Mr. Real (Code of Shadows, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jul 31, 2012 Regina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-authors, will-continue-series, mystery, favorites, paranormal-pnr, romance, romantic-suspense, first-in-series, arc-publisher-netgalley-edelweiss

I absolutely loved this book. PNRish type books (and this is not quite PNR) are hit or miss for me. This book, was a complete hit. Well developed and likable characters, charming setting, laughable but scary villain and a nice surprise at the ending. Oh and it is a sweet romance (with steam!).

This book is good. It is really good. I am always worried about a new series by an author that I am already a fan of, particularly when it is a genre switch. But I shouldn’t have been worried. Carolyn Cran I absolutely loved this book. PNRish type books (and this is not quite PNR) are hit or miss for me. This book, was a complete hit. Well developed and likable characters, charming setting, laughable but scary villain and a nice surprise at the ending. Oh and it is a sweet romance (with steam!).

This book is good. It is really good. I am always worried about a new series by an author that I am already a fan of, particularly when it is a genre switch. But I shouldn’t have been worried. Carolyn Crane wrote an amazing story. Mr. Real is fun from the beginning to the end. It is unique, a completely different take on romance, suspense, spy, mystery and the paranormal. But I feel like I am not capturing the true interesting quality. Let me start with the lead, Alix. When we meet Alix she is contemplating a quick hook up, fixing up an old Victorian, and feeling kind of left behind in life. She is not afraid of her sexuality, she is not an innocent (thank goodness, I hate that storyline ….) but she uses her sexuality to reinforce her self-esteem. Alix is fun, slightly unconventional but sensitive.

The setting of the story is a small town in Minnesota where everyone seems to know everyone else and in an old Victorian formerly inhabited by an alleged witch. Through some crazy but interesting black magic, Alix is able to bring to life anything she wishes by clicking on an image on her bewitched computer. So what does she conjure? Jewelry, clothes … and a commercial character played by a man she used to be interested in.

“Lucky this powerful magic didn’t fall into the hands of somebody who would use it merely for her own self-gratification.”

At first, Alix is thrilled but soon she realizes that she is not in control of everything she has conjured and things begin to spin out of control for her. Beginning with the fictional character come to life having his own plans, the arrival of the actor (her former love interest) who plays the fictional character and some other fun but unexpected stuff. During the unwinding of the tale, Crane slowly builds her characters and develops them for her readers. There are some books that I close and walk away from never to think of the characters again — even if I enjoyed the story. While Mr. Real is a fun and light story, the characters felt real to me. They seem to have a life off of the pages, I can see Alix drinking beer and taking care of her B&B — basically just living her life. That was the gift of this story, the characters.

Another gift of this story is the humor. There are so many quotable and laugh out loud sections. Even if this story didn’t have a unique storyline and memorable characters (which it does), it would be worth reading just because of the humor:

“Apparently a fictional, two-dimensional man makes the ideal party guest.”

“Go for it! Yay! Fuck him! A little voice inside her yelled.”

Mr. Real does not involve a murder mystery or a theft. There are no vamps on the loose or rogue weres to track down. Not that I am knocking that sort of paranormal, but it is really nice to read something new. This is paranormal in a completely new manner. If you have read Crane’s Disillusionist series, then you already know that Crane approaches fantasy from a perspective other authors are not. If you have not read her Disillusionist series, well I am not sure what else to say except - read it!

I cannot wait to read the next installment in this series. (I say this with love and appreciation …… ) Hurry up Ms. Crane!
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Aug 03, 2012 AH rated it really liked it

Shelves: first-in-series, paranormal, spies, romantic-suspense, alpha-males, arcs-other, zzread-nov-2012

4.5 stars - Witty, original, fun, entertaining.

Mr. Real has got to be one of the more entertaining and fun books I've read this year. And one of the most original. So original, I'm not exactly sure if it qualifies as a paranormal romance or a romantic suspense book. It doesn't really matter. Read Mr. Real, it's good.

Mr. Real takes the idea of things just being a mouse click away and expands on it. What if you could click on an image, save it to desktop and presto! the item mysteriously appears ...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Cc rated it liked it

Shelves: ebook, 2012

I came close several times of giving up on this book but I plowed on and the wrap up of this story was a little better than the beginning and middle. rating of C

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