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Unbound #1
Hazy Shade of Winter
Book 1 of the Unbound Series. Jude, a misfit teen, has been burdened by her own mysterious ability to hear ghosts since early childhood. Ridiculed by her peers, she seeks refuge in a study-abroad program in England, unaware she is being hunted by demons and protected by a guardian angel, a Sentinel named Sam. Meanwhile Sam faces his own he would rather continue his 800-year search for his Soulmate, and has no idea that the woman he seeks is actually his very own, very vulnerable assignment. Upon Jude and Sam’s discovery of their status, and with mankind’s survival hanging on Jude’s significant fate, the archangels must work swiftly to separate the star-crossed lovers and prevent an unholy collision with Destiny. Jude is left to answer two impossible What do you do when the only person you could ever love is forbidden by Heaven and Earth to be with you? What would you give to be with them?
244 pages, Paperback
First published May 2, 2011
81 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Bradshaw
11 books6 followersssica Bradshaw is a SAHM – “Stay at home Mom” – who received her BA in secondary education from BYU, then swapped teaching
students for teaching her children. Writing is her escape from laundry, dishes, yard work, diapers, chauffeuring, cooking, cleaning, what-have-you. She is a member of various critique groups, a writers’ conference attender, a volunteer judge for numerous RWA contests, and “winner” of the 2010 & 2011 NaNoWriMo, writing over 50,000 words in two separate months!
Her current focus is writing paranormal crossover romance (for adult and YA readers) and she loves blending fantasy, history, religion and romance in her Unbound trilogy.
students for teaching her children. Writing is her escape from laundry, dishes, yard work, diapers, chauffeuring, cooking, cleaning, what-have-you. She is a member of various critique groups, a writers’ conference attender, a volunteer judge for numerous RWA contests, and “winner” of the 2010 & 2011 NaNoWriMo, writing over 50,000 words in two separate months!
Her current focus is writing paranormal crossover romance (for adult and YA readers) and she loves blending fantasy, history, religion and romance in her Unbound trilogy.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 30, 2011
I really Loved the storyline! It was easy to fall in love with the main character Jude. Her strength and courage was admirable. I even cried a little at the cruelty she endured at the hand of her peers. I really look forward to the second book!!! Awesome job Jessica!!!!!
April 29, 2012
I am in awe. I am additicted to Ms.Bradshaw's writing style. I am an avid reader, (and writer) so I am extremely happy when I stumble over a book that is so fabulously different from any other. When a book can pull me from the couch into another world, making me forget everything else around me, it is a winner.
I felt like I was a teenager again, and was living out everyday life through the eyes of a girl who could never seem to fit in. I don't want to give any of the story away because I would hate to spoil it for anyone, but I do have to say Ms.Bradshaw makes sure the reader experiences every emotion the characters do. I was angry, happy, sad, excited and scared when June and Sam were. The rollercoaster of events had me gripping my reading device a little too hard at times.
I have just bought the second book of this series, Sun is Burning, because I fell completely in love with Hazy Shade of Winter.
Don't let this series pass you by or you will be the one missing out.
This is definitely a story I will read again! Superb job, Jessica.
I felt like I was a teenager again, and was living out everyday life through the eyes of a girl who could never seem to fit in. I don't want to give any of the story away because I would hate to spoil it for anyone, but I do have to say Ms.Bradshaw makes sure the reader experiences every emotion the characters do. I was angry, happy, sad, excited and scared when June and Sam were. The rollercoaster of events had me gripping my reading device a little too hard at times.
I have just bought the second book of this series, Sun is Burning, because I fell completely in love with Hazy Shade of Winter.
Don't let this series pass you by or you will be the one missing out.
This is definitely a story I will read again! Superb job, Jessica.
April 17, 2012
The writing was brilliant in this novel about a guardian angel and the young woman he is guarding, Jude. At first I didnt know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprisied to recieve chills from the first few pages. Bradshaw has many of the same views as I do about our world, Angels, Demons and the afterlife. So I fell for this book instantly. There was NOTHING that I would change about this book. The writing was perfection. I am very excited to read more in this series. I deeply fell in love with Jude! She is a girl to whom many teens can relate. Being an adult I can also relate to her through my teen years. Samuel is a tortured soul, that is for sure. I hope to see more of their romance in book 2.
