In the Cards

The Novels of Aviario, #2

Angela D’Onofrio

Self-Pub, Sep 2016

Kindle, 256 Pages

Also available in paperback

Genre(s) Paranormal, YA,

Source Purchased

Other books in this series

From the Desk of Buster Heywood #1, The Proper Bearing #3 (not available yet, I’m hoping for a cover reveal soon!)

My Disclaimer:

I purchased a copy of this book at the current price. I am voluntarily providing an honest review in which all opinions are fully my own. I am not being compensated in any way.

~ Judi E. Easley for Blue Cat Review

What it’s about…

Beatrice Ledrey is new to Aviario, Connecticut. She’s working at Blue Ribbon Florist and she’s slowly getting to know her new town and making friends. She’s most interested in the store The Balefires for its magical stock and the interesting people who work there.

Officer Troy McLaren and the local police are working on three crimes that they have finally decided are related, three missing people. Except one of the people is no longer missing.

How does the magical and non-magical community of Aviario work together (or not) to keep their town and secrets safe?

Technical Tidbits…

The cover was awesome. I really like the fonts that Ms. D’Onofrio has chosen. The array of Louise’s tarot cards juxtaposed against Natalie’s old mended bunny create a nice presentation.

The storyline is good with Beatrice being new to the town and just getting to know people and places. It allowed the author to introduce us along with her character. To some light characters and to some dark characters.

The characters were very well crafted. As Beatrice gets introduced, we get to meet and know the people of the town. Some of them we get to know in a deeper way than others and some, I’m sure, we’ll get to know better later on. Some we get to know through chatter and gossip and others we get to know through their own conversation and actions.

The pace was a bit stop and go and distracted me. There was always something going on, but did it further the story or was it just something to happen to distract the reader?

The tension was almost maintained but was a bit shaky because of the pace. The quality of Ms. D’Onofrio’s writing keeps it afloat and interesting.

And this is where you STOP if you don’t want to see any SPOILERS…

The good, the bad, and the ugly…and how much it lit up my life… ✰✰✰✰⭒

The fact that this is closely related to a gaming world is evident when you think about it. There is an underlying darkness that you keep expecting to show up at any time. Beatrice is new to town and just getting to know people. She starts getting close to the gals at The Balefires, especially Louise Mullein, and POW! She’s dead! I feel like I don’t know who the players are and who the game master is going to throw at me next. Why did Louise die? What was the actual cause of her death? Was there a purpose in her death? I really liked Louise. (tear)

BUT…Will we find out in the next book? This book isn’t a continuation of book one. Will future books follow more of an overarching storyline or not? This story has lots of loose ends and plenty of stories left to tell. What will the author do with the rest of this story?

There’s plenty of story left in Ral O’Dailigh and Natalie Marlowe Feistus even if they don’t stay together. But Ral seems to have something going on that he’s struggling with all on his own. And Natalie has so much potential from her past. And what about her father, the ever helpful Dr. Feistus? There’s another couple in April Maine and Jon Knight. But will Ral let them be? And Troy McLaren with his love for “Woop, Woop!” Does he really know what his gift is or how to use it?

And just who is Janus and The Organization? We really have only touched up against them and had hints of who they are. Will we find out about them? They were a frustration and a distraction for me. They kept showing up in the shadows and now I’m waiting for them to do something big. Make lots of trouble or fix something. I’m not sure how good or bad they may be or what their purpose is. Since Ral keeps them secret, I tend to think that they may not be totally good. But like his claws, this secret will out.

It took me a bit to feel comfortable with some of the “accents”. Once I just let the letters run through my head as the author put them down, it made sense and I was more at ease with them. Ral’s “accent” was the one that I really worked at to be sure I was understanding what he was saying. I loved Nat’s way of tacking “dove” onto her sentences just like some people say “love” or “m’dear”. It made me wonder if Natalie has a soft, gentle side to her. For some reason, I want to like Natalie.

I strongly recommend this second book of Aviario to you if you are looking for something entertaining with a dark side.

890 wc