Ascension (Shadow and Light Trilogy Romance Series #1) [Kindle Edition]

After reading through the stellar peer and reader reviews, I was utterly disappointed with the book and felt the writing was amateurish. The book read like an adult PNR with characters taken from a teen/YA story. This is in part due to the character inconsistencies that you usually see (if intentionally written that way) in kids with the internal struggle of hormonal imbalances and youthful insecurities. "Does he love me? No he must not love me. He loves me! OMG, he doesn't love me! Should I tell him I love him? No, he will make fun of me!"...ad infinitum (and I do mean endlessly in this book).

If this development is intentional and consistent (or morphs to maturity with adequate culture) I don't have any problems with it, but the author clearly has drawn these characters to be mature - the sex scenes surely are - and yet the constant internal warring and insecurities is so extreme (in both hero and heroine) that I began picturing the hero and heroine as adolescents who out of the blue would act like adults and then revert to adolescence. Compounding this problem was the overuse of simplistic extremisms of thought/language with the hero/heroine that most people would identify with in a more juvenile readership. Lines like, "[he thought] it was the most annoying sound on the planet." Really? That thought coming from a totally bad ass, mature, brooding, sexy demon? Give me a break.

There were also situational inconsistencies that drove me nuts and a few instances of deus ex machina that had me muttering under my breath. I think these could have been eliminated if the pace of the book had been slowed down enough to allow the writer to more logically lead the reader from one situation to the next - help the reader to understand how the hero/heroine attained additional skills, etc. I love a fast paced, sexy story as much as the next girl, but if there isn't enough support to make the "big" moments plausible, I lose respect.

I really wanted to like this story and stuck with it to the end. I am a fan of Gena Showalter, Christine Feehan and the like, but I definitely could not compare this author's works to the aforementioned. The best I can say is that it was a very good idea that failed in execution.

I don't know why most of the author's readers never mention this book. I keep seeing her Angel and Vampires books, but not this one. But I can tell, that Ascension is as good as her other books. Okay, maybe I am a little biased against this, because my favorite para creatures are the demons for a while now. Although this book is about witches rather than demons, actually, our Heroine; Lealandra, is a powerful witch who begins to lose control over her own magic, as her Ascension is coming. Witches need their own Counter-Balance. Someone who can temper their magic. Here is the problem. She lost hers. Moreover, someone wants her dead. Lealandra leaves her coven to find her ex-lover and ask for help. The demon hunter, Taig who is also a half-demon. He let her go six years ago; he definitely will not make that mistake again, now that she is back. In a world, where usually witches and demons don't get involved with the other race's problem, now for some reason, the demons hunting her, and when theoretically her coven would be the best help for her, it seems, the only person who Lealandra can trust is her half-demon ex. Her Ascension mark clearly shows that Taig has a big role in her ascension. The question is what is his role and is he powerful enough to save Lealandra? It's a race against time, a war against witches, demons and her own magic.

This action packed, magical romance story won't give you rest. As most of Felicity's books, Ascension begins in medias res. With a *cough* HOT *cough* scene between Taig and Lealandra. I did not have a tiny problem with this book! Nothing... Nada! There was action, romance, mystery, drama, loveable characters, funny quotes, good story, and two strong lead characters. My only question is what really happened with Taig's parents???

I must post a few quotes from/about Taig, because I just love him and these were memorable for me...

"I guess that's why you're here. Loverboy just doesn't cut it when it comes to handling demons. That pair of weaklings would have him inside out and back to front before he could lift a finger to cast whatever impotent half-assed spell he could muster."

"If I'd decided not to let him take you, he wouldn't have. He would've died a lot sooner."

"There were at least twenty storeys on the building and it was wide. He figured it housed around seven hundred witches. That was six hundred and ninety nine more than he was comfortable with."

And there's a few more, but I let you find them. I highly recommend this book!

All have to say is one word...WOW! Felicity Heaton really makes her stories come to life. Her imagination is endless and in this book she does not disappoint. Ascension has everything: endless love, lust, passion and still action packed. I could not put it down. I devoured every word!

Lealandra is a witch and has loved only one man Taig, half demon and half human. Separated for 6 years didn't change that regardless of how stubborn there were. If you love anything otherworldly-paranormal and romance, you will love this book. Read it, you won't be disappointed!