June 14, 2011
Okay, so I was a little confused in the beginning and I felt like I got it a little figured out towards the end. I would totally read the next book. I was also very happy when Jude finally makes some real friends. I wanted to cry for her. What is even more awesome, is that I actually know the author =) So proud of her for publishing her first book and putting herself out there. Way to go Jessica!
August 15, 2014
Although written as a YA novel, this story is filled with such depth and emotion that all ages will absolutely fall for, laugh with and, most assuredly, cry with Sam and Jude as they work to “find” themselves in the worlds they must navigate.
Read full review in the 2012 October issue of InD’tale Magazine.
Read full review in the 2012 October issue of InD’tale Magazine.
June 1, 2011
This is something different ,perfect storyline, really good. very fluently reading.
Even more excited towards the end.I can't wait for the second one already lol.
Even more excited towards the end.I can't wait for the second one already lol.
April 10, 2012
Jessica B has a way with words. Her first book, and she's already got me way too excited for number 2! Well worth the read. So put down your Steph Meyers, and pick up Hazy Shade of Winter
August 30, 2012
Good Story with Likeable Characters
This is the story of Jude—a teenage girl who hears and eventually sees ghosts—and Samuel, her guardian angel and soulmate (unbeknownst to them both). While Jude is enduring the difficulties of a human life cycle, Sam is progressing as a soul and angel to a state when he will finally be finished learning and able to “graduate” to a higher state of existence. In the process, he hopes to reunite with his soulmate to be with her forever.
The book is an excellent read. Ms. Bradshaw’s writing style is smooth and enjoyable, with only an occasional rough spot that needs to be reworded or polished. I like the overall feel of her story and her world. Her characters are appealing, and there is great dialogue between them throughout the book. The dialogue between Samuel and his friend Benjamin and between Jude and her friends in England is the most well-written and entertaining. I also enjoyed the historical glimpses into Samuel’s previous lives as a human. These sections are set off in italics and flow nicely with the rest of the book. Each chapter had at least one bit that made me laugh and several passages of quality writing. Here are some examples:
* “She had it in her to gab, giggle, and gossip with the best of them, and she refused to believe it was the voices that set her apart. She wondered if she came across as believing herself superior; she was so often absorbed in the whispers swarming around her that she often missed large chunks of their conversations, contributing nothing. Voices everywhere—both human and otherworldly—and still she felt alone.”
* “Audrey West had considerable expectations for her daughter, perhaps because Jude was the eldest of three, but more especially because she was a girl, and Mrs. West had equally considerable expectations of herself. Women were supposed to grit their teeth and barrel through, show themselves strong and capable, and lead by example in all things…without ever a strand of hair found out of place.”
* “Samuel dreaded such times, not only because Jude would be attending a serious draw for Unholies, but because it was such a girlie experience, well outside his realm of understanding.”
* “She wanted him, and when he released Danielle a moment later to face her, she dared to wonder if maybe he wanted her too…Until he frisked his hands down the sides of her body, ogling her in full. It felt obscene, and suddenly she was herself again. One smell of his breath shattered the illusion that he had any real interest in her; he stank of cheap booze and canned beer. His eyes showed not the slightest spark of recognition that she was anything other than female, and she searched wildly for an escape route.”
* “This was sheer terror. It was Legion, and they sought to take advantage of his situation and torture him until his mind became unbalanced…Legion devoured his psyche, intent on his destruction while they laughed inside his brain, taunting him with images of suffering…All of it came in snatches, lying in dark disarray at the corners of his mind to keep him from remembering who he was and what he was doing in that hospital bed.”
Hazy Shade of Winter includes some interesting concepts as well:
* “He was grateful that Jude did not drink, had not experimented with drugs…and was restrained enough in both anger and grief that she was not terribly susceptible to demons.”
Many people believe that there are certain things you can do knowingly and unknowingly to open yourself up to demonic influence and possession. One aspect of this is that by using hallucinogens, you are allowing your mind to come closer to the spirit world and therefore in closer proximity to non-human entities. Without entering this altered state of consciousness under proper conditions, you can make yourself vulnerable.
