Shards

by Kit Campbell

Every night, Eva Martinez dreams about the same man. During the day she tries to convince her mother she knows what she’s doing with her life—but it would help if Eva actually believed it.


It’s been centuries since Michael has had a real reason to live. After the loss of his love, nothing keeps his interest for very long—not even his friends, dabbling in being human.


When Eva and Michael meet, it awakens something in both of them. Eva’s dream-man-turned-real completes her in ways she’s never thought possible, and Michael feels his fire start to return.


But Michael's kind—angels—are forbidden to join with humans. And Eva has attracted the attention of Michael’s ancient enemy—the one who took his first love from him. He couldn't protect her, so he's determined not to let the same fate befall Eva. But can their relationship survive all he’s not telling her?

Genres: Paranormal Romance

353 pages, ebook

First published November 26, 2013

About the author

Kit Campbell has never met a mythology she hasn’t liked. This sometimes leads to issues, such as the occasional Norse God of Thunder showing up in the Garden of Eden. She adores weaving in the possibilities forgotten magic can bring to a story, and enjoys making up new creatures, such as large, venomous monsters that hunt in packs.

Kit’s stories have been published in half-a-dozen anthologies, and her YA novella, Hidden Worlds, was released by Turtleduck Press in 2010.

Kit lives in Colorado in a house of ever-increasing chaos. She can be found around the internet at kitcampbellbooks.com, @KitCampbell, and on Goodreads.

Reviews

[Ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won a copy from Goodreads First Reads.

I don't know why it took Eva this long to figure everything out. Like what Sam said, the names Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael do not hang around in one place unless... Even I saw that by the end of the first chapter. It does help when the synopsis greatly hints the connection between these three friends of Eva and the garden of Eden.

I nearly rolled my eyes when I saw everyone's name correspond to someone else's in mythology or the Bible. Eva is Eve. Michael is archangel Michael. Gabriel is Gabriel. Raphael is Raphael. Sam is Lucifer. Lily is Lilith. Thor is Thor. (Yes, the guy in mythology stories from the Viking's time). Anyway, I just wanted to say how annoying it was to read not only one hundred pages, but two hundred pages of the author stalling the plot. She was basically dragging the plotline along for two hundred pages before the real stuff began. It gets quite annoying when you don't receive enough information in the beginning of the book. But it does give time to speculate the possible endings (including Happily Ever After ending to please kill everyone ending).

Shards is a pretty obvious book for one thing. Obviously there's something going on between Sam (The Morning Star) and Eva (Eve from Bible). It's not much of a guessing game. However, I was surprised that Michael (the archangel, who's practically the eye of God, but not in this book) was Adam. (Sorry, big spoiler, but nothing would make sense if I didn't tell you that).

Evoking emotions from the reader is not a strong suit of Kit Campbell. Boring is the biggest emotion I have after the spell of the first chapter wore off. The truth is I quickly moved on to These Lying Eyes (review is coming soon) and hoped for a little more mystery. Sometimes, these people do not need the same name as their mythology counterparts. It gets really old when you know who is who. I like being able to guess a little bit (like what I mention before).

Why are these people still in college? I don't get it. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael (Sam was minding his evil-doing schemes) live fairly close to the college and attend it. *Sigh* The logic of Twilight's vampire high schoolers still stun me to this day. Why attend school when you can do whatever you want? This logic never gets me. (Doing something for like the hundredth time gets really old. And yes, colleges existed in the old times).

Even though there's a lot of negative stuff, there's still a lot of humor. There's Raphael with his little jokes. Even though the gang (I'm going to call Rafe, Gabe, Mike, and Eva the gang) minus Rafe doesn't like his jokes, they are a relief to the book. They provide a soft and neutral comedy side to Shards.

Eva herself isn't that bad. Even though she's annoying slow, she's not that bad. But let's call her the woman who forgets everything. And Michael? Let's call him the biggest idiot before Eva. Heck, the biggest idiot in the entire book. I don't get how Michael can't see Eve 2.0 in front of his eyes. Hello? They even have the same name and suggest the same things.

Rating: Three out of Five

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[Elyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shards was a really enjoyable read. I liked the balance of adventure, suspense and a good love story that immediately grabbed my interest and made me want to keep reading - I did not want to put it down. It has been a while since I read something that really held my attention but this story definitely did. I also loved the mixing of different fantasy elements that adds character and uniqueness to this book.

[Kylia Gillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm where to start? Well I won this book in a giveaway; which is awesome!

I rate this book 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

I really enjoyed the beginning of the book it was fasted paced and I liked Eva's character, I also enjoyed most of all the other characters Rafe, Gabe, Sam and Lily. I wasn't such a huge fan of Michael though, surprisingly enough.

I found myself very interested in what the big "secret" was from Eva's past. I of course assumed that she was in some fact Eve from the bible.

