Rebecca Graf

This review was originally posted on Melissa's Midnight Musings on February 6, 2013.


Overall, I feel that the story itself has a lot of potential. But, there were several aspects that pulled me out of the story, and really detracted from the reading experience, which is why this has such a low rating.

One of the major drawbacks of the story is the writing style and use of language. The language is so stiff, and formal. It just doesn't flow well, and it doesn't sound natural. This story really could have used another round of editing. The language needs to be tightened in terms of unneccesary phrasing. At the same time, it needs to be loosened in terms of the formality of the language. If these changes were made, it would flow a lot better. Here's an example to demonstrate what I mean. This example stuck out in my reading just because it's so full of unneccessary filler and the phrasing is awkward:
"The beautiful, sunny weather that only increased her good mood was pulling her outside. Before getting dressed, some toast was devoured. As she left the kitchen, she noticed that her bowls had many cracks in them. Since it probably wouldn't be long before they broke or began to leak, it looked like some new dishes were in order. Nodding, she grabbed her purse."-Graf pg 46 (ARC copy)
I would say that at least half of this entire paragraph is completely unneccesary. The descriptions are almost too full. While I'm all for lots of detail, this much just feels forced. Especially the sentence about the toast. No one would say this sentence aloud, it just doesn't sound right. There's also a lot of usage of nearly the exact same words or phrasings within just a few lines of each other, which can make the story drag a little.

These awkward phrasings don't just happen in non-speaking scenes. the stiffness and formality is present in times of dialogue as well.

Despite the stiffness of the language, one of the aspects of this book that I really enjoyed was the closeness of the Lightfoot family. You can tell that they all genuinely care for one another and they support each other, no matter what. It was nice to see them embrace Brenna so thoroughly as well, no matter how much she resists their attempts to include her.

Brenna, herself, is a slightly underdeveloped character, in my opinion. She has brief flashes of potential that could signal that she has some strength of character, but for the most part she seems more like a damsel in distress to me than anything. She just doesn't react the way I expect from a stronger character. She has flashes of anger about being controlled by Eaton or Slaton, but a lot of the time she's very passive. There's a scene in a cave where there's a fight going on between a wolf and her attacker, "The Creeper" Brenna doesn't react. She sits there watching, trying to get her clothes back on. She doesn't try to help, she just moves out of the way. I would think if someone were trying to attack me, and there was a fight going on, I would try to help out the individuals that were on my side in any way possible rather than just standing there. Since this is book one of a trilogy, I'm really hoping that Brenna grows into her own and becomes a more capable character.

I'm always really curious to find out how authors pick names for their characters. And I've always really enjoyed characters with unique names. The names of some of the characters, Tahnee, Eaton, Slaton, Layford, they are all really unique, which is great. The only problem is, they are very similar sounding, which is confusing. Because of their similarity it's all too easy to confuse their personalities at times. And they're easy to mix up. There's one section on page 244 that really through me for a loop:

"Layton, his light fur rippling in the evening breeze, crested a hill and stopped cold."

It seems that the author combined Layford and Slaton and got Layton. Now, I realize that my copy is an uncorrected proof and that this mistake has likely been corrected in the finished copy, I'm simply using the example to illustrate my point that the names are too similar.

One thing that I wished there were more of was action. The story didn't really pick up until about halfway in, and even then it was more explanatory than action filled. If I'm guessing correctly though, there will be more action in the following books as most of the background has already been dealt with in this book.

I also wish that the elements of lore and legend around Slaton and family's tribe were more thoroughly explained. Ms. Graf stated in the interview above that she didn't do as much research for this series, but I feel that it would have greatly benefitted if she had.

I have to admit ,I certainly could have done without the ability of Slaton and his family to turn in to wolves. It feels cliche. I would have been perfectly satisfied with them having telepathic abilities without being able to turn into wolves. That way, you'd still have the supernatural element, without the overplayed aspect of the wolves. I was actually trying to ignore that element of it as I read, because I just didn't care for it, and just trying to focus on the telepathy, which is why I feel that ability would stand just fine on it's own.

Another element of this story that I appreciated is the romance between Slaton and Brenna. That does show through nicely, and the visions that they share are a nice accent to their romance. There's a bit of a love triangle for a while, with Slaton, Brenna and Eaton, but Brenna does eventually make her intentions clear, which is much better than having her stringing both of them along.

The good intentions of the story are clear, but the pull just isn't there with this one.

