochet.  It's only a small thing mentioned, but it is mentioned nevertheless.  :-)  :-)  I just wish that Dawn wouldn't have described the grandmother strange addiction to bad decorating with her crafts, including yarn rug-hooked rugs and crocheted afghans in bad colors.  Not everything that is crafted by one's two hands is tacky or distasteful.  And, just because she is a grandmother does not mean that she has to have tacky taste.  Okay, off of my "protecting crafters of the world" soapbox.  :-)  :-)