Beloved Evangeline

Broken Heroine Trilogy #1

by W.C. Anderson

Evangeline Johnson may just be the unluckiest live-person on the planet.

What begins innocently as a search for answers gradually grows into an obsession, one that leaves her slightly scarred and more than slightly antisocial. Unsuccessful--to say the least--at hiding from the bizarre and deadly accidents that befall those unfortunate enough to cross her path, she ultimately finds herself lured onto a haunting adventure--from which there's no turning back.

Welcome to a dark world where reality and fantasy violently collide, and nothing ever comes without a price


*This is the first book of a New Adult Urban Fantasy/Comedy trilogy for grown-ups tired of perusing the YA section in search of books with both humor and heart. The sequel, Ever Evangeline, is due in May 2013.

Playlist

Mistaken for Strangers ~The National
Butterflies & Hurricanes ~Muse
Possum Kingdom ~Toadies
How Soon is Now? ~The Smiths
Firesuite ~Doves
Sea Song ~Doves
Not Your Fault ~AWOL Nation
Kinda I Want to ~NIN
It Could be Sunshine ~Love & Rockets
What About Us? ~Ministry
All in My Mind ~Love & Rockets
Bound for Hell ~Love & Rockets
Under the Milky Way ~The Church

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult, Fiction, Mystery

259 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

W.C. Anderson is a native Floridian who's currently separated from home and putting on a (mostly) brave face in the southwest.

Reviews

[Cstillsquare · Rating 2 out of 5]

The tedium of being thorough often erodes my will to live.

Leaning toward 2.5 stars, an extra half star for that line alone. If I were rating this book against only other self-publish efforts, it'd be 4 stars.

Beloved Evangeline has a lot of good elements, but they are dragged down by not enough editing. Too much filler, too much time in the protagonist's head with no action, and a sometimes disjointed narrative. The love interest also gives a cringe-worthy speech that threatens to flip the misfit heroine into MarySue territory.

Nonetheless, the plot is interesting, the mystery surrounding the heroine is unfolding at an appealing pace, and her difficulties aren't resolved in a neat little bow. Evangeline's voice gets tighter as the book goes on, and some lines are downright golden. Overall, a decent series setup though you might be skimming some parts.

I probably will read the sequel once it's published, but again as a loan.

Note of warning/slight spoilers:

Trigger warning: There are many allusions to sexual violence and at least the start of an assault on the page.

Cliffhanger warning: If you're someone who tables a book until its sequel because of a cliffhanger, you can simply skip the last chapter (34 in the Kindle edition). The final short chapter sets up the next book, but this book's story is complete without it.

[Val. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the most confusing book I have ever read in my whole entire life. I read this a while ago and I still remember how bad it was. Nothing made sense. The story jumped from one thing to the next with no explanation of why. One of the worst books I have ever read.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really rather good in a dark, tortured sort of way. It starts off with a bang and then slows down to fill you in on details and relevant information. The last third of the book gets going again, and finishes off with a cliffhanger that left me speechless. Evangeline is our heroine, who cuts herself off from getting too close to anyone because they always die or go insane. After years of hiding, we find things are going to change for Evangeline as she looks to find some meaning from some unexpected sources. The book is 1rst person, so we are inside her head as she braves dangers both physical and supernatural to save her family, her friends and herself. This helped me to understand why she did some things that looked rather crazy to the average person. Some scenes at work seemed to be added as filler, for example the scene in the boardroom didn't add to the story. If these had been tightened up, the story would have been much more compelling. With that being the only negative, I would still recommend it highly. The story is a dark puzzle of Evangeline's history and her future is clearly uncertain. I will definitely read the second book when it comes out. The characterization is strong and the story uniquely imaginative. There are surprises and romance where you least expect them. This all combines to make an sheerly enjoyable read.

