Just finished reading Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler, book number one of the Jane True novels.

Yes, the main character is called Jane True and she’s not fully human, a fact which, at the start of the novel, she is quite unaware.  Jane has always been a bit of an outcast.  She likes to swim in the ocean in winter even though it’s freezing cold and as if that wasn’t enough fodder for the curtain twitchers her boyfriend died under suspicious circumstances.  Something that the majority of residents of Rockabille have ever been able to forget or forgive.  During one of Jane’s most recent swims she finds a body in the water which upon rescuing and dragging to shore appears to have been murdered.  This is not good news for Jane (I mean, obviously it’s not good news for the person who was murdered) but being found with a dead body is not going to do her any real favours, in fact, she’ll probably be chased out of town by a baying mob – so she leaves the body to be found by somebody else.

Of course, the next day the body is discovered and from this point forward Jane is going to be introduced to a whole new world as a strange investigation gets under way.  One populated with all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures.  Jane is a halfling, her mother was a selkie and as such she is a water elemental and drawn to the ocean and the power it provides her with.  However, whilst some of these new creatures appear to be beautiful and entrancing all is not as it seems and Jane is treading a dangerous path.  Particularly as a number of halflings seem to be turning up dead.

This novel has got plenty of action going on not to mention an abundance of characters ranging from a Barghest to a genie!  I wouldn’t particularly say it brings anything new to the world of the paranormal and also a number of the story lines feel familiar – for example the halflings put me in mind of the mudblood plot in the Harry Potter Series,  yet, in spite of the fact that this book doesn’t break any new ground, I did enjoy the read.  There’s a romance going on, there’s a mystery killer and there’s the whole introduction to Jane, her friends and her past story.  It’s a very easy book to read.  A sort of chill out book or almost a guilty indulgence.

I would recommend this book, I’m not saying I thought it was perfect, for starters, Jane’s constant inner dialogue annoyed me a bit to be honest – probably because it reminded me of 50 Shades of Grey and the way that the female is always having a chat with her inner Goddess!  Also, I thought it was a bit questionable the way Jane just dove head first into the whole romance as considering her inhibited background you would have expected her to be a bit more careful.  But, again, I didn’t find these criticisms enough to put me off.

I will definitely read the next in the series to see how it develops or more to the point how or whether Jane develops.  Also, I quite liked the character of Anyan it will be interesting to see whether any more feeling develops between him and Jane.

Finally, don’t be distracted by the cover or misled into thinking this is YA – just for clarity – I have nothing against YA and have read quite a few books classed as such but this book definitely isn’t YA!

I’m including this in my Once Upon a Time event – I had a bit of a struggle with exactly which category this falls into but I think it’s myth?  Just because some of the creatures – such as Selkies and genies??  But I’m quite happy to be persuaded otherwise.