#Tuesday Review - Silverthorn by Sydney Bristow (Urban Fantasy)

Series: Echoes of Eternity # 2
Format: Mobi, 274 pages
Release Date: February 9, 2016
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Source: Author
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Serena Sykes will need to gain control of her latest supernatural ability now that Darius Coyne, the last remaining master vampire will stop at nothing to kill her, so he can rule the world beside the love of his life, the ancient sorceress, Zephora. 

And if they don’t destroy Serena, the tight-knit group of friends who fight alongside her might do it for them. Her tortured romantic relationship with Nolan, who takes away more from Serena than just pleasure each time they touch, may be more inclined to help Darius than he’s letting on. And her identical twin sister, Alexis, and her niece, Celestina, take turns playing both willing ally and potential enemy. 

In a race against time, Serena must vanquish the enemies that attack her at every turn and fight to keep her friends alive, sane, and on good terms, while also trying to locate the mythic Book of Souls…if she hopes to defeat the ultimate power couple.

Silverthorn is the second installment in the Echoes of Eternity series by author Sydney Bristow. Silverthorn picks up right where Nightwish left off. It's only been a short time since 21-year old protagonist Serena Sykes discovered that not only is she a witch, but she also has a twin sister Alexis, and a niece, Celestina, who might be the most powerful witch in history. Since then, she's broken a major curse, and unleashed an even more powerful witch, and the creator of all supernaturals from her sleep. That being Zephora. She now has even bigger problems in the form of a master vampire named Darius Coyne who wants her dead.

Serena has some growing to do but that is to be expected. After-all, she was kept ignorant of what she really was by her Grams. Now that Grams Lorraine has passed on, Serena has to come to terms with the fact that she has THREE separate magical abilities. The ability to wield fire, and the ability to astral project while she is sleeping. In Silverthorn, readers will discover the final power Serena can wield, and yes, it makes a whole lot of difference. In fact, it puts her on par with her more powerful and trained sister Alexis. Serena has made more than her fair share of errors in judgement, but when you look deeper at the fact that she was never trained, and has been treated like an outcast ever since her powers awakened, you can understand why and even cut her some slack. 

Let's really talk about Serena. She's the lead singer of a band called Salem's Curse along with her best friends Brandon and Kendall who get their fair share of difficulties and challenges, especially Kendall. She discovered the Soul Sword that different factions of supernatural want badly since it can quickly and efficiently cut down any supernaturals. She now has a new band-mate who is half-demon and has some issues with his own powers. She knows that if Alexis or Celestina die, it will unleash hell onto the world. What's a girl to do? Try to keep her friends from getting dead, that's what she does.

I do love Serena's connect with Celestina who is just scary powerful. I think that Celestina will eventually have a bigger role to play, and whether or not it is for good, or evil shall remain an unknown. I dare say that I was chuckling at several scenes in Silverthorn. No, nothing bad. In fact, it definitely reminded me of the movie Queen of the Damned. If you've seen the movie, and the concert in the desert, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I can honestly say that they were my favorite scenes outside of Serena trying to survive being killed by Darius's evil schemes. 

Sydney kindly offered me a copy of this book to read and offer my honest opinion, an obviously I accepted. I will definitely we waiting for the third installment called Bloodstone, when it releases over the summer. 

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#Tuesday Review - Nightwish by Sydney Bristow (Paranormal)

Series: Echoes of Eternity # 1
Format: Mobi, 262 pages
Release Date: August 9, 2015
Publisher: Createspace
Source: Author
Genre: Paranormal

Serena Sykes just discovered that the mother, identical twin sister, and niece she never knew existed…are the last remaining witches on the planet. That is, except for Serena, who recently received her own limited, albeit wildly erratic supernatural abilities. 

But her newfound family isn’t interested in helping her master those gifts. After all, Serena’s mother has been communicating beyond the veil with the first witch in their line, a sorceress named Zephora who hopes to return to this dimension and destroy an ancient curse that would unleash paranormal creatures across the globe. 

To help guide her in this new landscape, Serena turns to her grandmother, an elderly woman suffering from dementia and the only vampire in existence, a man who has his own mysterious agenda. With less than 48 hours to prevent her family from triggering a supernatural wasteland, Serena must learn to control her abilities…if she hopes to save the world!

Nightwish is the first installment in author Sydney Bristow's Echoes of Eternity series. Bristow's protagonist is 21-year old Serena Sykes who recently graduated from college, and suddenly finds out that she is a witch. What's even more perplexing for Serena is that her own biological mother Delphine, her twin sister Alexis, and her niece Celestina all make an appearance after she encounters her first demon and receives her first abilities. 

Serena was raised by her grandmother Lorraine, and never told that she was part of a family of witches which is descended from the most powerful witch of them all, Zephora. What's even more disconcerting is that the only ally Serena seems to have after her grandmother passes away is her 13-year old niece. Celestina is perhaps the most powerful witch in existence. She has the ability to see into the future and Serena's role in it. The rest of her family is firmly against Serena coming into her abilities. So much so, that they are continually testing and taunting her to discover her weaknesses. 

This series is a bit different in that the women in Serena's line end up with (3) separate but powerful abilities. Serena has the ability to astral project and create fire. As this is the first novel in the series, there is a bit of fits and starts and hesitation along with an assortment of action that pits Serena against her family, Zephora, and the only vampire in existence who is supposed to protect the weakest witch in the family, Darius. Serena has another life as well. She is a member of a Heavy Metal band along with best friends Brandon and Kendall.  

The only real romance in this story is the angst filled one between Brandon and Kendall. He's a player, she's worried about breaking up the band over personal issues. As for Serena, there is a hint of a possibility with a secondary in Nolan Hart who is here one moment, and gone like the Flash in the next. 

Why the rating? 

1. Celestina is 13-years old. That means that Alexis had her when she was 8? How is that even a thing? Author did not bother to explain this little factoid either, or if she did, it totally went flying over my head.

2. There were two separate scenes that were cringe worthy. Serena goes into a Subway and orders a Ham sandwich. (Didn't know Subway sold just ham sandwiches, but I digress.) The next moment, Serena is eating a Turkey sandwich. Did Serena do a bit of hocus pocus and change the sandwich? 

3. There was another scene where Serena is trying to tell readers a saying that her grandmother was famous for. Instead, it came out as Change, change, change....

I am thankful that Sydney reached out to me and sent me a copy of this book for my own personal review. I do hope that her sequel is a success and that the editing misfires are caught before the book is released to the general public. I do think that this series can be appealing to readers if you can look past the errors. I do like Serena. She's not given much of a chance against Zephora and her allies, but at least she has friends who don't abandon her.  

**I received this book for free from AUTHOR in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**

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