THE FOREVER GIRL (an Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance Novel of the Occult) [Format Kindle]

I'd seen some tweets concerning The Forever Girl by Rebecca Hamilton, but hadn't fully sought it out. The cover was pretty, and the author's tweets were fun. Finally, last week, after stumbling across the book for the millionth time, I took it as a sign. This book was intended for me.

I can say now, my only regret is that I didn't buy it sooner!

I won't give you too much back story. Partially because you can read the synopsis above, but mostly I don't trust myself with spoilers.

The bones of the tale are this: Sophia is an average girl, living in a painfully small town. She is very much the `Boo Radley' of the neighborhood due to her Wiccan religion, and a very overzealous Christian woman who hopes to rid the town of her evil. As if being stalked by a crazy lady wasn't enough, Sophia must deal with a constant hissing, a buzz that rattles around in her brain 24/7. She managed to go to college, and now hold a job, but the constant noise never leaves her mind. Curing her curse is her number one priority. That is until she meets a whole host of supernatural beings, some dangerous, some carrying very human burdens, and one downright sexy. She finds herself embroiled in a centuries old battle, first to find out about her own ancestry, then to save those she loves.

I loved this book, and I'll give you just a few reasons why although I could probably come up with dozens.

I was a Wiccan for fifteen years. Rebecca Hamilton has been the ONLY fiction author I have ever read who described ritual, as well as Wiccan beliefs accurately and completely. For her insight and research, I applaud and respect her.

The main character Sophia drew me in from the beginning of the book. She has a crazy mother (who can't relate to that) and is trying very hard to live her life, despite her hardships financially as well as medically (the constant noise in her head) As the book evolved my only complaint was Sophia's fear of her own power and her raging self doubt. More than once, I wanted to hop into the story, shake her like a ragdoll and tell her she was strong enough to do anything! (There is also a sex scene I wouldn't have minded hopping into as well. I'm telling ya, buy the book!)

Keeping the storyline moving was the lovable Charles. He is a member of the supernatural realm, and I don't want to say too much on that, but he oozes sex appeal. He added some much needed humor to the extremely serious Sophia, and helped to keep the story moving at a good pace. Not to mention he sounds drop dead gorgeous, and there are a few scenes not intended for children in the book.

I have to tip my hat to Hamilton for my favorite line in the book. I don't know if it was an intended knock on the ever popular yet poorly written Twilight series or not but as Charles pops up at Sophia's window one night, she crossly asks him if he's spying on her.

His response? "You're not so interesting that I came to watch you sleep, darlin'."

Rarely does a line literally make me laugh out loud as that one did.

Hamilton also manages to put together an excellent "supporting cast" of characters, including Sophia's best friend Ivory, and Charles's best friend Adrian. The characters are not only rich and welcoming additions, but they end up having very deep and meaningful backgrounds that assist in tying the entire story into a neat little bow. Personally, I love neat little bows, and so I was in reader heaven.
All in all the book was great. It wrapped up nicely while still leaving a few questions unanswered for the next books in the series. Those books I will not hesitate to buy.

The Forever Girl centres on a sassy girl called Sophia, who is a Wiccan struggling with life and looking for answers. This is a paranormal romance/mystery and I really enjoyed it, although it can get quite complicated to follow at times. It has strong characters and an epic storyline that kept me guessing till the end. It is well edited and the writing flows well too, which is always a plus in my book.

The story is True Blood meets elements of The Crucible (I love both) so it was right up my street, but may not appealing to everyone.

I look forward to reading the next instalment in this promising series.

Rachel Dove, The Kindle Book Review

This novel is unusually well written- If Hamilton was the first writer to break into vampire and paranormal literature, she would have busted the doors wide open and made it difficult for other writers to surpass her writing style. She paints pictures with words like I have never read before and writes as if she is a well seasoned old author who has been doing this all her life. The funny thing is, she isn't - she is a young author and I am completely astounded at the level of work she is producing. The only unfortunate thing about this particular piece of work is that it does trail behind all of the current popular vampire/paranormal books that are out there. What I mean to say is that although she does incorporate new characters/elements and creates a truly unique story- the subject matter is so closely related to an over-saturated market that it could possibly get lost in the pile, which would be unfortunate. If I met someone who has never read Twilight or Anne Rice or any other popular book in this genre- I would tell them to start with The Forever Girl by Rebecca Hamilton, because it really does lead the pack with literary genius. I am one of the few people who couldn't get passed the first chapter of Twilight because although I loved the story, the writing is appalling...and that is after they hired a copyediter to correct the immature writings of Meyer. The Forever Girl is a perfect example of a well written self-published book that the public can trust to provide a compelling story with writing precision. If you are a person who can recognize a brilliant new author, then please check her out. I look forward to reading more literature from her with hopefully a new subject, since she is the type of writer to have the talent to create her own genre.