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First published April 30, 2015
'When the Sun Courts the Moon - Part 1' follows Chandra Chandler, a New Zealander who's has moved to Australia to escape a dark and painful past, and Sam Harrington, the CEO of a hotel chain and the single dad of a seven-year old.
One of the biggest changes I've noticed about Alexia Praks's writing is the vast improvement in her grammar and prose. Her earlier works, which I've read, seemed a lot like drafts and the grammar was significantly less substantial compared to her more later works, such as this novel. The writing flows with greater elegance and meaning which allowed for a more clearer view of the author's style. There were only a couple of times where I've had to reread a sentence once or twice in order to better understand what I author was trying to convey. However, certain turns of phrasing and sentences sounded as if they needed reworking and they didn't make sense to use in a certain context and you wouldn't normally see them in romance novels.
There was significantly less telling rather than showing and I very much admired that.
The story was very much fairy-tale like and in that it has both advantages...and clear disadvantages. The advantages of such a story is its depth of romanticism. Sometimes the story was borderline unbelievable like many fairy-tales. It was enjoyable in most circumstances as it allowed for the most hilarious and sometimes absurdly romantic events to occur. Other times, I really disliked it as it went above and beyond believable for exactly the same reasons.
I felt like the plot could have been worked on a little more as the majority of the novel seemed more like an introduction to the events that would happen in part 2. It stretched on for a very long time and I sometimes wondered why all these events happened when the author could have written less with more UMPH to it.
I felt that the characters were vaguely superficial and could have had more depth to them. There were all these facts about them but I didn't entirely feel that they had HISTORY or BACKGROUND. I just couldn't entirely connect or understand any of the characters.
The novel was entirely too short. I also wondered why the author stressed the pronunciation of Chandra as JUNDRA so often. This could have been revealed in a more subtle and graceful manoeuvre.
I didn't enjoy the many love triangles that went on as well as the multiple hints at the potential romantic couplings of all the rest of the female supporting characters. It was as if it was a "let's-marry-everyone-off" novel. The two love-triangles were between Sam-Chan-Nina and Chan-Sam-Jeremy. Honestly, there was so much romantic potentiality in this novel that the roof could have exploded with chemistry.
Congratulations to Alexia Praks on publishing the latest instalment in the 'Kiwi Bride' series!
‘When the Sun courts the Moon: First Date’ starts off really interestingly, with Chan being read a fortune by her Grandmother Lin's best friend, Grandmother Su. Grandmother Su tells Chan about her love life and how she will meet a man who shines as brightly as the sun...and he will be her soulmate. This really made me curious as to how the novella would progress with this fortune read and hovering above the story. Now, let’s just all step back and admire the cover. Isn't it beautiful? *sighs deeply*
What I later disapproved of was when Chan says: "It was just too toxic. Relationships were toxic. Love was toxic. And sex? Yes, that was toxic, too." What does that mean? I believe the author could have phrased it a bit differently and still gotten the same message across, which was: Chan believes that love will only lead to sadness and hurt and that they can damage a person. I slightly disapproved of the way the author wrote it as it made both Chan seem like a prude and a character whom the readers may be forces to hate instead of love.
Chan's story is also a very sad and tragic one: this I realised later into the novella. It really explains why Chan's thoughts are so negative about love, relationships and sex. I felt this HUMUNGOUS rush of sympathy when I found out. If you'd like to know why, then read this novella.
Alexia Praks also did something sneaky; it should be called the secret weapon in a writers’ arsenal. Alexia Praks snuck in a child! Cue the "Awww"s! Sam Harrington's daughter, Lily, is very cute and absolutely adorable! I can't wait to read more about her!
The author could work on her grammar and phrasing a bit but I really like her writing style. It's sweet and poignant - it's what made me review for her in the first place. I saw no spelling mistakes or typos which was great for a self-published novel!
There were many times when I laughed out loud at the antics and silly acts of some of the characters. I loved the warmth that the 'good' ones shared and how easily it was to hate the 'evil' ones. This novella seemed like a fairytale…
I also loved the sistership that Chan and her younger sisters, Dara and Soriya, shared. It seemed really genuine and authentic. The way they acted around each other and the way try spoke in their teasing ways reminded me a lot of myself.
The ending was sweet and left a lingering mystery in its conclusion. I'm really looking forward to reading the full novel. This was an exciting sneak peak into 'When the Sun courts the Moon'! Congratulations to Alexia Praks! A four star!!