REVIEW and GIVEAWAY: The Crimson Hunt by Victoria Smith

March 20, 2013 Julie Uncategorized 6

The Crimson Hunt

by Victoria H. Smith
Series: Eldaen Light Chronicles, #1
Publication date: November 8th 2012

College junior Ariel Richmond is working on year three of Project Normalcy.

Her house reeks of keggers past and her bestie is just a slight bit vulgar. But the thing is—they both aid in making life refreshingly uneventful.

So much for hard-earned mediocrity when Luca Grinaldi appears on the scene.

Luca’s sudden presence on campus is hard to ignore. Those bright eyes act like a beacon to unsuspecting females, and with features like his, he’s got to be moonlighting for GQ. Luca hopelessly captivates Ariel with his confidence and charisma, but the mysteries surrounding him make him nearly untouchable. And just when Ariel grows close enough to unlock his secrets, a tragic event sends her life in a downward spiral.

That steady life is no longer an option and allies quickly become scarce. The mysterious Luca seems to be the only one willing to help her—but with that trust comes the burden of his secrets. He has a dark mission of otherworldly proportions, and is willing to sacrifice as many lives as it takes to see it completed.

Gone are the days of simply maintaining normalcy, and if Ariel isn’t cautious with her trust, so soon may be her future.

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REVIEW

I admit the cover was the reason I decided to take this book for a spin, but also, it has a SF side to it and I’m crazy about new adult SF. The Crimson Hunt has Ariel, a college junior, struggling to come to terms with some very violent changes that happen at school – namely there is someone (or something) killing kids on campus. I mean, kids are dropping dead like nobody’s business.

In the midst of all this turmoil, she’s dealing with Luca, a guy who seems to be everywhere she is all of a sudden. Her roommate, Piper, is not fond of the guy, and I have to say, I was not drawn to Luca either. I was suspicious of him for a very long time.

The beginning of this book was a slow read for me and it took up until the 50% mark for me to really feel the story. After that I enjoyed the time away from school and learning about the SF elements/backstory/secrets.

I think this is a complicated story and I feel it will probably all come together as the series moves on, but it would have been better for me if there was more action in the beginning. I get bored easily with tales of college – I’m probably in the minority on this, to take that for what it’s worth. I do have to take off a little bit for the horse part…I have degree in equine science and the idea that Ariel could saddle and bridle a horse with no experience is pretty far-fetched.

I can’t say too much about the SF elements because it’s a spoiler, but I like what was revealed and I like where it’s headed. By the end of the story I was very interested in what was going on though – there are a lot of fantastic elements here and I can’t wait to read more about them in the next book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Victoria H. Smith has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. She puts it to good use writing romance all day. She resides in the Midwest with her Macbook on her lap and a cornfield to her right. She often draws inspiration for her stories from her own life experiences, and the twenty-something characters she writes give her an earful about it.

In her free time, she enjoys extreme couponing, blogging, reading, and sending off a few tweets on Twitter when she can. She writes new adult fiction romance in the sub-genres of science fiction, urban fantasy, and contemporary, but really, anywhere her pen takes her she goes.

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