Review: Dark Promises by Julia Crane and Talia Jager

Synopsis:  Rylie has it all - great friends, dream boy, loving family. But on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, her perfect little world shatters. A stranger claiming to be her real mother appears with a secret: Rylie is a faery whose powers will be unleashed on her birthday. Captured and forced into a new life, Rylie struggles to keep everything she loves and discovers a terrifying truth: some promises cannot be broken.

My Review:  Rylie is just about to turn sweet sixteen.  She has great friends, an awesome boyfriend, and even likes and gets along with her parents.  The night before her birthday a strange woman arrives and tells Rylie that her real name is Oleander and that she is really  her baby, and a fairy.  She also warns that dark fairies well come after her because of a deal her father tried to make when she was a baby.  Rylie's world is rocked by the news and she tries to hold it together as she sprouts rings and pointy ears the morning of her birthday.  She manages to glamour herself and play off that she is ok in front of her best friend,Sierra and her boyfriend, Adam.  Then the dark fairies to find Rylie and she is whisked away to their world.  The dark fairy, Varwick, who claims to own her tells her that she must marry his son or die.  Not that his son, Kallan,  is an ugly weirdo or anything, but by forming the union, Varwick will be able to control her special fairy abilities and she will never be able to be with Adam, who has been not only her best friend since they were six, but the guy she really wants to spend the rest of her life with.  Will Rylie find away to escape Varwick?  Will she get back to Adam, or will she fall for Kallan? You'll have to read and find out.

I really enjoyed this book.  I have previously read the Keegan Chronicle's written by Julia Crane and this book has a similar writing style.  It is a quick read, and I read it in one sitting.  Rylie is a likable character and I think it's great that she likes her parents.  Most of the time in YA books the protagonist doesn't get a long with or confide in their parents.  Adam is an awesome boyfriend.  He's very considerate and I like that the characters are in no rush to lose their virginity.  I also like Kallan.  I think that we see sides of Kallan that he hides from everyone else.  I also feel for him, being the child of a a madman who tries to control every detail of his life.  I'm still team Adam, though I'm starting to like Kallan more.  I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.



About the authors:  Julia Crane

Julia Crane is the author of the YA paranormal fiction novels: Keegan's Chronicles, Mesmerized, Eternal Youth, and Dark Promise. She was greatly encouraged by her mother to read and use her imagination, and has believed in magical creatures since the day her grandmother first told her an Irish tale. Julia has traveled far and wide to many of the places her grandmother told her about, gaining inspiration from her journeys to places like Nepal, Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Italy, France and many more. And who knows? Maybe the magical creatures she writes about are people she met along the way.

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Talia Jager

When Talia isn’t hiding in the closet from her six children munching on a chocolate bar, she enjoys hiking the red rocks in Utah or sitting on the beach with a Kindle in her hands and her toes in the ocean

Talia has written a number of books for young adults, including Damaged: Natalie’s Story, Teagan’s Story: Her Battle With Epilepsy, If I Die Young, Secret Bloodline, Lost and Found, and The Gifted Teens Series. Connect with Talia online at http://www.taliajager.com

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http://www.taliajager.com/

Excerpt

My mother led her into the living room. The lady’s piercing green eyes rested on me, sending a chill down my back. My father followed her gaze. “Rylie, do you know this woman?” Dad asked.

“No.” I shook my head slowly. “I’ve never seen her before.”

“Rylie, maybe you should go to your room,” Dad suggested, his gaze demanding I do as he said.

“No. If this has something to do with me, I want to hear it.” I crossed my arms and sank against the back of the couch.

Mom and Dad exchanged a worried glance, but turned back to the lady on the couch. “Please, go on.”

Without taking her eyes from me, the lady calmly stated, “My name is Azura, and I am Rylie’s birth mother.”

My father, who was always a level-headed man, was on his feet in seconds, his face hard. “What are you talking about?”

I felt like I had fallen into some kind of parallel universe. Did this woman just say she was my birth mother? How could she be my birth mother? That would mean I was adopted, but wouldn’t my parents have told me something like that?

My mother shook her head. “Birth mother? Rylie isn’t adopted.” She reached over and took my hand. “Believe me, I’ll never forget the eleven hours of labor.”

The woman sat perfectly still in the blue armchair across from us, with her hands clasped on her lap. “I know it’s hard to accept, but it’s true. Your daughter died shortly after she was born. I switched the infants. Rylie is mine.”

The wind left me as if I had been punched in the stomach. I couldn’t breathe, and the room spun. I gripped the pillow next to me with my other hand as I clung to my mother.

Silence filled the room for a moment, and then my father exploded. “You need to leave now!” He pointed to the door. “Get out of this house and don’t come back without a court order.”

The lady smiled sincerely, her face still as calm as it had been when she walked in the door. “Please, hear me out. I realize this is a lot to take in.”

“No! This is preposterous! Nobody died. Rylie is ours.” Dad’s voice was like thunder.

I studied the lady. She seemed so honest and soft-spoken. Why would she pretend something like this? Why would she ruin our family if it weren’t true? And if was true, why was she coming clean now? Something in me believed her even though I didn’t want to. I swallowed hard and rubbed my sweaty palms on my shirt.

“Let her talk,” I said hoarsely.

“Rylie, you can’t believe her.” Dad looked stricken.

“I’m curious as to why she thinks I’m her daughter. Let’s hear her out.” I crossed my arms and scooted closer to my mother, comforted when she wrapped an arm around me.

Dad turned back to the woman called Azura, and his frown deepened. “Fine.” He sat back down in his seat and glared. “Talk.”

“Thank you. I’m going to tell you something not many humans know, and I have to trust you to keep it secret for Rylie’s sake.” She addressed the statement to my parents.

Humans? Who talks like that?