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Brenna Strachan #1
Dark Cotillion
Brenna Strachan is half-Demon, half-Witch and its the eve of her 30th birthday. This means that she will stop aging and come into all her Demon powers. But there are forces at work hoping to keep her from Maturing. They must kill her in the short time that she is mortal. If they fail, she will take her place among the powerful beings on Earth. While Brenna struggles to stay alive, she must also struggle to find out exactly who she is and come out of her parents' shadows.
389 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2012
98 people are currently reading
417 people want to read
About the author
Hadena James
45 books248 followersHadena James began writing at the age of eight. As a teenager, she had several short stories published in literary magazines. She completed writing her first novel at the age of 17.
Hadena graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in European History with minors in German and Russian studies. She has always wanted to be a writer so she also took several classes in creative writing.
Hadena’s primary literary genre is action/thriller. She currently writes two series, both use action/thriller. “The Brenna Strachan Series” uses fantasy and the “Dreams & Reality Series” uses murder mystery as its secondary genre. She continues to explore and expand her writing and hopes to soon produce a comedic action/thriller.
When she isn’t busy writing or running her business, Hadena enjoys playing in a steel-tip dart league. She also loves to travel throughout North America and Europe. Her favorite cities are Chicago, Illinois and Berlin, Germany. She is an avid reader, reading everything from the classics like Jane Austen to modern writers like Terry Pratchett. One of her all-time favorite books is “Good Omens” by Neil Gaimen and Terry Pratchett. She writes all of her books while listening to music and the bands tend to get “honorable mentions” within the pages.
Hadena graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in European History with minors in German and Russian studies. She has always wanted to be a writer so she also took several classes in creative writing.
Hadena’s primary literary genre is action/thriller. She currently writes two series, both use action/thriller. “The Brenna Strachan Series” uses fantasy and the “Dreams & Reality Series” uses murder mystery as its secondary genre. She continues to explore and expand her writing and hopes to soon produce a comedic action/thriller.
When she isn’t busy writing or running her business, Hadena enjoys playing in a steel-tip dart league. She also loves to travel throughout North America and Europe. Her favorite cities are Chicago, Illinois and Berlin, Germany. She is an avid reader, reading everything from the classics like Jane Austen to modern writers like Terry Pratchett. One of her all-time favorite books is “Good Omens” by Neil Gaimen and Terry Pratchett. She writes all of her books while listening to music and the bands tend to get “honorable mentions” within the pages.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 13, 2013
I struggled with this one but persevered to the end. I found it very repetitive and read like a Wikipedia entry on the history of supernatural beings.
June 29, 2014
This one has potential but it just fell a little flat for me. Another reviewer said it reads like a Wikipedia entry for supernatural beings and I totally agree. The dialogue, which is filled with info dump after info dump on everything from witch history to mythological beings, is stiff and sort of reminded me of a dictionary entry. There is a real lack of credibility to it. If the author felt like all that information was truly needed for the plot of the story there needed to be a better way of doing it.
November 7, 2017
Dark Cotillion
Take many of one's favorite mythological creatures, mix it with an intricate knowledge of each of their individual personalities, turn every myth of these creatures in a new twist and the reader has one of the best stories I've ever read. Five Star Rating, which I've never given another book.
Take many of one's favorite mythological creatures, mix it with an intricate knowledge of each of their individual personalities, turn every myth of these creatures in a new twist and the reader has one of the best stories I've ever read. Five Star Rating, which I've never given another book.
September 27, 2023
Brenna Strachan is half-Demon, half-Witch and it’s the eve of her 30th birthday. This means that she will stop ageing and come into all her Demon powers. But there are forces at work hoping to keep her from Maturing.
This is the third book by Hadena James that I have read. The author’s voice is very powerful and Brenna Strachan comes across to the reader in a similar fashion to Aislinn Cain in Elysium Dreams and Nadine Daniels in The Dysfunctional Affair. Brenna has the same vibrant attitude and aversion to shopping. I enjoyed her two other earlier novels but I found Dark Cotillion a drag. I started off thinking it may be a brave attack against racism as Breena was a half breed and parallels could be drawn about how people of mixed race get on in society. But no, this was all fantasy and I was put off by all the magic nonsense. This is simply not my kind of thing.
