THE CARNELIAN LEGACY (Book 1) by Cheryl Koevoet

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the publisher, Abbott Press, via NetGalley for an honest review.

Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Young Adult

Plot: Marisa MacCallum always believed that the man of her dreams was out there somewhere. The problem is—he’s in another dimension.

After the death of her father, eighteen-year-old Marisa’s life is on the verge of imploding. She seeks comfort on her daily ride through the woods of Gold Hill, but when a mysterious lightning storm strikes, she is hurled into the ancient, alternate dimension of Carnelia where she is discovered by the arrogant but attractive nobleman, Ambassador Darian Fiore.

Stranded in a world teeming with monsters, maniacs and medieval knights, Marisa is forced to join Darian on a dangerous mission to negotiate peace with his cousin and archenemy, Savino da Rocha. Along the way, she starts to see Darian’s softer side and finds herself falling in love. But once she learns that he is locked into an arranged marriage, her heart shatters.

When Savino falls for her charms and demands her hand in exchange for peace, Marisa is faced with an impossible choice: marry the enemy of the man she loves or betray them both and become the catalyst for a bloody war.

Opinion: I haven’t read very many Fantasy/Romance books, but I was pleasantly surprised with the direction that this story went. I don’t think that the description of the book does it much justice, but then again, most books descriptions don’t. If you love a modern day YA story complete with princes and mythical creatures, then this is definitely something that you will want to read.

In one moment Marisa MacCallum is in Jacksonville, Oregon on her horse Siena, but in the next she is caught in a strange lighting storm and is waking up to two strange men gazing down at her. Marisa soon realizes that she has accidently traveled into another dimension through a vortex, which has dropped her into another world called Carnelia. Carnelia is vastly different from the world that Marisa knows, there is no technology and the knights still fight with swords and bows. With the help of the two men that have stumbled upon her, the sweet Lord Arrigo and the handsome but standoffish Ambassador Darian Fiore, Marisa must learn to survive in this new world.

I really enjoyed this read, as it was something different from all of the other books I have been reading. Though vortexes and time traveling have been a common theme in my reading lately, I loved the idea of taking a teenager from this century and sticking her in a realm that feels very medieval. I felt that the story had a nice pace and didn’t slow down too much for me to become bored, and that the author kept introducing new events to keep the reader addicted. There was a perfect amount of description for the new world that Marisa was discovering, as well as the emotions that were CONSTANTLY engulfing her. I started out loving the character of Marisa, but as the story went on I grew to be highly tired of her incessant crying and dramatic flair for everything. Granted, traveling into another dimension would be FRIGHTENING and alarming, especially having to accept that alternate dimensions and vortexes actually exist. Also, granted, she is seventeen and just had to go through the traumatic experience of losing her father…but honestly. How, do you have the energy to keep crying? It seems that she only decided to start being strong for herself when she was accepting the fact that she might not be able to be with Darian. I wanted to see her becoming a strong and confident warrior princess, slaying mythical creatures alongside the boys and holding her own…or at least trying to. But alas, she had to be saved countless times like a true damsel in distress.

I of course adored the characters of Darian and Arrigo, but I also really enjoyed Savino. If you have read my reviews before, I have mentioned that I LOVE the snarky and sarcastic characters. Savino is QUITE the charmer and the polar opposite of Darian, but has his own appeal even though he is meant to be the villain. I will be honest, I preferred Savino over Darian purely because he had more personality and spunk. A few smaller things that I enjoyed in this book was the fact that the author incorporated creatures that resembled the Abominable Snowman and Bigfoot, instead of the old boring dragon. 😉 The author had a unique way of wrapping the story up at the end and clarifying everything as well. I liked how all of the issues came to a conclusion, but that there were at least three more chapters afterwards to explain everything that went on throughout the book. THANK YOU for not leaving me with unanswered questions, that drives me crazy!

Overall, this is a really exciting and addicting read. I really want to go on and read the next two books in the series, as I am VERY curious to see how everything turns out and how the writing improves.

P.S. I am going to assume that the author REALLY likes to describe things as having a “chestnut” color. 😉