Shooting Stars by H. D. Gordon
Shooting Stars (A Surah Stormsong Novel)
Synopsis:
Surah Stormsong is one of the most powerful Sorceresses in the world. She is a princess who is next in line for the throne. As someone who has lost almost everything to this world, she only wants to pull away from it and live a normal life, but when Highborn ladies start being murdered and the Black Stone-a weapon that is capable of great destruction-goes missing, she is called upon to solve the issues and return her people to a state of safety. But danger lurks inside the castle walls as well, and when she runs into Charlie Redmine, a common Sorcerer Surah met once as a child, things grow complicated very quickly. He is the main suspect of the murders, but Surah is powerless against the connection she feels to him. Time is ticking, and if she doesn't figure out what's going on things will go from bad to worse, and an entire kingdom will suffer for it. From the author of the bestselling series, The Alexa Montgomery Saga, comes a tale of star-crossed lovers and magic, of hope and love and loss. The greatest question is, can love overcome all?
Review:
Shooting Stars is not the typical read for me. I absolutely love the Joe Knowles series by this author so I thought I should give one of her other books a try even though they sounded eh to me. I am glad I did as I really enjoyed Shooting Stars. It was a little slow to start for me, but once I got into it I finished it quickly.
Surah is a princess who longs to be like everyone else. She doesn't want to take on the responsibilities of a keeper, which is what her dad wants since her brother died (he was the last keeper). She kind of gets forced into being keeper for a while when the black stone gets stolen and some highborn ladies start showing up murdered. Surah can tell when someone is lying so she is perfect for questioning people to figure out what happened. On her first trip out to question people she comes across Charlie, the boy she gave her sisters magic stone to many years ago. They had connected back then even though they didn't spend much time together. Giving him the stone, if that came out, would be bad all around as he is not supposed to have it. Surah has a bit of a dilemma. She knows Charlie is lying about something, but she thinks the stone is involved so telling the truth would implicate herself. She does work it out, and is still drawn to Charlie even though she doesn't know if she can trust him. Really throughout the whole book she goes back and forth about him with good reason. She keeps trying to fight her attraction to him since she doesn't really know who's side he is on.
Charlie has never forgotten Surah, but knows nothing will ever happen with her. I mean she is the princess and he is a commoner. Well when the evil Black Heart shows up and steals Charlie from his prison cell where he is being held (since Charlie is his brother) things go from bad to worse for him. He doesn't have anything to do with his crazy brother and doesn't really know what to do. He just wants to protect Surah from Black Heart. He keeps getting put in impossible situation that make him look like he is helping his brother. Really he has a tough time reconciling how his brother is now and the brother he grew up with. He still loves him, even if he is crazy now. However he will try to protect Surah from him at all costs. Surah is his main concern even if she questions his motives and doesn't always trust him. Even if she gets angry with him for how the situation looks. I really enjoyed how everything played out with the two of them.
Black Heart was a great, crazy villain. Well he was the obvious villain, just all over the place and not really right in the head. What happens at the end you know is a mistake, but you can also understand why everyone did what they did. There was also Theo one of the king's head hunters. I really enjoyed reading him even though I hated him. He thinks he is in love with Surah and instantly hates Charlie because he can see there is an attraction there, and maybe from past run ins with him. At the beginning of the book he asks Surah if she will be the new keeper, because it would be good for him if she were. Good for him. He doesn't think a woman can lead because they are too emotional and just are not up to it. Really I think he wants to marry Surah and have her be the keeper because then he would get more power. He would be able to control her and do what he wants. I hated him, but loved reading him. When he proposes Surah actually considers it for a bit for some strange reason. That is the only time I didn't like her. I mean she does not trust or like Theo, and recently he is always around which is annoying her to no end. So why would she consider marrying him? Oh well, everything works out in the end. Or everything gets worse in the end. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book as things are not resolved in this one.
Rating: 4/5
Shooting Stars is not the typical read for me. I absolutely love the Joe Knowles series by this author so I thought I should give one of her other books a try even though they sounded eh to me. I am glad I did as I really enjoyed Shooting Stars. It was a little slow to start for me, but once I got into it I finished it quickly.
Surah is a princess who longs to be like everyone else. She doesn't want to take on the responsibilities of a keeper, which is what her dad wants since her brother died (he was the last keeper). She kind of gets forced into being keeper for a while when the black stone gets stolen and some highborn ladies start showing up murdered. Surah can tell when someone is lying so she is perfect for questioning people to figure out what happened. On her first trip out to question people she comes across Charlie, the boy she gave her sisters magic stone to many years ago. They had connected back then even though they didn't spend much time together. Giving him the stone, if that came out, would be bad all around as he is not supposed to have it. Surah has a bit of a dilemma. She knows Charlie is lying about something, but she thinks the stone is involved so telling the truth would implicate herself. She does work it out, and is still drawn to Charlie even though she doesn't know if she can trust him. Really throughout the whole book she goes back and forth about him with good reason. She keeps trying to fight her attraction to him since she doesn't really know who's side he is on.
Charlie has never forgotten Surah, but knows nothing will ever happen with her. I mean she is the princess and he is a commoner. Well when the evil Black Heart shows up and steals Charlie from his prison cell where he is being held (since Charlie is his brother) things go from bad to worse for him. He doesn't have anything to do with his crazy brother and doesn't really know what to do. He just wants to protect Surah from Black Heart. He keeps getting put in impossible situation that make him look like he is helping his brother. Really he has a tough time reconciling how his brother is now and the brother he grew up with. He still loves him, even if he is crazy now. However he will try to protect Surah from him at all costs. Surah is his main concern even if she questions his motives and doesn't always trust him. Even if she gets angry with him for how the situation looks. I really enjoyed how everything played out with the two of them.
Black Heart was a great, crazy villain. Well he was the obvious villain, just all over the place and not really right in the head. What happens at the end you know is a mistake, but you can also understand why everyone did what they did. There was also Theo one of the king's head hunters. I really enjoyed reading him even though I hated him. He thinks he is in love with Surah and instantly hates Charlie because he can see there is an attraction there, and maybe from past run ins with him. At the beginning of the book he asks Surah if she will be the new keeper, because it would be good for him if she were. Good for him. He doesn't think a woman can lead because they are too emotional and just are not up to it. Really I think he wants to marry Surah and have her be the keeper because then he would get more power. He would be able to control her and do what he wants. I hated him, but loved reading him. When he proposes Surah actually considers it for a bit for some strange reason. That is the only time I didn't like her. I mean she does not trust or like Theo, and recently he is always around which is annoying her to no end. So why would she consider marrying him? Oh well, everything works out in the end. Or everything gets worse in the end. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book as things are not resolved in this one.
Rating: 4/5
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