[Melyssa Williams]

I'm 61% through this book (gotta love the Kindle) and I'm somewhat confused as to whether I love it or not! It definitely pulled me in from the beginning, and I gotta say, W.C. is EXCELLENT at her characters. Evangeline and her friends from work are very well drawn; distinct personalities that really shine through. The rest of the writing is odd - I can't quite tell what kind of a book I'm reading really. I found it shelved in the YAs, so I was surprised when I got several chapters in and realized it was NOT about a teenager, but a thirty something (?) woman in the working world. The supernatural parts I am not digging too much. It's too all over the place, but I'm still sticking with it, because I have to know what happens to Evangeline, Nicky, Simon and Gavin. I can do without the whole Grandpa angle with the necklace and the mother floating around in the pool, etc.

It definitely needs to be edited, revised, etc. As an Indie author, I know this is difficult. Sometimes it just takes new eyes to see the mistakes, like the (wayyyyy) over-use of italics and bold face to make a point, the chapter headings not starting on a new page, missing words, etc. I think I saw a "you're" that should have been a "your" at one point.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something strange about Evangeline. She is like a magnet where trouble and accidents are concerned. To protect her friends, she tries to keep them at a distance, usually without much success. Yet, Evangeline has a spirit that seems to have a boundless, quiet reserve of strength and fortitude. She has been relatively successful at blending in for years, but now she is being forced to unravel the mystery of her sudden, unexpected inheritance, while trying to free her mentally ill mother, and complete some other difficult challenges in order to satisfy the last wishes of an old man claiming to be her grandfather.

I loved Evangeline’s voice in this story – often snarky and darkly humorous, her strange quirks come across as real and sometimes heart-breaking. As she gets pulled deeper into the dark, supernatural world, I marveled at her tenacious persistence to get the job done. This story does a wonderful job of introducing Evangeline and has whet my appetite for further adventures.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seriously? This had to be one of the strangest books I've ever read. It was very interesting, but I don't really understand where the book was coming from. Evangeline is a strange, quirky girl who has been cursed unintentionally by her mother, who happens to be crazy and in an institution. People randomly die around her and she loses the men in her life that she cares about. She tries her whole life to prove that her mother is not insane by trying to find supernatural beings. She is very flighty and half crazy herself. She ends up finding proof for herself, but in the meantime finds out that the curse is more real than she can imagine.

[E. Bard]

It's really hard to rate this. There is so much potential for it - there is some very good writing in the book and the overall idea would make a great story if some of the sub plotting was just cleared out. It starts out well enough, but runs into trouble with unclear sections and maybe even contradictions (particularly with the main character). I hate to be negative - the book was okay. I just wish the author had more time to make the story flow together and fix the broken bits.

[Skye · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was ALL over the place. And not in a good way. Convoluted story that at times felt like it was being written by three different people, plot lines that suddenly disappeared, rambling story... and to top it all off, a non-ending as apparently it's going to be a series. I don't think I can hang in there for another one.

[J.M. Horn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a mixed bag. At times the story was strong and the characters kept you interested. Other time it felt like the writer was struggling to make sure the book met a certain length. There is potential in the character if the inside thought is reduce some and any future stories are tightened.

[Meshachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something about this book, despite the sometimes poor editing, just....drew me in. And I am a stickler for proper editing. My friends have, on more than one occasion, referred to me as a grammar Nazi. But i don't care. I loved this book, flaws and all. I love Evangeline. I relate to her. So this book, for all its imperfections, gets a perfect score from me.

[Rachel]

Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. Evangeline's character just drove me nuts to the point of me hating her. I really need to like the main character inorder to enjoy a book, so this too hard for me and I gave up.

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable

Really liked this book, although it could have used tighter editing...there are a lot of errors, especially towards the middle of the book and continuing. Still, the story is quirky and I would like to see more of it unfold.

[Denise · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just could not get into this book. Will Archive in my Kindle and try again at another time.

[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Finally!! I'm done! This is one long drawn out story that I have no intentions of looking at again in this lifetime or the next.

[karen Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very slow

you have to read 90% of the book before the story actually starts. There is a lot of spelling errors which is very distracting.

[Michelle]

worst book ever

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beloved Evangeline

So very different! I have been reading for fifty five years, and that means many many books. I loved this book. Highly recommend

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I Did Not Like this book and could not get into it.

[Jessica]

Had to abandon it.