Books4Tomorrow: QUICK REVIEW: "Crossroads" (Crossroads Saga, book 1)

“CROSSROADS”

(Crossroads Saga, book 1)

by Mary Ting

REVIEWED BY: Books4Tomorrow

OVERVIEW

Claudia Emerson has a good friend who shares the same first name and last name. That friend unfortunately dies in a tragic accident during homecoming dance. Claudia is distraught at the loss of her friend, but is even more disturbed by her dreams, which seem to take her to another place called Crossroads. Unknown to her, Crossroads is like a second heaven, a place between heaven and earth. It is where the souls of humans in comas or near death experiences may wander. Where, Claudia meets Michael, a nephilim, a half angel, half human, whom she often meets in her dreams. It turns out that this isn’t her first visit to Crossroads, which is an enigma for no human can ever travel there until Claudia.

Now the fallen and demons are after her, suspecting she must be special and it is up to Michael and the other nephilims to protect her. Her dream becomes a nightmare as more secrets are revealed, about who she really is, and the true identities of the people she loves most. Can Michael fight his growing feelings for Claudia and protect her as a guardian angel should?

REVIEW

“Crossroads” by author Mary Ting is an awe-inspiring, exhilarating, one-of-a-kind read. It has all the elements necessary to keep paranormal-romance fans turning the pages at a steady pace – danger, excitement, beautiful angels, evil demons, breathtaking scenes, and kick-ass battles between good and evil, reminiscent of the tv series Supernatural, but on a bigger and grander scale.

As all who’ve been following my reviews probably know by now, I’m not a fan of romance. And if it’s sappy romance, it’s a no-go for me. I have to make an exception in this case though. Mary Ting has done an exceptional job in making me fall head-over-heels in love with more than one character in this book. I mean we’re talking drop-dead gorgeous angels here. One more dazzling than the other. The romance between Claudia, the human girl, and Michael, her guardian angel, is so skilfully and delicately written, that I couldn’t help but experience every emotion they felt for each other as if it was my own. It takes quite the writer to be able to make a hardcore, anti-romance-nazi such as myself get to the point where I can’t wait for Michael to fold Claudia inside his wings and proclaim his undying love for her. OK, I’ve used the cliché, but trust me when I tell you that the author unexpectedly wooed me off my feet with her natural talent for writing romance and infusing it with enough magic to hit you right at the centre of the heart.

Of course, whiny, weak, wimpy female leads are also a huge pet peeve of mine and I always start a new book with trepidation as to what sort of spoilt brat protagonist I’m going to have to bear with for the next 300 or so pages. I was happy to find that Claudia, our leading-lady-girl-in-distress, is actually one who can fend for herself and stand her ground. Sure, she’s being protected by a mini-platoon of guardian angels and what not, but when she’s on her own, this girl faces her foes head-on. Bravo Mary Ting, for not following the norm and for breaking away from the clichéd helpless teenage drama-queen protagonist and giving us the heroine we all dream to be. Incredibly, throughout the numerous devastating trials Claudia faces in this book, she emerges a stronger and more mature character in the final chapter; one that at the very least begs respect and admiration.

“Crossroads” surprised me, it thrilled me, it kept me reading until my vision blurred over with tiredness in the wee hours of the morning, and it pushed the boundaries of my imagination to explore a new world created by an author who evidently has no limits to her own imagination and creativity. Readers who have a void in their lives left behind by losing someone dear to them, will find solace and companionship in this book through comforting and insightful words, sensitively written by someone who also had to endure and deal with such a loss before. This being the author’s debut novel and the first book in the Crossroads saga, I am impatiently looking forward to reading the next two books as I am of now a self-confessed addict to the exquisite writing of Mary Ting.