Review of "FATED" and "FRACTURED" by Cheri Schmidt

Fateful by Cheri Schmidt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Source: Received to review from Cheri Schmidt
Genre: YA Paranomal/Romance

Description from Goodreads: A huge fan of Jane Austen, Danielle hopes to find her own Mr. Darcy when she leaves Colorado to attend art school in London. Of course she knows it’s silly to wish for that, naive even. But she’s met enough males who lacked respect for women, a growing trend it seemed. And at nineteen...well.... However, on only her second night there she gets lost and is threatened by a stalker who proves to be immune to her martial arts training. Before she is completely overpowered, she is then saved by Ethan Deveroux. While Danielle does find the romance she seeks in Ethan, he’s no Mr. Darcy. Her hero is held by a spell which fractures their chance at a happy ending. During the day Ethan is closer to mortal than immortal and can date her like any other man. Yet, as the sun sets, the powerful magic of an ancient curse returns and the evil of that spell is revealed. When that magic begins, Danielle's fairytale romance ends because Ethan Deveroux is a vampire.

My thoughts: Thanks Cheri for creating a paranormal book that I feel comfortable letting my teenager read!

I enjoyed the vampire world that Cheri has created. The book starts off with an attack that is foiled by a good vampire. It starts off with a creepy feel to it. Cheri builds up to the when Danielle finds out that there are really vampires by creating the lore and local stories before hand.

Danielle is visiting her relatives in London. She has come from the United States to go to school. She finds everything confusing. She doesn't have a sense of direction and driving on the opposite side of the road is very confusing to her. In her confusion she finds herself stalked by an eerie man. She barely escapes with the help of a stranger. Of course, he is a very handsome stranger.

Later she finds out that this handsome stranger knows her uncle. Of course they are attracted to each other and begin dating. It's strange though, because she can't look him in the eye, and once again he saves her from the evil stalker. But with superhuman strength.

Yes, he is a vampire. But he is a different vampire. He doesn't want to be a vampire, he wants to be human. Honestly, I couldn't help but like Ethan. He is kind, caring, and puts Danielle's needs first. He is the perfect boyfriend, he just drinks blood for sustenance.

There are similarities to Twilight, but you know, Twilight has many broad themes that it's hard to come up with something completely different. This book takes a different spin and it's worth reading.

I did feel that at times some scenes dragged on and others ended abruptly. The point is that this is a great book to recommend. There is a lot of kissing, but that is as far as it goes. You can let your teen read this and not worry about it. I intend to read the second and any other books that Cheri puts out in the future.





Fractured by Cheri Schmidt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Source: Goodreads First Reads from Author
Genre: YA Paranormal/Romance
Age Recommendation: 16 or older

Description from Goodreads:  The Fateful Trilogy continues with Fractured. No, it's not called Fractured because Ethan and Danielle break up...in case you were wondering.

They had thought they'd escaped most of the danger surrounding them, when in truth they've made it worse by unintentionally sparking a civil war amongst vampires. Many vampires want to protect them for discovering the cure to the curse binding their kind. However many more want to destroy them for that same discovery.

Ethan's and Danielle's struggle for survival intensifies while they sink deeper into the midst of this danger. The romantic fairytale bliss they once had will soon fracture under the pressure of the curse....

My thoughst: I am very glad that I won this book in First Reads. Cheri Schmidt entranced me with the continuation of Ethan and Danielle's story.

Cheri has written a vampire romance story for OLDER teens. This book explores the relationship of Ethan and Danielle on a different level. At the end of the last book, Ethan is cured from his vampirism and they are able to pursue a "normal" human relationship. It's not that normal because many in the vampire community are unhappy with the cure being discovered and are after the now human couple. They are forced to have a contingency of vampire bodyguards with them at all times. Some can be trusted and some unfortunately cannot.

There are some major twists in this book. I don't want to say too much and spoil part of the story for you. I will say that they are now in a vampire civil war and that they are the targets. This book is full of adventure, kissing, romance, friendship, and violence.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next one. I would like to see if the fractured state of the vampire community can be repaired and Ethan and Danielle can have a safe happily ever after.