Review: Enchanted By Starlight by Tina L. Hook

Title: Enchanted By Starlight Author: Tina L. Hook Publication Date: October 16, 2012
Synopsis:

Be careful what you wish for… Grace, Skylar and Alina are connected by destiny when an enchanted comet crosses the night sky. As their most secret ambitions ignite, their ordinary lives take a magical detour down a powerful but dangerous path.

Grace, emerging from her dejected childhood, develops the power to make men fall in love with her. Skylar leaves her impoverished past behind and pursues the social status she has always longed for. Without dreams of her own, Alina covets the power to unravel other lives and seeks revenge. As they crash into and slip away from each other in a cycle of envy, deception and love lost, these three women are forced to look deeper into their own hearts for the true meaning of enchantment.

My Thoughts:

Enchanted By Starlight is the story of three women: Grace, Skylar and Alina. At different times in their lives, each one has been given a powerful gift. For Grace, she chose the power to make men fall in love with her. Skylar, always in need of attention, chooses to become the popular and society driven girl she always wanted to be. But for Alina, she has yet to decide what she wants out of life. Still struggling with past events, she chooses the ability to decipher people's feelings, knowing just how to destroy them.
The Characters: Even though we hear from all three of the characters throughout the book, I found Grace to be the center of the story. I really liked her, even when she was using her gift to take advantage of men. She came off as a little sad and lost and unsure of herself. Even with the greatest gift, she still struggled to find herself and decide what it was she wanted. She was kind hearted and a true friend to those few she had. I was sad for her and wished she would finally find what she needed.
I had mostly the same feelings for Skylar. In love with a man who loved her back but could not give her the life she wanted, Skylar used her gift to become a powerful socialite, demanding the attention she lacked at home from those around her. After a rough start in school, Skylar had found a way to stop people for judging her on her small home and less than perfect wardrobe. I felt sad for her as well because I could understand what it must have felt like to want to be something more than people thought you were. She just wanted to be someone important. 
As for Alina, my feelings were not as generous. She was spiteful and angry, making life hard for anyone in her path. Even though I could understand where her anger originated, I had a hard time believing that she could not move past it. She made it her goal to ruin Skylar's life, no matter what it took.
The Setting: The setting for this story is South Florida. I have only been to Florida once and it was many, many years ago.  Thankfully, the author does a great job of describing the area and scenery. I could fully picture the beaches and office buildings, as well as the homes of the characters.
The Storyline: The idea of this book is very unique and intriguing. The three women have all gained powers of their choosing via an enchanted comet. The way they choose to use these powers is very different for each woman and we follow them throughout the years as they try to navigate through life with or without using them. Each woman has her own life story that would have been enough for their own book and I was impressed with how the author intertwined them. While I did enjoy this story quite a bit, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not at first. It started off a little slow for me and I wasn't sure where it was going. But it did pick up and I cruised right through the entire book within a couple hours. 
The Writing: While the author does a great job telling this story, I had a hard time following it at times. Even though each chapter is told from one of the women's point of view, the story jumps around through time. It was hard to keep up with what was taking place when. The beginning of the book is also the end of the story and we go back through time to see how we got to this place. 
There were also some typos that drew me out of the story and at one point Alina is talking to another person in a restaurant and the author refers to the other person as Alina. I had to stop and think about who I was in fact reading about because it was confusing. 
Even so, I did enjoy this story. I am a huge fan of chick lit, especially stories of those with hard childhoods or of women lost along their life paths. The added magical element brought something special to this story that shouldn't be missed.
If you love chick lit or stories with a magical twist to it, this book is definitely for you!
For more about Tina L. Hook and Enchanted By Starlight, visit her website here.

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*I received this book for free in exchange of my honest review. This did not influence by opinion in any way and all views and opinions expressed are 100% my own.