Review of Rowena's Key

Before I start looking at the book I'll just apologise quickly for not posting as frequently at the moment. I've just moved into my new uni house and have been dealing with a load of departmental issues at university, whilst working, having my family up and so on. Anyway, I managed to actually get a free e-book copy of Rowena's Key for my kindle, and I'm pretty glad I did. It was the first fantasy novel I've read in a while, so was quite an enjoyable read on that front.

The main character, Rowena, is (as the quote above suggests) a pretty standard woman in her mid-twenties. She owns an antiques store which her two best friends Ollie and Violet help her run. At the beginning of the book she manages to secure possession of an old family armoire, which she pays quite a hefty sum for. Soon she finds that it is not simply something which she can put her clothes in, but a kind of portal into another realm. It has a mirror in it through which she can see into another Earth. At first she thinks it's a trick, but what she didn't expect was to be faced with an incredibly handsome young man who claimed to be her prince.

In my opinion Nuest really succeeded in making the fantastical elements of the novel seem almost realistic. Often I've found that if writers attempt to set up the "real world" in too much detail before adding the element of fantasy it doesn't sit right, and the whole plot ends up seeming ridiculous. However, fantasy and reality work in harmony in Rowena's Key to make it seem as though these kind of things could happen to any woman. I also found it quite refreshing to have two protagonists who clearly have an interest in each other, rather than one remaining aloof.

All in all, it was quite a quick, easy and enjoyable read. Plus the plot twist at the end definitely makes you want more from this series of books!

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x