Book Review: Teasing Xav

If you are a fan of the Benedict brother Xavier from Joss Stirling's Savant books just like me, then today you are in luck.

Teasing Xav (2016) is a free eBook which is based on the novel Seeking Crystal (2012).

While Joss Stirling's novel, Seeking Crystal looked into Crystal Brook's personal view of her experiences before, during and after she met her soulfinder Xavier Benedict, Teasing Xav takes on the opposite approach and allows the reader delve into Xav's past along with his first experiences of meeting Crystal.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novella for the same reasons that I enjoyed Challenging Zed (2013) and Burning Yves (2015) - because you get a closer insight to each of the Benedict boys, their personalities, their past experiences along with their relationship to their other family members.

I've always known Xavier Benedict had a soft side, ever since the moment in Stealing Phoenix (2012) when Xav walks in on Zed with his soulfinder Sky and Yves with his soulfinder Phoenix and briefly looks sad. While in this moment Xav was happy for his brothers to be paired with their soulfinders, he couldn't help but to feel sad that he had not yet found his own soulfinder.

Xav Benedict is known for being the joker of the family, always laughing and teasing his brothers in a loving way and while he likes to have a laugh in general, this is also the way that he sometimes hides his sadness.

In Teasing Xav we are first introduced to the 15-year-old version of Xav - the one who enjoyed competing in snowboarding competitions and had a real talent for it.
It was interesting because the reader gets to find out how much Xav enjoyed snowboarding and didn't care for anything else - not even researching into becoming a doctor.
Joss Stirling created a gripping couple of chapters that introduced us to the turning point of events: what happened to Xav to make him want to become a doctor and why he had to quit the snowboarding competitions.

Meanwhile, further into the novella, the story turned more humourous and romantic as we are introduced to the 18-year-old version of Xav. The one who is working hard completing his work experience at the hospital and who was hoping to meet his soulfinder during the savant conference that his brother, Trace asked him to join in with.
I was always curious why Xav acted so jokey around Crystal to begin with and it was revealed Xav actually acted this way because for him, it was quite honestly love at first sight and he didn't quite know how to act around her, therefore resorted to humour.

For anyone who has read the soulfinder series and wants to find out a bit more about these fantastic boys, or who want to read a short story that can be read within the day, then I would definitely recommend you give this book a try!

While Joss Stirling has not officially announced that she will be writing any more of these eBooks, I am remaining hopeful that we will get to read about the rest of the Benedict boys or maybe even the soulfinders to Misty, Angel and Summer? Let's keep our fingers crossed for next year!

Book Review: Angel Dares

Joss Stirling brings to us readers, the hilarious story of 17-year-old Angel Campbell in the romantic novel Angel Dares (2015).

This fifth instalment to the Finding Sky (2010) series is most definitely the funniest of them all. It is unsurprising that even Joss Stirling admitted that the book was "such good fun to write" and that she thinks she "had the most fun on this one out of all the savant books so far."

Angel, who we met in the previous novel Misty Falls (2014) who is best friends with Misty, is the definition of a bouncing bundle of joy. She is filled with happiness, excitement and a spoonful of cheekiness.

She is an incredibly fun and engaging character for all girls. She has the typical weight concerns, is 100% a fangirl of bands and I found her relatable since she is short like me!

Angel has a talent for music and is incredible on the violin, however her true savant talent is being able to control water. When Angel and her band, Seventh Edition get the opportunity to perform live at a festival where her favourite band Gifted are performing, this experience is not only a once in a life time event for her band to try and make it big in the music industry, but Angel is now on a mission to help Benedict brother Will who is trying to find his soulfinder who is linked to the Gifted band.

The only problem is that Angel is known for being impulsive and for running into situations head first without looking. While she tries her best in everything that she does, sometimes Angel tries too hard or becomes impatient in waiting.

During Angel's journey of helping Will Benedict in finding his soulfinder, problems occur. Eli Davis, journalist and savant hunter, first introduced in Misty Falls, is back on the scene and is even more determined and irrational to expose the identity of savants to the entire world. This makes Angel's mission all the more dangerous as it is highly likely that her favourite band Gifted are full of savants who need to be warned of this threat against them.

Meanwhile, to confuse matters even more, Angel meets Marcus Cohen, singer and guitarist for the up-coming band Black Belt who are touring with Gifted, who is also ultimately her soulfinder. What is confusing about this matter, you ask? He doesn't realise he is a savant.

Angel starts to fall head-over-heels for him but risks getting her heart broken through rushing Marcus into this magical world which he isn't ready for. He has already had his heart broken in the past and isn't prepared to have it occur a second time especially when he's overwhelmed by the prospect of magic and soulfinders.