I was disappointed to find out that Michael was in fact Adam; I was hoping that Adam would be another character entirely but I suppose that would make things even more complicated, adding to the Sam, Eva and Michael love triangle.

When I was reading this book, I found that it reminded me quite a lot of twilight. Which to some can be a good thing or a bad thing. Similarities between Edward and Michael: They both are immortal and look eternally youthful, both characters repeat school and move from place to place to keep up appearances, Both are from a tight knit group; who look different but share similar traits, Both male leads save the "clumsy" female lead from getting hit by a car, Both male leads have a "deep dark secret" and feel torn to tell the girl the truth and betray their "rules",both are in love with an "average girl" for whatever reason and they both are very "attractive,and finally at least part of the book, both male leads try to refrain from sex (Though Eva and Michael do eventually have sex).Being that said there are the obvious differences between the two books but still I couldn't help but see the similarities.

I do like the fact that reincarnation was used in the book; it is a clever idea and I have to say I love almost any book that uses it. The subject of reincarnation just fascinates me.

I would rate this book a four because I liked almost everything in this book even apart from Michael but the towards the end it just couldn't really keep my attention, but hey sometimes I can be bit critical towards books. I do like this book none the less.

I was happy to see that Rafe was okay and in fact unhurt. I didn't really care much that Sam finally meet his maker.(Kind of lost interest in him and Lily half way through) I was wondering if Rafe and Gabe were in a homosexual relationship (completely unrelated but still). I was happy to see Eve regain her memories as Eve and I would have liked to see more details in her memories; there were a lot of gaps (I assume it was brief for times shake. Being that there was a battle going) though I did kind of think it was random she suddenly popped out wings. I didn't really care for Thor either way (Just saying). I thought the last few pages were cute having them all sit at the dinner together; it was a cute ending.


In conclusion, I liked the book and I hope it gains future success.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given a copy of this book from LoP in place of an honest review. I just knew that this book was for me to read. I didn't really understand what this book was about when I read the excerpt. When I started getting into the books things started to really make since.

Eva is a woman that is doing something her mom doesn't understand. Her mom calls her all the time and tells her to pick another study to go to college for. She isn't sure why she has picked to study about religion but she enjoys it and she knows she won't really find a job in it. She knows that strange things are happening and imagine her surprise when she meets the man that has been in her dreams. She thought he wasn't real.

Michael has been trying to stay away from Eva but there is just something about her that draws him to her. She reminds him of the woman he loved Eve. He has went so long without feeling and doesn't know what to do when it starts coming back to him. He tries to listen to his friends but sometimes he just has to see her.

Eva used to like Sam but couldn't bring herself to hang out with him after class. When she meets Michael for real her dreams start changing and Sam seems to be someone that she doesn't feel safe hanging around anymore.

This story just pulled me in the more I read it. I had to make it to the end just to figure out the whole puzzle and see what really happened to Eve. The plot to this story was very believable and I wanted it to all be real. The author did a wonderful job with her story and her characters. I can't wait to read more from this author.

[moredibell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The following is my review that I posted after reading Shards. It's somewhat spoilery, so read at own risk. Shards review.

I still stand by it; the back cover revealed too much. But you know what? I've reflected, and whilst the blurb revealed too much... the story by itself is engaging. It matters what happens to the characters. Eva's struggles with her mother were annoying to me, but it drew me in; I wanted her to win.

And Kit's writing... I enjoyed it. I can see that others might think it should be more serious. I still liked it; I came to believe Kit had fun writing it, and that helped me have fun reading it.

It's been said that you don't write about a boring, every day life in books... and yet, every rule can be broken. Having reflected, I would think Kit breaks this rule somewhat, but I find I don't care--perhaps it was, even in the every day motion of their lives, Kit interwove the greater plot of self-discovery and revelation into it...

Shards is worth reading.

[Dan Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shards was a fun read. Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. It is very well written, and the characters invite you with open arms into their world, where nothing is as it seems, but everyone has a history. The book is founded upon ideas that are truly innovative, twisting a rarely traversed trope into a gripping culture that just seems to fit. It leaned a little heavy on the romance side, but there is enough action, intrigue, and humor for anyone to enjoy. If you want a story that is unique enough to rise above the white noise, this is it.

[t star · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a book lover to the max. I rarely ever not like a book. Sadly I can no longer so that because I did not like this book. I can’t tell if it’s because of the writing style or maybe it was the characters. I know I liked the type of story. I feel like the story was the most developed part of the novel which is why I rated it two stars. I’m not sure if I would continue to read from this author. I might even give this book another chance later in the year but for now. It’s a major dislike and not to be read. I mean you could read it if you like but I don’t recommend it.

[Rohit Dombe]

i would like to read this book.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so glad to finally get a chance to read this book. I love the take on mythology and Eva is a delight. Lovely!