The Twilight Before Christmas (Christine Feehan)

The Twilight Before Christmas was another novel recommended by a friend.  It's the second book in the Drake Sister series by Christine Feehan.  I read the first book, Magic in the Wind, this past summer and didn't mind it, so I thought I would give this one a try as well. (I'm a little late in posting this since I finished it in December 2012, but better late than never!)

For those who don't know, this Drake Sister series is about seven sisters who have special witchcraft powers - one sister may be able to help heal someone who is ill and another can use her abilities to calm someone down.  The Twilight Before Christmas is focused on the love story of Kate Drake and Matt.  He has always had a thing for her and she has always thought that they were two people who were too different to be together.  As they are trying to figure out these differences between them, they unlock a 'cloud' with some evil behind it.  This 'spirit' is out to ruin Christmas for the community and the Drake sisters need to figure out what is going on and how they can use their powers for good and stop it.

It took me a lot longer to get through this book than it did to get through the first one in the series.  I was reading it on my eReader and, again, mostly during lunch breaks.  I wasn't as interested in the relationships being formed between Kate and Matt or in the story behind the "magic" in this book. 

It wasn't necessary to have read the first book in the series to understand what was happening in the second.  The same characters are involved, so the knowledge from book one can help you with the relationships between the characters, but the storyline is independent of the first book.

I remember being told that "The first book is ok.  It gets a lot better the more books you read in the series!"  I may put these back on the shelf for a bit and try the third book eventually, once I have read a few books that are on my "to-read" list! 

Would I recommend it?  Well... I liked the first book better than this one.  If you're looking for a very easy to read love story, try the first novel in the series before reading this one.  The overall writing reminds me of a slightly more adult version of Twilight.  You can make the call once you see her writing style and meet the chracters. 

"My imagination provides a wonderful adventure without the risk or the discomfort." (Christine Feehan, The Twilight Before Christmas)

Magic in the Air (Christine Feehan)

This book came recommended by a friend.  It's the first book in the seven book Drake Sisters series.  (I would also like to add that this is the first book that I have read in its entirety on my Kindle eReader!)  You can order a paperback version of this book online, but the eReader versions are only about $3 per book.

Magic in the Wind by Christine Feehan takes place in Sea Haven, a small town where seven sisters (the Drake Sisters) live.  In this book, though, not all of the sisters make an appearance.  There is something a little bit magical about these sisters... They seem to be able to help people out in different ways.  The main sister in this book, Sarah, has a good ability at convincing people that they should do something - like go visit a cardiologist or hire someone to do the roofing - because she seems to be able to tell when things may go wrong for people.  Damon Wilder is new in town and all he knows about the sisters is what he has heard through town gossip.  Though he thought that moving to the small town would be a good way to escape his old life, some men have tracked down his whereabouts.

The book was decent.  I didn't know very much about the book at all when I read it - I simply trusted my friend and started to read.  When I was talking to her about it, she did say that the first book was a bit slow but then the rest of the series really got exciting.  I would agree that this book, Magic in the Wind, was slow, but I do think that they did a decent job of setting up the characters for the rest of the series.  You started to really see the relationships between characters and see how things could get more intense and exciting in future books.

I was trying to figure out what the genre or target audience of the book would be... I would say Young Adult-ish... But not in the "I-like-Twilight" YA category.  More in the "I'm-over-twenty-years-old" type of YA series.  It has the love story in this book, but also a bit more than just the love story. 

It was by no means a challenging read.  It was easy to follow and a fast read. I'm looking forward to reading the next book, but unfortunately I am going to hold off for a week or two before reading book number two...  Only because I'm going on holidays (and possibly spending a day at the pool) before schools starts up again next week (yay for teaching!) and don't want anything to happen to my nice Kindle eReader!