Book Review: The Trouble With Fate

Author: Leigh Evans
Publication Date: December 24, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Series: Mystwalker # 1

My name is Hedi Peacock and I have a secret. I’m not human, and I have the pointy Fae ears and Were inner-bitch to prove it. As fairy tales go, my childhood was damn near perfect, all fur and magic until a werewolf killed my father and the Fae executed my mother. I’ve never forgiven either side. Especially Robson Trowbridge. He was a part-time werewolf, a full-time bastard, and the first and only boy I ever loved. That is, until he became the prime suspect in my father’s death…

Today I’m a half-breed barista working at a fancy coffee house, living with my loopy Aunt Lou and a temperamental amulet named Merry, and wondering where in the world I’m going in life. A pretty normal existence, considering. But when a pack of Weres decides to kidnap my aunt and force me to steal another amulet, the only one who can help me is the last person I ever thought I’d turn to: Robson Trowbridge. And he’s as annoyingly beautiful as I remember. That’s the trouble with fate: Sometimes it barks. Other times it bites. And the rest of the time it just breaks your heart. Again…

 

“Come on, guys. It’s not that hard. There’s only one answer. Yourself, dimwit. When fire is chewing though everything you’ve ever cared about, and there is no one left to rescue beyond yourself, the decision is simple: forget your charm bracelet and find the door. I’d point that out, but that would mean getting cozy with a human, and I don’t do cozy with the humans, which is providential, because as it happens, none of them have ever offered to extend the relationship beyond work hours. They keep their distance. Which is good, and bad, and maybe a little bit sad.” – Paperback Copy pg. 5

 

“In response, my amulet, Merry, twitched in her sleep, still hidden under my shirt where I wore her. Sometimes she roused to see what was up, sometimes she didn’t – she’d simply twitch or flinch, sort of her version of a pillow over her head. In the end it didn’t really matter, because I’d give her a blow-by-blow later. Unless Merry was feeding, she hung around my neck on a chain, making her a convenient audience for one of my monologues. The rest of the time I let her nap inside the cup of my lace bra.” – Paperback Copy pg. 7

 

“I pressed my ear against the back door to Bob’s store. Okay, if I was a full Were, I wouldn’t have to do that. I’d be able to detect the discreet blip of a mouse’s fart right through the bricks. Hell, I’d hear a bird drop a feather as it winged its was over the parking lot.” – Paperback Copy pg. 26

 

“Lou was right. There was no upside to being around Weres.” – Paperback Copy pg. 42

 

“A couple of days ago, when his clothing was still clean, and his eyes didn’t look like he’d been smoking crack, he might have been hot. He was young, he was built, and he was good-looking, in a sort of studly, teenage way. Too young for me, but still, a great body is a great body, until the owner of it uses one of his body parts to kick you. Then you change your first impression, and start noticing things like red-rimmed eyes, and scent; in his case, a ripe, unpleasant combination of unwashed Were, male musk, and hot emotion.” – Paperback Copy pg. 42

Hedi Peacock is half-Fae and half-Were, but a whole lot of trouble. She now lives and works as a barista in a coffee shop while she tries to remain undetected by the supernatural world surrounding her. Hedi is pretty content with her “normal” life, taking care of her rather stranger aunt and talking with her amulet, Merry, until Robson Trowbridge walks into her little coffee shop one day and sends her world in a crazy whirlwind. This is a man whom Hedi has loved since her adolescent years and will always carry a slight torch for, even though she may try to deny it. He is also the man that is known to be the prime suspect in her father’s death.

This novel was a debut for Leigh Evans and I was pleasantly surprised. Her words just felt so natural and practiced, but I guess that is what makes for a great author. My favorite part of this novel was the humor. Humor is found within each character, and especially comes out in Hedi. Hedi Peacock is what I call spunky and eccentric. She says some of the most off the wall things, but they were always appropriate and hilarious. I usually don’t care for a lot of sarcasm or cursing coming from one character until it is overkill, but with Hedi it was just the right amount. I did wish at times that she wasn’t so negative. But her dislike for Weres and Humans was all too funny and her snide remarks were quickly jotted down into my journal.

I have not read that many books about the Fae, so I was quite interested in this aspect of the supernatural world. Leigh Evans does a fantastic job with world building. The action continues to rise from the first page and never slows down. I think that I am looking forward to the next book so much just to see how she expands on her world building. There were few parts were the author lost my attention and never really for long. This book was also a perfect mix of Urban Fantasy, which I am definitely reading more of, and romance. I felt like the romance was overdone at some points, but for the most part I thought it was just right.

I loved Hedi’s amulet, Merry. Hedi wore this amulet around her neck and would just talk to her at random times just as if she were standing only a few feet in front of her face. I thought this was so awesome and I am not quite sure why?! I guess I just got to thinking how cool it would be to have an amulet that can respond to you! The book was filled with little details like this that helped make Hedi’s world seem real!

 

***Thank you to the publishers at St. Martin’s Paperbacks for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review***