I have a new Author for you!

Aileen Erin

I know this is a relativity new review blog for Independent Authors and I hope, so far, you're finding these reviews helpful. My friends and I love to read and we love to discover new or new-ish authors out there that have taken the bold and scary decision to self-publish. In my search for something new I took a chance on an Amazon recommended title; Becoming Alpha. I don't usually take Amazon on up on it's recommendations as it's been known to steer me more wrong than right but it was Halloween, I was off work, my kids were occupied with the Fraggles and I was desperate, so I took Amazon up on their suggestion and am I glad I did. So Aileen Erin whoever you sweet talked over at Amazon for that recommendation this reviewer thanks you.

I've read so many stories, from so many authors and genre's that sometimes they just blur together as reading trends move from one genre to the next. The stories that really stand out are the ones with unforgettable characters like Ilona Andrews and her Kate Daniels or Chloe Neill and her Chicagoland Vampires. No matter the genre great characters drive and move the story they are what make us fall in love with a particular series or novel. It's no secret, or shouldn't be a secret any longer, that I love a great, strong, witty, heroine and when given a choice those are the types of characters I gravitate to reading more about. I discovered this need early on in my life when I read a Wrinkle in Time and it was further watered by Jane Austin and the Bronte sisters and Aileen Erin gives one hell of a heroine in this series of hers. I also love that the main character is of mixed race and Aileen gives a very accurate picture of how children of mixed races generally fair in our American Society. I won't go into too much of that here in this blog to avoid getting on any soap boxes.

Now onto my favorite part! Have you ever fallen so in love with a stories concept that you just couldn't shake it and thought to yourself "Self, it would be so absolutely awesome if the elements from this story were paired with the elements from that story and oh! oh! oh! what if these characters met?!" If you haven't had that conversation with yourself then I'm genuinely sad for you. I have those thoughts all the time but then I do talk to myself a lot so, ya know, there's that. In this new-ish series, and I say new-ish because there are three books out in the series now and two more coming next year so clearly I missed the opening season of this series. Oookaay back to the point in this series we meet a young 17 year old mexican/american girl moving from LA to Texas. Talk about a culture shock and the reason for the move becomes apparent when you find out that the girl has social issues because of her special ablities. Tessa is a descendant of the powerful bruja clan and she's been raised away from her relatives in an effort to protect her from them. You'll find out why she needs protection by book two so I'm not going to go into that yet. All you need to know about Tessa is that she's had to grow up being socially isolated with no friends because every time she touches someone or touches things that others have touched she gets flashes of their past and sometimes of their present. This has made touch in general a no no for Tessa. She has a strong family support and you'll come to love them as much I do. Her mom is strong and supportive of her and her dad is like the best dad ever! Seriously wish I had had a dad like him growing up. Her only real friend through out her entire life has been her older brother and he's pretty bad ass himself. Tessa is excited for this move. She's ready to leave LA behind and everyone who knows her at school as that "weird kid". She sees this move as a way to start over in a new place among people that don't know her or her special abilities. She's determined to fit in and she's somewhat successful until one fateful party and one fateful kiss.

She's drawn to Dastien, one of the St. Ailbe's kids. He's two years older than her and all she knows about him at first is that he's an instructor at the St. Ailbe's school. She's warned repeatedly by her parents and by Mr. Dawson to stay inside at night and the kids at school warn her about staying away from the St. Ailbe's kids. That doesn't happen as I'm sure you can figure out but I'm not going to ruin the story by telling you how that comes to pass. It's one of my favorite scenes in the book anyway and you should have the pleasure of reading it for yourself.

What makes this book and the other two that follow it are the careful mixing of new and old story ideas and the great character develop the author has put into her work. I was excited to keep reading and be able to pick out elements from different genre's that she has melded so seemlessly into her world that it just worked! If you love the Quinn Loftis series and the Christine Feehan worlds you'll love this series. They have a lot of elements in common but with a unique twist that makes Aileen's world so different and exciting. It's not just another werewolf story or coming of age tale it's all of those things and then some.

You can get her books pretty cheaply at Amazon and I promise you it's worth the cost of a few bucks to be transported into this world.