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A Sharpened Axe by Jill M. Beene
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was my first book to read by Jill Beene, and I am hooked. It was a wonderful story about a young woman pushing past society’s norms just because “that’s how it has always been done.” Samaris should have been raised as a young woman of society, well versed in rules of etiquette. However, after losing her mother and her father catching “the wasting” disease, she has been forced to work hard to provide for her ailing father and younger sister. All of these struggles are brought about because of a mysterious curse by a fae princess whom the Crown Prince rejected. Now, each year eligible women are brought to the capitol as part of The Chosen in hopes that one of them will fall in love with the prince and free the kingdom. When Samaris is chosen, she must take on a new role – that of a lady – all while knowing that she will never be able to give up her heart.
The author has created a wonderful premise for a novel, and for the most part is successful. In the end, I was smiling and overjoyed at the outcome. My initial response was 5 stars! But, as I sat and pondered on the details of the novel, I felt I had to take away a star. There are a lot of plot details that are never built on or resolved. Overheard conversations that lead…nowhere. If nothing was going to come from overhearing the conversation, why include it in the first place? There are explanations missing to some major plot lines. I can’t reveal those without revealing spoilers about the book, though. And the ending was incredibly rushed. It’s as if the author had a 6 am deadline, looked at the clock and said “oh crap, I have one hour,” and spit out the finale.
I’m not saying any of this made the book horrible. I would read this book again, I would definitely recommend it to others to read, and I will read more of this author’s work. I’m a fan for clean romances. And, the author interjects humor throughout, which is a plus. I just can’t justify giving it a perfect score of 5 stars. This could use a few more edits, and then it would be perfect.
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