I found Dark Cotillion very easy to put down. I was bored by the fantasy characters who spanned the range of The Lycan, The Vampire, The Angel, The Gargoyle, The Demon, Elders, plus Chimeras, Dragons, Wyverns, Harpies, Minotaurs, Centaurs, Fey and Trolls.
Dark Cotillion has a bad ending which made me sigh out loud at the time I had wasted ploughing through this POOR 2 star read. Hadena wrote this novel in 2012 and her story is set in the current day - then being 2012. However, she makes a silly error which will make British readers gasp in shock. Later on in the book Brenna meets the King of England! Well, as a lot of people know, King Charles III, formerly known as The Prince of Wales, became King on the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022. Most people view the late Queen Elizabeth II as a global icon and Hadena should have known better!
There was just one line in this book that made me smile though, “Think of it as a lost dog. It will just wander around until something happens.”
This is the third book by Hadena James that I have read. The author’s voice is very powerful and Brenna Strachan comes across to the reader in a similar fashion to Aislinn Cain in Elysium Dreams and Nadine Daniels in The Dysfunctional Affair. Brenna has the same vibrant attitude and aversion to shopping. I enjoyed her two other earlier novels but I found Dark Cotillion a drag. I started off thinking it may be a brave attack against racism as Breena was a half breed and parallels could be drawn about how people of mixed race get on in society. But no, this was all fantasy and I was put off by all the magic nonsense. This is simply not my kind of thing.
I found Dark Cotillion very easy to put down. I was bored by the fantasy characters who spanned the range of The Lycan, The Vampire, The Angel, The Gargoyle, The Demon, Elders, plus Chimeras, Dragons, Wyverns, Harpies, Minotaurs, Centaurs, Fey and Trolls.
Dark Cotillion has a bad ending which made me sigh out loud at the time I had wasted ploughing through this POOR 2 star read. Hadena wrote this novel in 2012 and her story is set in the current day - then being 2012. However, she makes a silly error which will make British readers gasp in shock. Later on in the book Brenna meets the King of England! Well, as a lot of people know, King Charles III, formerly known as The Prince of Wales, became King on the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022. Most people view the late Queen Elizabeth II as a global icon and Hadena should have known better!
There was just one line in this book that made me smile though, “Think of it as a lost dog. It will just wander around until something happens.”
March 15, 2018
A very different book lol
I really had my kind of fun. Very unusual entertainment. I enjoyed the epilogue, as well to see lucifer as he is very dictated to his family and will do everything to protect them.
I really had a laugh by: In 1946, the Pope blessed Lucifer in the Vatican. Lucifer took part in communion and was baptized, and did not spontaneously combust or scream in pain. 😁
The book seems to amaze me. You will learn a lot about different God's, like Little ol Anubis, yes really. Even Gabriel the archangel, the messenger.
The book has a lot of fantastic fantasy about mythological creatures, mixed with an intricate knowledge of each personalities. It's nothing you ever read before. The sarcasm and liveliness of the characters is spot on! I liked the length of the book, because it was free.
So short up: Brenna is born half demon half witch. On her 30th birthday she will stop ageing and comes into her demon powers. The maturing take one month, in this time she is mortal.
A prophecy says that she needs to be killed, because she would bring doom to the world.
The fun begins as Brenna struggles to stay alive, with her five men at her side they will do everything to keep her alive. That she can take her place among the powerful beings on earth.
The reason I gave only four stars: issues with proofreading. Bush still a great book!! Thank You!!
I really had my kind of fun. Very unusual entertainment. I enjoyed the epilogue, as well to see lucifer as he is very dictated to his family and will do everything to protect them.
I really had a laugh by: In 1946, the Pope blessed Lucifer in the Vatican. Lucifer took part in communion and was baptized, and did not spontaneously combust or scream in pain. 😁
The book seems to amaze me. You will learn a lot about different God's, like Little ol Anubis, yes really. Even Gabriel the archangel, the messenger.
The book has a lot of fantastic fantasy about mythological creatures, mixed with an intricate knowledge of each personalities. It's nothing you ever read before. The sarcasm and liveliness of the characters is spot on! I liked the length of the book, because it was free.
So short up: Brenna is born half demon half witch. On her 30th birthday she will stop ageing and comes into her demon powers. The maturing take one month, in this time she is mortal.
