Blog Tour: With A Kiss by Stephanie Fowers

About The Author 
Stephanie Fowers loves bringing stories to life, and depending on her latest madcap ideas will do it through written word, song, and/ or film. She absolutely adores Bollywood and bonnet movies; i.e., BBC (which she supposes includes non-bonnet movies Sherlock and Dr. Who). Presently, she lives in Salt Lake where she's living the life of the starving artist. Stephanie plans to share more of her novels, films, and even a musical in the near future. May the adventures begin.




Review
Title: With A Kiss
Author: Stephanie Fowers
Publisher: Triad Media and Entertainment
Released: March 15th 2013
Pages: 282 (eBook)
Buy: Amazon UK

Faerytales. They're real . . . they just haven't happened yet. Halley Starr finds this out when she loses her heart to a terrible curse. Now she has to get it back from that dirty faery who stole it from her. But first she must fight against the seven rules of the faery kingdom that mortals must never break:

1. No trespassing sacred faery territory
2. Don't ever say thank you
3. Using a faery’s given name is a no-no
4. Resist all faery music
5. Never break a promise to a faery
6. Reject all faery food
7. And never, never fall in love with a faery

But if Halley wants her heart back again, she can’t worry about the rules.

Not going to lie, I am so undecided about this read! As soon as I saw the book description, I knew I had to read it . But within the first few pages, I was lost, and I stayed confused until 80% of the way through - and even then I still had a gazillion questions that needed answering!

Halley, our main protagonist, has been given the mission by the faery queen to deliver the faery princess baby back to the faery queen in five days time. It's a race against the clock, and with the help of a handsome but mischevious faery, a grumpy Leprechaun and a swirly toy, Halley has to avoid being captured by the Snow Queen - the Hag.

I think the whole concept is amazing, and I've got to praise Fowers for being able to think up this incredible world! The faery genre already has some rules already set out - thanks Mr Shakespeare! - so it's up to the author to twist and change them into a believable storyline, and I think Fowers did an incredible job. I loved the links between A Midsummer Night's Dream, and I think the original characters had been adapted well, as the similarities were clear.

What wasn't clear was the plot. I knew what Halley's goal was, but I think Fower's characterization was far too mysterious for Hobs. He spoke in tongues and avoided answering Halley's questions, which I think worked for a while...until it became infuriating. As the reader, I wanted answers to slowly become clear as the adventure continued, but I was constantly met with this same wall of resistance. The strangest thing was that I guessed the plot twist from the very beginning, but I don't know how because I was thoroughly confused! The confusion doesn't make you hate the novel at all, and there is still that need for answers that pushes you to finish it - but it did reach a point of becoming annoying.

I guess it's pretty easy to see that I didn't like Hobs much, mostly down to how bloomin' secretive he was! I did warm to him during the last 20% of the novel, as things became slightly clearer, but I found the relationship between him and Halley to be slightly forced - I wanted to see them falling for each other just a bit more! However, I loved loved loved Bugul and Babs! Bugul wasn't in it a ridiculous amount, but I adored his grumpiness and how unlovably lovable he was! You cannot read this book and tell me you didn't like him; it isn't possible! Babs was adorable, and I can't wait to see more of her in the sequel!

I swear I make all my positive reviews sound majorly negative? I really did enjoy this read, and I'd definitely recommend it to people who like quite quick reads and how love the supernatural faery genre. I think the book could have been improved with a little bit more willingly given answers, but maybe I'm just overly impatient? I suppose it is up to you to decide! You've definitely got a pick up a copy of this book, and soon; it's worth a read.
Rating: 3/5