*I received a free copy of this book as part of a blog tour, in exchange for an honest review.*… (plus d'informations)

To begin with I believe I’m a decent Book Reviewer, well that’s the impression I get when I look at my profile here on Amazon. I know I’ve already one book on writing reviews which I’d won through an internet giveaway, this time I downloaded a copy using Amazon Unlimited.

I didn’t start being a Book Reviewer, I started as an author almost four three ago, and currently have two self-published books. I began reading/reviewing books as a way of increasing my writing ability by seeing how other authors write their books, especially romance; believe me, it has helped.

Being a Book Reviewer myself I can say Ms. Graf has done a wonderful job in telling her readers what a review actually is and how to write one that is decent, while at the same time avoiding any of the pitfalls many reviewers can fall into, such as writing one which is negative without including any positive criticism. Remember what your mother told you: “If you can’t say anything nice about a person, don’t say it.”

She also gives examples of what a review should look like/should include. There are several kinds of reviews prevalent on sites like Amazon, GoodReads and LibraryThing; and they run the gamut from quick one sentence jobs to those are filled with spoilers [giving away the plotline/detailed information about the book].

Remember, the real function of a review is to whet a potential reader’s interest in the book; that they’ll wind up buying a copy. One of the things I try to do in my review is to personalize it or to give a reference to a movie or even a song which came to my mind as I read the book, which someone reading the review might also be able to relate to.

Becoming a Book Reviewer doesn’t have to cost any money. Many authors looking for reviews of their books use giveaways. The unfortunately thing is while they hope to receive a review for each book they’ve given away, they seldom get it. So if you happen to receive a book through a giveaway, kindly write a review for the author in return. And if you do write a review for such a book, there is a FTC regulation which states you need to disclose this information somewhere in the review, and state that the following/above has been your honest opinion.

I didn’t expect it, but after a while I started to get requests to review books. Many of the books didn’t interest me in the least, and being an author I knew how they’ll feel if I would refuse their request; so I posted an entry on my blog saying that I only review those books I’ve either won through giveaways or have gotten myself. So if you’re considering becoming a serious Book Reviewer, then consider doing something similar.

How can you tell if you’ve written a good review?

One of the ways is the response your review gets on the site you’ve posted it on. You should also tell the author that you’ve read their book and the sites you’ve posted the review on. The TOUGHEST critic a reviewer can ever have for a review they’ve written is the author themselves. Many authors are happy you’ve contact them about your review, and they’ll tell you that in their response; as well as what they thought of it.

For educating others in becoming a book reviewer in a clear, concise manner, I’ve given this author and her book 5 STARS.… (plus d'informations)

I have received a copy or Deep Connections and Dark Connections free in association with a book tour with no expectation of a positive review. I started with Book one because Book 2 follows up and even though you can read the second one without the first it would benefit you more so to read book one first. Now I must start out by saying that halfway through the first book I decided that this was going to pan out just like the movie Twilight and I was a bit disappointed. I kept on reading and was so glad that I did because pleasant surprises were in store for me. I would highly recommend both book one and book two for anyone who has a taste for mystery and thrills. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for book three as surprise this is a trilogy. Rebecca has written a masterful and meaningful love binding thriller that will have you wanting more as well. join me on July, 20th, 2013 by going to http://star95011.blogspot.com/p/celestial-book-promotions-page-of.html for a chance to win a copy of dark and deep connections and a 25$ amazon gift card… (plus d'informations)

*Trigger warning: Attempted rape scene*

Looking for an engaging romantic thriller that will have you up all night because you just HAVE to know what happens next? Deep Connections, the first in a new series by Rebecca Graf, is just what you need. Graf does an excellent job of mixing mystery, romance, and the paranormal to Brenna's story.
Brenna is a high school teacher and the target of a stalker. As if dealing with that is not enough, Brenna finds herself in the middle of a love triangle between the man who she sees only as a friend and the man she is afraid to let into her heart. Brenna struggles to fight the deep connection she shares with Slayton, a Native man and the son of Brenna's best friend.
Rebecca Graf does an excellent job of painting pictures with words and she does so with class. As this book does feature a heavy romantic angle, it would have been easy to write stereotypical "falling in love" scenes, but Graf is gifted in her ability to write intimately and allows the reader more freedom to use his or her imagination.
The ending was a bit confusing, but since this is the first of 3 books, I believe there are in total, I am confident that some of the details will be better explained in book 2, Dark Connections.… (plus d'informations)