Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Genre:
Paranormal Romance/Mystery /Urban Fantasy
Approximate
word count: 95-100,000 words
Availability
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
By day, Teresa Wilde is a mild-mannered technical writer,
but by night (and lunch hours, and weekends) she's a digital Sheherezade,
weaving tales of strange and wondrous places and people. Strange Academy is her third first novel. She is currently working on a Regency Urban Fantasy, plus the
sequel to Confessions of a Teenage Demon
Magnet and the next book in the Strange
Academy cycle. Check out her Blog. Ms. Wilde also publishes erotic romances
under the pen name Teresa Morgan.
Description:
“Determined to uncover the secret behind her eccentric
aunt's mysterious death, Sadie Strange, a quirky substitute teacher with a
Master’s degree in comic book superheroes, takes a job at isolated private
school Strange Academy. Her biggest obstacle? Haughty hottie Lorde Gray, the
chemistry teacher who looks down his Roman nose at her as he tries to get her
fired.”
Appraisal:
This book caught me a little off guard; I assumed by the cover it
would be a light-hearted funny read. And it was that, but it was also so much
more. Ms. Wilde did a wonderful job building her characters and exploring their
backgrounds so we understood why each one was the way they were. Knowing the
psychological makeup gave her characters depth and a more human quality making
it easier to identify with them.
Sadie has denied who she really is her whole life because she wanted
to fit in and be normal, unlike her strange Aunt Pippa, her witch mother, and
her psychic older sister. She
also has no idea why Aunt Pippa has recommended that she take over Pippa's
classes at Strange Academy after her death. However she is determined to find out
how and why Aunt Pippa died so unexpectedly. The whole campus is on alert to
keep anything magical from Sadie as long as she is there and she seems more
than willing to turn a blind eye or find logical, mundane reasons for anything
she cannot readily explain. She is smart, logical to a fault, strong-willed,
and witty. Sadie has also built walls around her heart after falling for the
wrong type of man one too many times. So when she meets Lorde Gray at Strange
Academy she instantly dislikes him because he is exactly the type she is known
to fall for.
Lorde Gray was a character that was hard to like at first. He was
egocentric, overbearing, and controlling. The perfect alpha male type. But as
the story develops and we get to know more about his history he becomes quite swoon-worthy.
However he has a lot of pride and Sadie becomes quite adept at challenging his
pride which was fun to watch.
Most of this story deals with the teachers and administrators of
Strange Academy instead of the students, so the theme is more adult oriented.
Although two of the students in Sadie's class have a larger role than most.
Sterling, Lorde's eleven year-old nephew, and Carmina, a Non (a human without a
talent/power) who may never have talents, develop an interesting friendship
that challenges the House of Gray. Sadie and Carmina also develop a
relationship being the only two Non-talented humans at Strange Academy.
Woven through this story of challenging relationships is the mystery
of Aunt Pippa's death which twists and turns with every clue that Sadie
follows. It is an important element of the story and impacts Lorde Gray and
Sadie's relationship in ways that will surprise you. Their dialogue is
entertaining and believable. I loved taking this journey of self-discovery with
them and found the book hard to put down until the wee hours of the morning.
FYI:
The story contains adult language and sexual situations that some may
find offensive. I found the sexual situations tastefully written and enjoyed
them.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant issues with editing or formatting.
Rating:
***** Five stars
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