Published By: She Writes Press (@shewritesdotcom) 22 April 2014
Official Author Websites: Site | Facebook | Twitter | Trinity Stones Site
Converse via: #AngelorumTwelveChronicles & #TrinityStones
Available Formats: Trade Paperback and E-Book
Page Count: 366
Acquired By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Trinity Stones” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the author L.G. O’ Connor, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Paranormal Romance: Is a new genre I am engaging into the heart of as I had mentioned on my review of Ryder on the Storm I had not even realised that I was already reading bits and bobbles contained within the genre itself ! After my readings of Violet Patterson’s opening of her Storm Sullivan saga, I decided to tread into the waters of the genre overall. What I find fascinating is how wide of a range the genre can entertain stories under its branch of literature! If I were to consider what is writ under the article on Wikipedia for Paranormal Romance, my inclinations lie as follows: ghost stories (i.e. mediums a la “Ghost Whisperer” OR cosy mysteries involving a ghost as a main or supporting cast character); heightened abilities such as telekinesis & telepathy; shapeshifters (i.e. the hawk in Reclamation by Jackie Gamber); and the mere fact it is a gene-bender for a crossover between science fiction, fantasy, & horror! For me, the fact that the horror is mostly kept at a distance or within what I consider ‘horror-lite’ is quite wonderful! The elements of time travel and of bending time against itself is also an appeal, as I love when science is brought out in such creative ways as to make you consider the epic realities of what could be plausible but are not yet probable!
I am thankful Trinity Stones came up for review via TLC Book Tours as I continue to make my ‘introduction’ into a genre I am still curious to become acquainted! One nice surprise was receiving a Trinity Stones novel card which has the cover-art on one side and the book synopsis & book information on the opposite. I used the card as a bookmark whilst reading the novel, and am thankful Ms. O’ Connor included it with the book!
Angelorum Twelve Chronicles Synopsis:
The struggle between good and evil is eternal, but modern science offers an opportunity to upset the balance. Set in a refreshingly current environment, Trinity Stones: The Angelorum Twelve Chronicles by L.G. O’Connor, is the thrilling first story in this series about humans and angels brought together to fight a final battle against the Dark Ones.
Book Synopsis of Trinity Stones:
New York investment banker, Cara Collins, has little to smile about on her 27th birthday. Her boss is a misogynistic pig and the love of her life is married to someone else. Top that off with a creepy man in the subway and then a homeless woman on the street grabbing her and asking to be healed, and Cara’s panic disorder rears it’s ugly head. Cara wonders if things could get any worse until a mysterious letter arrives announcing she’s inherited $50 million–which must remain secret or those close to her could die. As Cara unravels the truth surrounding her inheritance, she makes a startling discovery: angels walk among the living, and they’re getting ready to engage in a battle that will determine the future of the human race. In the midst of these revelations, she meets the mysterious and sophisticated Simon who stirs her sleeping heart and offers her another chance at romance. But when the love of her life and his daughter are kidnapped by dark forces, Cara must choose: accept her place in a 2,000-year-old prophecy foretold in the Trinity Stones as the First of the Twelve who will lead the final battle between good and evil . . . or risk losing everything she holds dear.
Captivating and thrillingly romantic, Trinity Stones captures the eternal struggle of good and evil and the occasional need to bend the rules for the most important force of all: love.
Author Biography:
L.G. O’Connor is a member of the Romance Writers of America. A corporate strategy and marketing executive for a Fortune 250 company, she writes adult urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and contemporary romance. She is currently preparing the second book in the Angelorum Twelve Chronicles: The Wanderer’s Children, for publication at the end of 2014. In addition, her adult contemporary romance will launch later this year. A native New Jersey girl, she lives a life of adventure, navigating her way through dog toys and soccer balls and loaning herself out for the occasional decorating project. When she’s feeling particularly brave, she enters the kitchen . . .
Find and connect with her in any of these places:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
An opening which had me pinned to my seat:
I am never quite sure what to expect when venturing into a genre I have not read as well as others, but in the moment of uncertainty I sat back eager to dig into something new. Finding an opening which had me pinned to my seat and a breath of haste in my throat as I read the Prologue of Trinity Stones was not what I had expected! The gutting moment for me is the realisation of how tedious the balance is within the series of the Angelorum Twelve Chronicles between light and dark / good vs. evil. There is a curious back-story emerging out from under the narrative which eludes to the purpose of a prophecy shared within the pages prior to the Prologue. It’s quite the clever tie-in to yield the arc of the series.
My Review of Trinity Stones:
Aside from a furrowed brow over the language barrier issues, as I am a gentle reader who advocates for less vulgarity not more in the stories she reads, I was a bit surprised by the theory of power wielded in Trinity Stones. The fight between Angels and Demons has held deep roots in most religious histories, but to see how the interplay between who is aligned in the Light and who sides with the Dark in a fictional format was quite interesting. Especially considering that even on the level of those who walk in Light, information about how to overcome the evil of the future is withheld to prevent cross-repercussions stemming out of free will. The flow of the story is to introduce the reader to the backbone of the series, but in the beginning chapters your faltering a bit to understand the depth of what is being revealed. The little ruts in the road for me there would be the blight of vulgarity surfacing here or there, but to another reader they might not cringe as much as I did.