* “He had seen his share of naked women during the course of his lives and felt confident he could view a naked form without it distracting his thoughts…and he was reminded why part of progression was mastering one’s own desires.”
Again, many people believe that mastering control of yourself both mentally and physically is essential to ascending to a higher state of spirituality.
* “Besides, if we didn’t forgive our friends their little indiscretions, who would we ever have left?”
This one speaks for itself.
Not far into the book, the “partition” is introduced, which is neither described nor explained. At first I thought it should have been defined upon the first mention but later changed my mind and decided the reader should be able to figure it out soon enough. The concept of a portal or gateway between dimensions is not complicated. However, this leaves its appearance up to your imagination, and so to me was reminiscent of the rift in the sky from Bleach, where Hollows and Soul Reapers cross between the human world and that of the Soul Society:
or this (also from Bleach):
or maybe more like this:
Click on image below to view the video
As in Bleach, the normal humans in Hazy Shade of Winter can never actually see the partition or the entities that pass through it.
This story does not contain much action, but it still works. It has decent drama elements, not overly emotional or sappy. I would have liked there to be more elaboration regarding the evil entities. It seems the angelic side is populated with many different and interesting types of souls while the demonic side is barely introduced at all. This makes it seem unbalanced.
There are three issues regarding the editing:
1) The use of the word “had”: The first part of the book (the first ten chapters or so) suffers from an excessive use of the past perfect form of had. The story is written in past tense and contains several passages of “history” or “past” events in relation to the characters, so most of the hads are not used incorrectly. It’s just that there are way too many of them. Where the hads are overused, the rhythm is disrupted. These areas could stand to be rewritten in a way that removes as many hads as possible. After chapter ten, this was barely an issue.
2) Capitalization: I have no problem with an author’s prerogative to emphasize whatever words they want by capitalizing them (when the word isn’t normally capitalized); however, it should stay consistent throughout the book. There were a few instances were this was not the case. For example, Devil/devil and Angel/angel were capitalized inconsistently.
3) There are occasional typos, missing commas, etc.: The book contains more editing errors than I would like to see in a finished product, although none of them hinder enjoyment of the story, and many of which will go unnoticed by everyone except grammar nazis and editors.
This is the story of Jude—a teenage girl who hears and eventually sees ghosts—and Samuel, her guardian angel and soulmate (unbeknownst to them both). While Jude is enduring the difficulties of a human life cycle, Sam is progressing as a soul and angel to a state when he will finally be finished learning and able to “graduate” to a higher state of existence. In the process, he hopes to reunite with his soulmate to be with her forever.
The book is an excellent read. Ms. Bradshaw’s writing style is smooth and enjoyable, with only an occasional rough spot that needs to be reworded or polished. I like the overall feel of her story and her world. Her characters are appealing, and there is great dialogue between them throughout the book. The dialogue between Samuel and his friend Benjamin and between Jude and her friends in England is the most well-written and entertaining. I also enjoyed the historical glimpses into Samuel’s previous lives as a human. These sections are set off in italics and flow nicely with the rest of the book. Each chapter had at least one bit that made me laugh and several passages of quality writing. Here are some examples:
* “She had it in her to gab, giggle, and gossip with the best of them, and she refused to believe it was the voices that set her apart. She wondered if she came across as believing herself superior; she was so often absorbed in the whispers swarming around her that she often missed large chunks of their conversations, contributing nothing. Voices everywhere—both human and otherworldly—and still she felt alone.”
* “Audrey West had considerable expectations for her daughter, perhaps because Jude was the eldest of three, but more especially because she was a girl, and Mrs. West had equally considerable expectations of herself. Women were supposed to grit their teeth and barrel through, show themselves strong and capable, and lead by example in all things…without ever a strand of hair found out of place.”
* “Samuel dreaded such times, not only because Jude would be attending a serious draw for Unholies, but because it was such a girlie experience, well outside his realm of understanding.”
* “She wanted him, and when he released Danielle a moment later to face her, she dared to wonder if maybe he wanted her too…Until he frisked his hands down the sides of her body, ogling her in full. It felt obscene, and suddenly she was herself again. One smell of his breath shattered the illusion that he had any real interest in her; he stank of cheap booze and canned beer. His eyes showed not the slightest spark of recognition that she was anything other than female, and she searched wildly for an escape route.”
