Guest Post/Review – A Matter of Fate by Heather Lyons

Welcome to my stop on the A Matter of Fate book tour which has been brought to you by SupaGurl Tours. Here you can read my review, Heather's Guest Post , a summary of the book and learn a little more about the author Heather Lyons.  Don't forget to visit the other blogs on this tour for more information about this book and the author.


Title: A Matter of Fate
Author: Heather Lyons
Series: Fate Series #1
Genre: YA Fantasy/Romance
Published: August 30th 2012

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb

Chloe Lilywhite struggles with all the normal problems of a typical seventeen-year-old high school student. Only, Chloe isn't a normal teenage girl. She's a Magical, part of a secret race of beings who influence the universe. More importantly, she's a Creator, which means Fate mapped out her destiny long ago, from her college choice, to where she will live, to even her job. While her friends and relatives relish their future roles, Chloe resents the lack of say in her life, especially when she learns she's to be guarded against a vengeful group of beings bent on wiping out her kind. Their number one target? Chloe, of course.

That's nothing compared to the boy trouble she's gotten herself into. Because a guy she's literally dreamed of and loved her entire life, one she never knew truly existed, shows up in her math class, and with him comes a twin brother she finds herself inexplicably drawn to.

Chloe's once unyielding path now has a lot more choices than she ever thought possible.



Guest Post

Here is Heather’s Guest Post. She is addressing the fantasy/paranormal creatures in the story and why she wrote them the way she did. I hope you enjoy it!!

I love reading fantasy—mostly, I think, because it’s always so fun to try to imagine things that we can never experience. But I know it’s not for everyone; many of my friends shy away from the genre because they feel they can’t relate. So, one of my goals while I was writing A Matter of Fate was to make it an accessible fantasy that anybody could picture themselves part of.
            Going into the world building, I knew I wanted to have a host of creatures from fairy tales: goblins, fairies, dwarves, elves, and gnomes (which never fail to crack me up for some bizarre reason) in addition to humans. More importantly, I wanted these creatures to not be creatures at all but people—ones that live in houses and apartments, have jobs, buy clothes at stores with money, and eat at restaurants, just like we do. I wanted them and the planes of existence they live on to be just like ours—only filled with a species that wasn’t human. I loved the idea that all of the different species were so similar and yet so different—that, just like with different countries on our world, there are different cultures, languages, and customs, but humanity (for lack of a better word) is the bind ties everyone together despite living on their respective planes of existence, oblivious to the others.
            As normal as I tried to make these creatures in my story, though, I did try to thread hints of their traditional legends throughout. For example, the Elves in AMOF are very artsy; the Dwarves technologically savvy. Goblins are known for their military expertise. Faeries are impulsive and prone to watching bad TV. Gnomes are irritable (and yet, ironically fashion conscious). Humans are . . . well, human.
            I loved creating Annar, the plane of existence where all the different species live (at least, the Magical ones do!). It was a lot of fun creating a place that was both extraordinary (it’s filled with extraordinary beings after all) and yet somewhere we can all imagine ourselves visiting someday. I hope readers feel the same way!


My Review


This is a story that has both an insta-love relationship and a love triangle, because seriously…… identical twins, that would be awesome!! It works out to be very complex as Chloe has strong feelings for both guys, even though she has known Jonah since she was four years of age when they met in their dreams. A year without seeing Jonah had left Chloe depressed and now she is confused about her feelings for him.

The day that the twins, Jonah and Kellan, turn up at her school, Chloe is in such a shock that she sets off three shifts in the universe and anyone who is a magical can feel those shifts. She will be a very powerful magical when she ascends and a major role in the magical community because there is only one other creator in the worlds who is quite old and ready to step down.

Chloe is a typical teenager. Even though Fate has set out her path already, she just wants to be left alone and would love to escape her life. She is loyal to her ‘cousins’, who are all magical as well. It is funny to watch her debate with her conscience because she always has lots of questions. When some creatures come after her, she is on the run and after years of being treated as a failure by her parents, she decides to step up and take action. This Chloe was better and I loved the determination that she has.

Both twins are awesome and I would find it hard to pick between the two guys myself, so I understand why she struggles. They are both sweet, strong magicals and they both have a history. Being magical twins they have a strong bond, but Chloe puts a bit of a strain on their relationship.

I really enjoyed the magical aspect of this story and the roles of all the magicals. There are so many different types and they all form a part of the community. The plot was enjoyable with lives being threatened and the way the magicals use their powers as part of a team was entertaining. Chloe’s personal life was difficult and she found it hard to work through it. The only issue I had with the story was that I thought the ending was a bit rushed and summarised quickly. Overall, I really enjoyed the story and I look forward to the new challenges Chloe will have next!




Author Bio

Heather LyonsHeather Lyons has been putting stories to paper since she was a little girl. Her first "published" book was a humorous retelling of The Princess and the Pauper. After detours in archaeology and teaching, she is now writing and living in Southern California with her husband and three sons. She likes cupcakes, baseball, hockey, reading, and collecting far too many handbags.

You can find Heather online at:



 
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2 comments:

  1. The magic and Creator concept sounds interesting, and the characters esp the twins and Chloe's personal life sounds really well done.

    Happy reading,

    Brandi
    @ Blkosiner’s
    Book Blog

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Brandi!! Definitely is an awesome book!!

    ReplyDelete

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