Review - Mine to Tarnish by Janeal Falor

Title: Mine to Tarnish

Series: Mine #0.5
Author: Janeal Falor

Release Date: December 2, 2013

Pages: 128

Goodreads Rating: 3.9/5 Stars

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

My Content Rating: 13+ (Nothing more than kissing)

Summary from Goodreads:  Katherine’s place is the same as any woman’s—on the shelf next to the dresses and bolts of cloth. When she’s sold to a warlock, life grows even bleaker. Her new owner is as old and rancid as he is cruel, driving her to do the unthinkable: run.

Nothing prepared her for being on her own. And she’s definitely unprepared for the warlocks hunting her down. But she must stay one step ahead because if caught, the best she can hope for is death.

Mine to Tarnish is a prequel to Falor's You Are Mine, which was one of my very favorite reads of 2013!  I would highly recommend reading You Are Mine first because it gives you a lot more worldbuilding and background than this novella.

This book gives us Katherine's background (Katherine is the tarnished seamstress in You Are Mine who helps Serena).  I actually really wish that I would have read this book a bit sooner because I had forgotten who Katherine was and was for some reason under the mistaken impression that this prequel was going to be about Serena's mother, so I was confused for a little while.  I did get things straightened out in my head, though, and really enjoyed the story.

The negatives:

• Charles and Katherine.  While I loved Charles and Katherine together, I wanted more - I wished that there had been more time for us to see their relationship bloom.  But I understand that the romance wasn't really the focus of the book - it was more about Katherine's journey to freedom.

What I loved:

• The concept.  Once again, Falor has treated us to her unique world where the women are completely at the mercy of their warlock masters.  The woman's only purpose is to serve her warlock and pass magic (that she can't actually use) down - preferably to her sons.  Women in this society are not treated well - in fact, they are gravely mistreated.  It's not pretty.  And that's kind of the point - Katherine is trying to win her freedom any way she can in a world where her choices are VERY limited.
• Katherine's journey.  Katherine's flight from the warlock she's supposed to marry is harrowing.  I was never sure how she was going to truly escape and what terrible things might happen to her (and those she loved).  I loved getting a glimpse into why Katherine became the person she was in You Are Mine - with her strong spirit and a passion to help women who were prisoners in a cruel world.

I thought that Mine to Tarnish was a great addition to the Mine series.  I can't wait to read book #2 - Mine to Spell!  (Watch for my review of that one at the beginning of May.) I give it 4/5 stars.

    

Other books in this series: