Manataka
Author: Ella J. Phoenix
Source: Author request
Genre: Paranormal romance
Length: Novel
Reviewed by Laurie
Since she was a child, Chloe has endured horrible nightmares
about a Native American prince living in a time long forgotten. She never
understood why, until she finds a stone that matches the one in her dreams. It
has unimaginable powers, powers Chloe doesn’t understand. Fueled by memories of
someone else’s past, she sets off on a wild quest for the stone’s birth place,
hoping to also find answers to her foreboding dreams.
On the outside, Mason Green looks like a hardworking,
self-made millionaire, with too busy a life for romance. Very few people know
the real reason for his self-imposed seclusion. It’s safer that way. But when a
sexy historian shows him a supernatural stone from a forgotten tribe, Mason is
intrigued - maybe the relic is the salvation he’s been waiting for. Ignoring
the irrational attraction that threatens to crack the cask around his heart,
Mason agrees to help Chloe.
As their wild quest becomes a dangerous mission, they must
find the relic’s birthplace before Mason’s past catches up to them.
The author of Manataka takes you back through Native
American history and adds a really neat paranormal lore to the tribe. I
received the re-edited version and noticed a couple of issues, but they are not
bad enough to pick on. What I look for when reviewing is the story flow, world
building etc. I did enjoy reading the characters and the Native American
folklore. The biggest problems I had with this book is there is no romance
built or spark between Chloe or Mason and I really wished the author would have
explained why the tribe had these different paranormal powers. I basically felt
like the Native American history took over and the paranormal elements were
placed on the back burner. I wanted something different than just history. I
wanted the magical touch of the powers that this tribe had, why they had the
powers and how they used the powers to their benefit.
As for the romance well, you can create two characters, but
there needs to be a spark between them at the beginning so the romance can
build as the story develops. You don’t have to have sex in the story for it to
be considered a romance, but you do have to have the characters connected in
some way so you know they are meant to be together. I know the author wrote
Chloe as Adsila reincarnated and I felt that spark between Adsila and Mason at
the beginning of the story, but I never felt that spark carried over to Chloe
and Mason. I needed it because despite the fact Chloe is Adsila reincarnated,
Chloe is still her own person.
If you see any
reviews saying this is erotica please don’t listen. This is a tastefully
written romance book with one sex scene.
The plot is really neat and I really did like the
reincarnation between Chole and Adsila. I also felt the author did excellent
work on the history of the Native Americas. So, if you’re a lover of Native
American history and you like to read about reincarnations then you should give
this story a try.
That sounds like a pretty good read.
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