Caller of Light by T J Shaw

4.5 stars

This is the first book I have read from this author and indeed I believe it is the first book published by this author.  I will continue to follow her whether she continues this series or not. 

Carina McKay is the half royal daughter of King McKay known in this series as “half blood”.  He has a full blood that he dotes on.  Carina, he treats like a servant.  King Duncan has come to King McKay to court the full blood daughter, but ends up meeting Carina first.  It is believed that Marissa (full blooded sister) is the next “Caller of Light”.  The Caller is someone who can call to critons.  Critons are, from what I can understand, essentially dragons.  King McKay’s land has an abundance of unbounded critons which is why it is thought to be Marissa and this is why King Duncan is courting her.  But he can’t resist the half blood sister and ends up taking her for a mistress.  Half bloods, and especially Carina, are treated poorly.  Everytime Carina turns around he finds an enemy: her father, her half sister: Marissa, the King’s captain of the guard, King Duncan’s mother.  But for all this she does make allies and they are good and powerful allies. 

There were times I wished Carina would stop getting pooped on, but alas this was not to come to pass.  I did read this book in one day.  It was very good and kept my interest, but I was also having a lot of contractions and trying to rest so I found myself with an abundance of time.  I think my favorite part was all the emotion pent up in Carina’s past.  She believed herself lower than everyone else because that is how she was treated and that pain came out clearly in the story.  She apologized for things beyond her control when she felt unworthy.  These parts brought tears to my eyes.      

One more thing,  that cover is so hideous it would normally stop me from even reading the summary.  I'm pretty sure King Duncan has a mullet! 

This book was provided in exchange for an honest review.