A prophecy says that she needs to be killed, because she would bring doom to the world.
The fun begins as Brenna struggles to stay alive, with her five men at her side they will do everything to keep her alive. That she can take her place among the powerful beings on earth.
The reason I gave only four stars: issues with proofreading. Bush still a great book!! Thank You!!
June 17, 2020
Uh...what?
So.... interesting premise. But yeah, really disappointing.
If you're looking for action and excitement, you'll not find it here.
However, if you're looking for half a story told to you via chapters and chapters of conversation, then this will be right up your alley.
Im not exaggerating. The first 47% of the book is pretty much conversation between maybe seven characters, five of which are almost constantly together. 5% of the book actually shows you something, and the rest is conversation.
Im not attached to anyone. No one is significant. Im nut entirely sure how or why I finished reading this, but I did. I guess I hoped eventually there'd be action... but it was shortlived and boring, not at all exciting.
One dimensional characters, though the effort to give backstories was there, it was just very forced and didn't help at all. Most likely due to the lack of response from Brenna. It was a strangely unemotional read.
Anyway, I'm not reading further.
So.... interesting premise. But yeah, really disappointing.
If you're looking for action and excitement, you'll not find it here.
However, if you're looking for half a story told to you via chapters and chapters of conversation, then this will be right up your alley.
Im not exaggerating. The first 47% of the book is pretty much conversation between maybe seven characters, five of which are almost constantly together. 5% of the book actually shows you something, and the rest is conversation.
Im not attached to anyone. No one is significant. Im nut entirely sure how or why I finished reading this, but I did. I guess I hoped eventually there'd be action... but it was shortlived and boring, not at all exciting.
One dimensional characters, though the effort to give backstories was there, it was just very forced and didn't help at all. Most likely due to the lack of response from Brenna. It was a strangely unemotional read.
Anyway, I'm not reading further.
March 12, 2017
A New Take On Demons
I really like this imagining of demons, witches, gargoyles, vampires, angels and lycans. It's a different kind of world building. It's very imaginative, puts a new spin on all things mythical. The main character, Brenna Strachan, is hard on herself, but is really quite funny , witty with a touch of sarcasm. The other predominate characters are equally entertaining. And her farther is just a riot, a new way to experience this character. This first book is set during Brenna's maturing, and it is extremely eventful.
Overall, this book was very entertaining, funny in plenty of places, and it had loads of action. The dialogue does have a few cuss words and a little sexual content, but nothing graphic, which was fine for me. That being said, it worked for me in this book, and was not a common thread. It was an interesting world to live in while I read it. The only thing that took away from it was the lack of good editing, but it wasn't bad enough to be unreadable. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a different kind of fantasy/mythical read. I will be reading the next book.
I really like this imagining of demons, witches, gargoyles, vampires, angels and lycans. It's a different kind of world building. It's very imaginative, puts a new spin on all things mythical. The main character, Brenna Strachan, is hard on herself, but is really quite funny , witty with a touch of sarcasm. The other predominate characters are equally entertaining. And her farther is just a riot, a new way to experience this character. This first book is set during Brenna's maturing, and it is extremely eventful.
Overall, this book was very entertaining, funny in plenty of places, and it had loads of action. The dialogue does have a few cuss words and a little sexual content, but nothing graphic, which was fine for me. That being said, it worked for me in this book, and was not a common thread. It was an interesting world to live in while I read it. The only thing that took away from it was the lack of good editing, but it wasn't bad enough to be unreadable. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a different kind of fantasy/mythical read. I will be reading the next book.
April 13, 2014
Cute & Humorous!
First I want to say that I really enjoyed the paranormal elements mixed with our current day modern world. I love the idea that not all is what it seems regarding Lucifer and his demons and all other mystical creatures in the paranormal world. I especially love entertaining the idea how the biblical ideology is only filled with half truths and where prophecy’s are only fueled by halfwit idiots who where mad at one thing and cast their ill wishes upon everyone else. In this aspect the author does an awesome job creating a world to add to my wondering imagination making me wish I could be a witch and cast a spell to bring all magical creatures to life.
Introducing the story line with a Centaurian Prophecy is fantastic. The story’s journey begins with Lucifer (Luc) and his human wife “Elise the Witch” birthing a daughter (Brenna) that was prophesied to bring devastation and division between the Overlords and the humans’ with a possibility causes a war to end all civilization.
