Far different than my usual book fare of historical romantic novels and helpful non-fiction Christian books on being a wife and parent-at first I was unsure how I would feel about sinking my teeth into a political novel–particularly one with the title Oil and that was 360 pages long! However, now I’m glad that I was sent this book to review!

I found the book to be one that you had to focus on while reading–this is no light and fluffy storyline that you can just waltz through. With intricate stories lines that weave in and out of each other and deeply developed characters you definitely need to pay attention or you’ll get lost. Other than that, however, I found the story to be extremely interesting, even for me, and it kept me turning the pages. Even with how huge it is I was able to finish it off quickly–going faster as I neared the end to find out what was going to happen! I’ll warn you though-it ends in a cliff hanger! I enjoyed it to the point that I will definitely want to read the next book to find out what is going to happen. I loved the ever so subtle hints of Christianity woven throughout the book, and the way it portrayed all the different characters and their many facets. This is a great read, even if it is not your usual genre!

Not too long ago I dished about the fact that I’m a closet nerd who loves to read Young Adult books–it’s true! And after reading The Magic Warble naturally I would want to read the next novel in the series The Black Shard. I just love series…I never feel like characters and story lines can grow the way they should if everything is wrapped up into a single book. In my mind the best stories always come in series!

It was fun getting reacquainted with an older Katrina in this book as well as the other characters like Werrien, and Hester and Davina of course too! Fun and easy to read I loved and was surprised at the crazy twist at the end of the book–for someone who prides herself on “calling” things I definitely didn’t see any of the twists coming! The book ends on a cliffhanger…so I’m definitely looking forward to the *next* book even more! This is the book I gave my sister for Christmas and she enjoyed as well. Although it does play off of the Magic Warble it serves well as a stand alone book also. The Black Shard was a very fun read–I’d recommend it for young adults (and slightly older adults…..like me hehe) as well! Be sure to hop on over to Amazon to read some more reviews–so far it has 5 stars!

One lucky reader will win their own copy of The Black Shard! a Rafflecopter giveaway

About The Clouds Roll Away – “Beautifully written with exquisite descriptions, Giorello’s mystery also features well-developed characters…”
—Booklist, starred review

I agree with the Booklist review above 🙂 The Clouds Roll Away did contain very interesting and intriguing descriptions and characters. I enjoyed the story line and the twists and turns of it. I especially enjoyed how it delved into deep serious issues like the problems and heartache that Christmas brings to many and the problems with racism. I thought that it was interesting that the churches that were mentioned were Catholic though I was left a little confused as to whether the main character was Catholic or not. I’m not used to that in Christian book so that left me with some questions.   As this is the second book in the series and I didn’t read the first I feel that contributed to my questions-. There were other aspects of the story I felt didn’t get fully resolved–but since it’s a book in a series that makes sense and makes me want to read the following stories.

It was an interesting, easy to read story and would make a good cozy read for anyone who loves a good mystery! Be sure to hop on over to Amazon and check out other readers thoughts-so far it has 4 stars!