Celia Jerome

TROLLS IN THE HAMPTONS was an oddball choice for me to read. Its contemporary fantasy (not quite urban as it deals with mainly 'high end' fantasy creatures like fairies, trolls and elves), but the blurb just didn't pull me in. It kind of peaked my interest, but not anywhere near the level of 'I should read this before anything else'. It was the cover that convinced me; a realistically drawn young woman with the backdrop montage of retro-comic art.

The story takes a little while to get going. Fafhrd the big troll shows up very early on, but the actual plot to the book takes a little longer. The first third or so is taken up with what it’s like to be a moderately successful writer/artist in New York City. I recognized some of the places that Jerome mentions--definitely Penn Station and the LIRR--but I had no idea there was a 'Jitney' bus line from Manhattan to the Hamptons.

The fun begins when Willow arrives back home in Paumanok Harbor (in a truly astounding series of coincidences) and she begins to look at her neighbors and relatives in a new way. It was creepy how everyone seemed to know everything and like Willow I wondered if that was a product of being a nosy small town of the supposed powers they all had.

There are large moments of info-dumping, mostly in regards to the supernatural realm that can get long-winded and exhausting to read. Multiple times I wished that Grant was really speaking to me with his British accent because I'm convinced that's the only reason Willow was able to listen.

One of my few pet peeve tropes is used, of insta-love due to fate or genetic disposition, though Willow is a tough girl to sell. She has a lot of neurosis and that makes her skeptical about anything beyond the animal attraction she feels for Grant. Who from all accounts seems to totally deserve it. I do think Willow held onto her skepticism for far long given the evidence to the contrary, but I don't blame her.

In all this was a diverting read. I'm curious to see how the next book (Night Mares in the Hamptons, due out in May 2011) works itself out. The blurb is another one that doesn't catch me, but it makes me question the ending of this book.

Review originally posted at Night Owl Romance… (mer)

I unfortunately didn't enjoy this venture with Willow as much as I did the first volume. What had been cute and quirky quickly became annoying and repetitive this time around.

As intriguing as I find Willow's ability as a Visualizer, I would have thought her main goal would have been to learn how to control her power so it didn't run amok like in the first book (A TROLL IN THE HAMPTONS, as you can guess the title tells it all). There is also the matter of her fianc‚e sending a flirty, hot, cowboy to help her...either he has no trust issues in that department or wasn't thinking very clearly.

What I did find entertaining relies mainly in that these books aren't any one genre. Mystery, paranormal, romance, satire...Jerome includes all of this in the Willow Tate novels. The residents of Paumanok Harbor are lively and quirky--they certainly give poor Willow a run for her money as she searches for normalcy in her life once more. Now that she's more or less blossomed into her power they all feel no real need to hide their secrets any more either.

In the end though Willow's neurotic little ticks (which were cute in TROLLS, but quickly wore on me in NIGHTMARES), and unmemorable storyline left me feeling meh by the conclusion. This is a light read, diverting in its own way, but also lacking substance to keep me engaged for long periods of time.

Review originally posted at Night Owl Romance… (mer)

Please note this is book 4 in the series, I didn't read book 3 FIREWORKS IN THE HAMPTONS, so I'm going into this a little behind the times.

Once again we return to the world of Willow Tate, graphic novelist by choice and Visualizer against her better judgment. Weird things are happening in the Hamptons and Paumanok Harbor in particular, as a string of crimes, rare bird sightings and dolphins giving the heave-ho to surfers. The locals blame Willow for it, despite the fact she doesn't have anything to do with it (which is surprising in and of itself), but that's hard to believe when the events seem to be chronicled in her latest book.

One of the reasons I originally enjoyed this series was because Willow seemed so...interesting. Even before she got a handle on her Visualizer powers, Willow was creative and chaotic. Stuff I can relate to and was happy to read about. As the series has progressed however much of Willow's creativity has been channeled into making sure things don't go haywire. When anything you draw can come to life, or more accurately in most case be drawn to you by magic, it’s hard to want to draw for fun you know?

I want to mention this because it’s partially why I didn't pick up book 3--Jerome has this odd penchant for ending the book with action half-finished. Not like a cliff-hanger per say, more like those old cartoons that would end with 'Stay tuned for the next thrilling adventure!'. For the casual reader this probably isn't a problem, but as a voracious reader it feels silly since if I like book I'll definitely pick up the next one.

As seems to be typical for this series Willow gets herself yet another love interest (or two) and she's surprised by this (though I don't know why since there's been at least half a dozen interested guys in this series), but the romance doesn't overshadow the plot. Jerome is a pseudonym for romance author Barbara Metzger, an author I admire greatly for her historical romances. However I've become less enchanted with her urban fantasy series.

Honestly while it’s refreshing to read a UF that doesn't involve vampires, shifters or the Fae being hunky warriors with long ears I've fallen less in love with Willow and her not always smart decision making skills. This was enjoyable, but nothing too exciting.… (mer)