The story is written in first person as we’re introduced to Brenna (Demon/Witch) as she lives through each day of the 30 days going through her maturing ritual of being human and easily risking the danger of being killed in her weak human form by her one and only enemy Chiron the Centaur Overlord.
Brenna is a cute Demon / Witch who has identity issues. Her demeanor and attitude towards everything and everyone made this a very humorous read. Yes she is a demon, but not just any demon as she happens to be the only lilac “purplish” in color, shorter than most, and instead of having a big rack of horns - she got stuck with two little tiny nubs hidden under her hair. Her personality totally cracked me up. Even though she was going through her maturing stage at 30 yrs old she reminded me of a rebelling teenager.
Everything surrounding Brenna is cute with her magical cursed spell book, dresser, and desk that can talk back to her. She cast spells in her sleep not knowing what she had done until she woke up later – this was very funny when she realized she’d cast souls into her bedroom furniture. The dresser was my favorite because he liked to pick her clothes out and dress her – he was gay and very funny.
Brenna has help with her maturing from the 4 men she had bind to her when she was a child by accidently casting a spell thinking she was playing Knights to protect her. Yep, she was the first witch/demon to actually bind together a Lycan “Fenrir”, a vampire “Anbus”, an Angel “Gabriel”, and a Gargoyle “Ba’al” with her life force – so if either one of them was killed then they’d all die. Protecting and educating Brenna was their main concern as she lived each day through her maturity.
Their interaction was like a close nit family – like having 4 big brothers giving you sound advice one might say or as the overlords would say – best friends that could lead into potential lovers in the future since eternity lasted forever you have to have something to do to past by the time. LOL
I have to state the reason I am giving this a One Star for the Heat Level is because of the graphic language and the exposure of descriptive naked bodies. There is no sex in the book but it is mention several times as an everyday experience that the paranormal world finds common in multiple partners due to their longevity of life.
With all the war like challenges of gathering power and spell casting from the different creatures woven between the scenes the story became an action packed fun read. The ending climaxed with one prophecy changed and a insight to a possible follow-up of more prophecy’s to be fulfilled.
Good Read!
**Copy provided by Author for a Fair and Honest Review**
First I want to say that I really enjoyed the paranormal elements mixed with our current day modern world. I love the idea that not all is what it seems regarding Lucifer and his demons and all other mystical creatures in the paranormal world. I especially love entertaining the idea how the biblical ideology is only filled with half truths and where prophecy’s are only fueled by halfwit idiots who where mad at one thing and cast their ill wishes upon everyone else. In this aspect the author does an awesome job creating a world to add to my wondering imagination making me wish I could be a witch and cast a spell to bring all magical creatures to life.
Introducing the story line with a Centaurian Prophecy is fantastic. The story’s journey begins with Lucifer (Luc) and his human wife “Elise the Witch” birthing a daughter (Brenna) that was prophesied to bring devastation and division between the Overlords and the humans’ with a possibility causes a war to end all civilization.
The story is written in first person as we’re introduced to Brenna (Demon/Witch) as she lives through each day of the 30 days going through her maturing ritual of being human and easily risking the danger of being killed in her weak human form by her one and only enemy Chiron the Centaur Overlord.
Brenna is a cute Demon / Witch who has identity issues. Her demeanor and attitude towards everything and everyone made this a very humorous read. Yes she is a demon, but not just any demon as she happens to be the only lilac “purplish” in color, shorter than most, and instead of having a big rack of horns - she got stuck with two little tiny nubs hidden under her hair. Her personality totally cracked me up. Even though she was going through her maturing stage at 30 yrs old she reminded me of a rebelling teenager.
Everything surrounding Brenna is cute with her magical cursed spell book, dresser, and desk that can talk back to her. She cast spells in her sleep not knowing what she had done until she woke up later – this was very funny when she realized she’d cast souls into her bedroom furniture. The dresser was my favorite because he liked to pick her clothes out and dress her – he was gay and very funny.
Brenna has help with her maturing from the 4 men she had bind to her when she was a child by accidently casting a spell thinking she was playing Knights to protect her. Yep, she was the first witch/demon to actually bind together a Lycan “Fenrir”, a vampire “Anbus”, an Angel “Gabriel”, and a Gargoyle “Ba’al” with her life force – so if either one of them was killed then they’d all die. Protecting and educating Brenna was their main concern as she lived each day through her maturity.
