Homecoming (Blood Thirsty #1) Review

Homecoming (Blood Thirsty #1) by Elizabeth St.John.

Synopsis:

Willow is haunted by the ghost of her past lover Samuel. She is summoned back to Maine by her maker Esmeralda. Willow meets a handsome vampire named Caleb and a romance blossoms between them but there is something strange about him. He has something or someone inside trying to break free. Can Willow break away from her past? Or will she be haunted forever?

Genre: Romance | Paranormal
Series: Blood Thirsty Series
Length: Short Story

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Not sure what to think as I picked this book up after reading reviews on goodreads and thought I would give it a shot. I looked for popular highlights in the kindle but there was none. Despite this I continued on. This is my first installment from Elizabeth St.John and I love vampire stories. Yet I am not ken to short stories that are less than 25 pages. Yet, I decided to give this a try because of a average rating of 4.5 on goodreads.

“I haven’t hunted tonight. Would you like to join me,” he asked. I thought about it for a moment. The incident which happened that morning came to my mind. He had acted so strange but he seemed fine now. I did need to hunt. I looked up at Es and she grinned and slightly nodded in approval.

The writing style Elizabeth St.John has is one I’ve seen from days old where I was writing in my diary or reading a friends journal. This breathes as entry from high school or middle school on the topic of romance in paranormal. I felt a tiny bit nostalgic but only two chapters in at this point when these feelings became harder. This grew harder to push aside to finish out this book as the substance I was being feed was driving me mad. I mean its a short story about 25 or less pages. I know there are parts that could really use a editor, editor resource or someone to proof read. I understand this can be a exhausting task but for people like me this can be a complete turn off to stop reading. Putting this book down was a strong desire.. But I finished it!

“Willow, my darling,” Esmeralda announced, looking up from her task. She smiled and came around the desk to great me. She took me in a loving embrace and kissed my cheek. I hugged her back. I couldn’t help but feel joy to be with her again.

Yet, As the chapters read on the writing style.. changes for the better. Which is lovely and has kept me this far! There were moments that were hard to read due to a need of a editor or someone to proof read.. Unless she does have a editor then gee.. Maybe I am being too prude in my decision to read books and how they were written…

Willow seems so torn and hurt. Left for dead before she is torn that I can not relate to her or at least feel sympathy. She over reacts then under reacts which Elizabeth is reaching for her dreams but .. Please use a spellcheck or Hemingway Editor when writing any book, novel or paper. oh my gosh I sound like a bully but please dear if you read this find Hemingway Editor and use it. It would help so much for the first few chapters.

“My sweet girl, I know how much you loved him but it has been two hundred years. Let him go.”
“It is not me, or maybe it is,” I said, biting my bottom lip. “I have tried to let him go. Shit, I may be just crazy.”
Esmeralda leaned forward with question on her brow, “What do you mean you may be crazy?”
“I mean I may in fact be a nut job. I’m hearing his voice and have since I left here,” I explained. “Until you called me I thought I was losing my mind. He calls to me, Es.”
“What does he say,” she questioned. “He only says my name but it is almost like he is calling me to come to him, as if he is alive and waiting for me.”

Caleb although she wrote him with interest seems boring and eh on the tongue. He seemed to have no substance or anything other than man meat to let Willow get her socks knocked off. The moments felt forced with them and I felt uncomfortable reading it. Esmeralda seemed like a woman with many faucets and levers that lead to interesting places yet I felt Elizabeth didn’t lead me to them. Things were happening around with Ben which all felt organic yet there were moments I had questioned it.

As chapter five arrived I was started to enjoy the better written passages and things seemed to float although things still felt forced to move along the page. Like a bee to honey as each page turned and new words appeared before me. It was almost like a different writer was present making the book as I went and if Elizabeth was the actual writer became a question in my mind.

“If we die, we die together.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
“No worries, sweet Willow.”

I hated the ending because it left no answer nor any hint of what happened. 200 years and this lady is still hooked on this guy named samuel, her first love, which by now any person in their right mind would of gotten over with but she is from a different time and most vampire stories tend to have that fleeting love they still long for. Maybe I will pick up the next book in the series but I just am not impressed and quite annoyed. The cliffhanger is good but with my desire to keep reading lost me any times before I even got halfway..

Final Thoughts:

Overall a great plot and story line for this book. Seemed so short and a lot of the pages read like a middle or high school diary. Some of it was easy while other parts was more like books of famous authors. Written like butter and slowly feed to you while you soak up every word that is on that page. Turning page by page before you know it half of the book is gone but with this one it seemed the author changed writing styles halfway through as if the author wasn’t the author anymore. More editing would be lovely and come out with a revised version. Much work needed by this author but her dreams can be reached. The one character I loved was not the main one but Es or Esmeralda which comes into play a handful of times. Overall I give this book 2.5 stars due to the ending, the way the author seems to change and readability of this novel.

The Author:

I enjoy coffee, Charlaine Harris books, music, Quentin Tarentino movies, fishing, and I absolutely hate the beach and deep dark water.

I have published five novella series turned box set (The Blood Thirsty Saga), The Thrace series, 5 stand alone, and five co-authored books, including erotica.

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