Friday, November 20, 2015

Book Review & Blog Tour ~ Claire Daly: Reluctant Soul Saver (Soul Saver #1) by Michele Brouder {Giveaway}



Claire Daly: Reluctant Soul Saver
(Soul Saver #1)
by Michele Brouder
Publication Date:  September 2015

Genre:  YA, Paranormal Romance

When seventeen year-old librarian wannabe Claire Daly is dragged kicking, screaming and cursing from everything she loves——her mam, her cozy Irish village and the dreamy boy next door——to take up arms in the battle of good versus evil, she learns the hard way that sometimes you don't get to choose your own destiny, destiny chooses you.

Claire's life plan is simple: head off to university to get her degree in library studies, summon up the courage to tell her best friend Chas that she loves him and live happily ever after. She never once entertained the idea that she might possess divine powers, that she might be predestined to battle Hell's demons, or to complicate matters further, that another love of many lives past might turn up on her doorstep.

But life doesn't always go as planned, and when a co-worker is viciously attacked by a demon and her own family threatened, Claire must face the truth: she is called to a higher purpose and has no choice but to answer. Claire sets aside her dreams and begins learning how to deal with the Unholy once and for all. Armed with only a crash course in soul saving and her wits, she gears up for the ultimate show down in Hell. But will it be enough?


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Claire Daly was just your typical teenage girl whose life ambition was to become a librarian and to hopefully get her crush, Chas, to finally notice her outside the friend zone.   Unfortunately for her, those dreams flew out the window when one day she discovers that she is an Illuminata – “a soul that has been chosen by God and entrusted to Saint Michael for special work across the different dimensions”.   The Illuminatae are a holy army that not only fights demons on earth, but in Hell as well.  So you see Claire’s destiny is far from the life she thought she had and to make matters more difficult for her to understand, it seems she chose this path for herself before she was even born.   Of course, Claire being Claire does not want anything to do with the soul saving business and she is not going down without a fight.  That is until her family and friends are threatened by a nasty memory-stealing demon named Raif whose main goal is to get the precious amulet that contains the light of Heaven from Claire and take her soul.  As she is whisked away to her aunt’s house to begin training, life as Claire knows will forever be changed.  But will she finally accept her Destiny or turn her back on all that depend on her?

This book was an absolute fun and intriguing read for me.  Right from the start, I loved Claire's character not only for her love of books but her snarky attitude which made this really fun to read. The thrill of traveling with Claire through the many layers of Hell was tense kept me turning the pages to make sure she succeeded in her task.  No story would be complete if there weren't secrets among the family and her past that have been kept from Claire and oh my gosh what a shock she had when she learned what they were. 

This book really surprised me on how good it was!  I really did not know what to expect as Michele Brouder is a new author for me, but I was completely blown away by her storytelling abilities and could not put it down.  A thrilling and fascinating tale of angels and demons, Claire Daly:  Reluctant Soul Saver is one book that I would highly recommend.  It’s a fast-paced, creative, and an extremely well-written book that will appeal to any age reader that enjoys fantasy with an underlining theme of good versus evil.  Although book one ended without a cliffhanger, I will be eagerly anticipating the next installment of this amazing series to see what’s in store for Claire as she continues this wild and crazy journey of saving souls and perhaps reconnecting with the love of her life.

4 ½ stars


I was born in western New York, the oldest of 5. I've loved reading since I was very little. From the age of 9, I've wanted to be a writer. In high school, I wrote a lot of angst-ridden civil war dramas ala Gone With The Wind, knowing more about the Battle of the Bull Run than a normal teenager should know. I dabbled in writing after that but didn't get serious about it until 2006, when I decided that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
I've had many interesting jobs but my passion has always been writing.
I lived in Ireland from 2006-2013 with my husband and 2 boys. We moved back to the US and settled in Florida briefly (2 years) before returning back to Ireland in August 2015.


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