Their interaction was like a close nit family – like having 4 big brothers giving you sound advice one might say or as the overlords would say – best friends that could lead into potential lovers in the future since eternity lasted forever you have to have something to do to past by the time. LOL
I have to state the reason I am giving this a One Star for the Heat Level is because of the graphic language and the exposure of descriptive naked bodies. There is no sex in the book but it is mention several times as an everyday experience that the paranormal world finds common in multiple partners due to their longevity of life.
With all the war like challenges of gathering power and spell casting from the different creatures woven between the scenes the story became an action packed fun read. The ending climaxed with one prophecy changed and a insight to a possible follow-up of more prophecy’s to be fulfilled.
Good Read!
**Copy provided by Author for a Fair and Honest Review**
June 23, 2014
I rated this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.
A fan of fantasy, paranormal and urban fantasy books, I held off on reading The Brenna Strachan series because I’m such a huge fan of Hadena James other work. I feared that either I wouldn’t like the first book or that I would find myself unable to do justice to the book in my review (I’ve been struggling with reviewer “block”). Fortunately, I am able to report that I enjoyed Dark Cotillion more than I expected and I’ll make the review short. I don’t want to give away too many spoilers.
Thirty year old Brenna Strachan has a lot on her plate; turning thirty years old, working as a lieutenant and healer in Demonnation, and facing an enemy determined to have her executed before she comes into her full “maturing” and immortality. The daughter of Lucifer and the world’s second strongest witch, Brenna has always known she’s different (she has lilac skin and very short horns after all). She just never expected to discover a traitor within her own family.
Creating a unique, intricate and interesting world, Ms. James uses paranormal, religious and mythical characters to showcase a central and recurring message throughout this book. I won’t tell you the message because that would be a spoiler in itself – but it’s something we all need to be reminded of. Binding her characters together through relationships, Ms. James uses her knowledge of history to show mankind at its best and its worst.
While I loved getting to know Brenna, the main character, I also enjoyed getting to know the secondary characters and how they were connected to each other. While it’s unusual to have more than a couple of important secondary characters in a book, I would say that there are easily 15 secondary characters who play an important part of Brenna’s life – and they are all friends and family. I especially enjoyed getting to know Lucifer, Brenna’s father, Gabriel, her friend and the overlord of the angels, Fenrir, the overlord of the werewolves, Baal, the overlord of the gargoyles and Anubis, the overlord of the vampires.
Ms. James also did a good job developing Brenna’s enemies. The main villain, Chiron, is colorful and we are given plenty of opportunities to see him at his worst. There’s also a member of Brenna’s family who can’t be trusted, and it was interesting to watch her family handle the situation as a whole.
Will Brenna make it past her maturing? Will her gaining immortality mean the end for the world? You’ll want to read Dark Cotillion to find out. I enjoyed it a lot and I look forward to reading Dark Illumination next.
A fan of fantasy, paranormal and urban fantasy books, I held off on reading The Brenna Strachan series because I’m such a huge fan of Hadena James other work. I feared that either I wouldn’t like the first book or that I would find myself unable to do justice to the book in my review (I’ve been struggling with reviewer “block”). Fortunately, I am able to report that I enjoyed Dark Cotillion more than I expected and I’ll make the review short. I don’t want to give away too many spoilers.
Thirty year old Brenna Strachan has a lot on her plate; turning thirty years old, working as a lieutenant and healer in Demonnation, and facing an enemy determined to have her executed before she comes into her full “maturing” and immortality. The daughter of Lucifer and the world’s second strongest witch, Brenna has always known she’s different (she has lilac skin and very short horns after all). She just never expected to discover a traitor within her own family.
Creating a unique, intricate and interesting world, Ms. James uses paranormal, religious and mythical characters to showcase a central and recurring message throughout this book. I won’t tell you the message because that would be a spoiler in itself – but it’s something we all need to be reminded of. Binding her characters together through relationships, Ms. James uses her knowledge of history to show mankind at its best and its worst.
