Title: Ebo by L. Lombard

Pages: 312

Genres: Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, Young Adult, New Adult

Published by: Morning Rain Publishing

Summary

Following a series of brutal attacks at her British Columbia university, and fearful of the strange premonitions that plague her, Josephine abruptly returns to England and the grandmother who raised her. She cannot dismiss the handsome face, the haunting eyes, or the disturbing feelings that are stirring deep inside. So many questions from her past remain unanswered, and she is compelled to return to Africa, where her parents were ravaged by wild animals. It’s time to seek answers.

Driven to protect the young woman from a shared past only he remembers, Ashling follows Josephine across continents. For his entire life, time has had no meaning; with her decision to return to Africa, time is of the essence. Drawn together by events neither can control, as well as a deep connection, they are destined to discover their rightful futures and truths forgotten in the past.

 

What I Thought

*I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.  A huge thank you to L. Lombard and the publisher!*

This was a fun book!  Like I said, I was asked by the author if I would be interested in reviewing Ebo.  I’ll admit, I was hesitant to accept, because I’m actually kind of overflowing with books at the moment, but the synopsis completely drew me in, and I could not say no!

This book had some great characters.  Josephine’s grandma was so great.  I also found myself especially loving Josephine and Kiki’s friendship.  It just felt so real, they were both so loyal to each other.  Entienne was also a great friend to Ashling as well.  I look forward to learning more about him in the sequel.  Also, while I liked Josephine and Ashling separately, I must admit it took me a bit to really fall in love with their relationship.  They just fell in love so fast!  However, there was a supernatural bond between the two of them, so while their relationship was a case of insta-love, it did not feel forced.  Like I said, I personally, just needed some time getting to know their relationship better.  By the end of the book, however, I found them to be perfect for each other.

Another thing a really liked was the actual storyline.  This book gave me serious Twilight feels – and I definitely mean that as a compliment.  While the actual plot was unique, there were just so many things that reminded me of Twilight and that magical-just-discovering-YA feeling.  Like, remember when you first discovered YA, and while the first YA book you read probably wasn’t life-changing, it was just so much fun?  That’s how Ebo is!

Like I said earlier, however, the plot was so unique!  I applaud the author for taking a book about vampires and really making it their own.  I especially loved the African setting.  The explanation of vampires and what was fact or myth was also something I really enjoyed reading about.  I always love hearing authors’ takes on folklore legends, such as vampires.  The only part that I struggled with was, again, Ebo and Josephine’s relationship.  It was very similar to Jacob and Renesmee’s relationship in Twilight: He’s already grown up when she’s still a little kid, and while he cares for her, he doesn’t love her like that when she’s a kid, but he does fall in love with her when she’s big enough.  The author makes it clear that Ashling is not pedophile or anything like that, but that being said, just like it was a little weird in Twilight, it’s still just a little weird in Ebo.

One more thing, I think this book is technically considered YA, but it could also fit in the New Adult category as well, because Kiki and Josephine are both in college.  That being said, unlike so many NA books, there was no language (that I can recall) or any explicit sexual content, which I found so refreshing!

Overall, this was a really fun, action-packed book.  I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of paranormal romances or TV shows such as Being Human.