I really enjoyed Alex Bell’s first novel, The Ninth Circle, so I was looking forward to her next book, Jasmyn. I managed to get a nice signed copy, only to be warned by the author that the two books are very different. Jasmyn is a supernatural romantic suspense, which isn’t exactly the kind of book I rush out to buy. I was therefore a bit apprehensive about how I’d get along with Jasmyn, but I was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining I found it. The start of the story finds the eponymous heroine at the funeral of her husband, Liam. Wrapped up in grief, Jasmyn feels trapped and struggles to try and carry on without Liam, but as time passes some mysteries concerning her husband emerge. As Jasmyn begins to explore these mysteries, she finds some out unexpected truths about Liam, and is drawn into a fairytale complete with castles, swans, knights and a princess.
I got hooked on the story very quickly, and had trouble putting the book down. Bell’s writing style has developed since her first book. The descriptive writing of the various scenes and locales remained as beautiful as before, but I found her handling of the emotions felt by her main character to be better written and more convincing. I’d figured out the twist fairly early on, which is normally not a good thing, but I was still entertained seeing how the plot developed to the reveal. A decent read, and I’m looking forward to Bell’s next book, which should be out later on this year.