While I loved getting to know Brenna, the main character, I also enjoyed getting to know the secondary characters and how they were connected to each other. While it’s unusual to have more than a couple of important secondary characters in a book, I would say that there are easily 15 secondary characters who play an important part of Brenna’s life – and they are all friends and family. I especially enjoyed getting to know Lucifer, Brenna’s father, Gabriel, her friend and the overlord of the angels, Fenrir, the overlord of the werewolves, Baal, the overlord of the gargoyles and Anubis, the overlord of the vampires.
Ms. James also did a good job developing Brenna’s enemies. The main villain, Chiron, is colorful and we are given plenty of opportunities to see him at his worst. There’s also a member of Brenna’s family who can’t be trusted, and it was interesting to watch her family handle the situation as a whole.
Will Brenna make it past her maturing? Will her gaining immortality mean the end for the world? You’ll want to read Dark Cotillion to find out. I enjoyed it a lot and I look forward to reading Dark Illumination next.
December 18, 2017
Demons and djinn and chimera oh my
Wow. The detail. The fighting. The sarcasm and liveliness of the characters. Full win. Love the writing style. Excited to read the next book.
Wow. The detail. The fighting. The sarcasm and liveliness of the characters. Full win. Love the writing style. Excited to read the next book.
October 24, 2014
Genre: Fantasy/ Paranormal
Author: Hadena James
Book: Dark Cotillion Bk #1 in the Brenna Strachan series
My Star Rating: 4 out of 5
Will I read I read it again? Yes
This review is my honest opinion and I have fully read this book.
I got this book free from Amazon and I loved this first book. In this book we are introduced with many different Elders. The main characters you are introduced to is:
Lucifer- Overlord of Demon
Gabriel- Angel
Anubis- Vampire
Morgana- Overlord of Fey
Fenir- Overlord of Lycans
Uther Pendragon- The Keeper (you will find out more about Pendragon in the other books)
Kagutsuchi- Elemental
Ba’al- Overlord of Gargoyles
Chiron- Centaur
Vishnu- Djinn
Magnus – most powerful witch currently living
In this world the Demons are not “evil” and the Angels not “good”. In this book it starts off with the prophecy told by the centaurs. The prophecy is telling of how Lucifer will find his human witch mate. Once he finds his mate they will have children. One child that has lavender skin who will ruin this world.
That child is Brenna and Chiron the Centaur wants her dead before she starts maturing and becomes the strongest of them all.
This book has humor and action packed. Can’t wait to read book 2!
Author: Hadena James
Book: Dark Cotillion Bk #1 in the Brenna Strachan series
My Star Rating: 4 out of 5
Will I read I read it again? Yes
This review is my honest opinion and I have fully read this book.
I got this book free from Amazon and I loved this first book. In this book we are introduced with many different Elders. The main characters you are introduced to is:
Lucifer- Overlord of Demon
Gabriel- Angel
Anubis- Vampire
Morgana- Overlord of Fey
Fenir- Overlord of Lycans
Uther Pendragon- The Keeper (you will find out more about Pendragon in the other books)
Kagutsuchi- Elemental
Ba’al- Overlord of Gargoyles
Chiron- Centaur
Vishnu- Djinn
Magnus – most powerful witch currently living
In this world the Demons are not “evil” and the Angels not “good”. In this book it starts off with the prophecy told by the centaurs. The prophecy is telling of how Lucifer will find his human witch mate. Once he finds his mate they will have children. One child that has lavender skin who will ruin this world.
That child is Brenna and Chiron the Centaur wants her dead before she starts maturing and becomes the strongest of them all.
This book has humor and action packed. Can’t wait to read book 2!
August 23, 2016
Good story, bad proofreading
I really enjoyed this story up to the epilogue. It was full of excitement and action. I liked getting to know Gabriel, Anubis, Baal, and Fenrir, along with Brenna and her family. Lucifer as a good guy and him being a dedicated family man was interesting and different.
I had an issue with the proofreading of this book. The major problem was run on sentences and comma splices. The book was full of them, and this is one of my pet peeves.
My biggest problem with the book is that in the epilogue, the writer described Jesus Christ as the false prophet. I knew when I downloaded the book it was paranormal fiction, and I knew it was not a Christian book, but I didn't expect to read something that completely mocks my belief system.
As much as I liked the book prior to that, I won't be reading any more of this series, because it is a mockery of my religion. I've read paranormal books in the past, and by that I mean at least one a week for the past 8 years, and I have not run across any that completely put my belief system down.
