Blog Tour Sci-Fi Romance Review "Dark Waltz" by A.M. Hargrove

Title:  Dark Waltz
Author:  A.M. Hargrove

Publisher:  Self Published
Publication Date:  November 7, 2012
Genre:  Paranormal Romance / Sci-Fi
Format:  Kindle 722 KB

Where to find A.M. Hargrove Online:

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Buy the Book on Amazon:  Kindle

Synopsis: 

Dark Waltz--A sizzling legend of loss, lust and love. 

It’s the year 2030 and the human population has been annihilated by a virulent form of small pox. Liasare Davidson is desperately searching for her brother, who has been missing for three months. It’s been eighteen years since she was evacuated from Earth and she is horrified to see it’s become a cesspool of unimaginable things.

In her quest to find her brother, she meets Jurek, a powerful and enigmatic being that frightens her, yet she is unable to resist. When things begin to unfold between them, they both discover a paralyzing truth that puts Liasare at grave risk. She must make a choice to join Jurek and find her brother or fulfill a role she believes she is ill equipped to undertake.

My Review

I am finding that I can't really objectively review this book since I was one of the beta editors for it, so I am just going to do a short review and tell you a bit about the story!

I reviewed the most recent book in the Guardians of Vesturon series awhile back and I commented that Jurek was my favorite character and I hoped to see more of him in the future.  Not long after that I found out that Anne was writing a series with Jurek as the main character and I was so excited when she asked me to come on as one of her beta's.  I enjoyed the process so much.

There are aspects of this story that I liked and some that I didn't.  I love the world building in this whole series.  Basically the earth's population has been drastically reduced by a small pox virus that is released from CDC by a group of aliens whom Jurek happens to be a part.  This book takes place almost 20 years later.  Now earth is populated by aliens of many forms.  I am totally down with this scenario, I am a HUGE Sci-Fi buff, any of my friends can tell you that.  What I did have a problem with is that the "big bad" in this series is essentially the devil, as in THE Devil.  I don't know why this bothers me, but it does!  I have a really hard time quantifying aliens and the devil in one story.  Give me one or the other and I am totally fine, but I don't care to have them mixed up.

I loved the relationship between Jurek and Liasare, but there were times that I felt he was really too harsh with her.  Even with his flaws Jurek is still my favorite character.  I also really liked Tak, he is another one that I would like to know more about.  He is full of sass and definitely makes Liasare work to be accepted into their group.

I wouldn't classify this as erotica, but there are definitely some steamy love scenes.  If you like Paranormal or Sci-Fi Romance then you will want to pick this up and give it a try.

Author Bio

One day, on her way home from work as a sales manager, A. M. Hargrove, realized her life was on fast forward and if she didn't do something soon, it would quickly be too late to write that work of fiction she had been dreaming of her whole life. So, she rolled down the passenger window of her fabulous (not) company car and tossed out her leather briefcase. Luckily, the pedestrian in the direct line of fire was a dodgeball pro and had über quick reflexes enabling him to avoid getting bashed in the head. Feeling a tad guilty about the near miss, A. M. made a speedy turn down a deserted side street before tossing her crummy, outdated piece-of-you-know-what lap top out the window. She breathed a liberating sigh of relief, picked up her cell phone and hit #4 on her speed dial.

"Hello."

"Boss, is that you?"

"Why yes, A. M., who else would be answering my phone?"

"Er... right. Well, I'm calling to let you know you can pick up my luxury Ford Focus at Starbucks near the interstate."

"Why ever would I want to do that?"

"Because I quit you idiot!"

A.M. hit the end button and speed dialed her husband.

"Hi yummy hubby, can you pick me up at Starbucks?"

"Sure... Having some car trouble?"

"Not at all. I don't have a car to have trouble with because I just quit my job."

"WHAT?!"

"It's time for a new career and I am going to be a very famous novelist."

So began A. M. Hargrove's career as a young adult paranormal romance author of self-published ebooks. Her series, The Guardians of Vesturon, centers around a family of six siblings and is a mix of humor, mystery, suspense and of course, love. Survival is her first book in the series and her second, Resurrection will be released in January.

If you're wondering, it didn't happen EXACTLY that way, but....

*Disclaimer:  I was provided with a copy of this book courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review.*