Back in May, author Carolyn Jewel offered review copies of her novella, Free Fall, to interested bloggers. The premise seemed intriguing, so I was excited when I received a copy. Though there were some fuzzy plot details, the novella’s world-building is interesting and complex and the main characters have great chemistry.This is a fast paced, well-written story. Jewel starts it off with a high level of tension and keeps the emotions up throughout. Free Fall opens with the main character, Lys Fensic, almost paralyzed by fear – fear of her ex-boyfriend and fear of her own mysterious powers. When Telos, a colleague who Lys turns to for help, enters the story, the comfort and security he is able to bring her is almost palpable. And the chemistry between these two is off the charts. There is a fairly substantial and very steamy love scene towards the conclusion of the story. And let’s just say Telos is not what he seems. Jewel lets him take his true form and I thought this was a bold and well-handled choice. I also appreciated that Jewel added some diversity into the characters as Telos is not your typical blue-eyed, blonde haired paranormal hero. Finally, the world-building is definitely interesting and makes me want to read more of her series. There are mages, demons, and witches; rules are in place and enforced with regards to how demons relate to humans, and mages are powerful and have the ability to enslave demons. This world is dark and dangerous. And very interesting.Free Fall is part of Jewel’s My Immortals series. I didn’t realize this when I first started the novella (even though it is clearly stated on the first page, doh!) and I do think it might have helped to have some background in the world. The pace moves so fast that there were moments I felt a little fuzzy about what was going on. Lys is running from her abusive boyfriend and I was unclear as to exactly who he was and what he was capable of. He also has a talisman she wants back and I never fully understood its importance or what it signified. The way Telos reacts to learning about the talisman lets the reader know that it has power and I think if you know this world, that power may be understood. Finally, Telos and Lys are great together, but it would have been nice to have a bit more depth and development to their relationship beyond the obvious lust.Make no mistake, this is a well-written PNR novella that I think accomplished its job – it whet my appetite to read more from the My Immortals world. And while Free Fall had some issues, it was an enjoyable read. This review was originally posted at She-Wolf Reads.
