Book Review: Raintree: Oracle by Linda Winstead Jones

I received a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I was first drawn to this novel because of the magic. You would think that novels like this in the world of paranormal/sci-fi romance would be easy to find. But in a genre overloaded with vamps and wolves, the premise behind this one stood out to me. I love the idea of two magical beings (over the age of seventeen) getting together to battle evil and, of course, falling for each other in the process, and after finishing this novel, I still love the idea, but I’m afraid this one didn’t quite “abracadabra” me as much as I’d hope. In all fairness, this is my first Raintree novel, and perhaps reading the others would have made a difference. Kudos to Jones, though, on her great job of catching up the reader. Considering this is number four in the series, I really wasn’t that out-of-the-loop.
One issue that drove me a crazy were inconsistencies in the story. For example, Ryder is from a small, covenlike village in Ireland. He’s important and powerful, and his family has resided there for generations. It’s the kind of place where everyone knows your business, but one of the “bad guys” (who is also residing in the village) makes the comment that, “Few here knew who he’d been, what he’d done, but she knew.” Huh? That didn’t make sense to me. One minute another bad guy is talking about doing away with his fellow henchmen then on the next page he’s praising them and talking about how they will rule together. At one point, Echo is furious with Ryder yet she turns around and gets more than friendly with him. About halfway through the novel, an incredibly powerful character is kidnapped, yet she can’t free herself from the danger of a single knife? Some things just felt a bit disjointed.
Another complaint was with the stilted dialogue. At times, it felt so wooden, almost archaic. Some conversations seemed so unrealistic, and I caught myself asking, “Would a twenty-something girl actually say that?”
However, all that said, it’s a fast read and something different. For those of you who are tired of the typical, this one is for you.