Book Review: The Awakening by Nora Roberts

Hello! Dominique Gibson is back with another post. I originally read this book back in late 2022 and just got finished with it about a week ago. It took me a little bit of time in order to read this book considering it was four hundred and eighty two pages and this was the first time I had read a book that was outside of the romance/women’s fiction genre. But, I did read this book from beginning to end and I’m am going to give you my overall take on what I thought about this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Spoiler Alert: If you have NOT read this book, I would suggest you go and read the book first before you look at the review down below. Thank you.

Summary: Breen Kelly is a middle school teacher was is miserable with her life. She hates being a teacher and wants to do something more when it comes to her life but doesn’t know how. Her best friend, Marco, totally agrees with her decision but Breen decides that she doesn’t feel like she is good enough to do anything except live the life she has now….until she suddenly finds out that her mother has secretly stashed away millions of dollars of her money that her dad gave her when she was little. Once she finds out the truth, she goes on a search to find her father by going to Ireland.

It is there that she finds out the truth about who she truly is and what led her to her true identity of what she has been all along: A daughter of the Fae world, a world that is filled with dragons, fairies, witches, spells, and the ultimate choice of being the daughter of the Fae in the Fae world or going back to her ‘normal’ world and ignoring the call that lies within her heart, including fighting a battle who just so happens to be a family member to her Fae world.

Keegan O’ Broin is a fierce warrior in the realm of Talamh, battling against the world toughest enemies to keep with the protection of the Fae world. Despite his victories he has obtained in the world of the Fae, He is surprised when he finds Breen and knows the history of her family. Despite the news, Keegan feels obligated to train Breen to fight the enemies that are invading her thoughts and dreams when it comes to knowing who she truly is. The more time they spend together, the more the feelings between them start to grow until Keegan forces her into what her obligations and destiny belong.

The Rating: I gave this book four stars. I like the characters and I thought that the story was somewhat interesting. Considering that this is the first book in her Dragon Heart Legacy series, I will continue to read the other two books and give my review on those as well. I thought that the description was pretty good but it was a little repetitive when it came to describing the overall scenery of the place in Ireland. Again, that could just be me trying to get used to reading longer books (especially in the Fantasy genre considering I was not a huge fan of Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings, sorry!).

Which leads me to why I gave it four stars

I am the type of reader that likes fantasy to be backwards. Instead of taking me to a secret place that felt like it was a whole other universe on the other side of the world, I kind of like the urban fantasies where they bring the dragons, fairies, vampires, etc. into the city life or even into the modern world. One of the reasons why I was a huge fan of Twilight and the Vampire Diaries is because they brought the whole vampire mythology to the modern world (The city of Forks and Mystic Falls for example). Even though there were times where we were teleported back into their previous lives, we only stayed there for a little while before we were brought back into the present day of that story.

The past was only shown after a question was being raised as to who the character is, what he or she wants, and what goals they are trying to achieve in the present day in order to get it. I felt as if in this book, Breen spent more time in Ireland than in the Philadelphia. I am hoping that within the next two books, the world that she has been used to will collide with the world she considers to be her home (Philadelphia vs. Talamh). This will be something I would LOVE to see!

Overall, the book wasn’t bad. I enjoyed it and I am looking forward to seeing what the next book has in store for Breen, Keegan, and all of the other characters in this series.

That’s it for now. See you soon.

Dominique Gibson

Congratulations to the 2023 Hawthorne Winner

I am taking the time to congratulate the 2023 winner of the Hawthorne Prize. Hello, Dominique Gibson is back with another post. So, I recently got an email announcing the 2023 Hawthorne Prize winner and I just wanted to give my congratulations to the winner, Joe Pace, for his novel, Moss. I don’t know if this book will be something I would read right now, but I will admit that the story’s premise sounds intriguing enough to read.

Congratulations again and good luck with your success. If you want more information about the novel or his work, please feel free to click down on the link below for more.

That’s it for now. See you soon.

Dominique Gibson

Romance Includes You: No win for me

Hi! Dominique Gibson is back with another post. So, the Harlequin team submitted this letter about a week or two ago announcing the Winner of the Romance Includes You Mentorship program. I had previously entered into the contest for the second time with Harlequin and yet, I did not win for the second time.

What does this mean for me as an author? Nothing. You see, I had originally thought that it would be cool to become a hybrid author after self-publishing the first three books in the Truson S.E.T. Series. I had plans on writing other books in other genres to test the waters when it comes to going back to traditional publishing while self-publishing my books at the same time.

Sadly, that is not the case for me anymore

I will continue to self-publish my books as usual but I just don’t think that being a hybrid author is not possible for me at this time. To me, I think it’s a good thing considering I like the entire process of doing everything myself vs. waiting on a response and having someone else do everything for me.

For the record, I am making a little money on my books, which I am okay with. As long as I am making something out of it and people are actually reading my books, then why would I need approval for anyone else? Although it would be nice to have more editorial reviews when it comes to my work, I will be even happier if the reviews came from readers who liked the book and took the time to review it on Amazon, Ingramspark, etc. because those are the people that matter to me more.

Congratulations to the winner of the Romance Includes You Mentorship and good luck with your endeavors.

Until next time everyone!

Dominique Gibson

Didn’t get shortlisted: Hawthorne Prize

Hi! Dominique Gibson is back with an update that I received from the American Writing Awards for the Hawthorne Prize. Before I begin, I would like to congratulate all of the winners who landed on the 2023 shortlist for the Hawthorne Prize. Good luck to everyone on the list.

Unfortunately for me, my book did not make it on the list for the 2023 Hawthorne Prize but that’s okay. There will be other competitions where I can enter my book in the future. They have sent me a link to where I can purchase a review but we will see.

Congratulations to all of the winners again. This is me signing out for now. Bye.

Dominique Gibson

Entered into The Hawthorne Prize

Hi! Dominique Gibson is back with a new post. I have been having a very good week when it comes to the publishing side of things and just wanted to share it with you. On April 30th, 2023, I decided to enter into the Hawthorne Prize with my first book, An Orman’s Revenge. I am hoping that I win but even if I don’t, I at least had fun entering into the contest based on the hope that I could possibly when a prize I could showcase my writing talents.

It kind of feels the same way like I did when I didn’t win the Reader’s Favorite contest but received a five star review from an editor who loved my book. I was able to post the digital seal on my website in addition to the book themselves. I was just happy that someone liked my work to give it a five star rating. It was awesome.

I am hoping that I will be able to achieve it once again when it comes to this prize but who knows? We shall see. See you soon.

Dominique Gibson

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