April Book Notes Week 3

Welcome back to week three of my April book notes! This week, I've got some indie books for you. I wish I could say my reviews were more glowing but these definitely show some potential. The authors deserve kudos for their bravery in publishing these themselves after putting in lots of hard work on the actual writing.
Let me share them with you!

Self-Published Indie Book Reviews: Only the Stars Know (The Immortal World) by Shannon A. Hiner & Savior (Angel's Savior #1) by Annette J. Archer

Only The Stars Know by Shannon A. Hiner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Pleasant Surprise

To get the cons out of the way, first there are a few glaring mistakes in spelling. Second, there was at least one glaring inconsistency. In spite of those things, I really enjoyed this story. The setting was well done, easy to picture in my mind. The characters were interesting and I didn't feel they were too predictable. I'm intrigued to see where the story goes from here, but I was satisfied with the closure of Zane and Kali's tale. I recommend you give this a try if you like paranormal fantasy. However, if you're looking for paranormal romance, that side of this story is mild and minimal.

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The edition I have has a better cover. But this is the one that showed up in my challenge when I reviewed it. Also, this book was marketed to me as a paranormal romance. I know I note it above, but I do want to clarify this is more heavy on the paranormal and lighter on the romance. I do recommend giving it a shot and give the author the benefit of the doubt for the technical difficulties. It's no picnic to write a book on a shoestring budget. Whether the tight budget was to blame or the author was just in a hurry, I think it didn't detract from the possibilities within the pages.
For people who equate romance with sex and lots of it, then I have to say you'll be really disappointed with this book. But if you equate romance with a relationship that starts with friendship and a building up of trust between partners, then you might enjoy the vibe of this story. I did.

Savior by Annette J. Archer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't want to put it down. Considering the amount of inconsistencies and grammatical errors, that speaks loudly of both the author's and her book's potential. I wondered about a lot of things. Did this story's details come from some past abusive experience of her own or did she interview anyone who has dealt with such a traumatic existence? That question bothered me a lot. But the characters were interesting and the hero and heroine were both intriguing. I think teens would be most likely to enjoy this book.

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I have to say 'enjoy' might not have been the best word. I think readers would be intrigued by it. Some of the action sequences didn't make medical sense to me. Also, this cover art is pretty awesome. It certainly got my attention. I thought it was going to be a paranormal fantasy or YA fantasy. I'm not sure why since the blurb doesn't really say anything toward that end.
Either way, I stuck with this one until the end. My heart goes out to characters who are victimized by people who should be trustworthy, people who've forgotten what their role in life is supposed to entail. I think I'll stop here so I don't completely spoil the book for those wanting to give it a try.

I've linked the authors' names to their Goodreads pages since I couldn't get to their websites or couldn't find a website. Check those out and look at more of their work. I hope you'll see one or two you'd like to add to your #TBR stack.

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#CurrentlyReading: Hills of Nevermore by Janalyn Voigt

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#TBR Addition: Evershade (The Shifter Chronicles #1) by Michelle Areaux

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If you saw something which intrigued you enough to try it, please let me know in the comments below. Don't be discouraged if you didn't see anything that interested you this week, though. Please check back next week when I'll have some new books to share with you!