ARC Review: Runes by Ednah Walters

RUNES

Author: Ednah Walters

Series: Runes

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Firetrail Publishing

Amazon: Runes (link TBA)

Release Date: 20^th May 2013

Synopsis: (Goodreads)

Seventeen-year-old Raine Cooper has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s disappearance, her mother’s erratic behavior and the possibility of her boyfriend relocating. The last thing she needs is Torin St. James—a mysterious new neighbor with a wicked smile and uncanny way of reading her.

Raine is drawn to Torin’s dark sexiness against her better judgment, until he saves her life with weird marks and she realizes he is different. But by healing her, Torin changes something inside Raine. Now she can’t stop thinking about him. Half the time, she’s not sure whether to fall into his arms or run.

Scared, she sets out to find out what Torin is. But the closer she gets to the truth the more she uncovers something sinister about Torin. What Torin is goes back to an ancient mythology and Raine is somehow part of it. Not only are she and her friends in danger, she must choose a side, but the wrong choice will cost Raine her life.

Review: 4 out of 5 stars

I absolutely adore Ednah Walters The Guardian Legacy series so I was eager to jump into Runes which is a story filled with mythology, romance and intriguing mystery.

Seventeen year-old Lorraine ‘Raine’ Cooper has a bit on her plate, her father has been missing for a few months, her mother is in denial and convinced he will return and she has to deal with her snarky, smexy Harley riding new neighbour Torin St. James and her conflicted feeling for her best friend now boyfriend Eirik.

It is difficult writing this review without giving away spoilers, the biggest being what Torin is, we find out he is different after he saves Raine by marking her with strange symbols – I was curious throughout and constantly guessing but I was way off the mark; I loved the mystery surrounding him, the runes and learning about his kind and their purpose.

The plot was fast-paced and entertaining; I liked watching Raine learn about the runes and the newcomers to town, I was able to pick up on a few clues early on in the book but I couldn’t piece together if certain events were related to Torin. Towards the end there was also a more sinister vibe so I was eager to see how it would play out and was shocked by the outcome.

My biggest gripe with this book was how Raines relationship was handled with both Eirik and Torin – she was so indecisive and torn and to me she was more or less stringing Eirik along so as not to hurt him,  I don’t like cheating characters and it was more or less what she was doing BUT in saying this, her new relationship status still felt a little more brother/sisterly rather than boyfriend/girlfriend and she did have intentions of ending things with Eirik but there was never really the opportunity to do so. The chemistry between her and Torin and their interactions and fun banter did show who she should have been with from the onset.

The highlight of this book for me were the characters, Raine was fun, loyal and quirky, she was so torn in her feelings and despite not liking the way she handled her relationship with Eirik, she was likeable and ‘real’, Eirik was a loyal sweetheart, Cora as a best friend was absolutely wonderful and smexy Torin was so charming and swoon worthy and despite his evasiveness I really adored him as a character. We also have a mother/daughter bond that was truly perfect; I loved the interactions between Raine and her mother and I was shocked by the twist we are given at the end.

Ednah Walters writing is engrossing and enjoyable; I love the diverse characters she writes as well as the in-depth storyline; with the cliff-hanger surprise ending we are left with, I am definitely eager to dive in to the sequel.

Thank-you to Firetrail Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Runes.

About the author: Ednah is the author of The Guardian Legacy series, a YA fantasy series about children of the fallen angels, who fight demons and protect mankind. AWAKENED, the prequel was released in September 2010 with rave reviews. BETRAYED, book one in the series was released by her new publisher Spencer Hill Press in June 2012 and HUNTED, the third installment, will be released April 2013. She’s working on the next book in the series, FORGOTTEN.

Ednah also writes New Adult paranormal romance. RUNES is the first book in her new series. She is presently working on book 2, IMMORTALS.

Under the pseudonym E. B. Walters, Ednah writes contemporary romance. SLOW BURN, the first contemporary romance with suspense, was released in April 2011. It is the first book in the Fitzgerald family series. Since then she has published four more books in this series. She's presently working on book six.

You can visit her online atwww.ednahwalters.com orwww.ebwalters.com,. She’s also on Facebook,twitter, ya-twitter, Google-plus, and RomanceBlog, YAblog.