I was much more interested in the direct link between Hope (in the Prologue) and Cara who becomes the central character in the narrative. Each of them holds a dynasty of ancestry that is quite startling at first to conceive, but then, being loosely aware of mystic religious histories and how dangerous the world hangs in the balance without most of us realising the danger at hand; the theories presented had a level of plausibility. Especially as O’ Connor writes-in the ability for some of the entities to have the freedom to cloak out of sight of everyday humans. The veils of the worlds are thin but even within a short distance there is much for humans to be forthright worried about!
Cara is an woman everyone can relate too. She’s a bit flawed but loveable in the sense she is a work-in-progress. She’s attempting to sort out her life from the professional side to the woes of her heart. She was intuitive enough realise she draws a connection to Kai in a way that is not entirely natural. It’s her gift in which her grandmother bestowed as hint of a legacy at her birthday she’s perplexed about the most. In this train of thought, I was excited to watch her grow towards understanding and the realisation of how her life could affect so many others.
The stitchings of Genetics and science experiments to reveal a hidden agenda of the research Kai is working on implored me forward into the text. I’ve always been appreciative of science and the one class which surprised me in high school of being of keen interest was Genetics. The sequences of how our genes pool together to distinguish how we’re put together on a molecular level was fascinating! Along with of course the anomalous deviations which can stem out of our cell’s history and coding. Genetics is a fascinating branch when you stop and think about it because so much is carried within the cardinal run of DNA coding and sequencing; including through ancestral lines.
The battleground for souls and the balance of humanity are center-stage in this first exploit into a new series where Angels are at war with Fallen Angels. The cornerstone of the story is etched out of the depths of religious history and theory, of what can be foretold and what can be destined. The sanctity of free will plays a large role in determining the course of action. The hardest passages are when the Fallen Angels supersede the Angels & Guardians in power struggle. The imagery O’ Connor provides is a bit frightful but you have to put it into proportion of what is happening inside the story. She provides a lot of historical background to the Angelorum as well as to the time in which the story is set. Everything that has been put forward into this volume is opening the door of what is yet to come next.
And, I for one am eager to see where her muse leads her next!
Trinity Stones : the Trinity of Faith:
One of the interesting bits of the story for me is how the Trinity Stones are assembled and kept together; three halves of a whole which interconnect to work in tandem for protection, discovery, and enlightenment of destiny. The reason this was of a curiosity to me is because I’m a spiritualist who enjoys studying world religions. I found it incredible how O’ Connor managed to take religious thought and transmorph it into a paranormal romance & urban fantasy setting to where the theory of the Stones themselves hinge directly back into religion. I found it intriguing to watch where she took her mythology and where it dissected with mystic spirituality. The background research she must have conducted would have unearthed a great deal of insight and historical mysteries to last throughout the four-book series!
The way in which she represents the soul as an orb of energy as much as how each living soul has the choice to walk its own path during a lifetime spent on earth was truly along the lines of my own beliefs. I enjoyed the gentle guidance of the Angels, who took on different roles within the story: Guardians, gatekeepers, and administrative types of whom strived to maintain order from the ensuing chaos. The flip-side of representing the light of good is being as real and honest about the darkness and evil. I think she struck a balance to where those of us who walk in the light can respect the darkness as its presented in the story but with the encouragement of knowing that however fragile the balance; light pushes back the dark each chance that it can.
Fly in the Ointment:
I am never quite sure why explicit expletives have to be inserted into romance novels, as for me, they do very little to add to the character’s personality but rather detract from their character. The first curse word barely had me flinch as I sort of expected there might be the occasional word here or there when I noted this is referred to as ‘adult’ paranormal fiction rather than straight-up paranormal romance or YA paranormal romance. I think the main difference between the adult bracket and the young adult bracket is the language bar of concern. I clearly yield to the mindset that narrative can stand on its own merits without vulgarity at all. There is one explicit word in particular which is my absolute pet peeve to find in literature because of its strength and of its definitions. Inside Trinity Stones its used more as an adjective than an noun or explicit depending on which character was talking in the moment of use.
My personal opinion is that this story could stand on its own merits without the vulgarity being included. The characters are strongly fleshed out and the world in which they exist is sharpened to where you feel as though your living through their shoes. The details are bang-on in every inch of a way possible and to me, the quirk quips of cursing distracted from the narrative left behind.
*UPDATE: In the morning after this book review posted, the author graciously left a comment in the threads advocating that if any reader who alights on my blog finds the same to be true for them on the issue of language as I explain in my ‘Fly in the Ointment’ they are encouraged to contact her about a special digital version which has been edited into a YA version. Again, this is between you and the author Ms. O’ Connor herself as I do not host bookaways/giveaways on Jorie Loves A Story, but the graciousness she expressed in reaching out to all readers who want to read her novels touched my heart. Please see her full message below.
IF the YA version gets re-packaged for the quartet series in print format, I’d be one of the first readers to get a full set!
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{SOURCES: Trinity Stones Book Cover, synopsises, and tour badge were provided by TLC Book Tours and were used by permission. Book Review badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Author photograph of L.G. O’ Connor provided by the author herself and used with permission.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.
On the same vein of itching to join The Classics Club, I have been an appreciator from afar of “