The Compass

The Divided Star #1

by Cindy Charity

Darkness is coming...in truth, it's already here. The only thing that can defeat it is the Compass. Only problem is...she doesn't know.

Feisty and defiant Ali Hayes, is determined to break free from her controlling parents. New York is the perfect place to assert her independence and prove once and for all that she wasn't crazy. However, strange events begin to happen, threatening to open the door to the past that she swore she had nailed shut. And when a sexy, immortal warrior, claiming that she was needed to save the world, tries to abduct her off the street, Ali has to rethink the whole sanity thing.
As a warrior of Agrona, Finn O'Shea was tall and imposing; in battle, he knew no equal. He had come to Earth's realm in search of the one destined to save his world. When he finds her, he soon learns that he would need more than just his sword...he needed magick. The very thing he had turned his back on.

212 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 25, 2015

About the author

Hi, there!
I'm an author of Contemporary and Paranormal romance. Originally from Toronto, I now call the beautiful town of Kincardine, home. Life by the lake is sweet!

I come from a large family: five girls and one boy (there was only one bathroom in our house, talk about stress!)
My mother is of Irish decent (first generation Canadian) and my father was of black, French Canadian, and Native Canadian, decent (yup, quite a mix!)

When I'm not writing, I work as an Early Childhood Educator, working with those with challenges (a journey close to my heart, as I too struggle with challenges in everyday life)
Currently I homeschool my eleven year old son, much to the envy of his two older sisters :)

I am so excited to share my world with you and introduce you to my many characters. According to my mother, I've always been a story teller. This has lead to many speculative assumptions of which houses in my town are haunted. My husband no longer takes walks with me ;)

I'm pretty active on social media, so pop by on Facebook or Twitter (or both!) and say Hi!

Reviews

[Corinne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fantastic book for me to read. I'm not a huge reader and when I do it tend to be a male character lead with no romance...not even to mention paranormal is not even on my radar. Let me just say this book is awesome. I was very hesitant due to the paranormal vibe, but I fell right into it. The female lead Alina is just what I needed to see...a strong kick ass female with a strong personality. I can completely see where the other books are going to be headed and I can not wait. I have m fingers crossed for a paperback book that has more details in it, but this is a great start. Not to mention that the men in the book all sound drool worthy. Bring on book two!

I also love, love, love, the cover. It fits the inside so perfectly!

[Carrie Austin-Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ali AKA Aliana to Agrona's warriors has a gift of being able to find things, but thinks she's crazy as she's heard voices that can only be blocked out by drugs and years of psychiatric treatment.


When she hears Finn's voice she thinks she's losing it again , but doesn't realise she is special and linked to Agrona's warriors. Finn tracks her down to keep her safe and help save the world.


I loved this book, the storyline is a great idea and I was hooked from the first page. This book has magic, demons, hot warriors and a heroine who has to roll with the punches and think on her feet. 


The book was a bargain at £2.40 from Amazon, as I know it's a keeper and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

[Tara Tappin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was consumed by this plot!

Everything about this story drew me in, wrapped around me and wouldn't let me go! Well done, Cindy, well done! Now, I'm off to buy the next one in the series!!

[Wildchildeditor · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first started reading Cindy Charity’s “The Compass,” I was excited. An urban fantasy romance with magic, a strong heroine, and a hunky, smart hero is right up my alley. The first three chapters lived up to that promise. The author kept us in either the heroine’s (Ali) or the hero’s (Finn) head per chapter or scene. I was settling into the read, looking forward to the rest of the book, and, then, I’m not quite sure what happened. The story was still there, but, all of sudden, we were switching back and forth, sometimes from paragraph to paragraph, between Ali and Finn’s point of view.
As the book progressed, the author introduced more and more points of view. Mikel, the villain, I could understand, but not all of the others.

This didn't stop me from rooting for Ali and Finn (this tells you what a good job the author did in making these characters relatable and likable), but all of these other characters did distract me from the heroine and hero’s story.

Regardless, the story is still entertaining. I did come to care about Ali, Finn, and Finn’s cousins. I would still recommend it if you enjoy urban fantasy with demons, magic, and romance and if you don’t mind omniscient point of view.

[Zrinka Jelic · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE COMPASS, by Cindy Charity, is an Urban Fantasy. Alina (Ali) is a woman on a run from her childhood that she spent mostly medicated so to stop voices in her head and her finding lost things, the second curse/gift she eventually used to start her business in N.Y.C. But she is much more, she discovers the truth about her once her path crosses with Finn O'Shea. He and his "brothers" are immortal warriors from another world in which magic abound an it's everyday thing,but he turned his efforts to become better with his sword than to use the magic, yet he seems to wield it at will for someone who doesn't have any. There is an obvious attraction between him and Ali, she is something they call a Fragment but she is also a Compass. Each of the "brothers" will eventually find their own fragment of the star that was shattered in order to protect it. The story started pretty interesting and the author stayed in one character's POV per chapter, sometime in the chapter 4 I noticed POV's shifting from paragraph to paragraph and too many POV's was taken, not just main characters but side ones too. I found it hard to follow up and often had to go back to read who's talking, who's seeing this. Ali seems to faint almost every time she's with Finn and he's grabbing her limp body before it could hit the floor. That scene played several times in different location and context. The two can connect telepathically and can see or hear what the other one does. So I'm assuming this was the reason behind it. It was interesting concept and something different then the usual stuff found on the shelves. If the POV is cleaned up the story would flow easier and smoother.

[Cassandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some grammatical errors that were difficult to resolve. Once I spot one grammatical error, I usually have a hard time with the rest of the book. Also, I believe that the phrase "with every fiber of (insert personal pronoun) being" should NEVER be written in a book. It is an overused dramatization. This book didn't just use that phrase once but used it several times. Ugh!

The story was difficult to follow. We faced the same opponents again and again and again. I found myself looking for other things to do rather than read this book. I finally got to the point where I had to decide if I finished it or it became a DNF.

I finished it. I gave the book two stars because the premise of the book had potential. Sadly, the story line didn't develop. I will not be back for book 2.

[Carol Marcoux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Rosina Medd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spell binding from the very first chapter! paranormal romance at it's finest!