Series: Burning Glass #1
512 p.
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Published: 3/1/16
Source: Edelweiss and Publisher for review

Sonya was born with the rare gift to feel what those around her feel—both physically and emotionally—a gift she’s kept hidden from the empire for seventeen long years. After a reckless mistake wipes out all the other girls with similar abilities, Sonya is hauled off to the palace and forced to serve the emperor as his sovereign Auraseer. 

Tasked with sensing the intentions of would-be assassins, Sonya is under constant pressure to protect the emperor. One mistake, one small failure, will cost her own life and the lives of the few people left in the world who still trust her. 

But Sonya’s power is untamed and reckless, her feelings easily usurped, and she sometimes can’t decipher when other people’s impulses end and her own begin. In a palace full of warring emotions and looming darkness, Sonya fears that the biggest danger to the empire may be herself. 

As she struggles to wrangle her abilities, Sonya seeks refuge in her tenuous alliances with the volatile Emperor Valko and his idealistic younger brother, Anton, the crown prince. But when threats of revolution pit the two brothers against each other, Sonya must choose which brother to trust—and which to betray.

My thoughts:

I do love a book with an empathic heroine. I did like the beginning of this one as she was rare amongst the rare and how the world was set up. I did have problems, however, in the fact that she had NO control over her ability. I would have thought that someone surviving to 17 being this sensitive would have had developed some sort of management even if it was ineffectual in certain situations. It was a reoccurring theme in her characterization and it did bother me after a while.

I didn't hate Sonya's character. I did love that she did what she could to develop her ability to be more useful to her and others and I also enjoyed how she made the best of her situation. I also really liked how loyal she felt to those that would be hurt by any failure on her part. I did like Anton, but he became too frustrating at times and while I think his motivations were honorable, it was also annoying. So, I didn't really feel the romance in this book and things were left unanswered between the two at the end of the book.

There were also several other questions that were left unanswered that I thought were made to be important plot points. This unresolved issue bothered me but I do understand that it is part of a trilogy so I figure the answers will be forthcoming. It still bothers me because it seemed important to this point in the series and this book otherwise actually felt complete.

I give this book 3 stars. Despite the problems I had with the book, I did like the main heroine in the end and can see this series pick up after more questions are answered.

Series: Truth Seers #1
368p.
Publisher: Tor Books
Available Now
Source: From the publisher for review

Bounty hunter Rafe Montana is a Seer, descended from the fabled Atlanteans. He uses his inherited power to “see” criminals across the globe and track them down, and he’s just started on a new case. Danny Cangialosi is accused of disappearing with a stolen car…but for the first time in his life, when Rafe goes looking, he is unable to “see” him. Instead, his search leads him to Danny’s stubborn, meddling, and very cute stepsister, Cara McGaffigan. 

Cara is looking for Danny, too, but not to turn him in. He is her brother, after all, and she’s convinced he has a good heart. If she can just find him before the cops do, she’ll figure out a way to get him out of this. But Cara didn’t count on a scorching-hot bounty hunter getting in her way.

Despite instant chemistry, Rafe and Cara know they’re never going to see eye-to-eye when it comes to Danny. What they don’t know is that Danny didn’t just steal a car—he stole a precious stone, a stone right out of the legends of Atlantis. It holds powers they can only dream of…and its owner wants it back.

My thoughts:
This is an interesting PNR world in which you have people descended from Atlantis with powers. The blurb at the end of the book explains where she got the idea. There is a region in Basque area of Spain where the native tongue is different than any other. The legend goes that they are descended from Atlantis. I thought that tidbit was so interesting it actually put a different spin on things for me when reading the book. Almost so I would have put it at the beginning of the book. :)

I did enjoy this PNR for the most part, but I have to say that when Rafe and Cara, our couple, had problems I just didn't buy their arguments. They seemed petty and out of the blue in some cases. One would get mad at the stupidest of things or if it wasn't stupid, their heated reaction just seemed out of place. Perhaps it was just me, but it didn't feel like it was a part of their personalities but put in to create tension. Other than those episodes, the PNR read as it should when wanting a heated romance with an HEA.

I give this book 3 stars. I ended up having lots of questions about this world, but not so much it bothered me. I think that is because I felt those answers would come as the series progresses. I also feel that this is a series that could get stronger as it goes along. I am looking forward to the next book and I'm hoping it will have Rafe's sister Tess and Mr. Grey. I would expect lots of snark within that coupling. :)

From Goodreads:On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein, a girl at the periphery of schoolyard games and her distracted parents’ attention, bites into her mother’s homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother’s emotions in the cake. She discovers this gift to her horror, for her mother—her cheerful, good-with-crafts, can-do mother—tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes a peril and a threat to Rose. 

The curse her gift has bestowed is the secret knowledge all families keep hidden—her mother’s life outside the home, her father’s detachment, her brother’s clash with the world. Yet as Rose grows up she learns to harness her gift and becomes aware that there are secrets even her taste buds cannot discern.