Danger is quickly mounting up against the savant community. Angel's world is going to be turned upside down and Marcus will not only have to accept the world for what it truly is, but will also have to team up with the savants against the threat. The question is, will they get there in time to save the day?

During the process of reading this book, I was laughing about half the time. If fictional characters existed, Angel would definitely be on my list of best friends. For anyone who needs a good laugh, a dose of romance and enjoys living in a fantasy world, put Angel Dares on your list!

Little is said about Angels description apart from her being short, having big eyes, a bob and dimples, which is why it is handy for readers to have read the rest of the Finding Sky series first, especially since the story does rely and progress off of the previous book, with previous characters being mentioned and included in the story.

What I liked about the story is how we are meeting such different characters and since the novel is in Angels perspective we also got the chance to meet her non-savant friends along with her savant parents, which was a lovely addition to the story.

Looking forward to reading the final story in this magical series, Summer Shadows (2016), while also feeling deeply saddened by the thought that this is the last book! Keep up to date with my following book reviews!

Book Review: Misty Falls

Misty Falls (2014) the fourth instalment to the Finding Sky (2010) series, is a must read novel that takes on a twisted route, leaving the reader hooked and wanting more.

In this fictional fantasy novel, author Joss Stirling's character, 16-year-old Misty is a savant and is one with a gift that you can't help to feel sorry for. Misty is unable to tell a lie and when control over her gift is lost, the people around her cannot lie either.

As you can imagine, for a poor girl like her - who also is known for being clumsy - her gift can get in the way a lot, leaving people either teasing her for this habit of being too truthful, or avoiding her, not wanting to hear the truth.

For Misty, one of the most exciting and nerve-wracking experiences she can imagine, would be to meet her soulfinder. For most savants, meeting their souldfinder is a fantastic opportunity. Every savant has a soulfinder somewhere around the world and together, they make each others world complete - through binding their magical powers together, they can achieve great and wonderful things. However,, a soulfinder left alone can mean dangerous things as they have no one to even them out between the good and the bad in the world.

Alternatively, there are a few cases where savants have met their soulfinder and dislike them, never wanting to be together with them.

Due to Misty lacking in confidence, from her appearance, to her powers, she fears that when the day comes for her to meet her soulfinder, that he would dislike her and would not want to be with her.

At the beginning of the story, Benedict brother Uriel is preparing to meet his soulfinder. Thanks to soulseeker Crystal, Misty's aunt who we met in the previous story, Uriel's soulfinder is known to be in Australia and since Crystal is unable to accompany him on the journey, it is left up to Misty to accompany him on this exciting journey.

While things hit off to a great start and his soulfinder is found easy enough, Misty struggles during her time there when she meets young savant Alex. While he may look confident and oozes charm (which is his savant power) he has had a tough past and is not as confident as her may initially seem.

Worst of all, he and Misty clash and it seems that whenever he is around her, he lacks in charm and his comments come out harsh.

As the story progresses and Misty catches up with her mates in England, questions start to occur on whether Alex - who actually turns out to be the same age as Misty and her friends Angel and Summer - could be either Misty or Sumer's soulfinder. SPOILER ALERT: While Alex visits England with his debate team, it was make or break time, to try telepathy with Misty and Summer. Much to Misty's delight they were a perfect match, but with her college studies and his competitions going ahead, there was sadly little time for them to properly get to know each other.

Meanwhile, Alex's past was also quickly catches up with him. For a boy who is thought to have no family, his uncle turns up out of the blue after years of trying to find him. For Misty and Alex, while they should be enjoying themselves and taking the time to get to know each other properly, there is little time for this young couple to be riding the honeymoon stage of their relationship with the drama occurring around them.

All the while, danger is looming over the savant world, with a murderer on the loose, searching for young savants who haven't fully mastered their talent. Most disturbing is that little is known of this killer and no tracks are ever left behind.

What I enjoyed about this novel was that while the beginning of the story took on a fun, lighthearted and romantic route, as the story progressed, it took you slowly but surely on a much darker and gripping journey, with the suspense gradually building up, making it harder and harder to put the book down.

Joss Stirling has achieved once again in amazing me with her talent of writing. While this is the second time of me reading this particular story, it still amazes me how realistic the story comes across. Young love, insecurities that all girls experience, the relatable clumsy moments that Misty goes through (and that I can personally connect with, being clumsy myself) and the worries of what truly lingers but is never seen, contained in the darkness of this world.

Keep your eyes peeled to this blog, as shortly another update will be posted for the fifth instalment of the Finding Sky novels, known as Angel Dares (2015).