Book Review: The Guardian’s Wildchild by Feather Stone

Feather Stone- The Guardian’s Wildchild

Format- ebook

Source- Review copy

Publisher– Omnific Publishing

Synopsis: Paranormal, Action/Adventure, Romance:  Caught in a reckless attempt to stop Dark forces, Sidney Davenport, a young, rule breaking, spirited member of the secret paranormal community of Guardians, finds herself imprisoned on a naval ship and slated for execution.  Her struggle with the unfamiliar emotions of fear and anger becomes even more complicated when she can no longer fight her attraction to the very man who has orders to perform her execution.
Captain Sam Waterhouse, a meticulous naval captain who’s suspected of treason, teeters on a precipice between Darkness and Light.  When he receives an unusual prisoner, a paranormal journey begins to unravel his disciplined life.  All the while, humanity is unknowingly at great risk when two Dark forces team up to acquire control of an elusive power.   Sidney and Sam attempt to quiet their powerful feelings for each other, only to discover they can save each other, and in doing so, they might even save the world.

Review: Sidney Davenport is captured aboard a naval ship, under the guard of Captain Sam Waterhouse. Her past is mysterious, as well as her mission on the ship and these both frustrate and enliven the captain who is responsible for her interrogation. In time, Sidney’s powerful abilities to manipulate objects with her mind and many other skills emerge, but Sam is disbelieving of her motives aboard the ship. Sidney is part of a secret community of guardians who have paranormal abilities. Sam begins to question the strange things happening aboard his ship and against his will, softens towards Sidney.

Sidney is full of mystery for most of the story, only giving Sam (and the reader) drabs of information about herself and her community. She presents as naïve and innocent and I was under the impression that she was quite young and Sam much older (in my mind I imagined at least a 15 year age gap) but it seems the two begin to break down their barriers- for Sidney her distrust and for Sam his regimented lifestyle- and they are able to connect on an emotional level. Their attraction making their prisoner/ interrogator relationship a little troublesome. But when Sam begins to uncover his own paranormal tendencies, he realises the last thing he wants to do is execute Sidney or hold her imprisoned; rather he desires a freedom that only she has been able to tempt him toward.

The Guardian’s Wildchild has an interesting premise with the secret guardian society infiltrating the naval systems. Unfortunately, the first half of the book is a little slow plot-wise with Sidney held as a prisoner and Sam attempting to interrogate her. It seems to pick up in the second half of the book. The focus of the book is on character development and realisation, not necessarily on suspense and action- which I suppose has its advantages and disadvantages.

It is a refreshing take on the paranormal genre and will suit fans of the genre who want to steer clear of vampires and werewolves.

3/5 rating

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Giveaway (INTERNATIONAL)- NOW CLOSED

The author is kindly offering 1 paperback copy of The Guardian’s Wildchild to give away to one lucky follower.

To enter, simply leave a comment at the end of this post with your email address. You must be a follower of The Australian Bookshelf to enter.

Entries close 30th January, 2012 (Syd time). Winner will be drawn via random.org and contacted via email by the author to arrange postage of the book.