Review: Touch of Ice by Aleah Raynes

Touch of Ice by Aleah Raynes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Ayla and her three sisters witnessed their parents murdered by their terrible, jealous uncle, and then they were captured and sent to a prison camp. Their uncle wants to be king and he took the most direct way to do it, but he is destroying the kingdom with his evilness.

Since Ayla and her sisters powers and wings were bound, they are powerless to do any magic, but they are going to fight their way to the palace and find a way to get their kingdom back.

Dain, his brother Vander, and their two friends got themselves stuck in the prison camp so that they can break out the sisters and get them back to the kingdom. It was a tough start because Ayla isn't allowing Dain to talk to her at all, but after many failed attempts, he finally gets through to her and they devise a plan to get them out.

Little did any of them know that there is a mission for the sisters. They are giving ancient artifacts that they have to get to their proper location before it is too late. A seer predicted this war, and she also predicted all of the things that would need to be fixed in order for the kingdom to be saved.

But as much as the seer knew, she didn't let on HOW they were to use the artifacts and now all 8 of the teenagers are going to have to figure out how to use them in order to save their kingdom and their people.

I love books about magic and dragons and romance, and this book had it all. And for the most part, I enjoyed this book, but it was just so...simple. There wasn't enough meat about the history of the sisters. Not that I needed it because it was easy to figure out, but because of the lack of information that was given about any of the characters, I was left not really attached to anyone in this book. There wasn't enough emotion for me to care about any of the teens and the details were lacking in some parts.

The pairing of the sisters and their guards were obvious and so cliche I think I actually rolled my eyes when it happened. The instant connection between Ayla and Dain was just too much and then seeing the sisters react to their attraction was annoying because they were almost judging, yet they were doing the exact same thing.

This is a very short book that a reader will fly through it in a day or less, if there are no other commitments. I think this could have had a lot more potential if it were longer with more information and details, and also a little bit more spark between the two love birds. Plus the suddenness of some events drove me crazy, and the characters were like "oh, okay".

Overall it was a nice story, and if I stumble upon the next 3 (at least) books I may read them, but it's not something that I will mark on my calendars on release day.

I think readers who enjoy magic and romance and mystery will enjoy this book!

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