If it hadn't been for that section of the book, I would have given it 4 stars in spite of the punctuation errors.
I really enjoyed this story up to the epilogue. It was full of excitement and action. I liked getting to know Gabriel, Anubis, Baal, and Fenrir, along with Brenna and her family. Lucifer as a good guy and him being a dedicated family man was interesting and different.
I had an issue with the proofreading of this book. The major problem was run on sentences and comma splices. The book was full of them, and this is one of my pet peeves.
My biggest problem with the book is that in the epilogue, the writer described Jesus Christ as the false prophet. I knew when I downloaded the book it was paranormal fiction, and I knew it was not a Christian book, but I didn't expect to read something that completely mocks my belief system.
As much as I liked the book prior to that, I won't be reading any more of this series, because it is a mockery of my religion. I've read paranormal books in the past, and by that I mean at least one a week for the past 8 years, and I have not run across any that completely put my belief system down.
If it hadn't been for that section of the book, I would have given it 4 stars in spite of the punctuation errors.
March 26, 2013
Brenna Strachan started out as a NaNoWriMo dare. It was decided that I should try to write outside my comfort zone (mystery/thriller) and create something different. And different it is...
Having a history degree gave me a unique position for creating the characters in this book. I went back to the roots of history and mythology to create most of them based on what they "used" to be, not what they are perceived to be now.
It originally started out as a single novel, but the plot grew so complex and the word count kept growing by leaps and bounds, that I eventually took the idea and broke it up. This created the Strachan series.
Personally, Dark Cotillion was very easy to write. As the series has evolved, they have slowly become harder because the plot has become so complex.
And yes, my intention with Brenna was to create one very unhappy Demon. :-D
Having a history degree gave me a unique position for creating the characters in this book. I went back to the roots of history and mythology to create most of them based on what they "used" to be, not what they are perceived to be now.
It originally started out as a single novel, but the plot grew so complex and the word count kept growing by leaps and bounds, that I eventually took the idea and broke it up. This created the Strachan series.
Personally, Dark Cotillion was very easy to write. As the series has evolved, they have slowly become harder because the plot has become so complex.
And yes, my intention with Brenna was to create one very unhappy Demon. :-D
March 19, 2014
Dark cotillion
Dark cotillion
I was a little sceptical about this book when I first began it. I am a huge history buff and do not like alternate history books, which is kind of how this book started. I am very glad I stuck with it. Brenna is a great character and the story is extremely interesting. The world that James creates in this book is rich and fascinating. I love the origins of the different breeds and how they all time together. I was about a quarter of the way into the book when I went and bought the others. I can't wait to get started on them. I highly recommend this book!!
Dark cotillion
I was a little sceptical about this book when I first began it. I am a huge history buff and do not like alternate history books, which is kind of how this book started. I am very glad I stuck with it. Brenna is a great character and the story is extremely interesting. The world that James creates in this book is rich and fascinating. I love the origins of the different breeds and how they all time together. I was about a quarter of the way into the book when I went and bought the others. I can't wait to get started on them. I highly recommend this book!!
July 2, 2019
I love Hadena James' other series and when Dark Cotillion was offered for free I jumped on it. I'm so glad I did. This type of fantasy book is not my usual, I prefer paranormal stuff. My first review of my first HJ book Tourched Dreams was "WOW this book just blew me away". Again this book is a five star wow. My love of books is in the characters and as always Ms James comes through with great characters, humor and story telling.
December 4, 2014
Dark Cotillion introduces us to Brenna Strachan, half demon, a witch and about to go through "maturing". The story is fast paced and suspenseful and an excellent read. Hadena James has such a range of writing talent, don't miss out on this one!
August 28, 2015
Excellent
This book combines so many religions and stories from all around the world. It is an amazing book. I loved it and the characters were wonderful. It was everything you would want a book to be and more. Definitely a must read. I am looking forward to reading book two.
This book combines so many religions and stories from all around the world. It is an amazing book. I loved it and the characters were wonderful. It was everything you would want a book to be and more. Definitely a must read. I am looking forward to reading book two.
November 7, 2014
The more I read, the more I kept thinking of all the Mary Sues and I was honestly disappointed.
May 13, 2015
Amazing fantasy series
March 12, 2016
An interesting alternate view of the world and l am addicted.
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