Review: Sand and Storm by Stella Dorthwany

Love the cover and it has pictures. Inside I mean. Not many books bother with illustrations but this one has them. Love it. The author does like to use the word exploded which since it was the only fault I could find in the first few pages made it more amusing than annoying.

There were a lot of characters introduced very quickly which made it a little confusing but the world is rich. Magic and wonder laced through every line. Cora is my favourite character. Forced into a path where she doesn't know her own future and yet it could be marvellous or completely soul destroying. People think marriages today don't have those same shadows but they do. Hope is the only reason to take the risk because the marvellous is so marvellous.

Love the magic. They don't explain it to you like you are a simpleton instead they just immerse you in the world of magic as if you were always part of it.

My mother once mentioned that stories these days hardly ever have family. This story has family at its core. I really liked that as family is important to me it is rewarding to read stories where family is just as important.

Just have to say again I love the illustrations. What people don't always realise when you use illustrations in e-books is that Amazon charges the author more to deliver it. For the author to have so generously added illustrations is enough to warm my heart. I did wish for a map though.

The fight scenes though very exciting I had to slow down and read them carefully to figure out what happening. I'm dyslexic so sometimes this happens.

This reminded me of a more upbeat Trudi Canavan book. The storm and large ensemble cast reminds me of one of Mercedes Lackey's series.

There is going to be people not happy as there are two love triangles and there were will be people unhappy with the shipping, no matter who gets together. Personally I want Cora and her husband to work it out and Faryn to end up with the professor. Crossing my fingers.

Love Cora, how she deals with Faryn's love interests is crack up.

The guys do the macho thing a little too much, trying to save the sweet little love interest. But I'm glad to say the women don't stand for that.

This is a richly and well written story. An easy five stars.