debut novel by Lena Elizabeth

Amazon Description:
Enter the world of fairies and dragons once again as you enter the life of Angelique, the grandmother of the first-born hafling princess Amara. Angelique Sirlan lives a normal life as an adopted high school student preparing for graduation. That is, until she finds a gold necklace and a mysterious portal in the woods outside her home. When she goes through the portal, she meets two fairy royals who seem to believe that she is their long-lost fairy princess. Is she really the fairy princess who will inherit the throne? Step through the imagination's portal to discover what lies beyond.

I was absolutely thrilled when Lena Elizabeth asked me to review her book!  Excited, and, I confess, a bit wary.  You see, while I love books, and don't mind reviewing them, I am a complete maniac when it comes to proper punctuation, correct spelling, etc.  And a book whose author comes with the tagline of "self-published" brings warning signs to my mind.  Although I came across a number of simple mistakes, I enjoyed the story.

The synopsis listed on the Amazon page kind of threw me off a bit.  Just a bit. When this brief paragraph introduced the main character, Angelique, as the grandmother of a princess named Amara, I admit I was a little confused.  Amara is not even mentioned once in this book.  Only her mother, Tamira, daughter of Angelique, is named.  Obviously, there is a sequel!  The Halfing Diaries.  Next on my review list!

On to the actual tale. . .
Note:  this review contains spoilers!

Knowing this is the author's debut novel, I read with a completely open mind.  As mentioned earlier, there were a few simple mistakes in spelling and grammar, easily overlooked.  But all in all, this story is a good, easy read.  It took me two, maybe three days, mostly due in part to my schedule, to enjoy the tale this story had to share -- normally, I could have read it in one.

Set in present day times, the story itself centers around Angelique, a normal teenage girl working her way through the last few weeks of high school.  We learn she was adopted by a Christian couple twelve years before, loves them just as she would her birth parents, and is a strong Christian herself -- unafraid to share her faith with a skeptical unbeliever.  One day, while jogging through the forest from which she was first discovered as a child, Angelique stumbles upon a portal, leading to another world.  That of medieval and fantasy.  Pixies, dragons, fairies, elves, unicorns -- you name it! and those characters are most likely roaming the beauty of this fantasy world.  From that point forward, Angelique is led on an adventure, kidnapped by an evil wizard and his dragon, finds romance, loyalty and friendship.  (The love interests between the characters is purely clean, no issues at all there.) =]

I have always loved the idea of mixing our modern world with that of the Medieval/fantasy.  I enjoyed the simplicity of the plot and storyline, and was saddened when I was obliged to stop for some chore or other.  I wanted to finish and find how it ended!  Overall, this was a good story and I loved the chance to share in its secrets.

Now, I shall give you my rating, after which I will then explain the reason for it.

Rating from 1-5 stars, being:
1 star = total dislike, not worth time
2 stars = it was okay
3 stars = liked it
4 stars = really liked it
5 stars = loved it!

And a huge thank you to Lena on my part for allowing me to review this book!

You can visit Lena's blog here.  And her Google+ profile here.