* “This was sheer terror. It was Legion, and they sought to take advantage of his situation and torture him until his mind became unbalanced…Legion devoured his psyche, intent on his destruction while they laughed inside his brain, taunting him with images of suffering…All of it came in snatches, lying in dark disarray at the corners of his mind to keep him from remembering who he was and what he was doing in that hospital bed.”
Hazy Shade of Winter includes some interesting concepts as well:
* “He was grateful that Jude did not drink, had not experimented with drugs…and was restrained enough in both anger and grief that she was not terribly susceptible to demons.”
Many people believe that there are certain things you can do knowingly and unknowingly to open yourself up to demonic influence and possession. One aspect of this is that by using hallucinogens, you are allowing your mind to come closer to the spirit world and therefore in closer proximity to non-human entities. Without entering this altered state of consciousness under proper conditions, you can make yourself vulnerable.
* “He had seen his share of naked women during the course of his lives and felt confident he could view a naked form without it distracting his thoughts…and he was reminded why part of progression was mastering one’s own desires.”
Again, many people believe that mastering control of yourself both mentally and physically is essential to ascending to a higher state of spirituality.
* “Besides, if we didn’t forgive our friends their little indiscretions, who would we ever have left?”
This one speaks for itself.
Not far into the book, the “partition” is introduced, which is neither described nor explained. At first I thought it should have been defined upon the first mention but later changed my mind and decided the reader should be able to figure it out soon enough. The concept of a portal or gateway between dimensions is not complicated. However, this leaves its appearance up to your imagination, and so to me was reminiscent of the rift in the sky from Bleach, where Hollows and Soul Reapers cross between the human world and that of the Soul Society:
or this (also from Bleach):
or maybe more like this:
Click on image below to view the video
As in Bleach, the normal humans in Hazy Shade of Winter can never actually see the partition or the entities that pass through it.
This story does not contain much action, but it still works. It has decent drama elements, not overly emotional or sappy. I would have liked there to be more elaboration regarding the evil entities. It seems the angelic side is populated with many different and interesting types of souls while the demonic side is barely introduced at all. This makes it seem unbalanced.
There are three issues regarding the editing:
1) The use of the word “had”: The first part of the book (the first ten chapters or so) suffers from an excessive use of the past perfect form of had. The story is written in past tense and contains several passages of “history” or “past” events in relation to the characters, so most of the hads are not used incorrectly. It’s just that there are way too many of them. Where the hads are overused, the rhythm is disrupted. These areas could stand to be rewritten in a way that removes as many hads as possible. After chapter ten, this was barely an issue.
2) Capitalization: I have no problem with an author’s prerogative to emphasize whatever words they want by capitalizing them (when the word isn’t normally capitalized); however, it should stay consistent throughout the book. There were a few instances were this was not the case. For example, Devil/devil and Angel/angel were capitalized inconsistently.
3) There are occasional typos, missing commas, etc.: The book contains more editing errors than I would like to see in a finished product, although none of them hinder enjoyment of the story, and many of which will go unnoticed by everyone except grammar nazis and editors.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 8, 2011
thought I was off paranormal romance...but then I picked one up by chance, really REALLY enjoyed it and thought I'd try it again and hope the experiment worked a second time. Hence, Hazy Shade of Winter by Jessica Bradshaw.
The beginning of this one didn't grip me as I had hoped, in fact I felt confused by everything that was going on...and not a lot was going on. I guess I'm just used to paranormal romances where there were big stakes and we [kind of] just dive right into them. Hazy Shade of Winter was a bit more character driven then that. Also, confusing because a lot of concepts are brought up early on but not fully introduced.
You guys may recall from previous reviews/posts that I'm not the biggest fan of angels. There have been few books about them that I have wholeheartedly enjoyed and would recommend usually because they end up being too preachy or religious for my taste. Hazy Shade of Winter fell into the latter category. The novel took place between the earthly realm where Jude was narrating from and the Heavenly Realm where her guardian angel Sam, was located. And it seemed to me that too much of the novel came from above instead of on Earth. The balance just didn't seem quite right. I wouldn't say it got preachy, but it did make me a bit uncomfortable at times.
Because we don't really see too much of the romance in this paranormal romance except for at the very beginning in the prologue, I don't want to spend too much time on it. Just enough to say that I wasn't a fan. I didn't care much for the way that it was portrayed, with a kind of letting you know what happened and then delving into how it got there. Its hard to explain but I don't want to give anything away in case you guys decide to give this one a go on your own.
Hazy Shade of Winter has received quite a few really good reviews on Goodreads so I saw it through to the end only to find that it simply wasn't my kind of book. A little too religious, a bit on the slow side and I just wasn't finding myself invested in either of the main characters. I gave it a one star rating on Goodreads but, as I've said, others rated it far higher so if it sounds like something that you'd like definitely go check it out!
The beginning of this one didn't grip me as I had hoped, in fact I felt confused by everything that was going on...and not a lot was going on. I guess I'm just used to paranormal romances where there were big stakes and we [kind of] just dive right into them. Hazy Shade of Winter was a bit more character driven then that. Also, confusing because a lot of concepts are brought up early on but not fully introduced.
You guys may recall from previous reviews/posts that I'm not the biggest fan of angels. There have been few books about them that I have wholeheartedly enjoyed and would recommend usually because they end up being too preachy or religious for my taste. Hazy Shade of Winter fell into the latter category. The novel took place between the earthly realm where Jude was narrating from and the Heavenly Realm where her guardian angel Sam, was located. And it seemed to me that too much of the novel came from above instead of on Earth. The balance just didn't seem quite right. I wouldn't say it got preachy, but it did make me a bit uncomfortable at times.
Because we don't really see too much of the romance in this paranormal romance except for at the very beginning in the prologue, I don't want to spend too much time on it. Just enough to say that I wasn't a fan. I didn't care much for the way that it was portrayed, with a kind of letting you know what happened and then delving into how it got there. Its hard to explain but I don't want to give anything away in case you guys decide to give this one a go on your own.
Hazy Shade of Winter has received quite a few really good reviews on Goodreads so I saw it through to the end only to find that it simply wasn't my kind of book. A little too religious, a bit on the slow side and I just wasn't finding myself invested in either of the main characters. I gave it a one star rating on Goodreads but, as I've said, others rated it far higher so if it sounds like something that you'd like definitely go check it out!
August 19, 2012
This was a disappointment as a book.
I'm pretty sure the story would have been great, but the authors writing style just confused me as the story progressed. Then again, I only got to chapter 3 and that's when I drew the line. Let me explain the whys:
- It starts off in the Prolog with Sam and then Chapter 1 is with Jude. After that I didn't know who was what and what was who. It seemed that I was in both their heads at the same time and it got confusing and the story so didn't flow.
- Sam mentions a place about 4 times in the 2nd and 3rd chapter (Partition) and it was never explained where that is and why he's always going back there.
I gave up on the book then and there. It wasn't worth the 2 weeks wait almost dieing to read the book, thinking it was good because of a few reviews. Thinking back on that day I say What a waste of time and money.
I'm pretty sure the story would have been great, but the authors writing style just confused me as the story progressed. Then again, I only got to chapter 3 and that's when I drew the line. Let me explain the whys:
- It starts off in the Prolog with Sam and then Chapter 1 is with Jude. After that I didn't know who was what and what was who. It seemed that I was in both their heads at the same time and it got confusing and the story so didn't flow.
- Sam mentions a place about 4 times in the 2nd and 3rd chapter (Partition) and it was never explained where that is and why he's always going back there.
I gave up on the book then and there. It wasn't worth the 2 weeks wait almost dieing to read the book, thinking it was good because of a few reviews. Thinking back on that day I say What a waste of time and money.
August 19, 2012
I LOVED this book! I really did. The character development is fantastic and it really keeps you interested from the first chapter. It's not a fluffy novel like most books in this genre which was really refreshing. I can't wait for the last book :-)
May 16, 2012
Awesome book!!! Jessica is an amazing writer!!!!
May 5, 2012
LOVED IT!!!!
August 25, 2012
Quick indulgence. Very fun.
March 4, 2013
Romantic, captivating and spiritual. Can't wait to read the sequels!
January 5, 2017
I really loved this book! Interesting characters and plot!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews