A Member of the Council

By Lynn Cahoon

ISBN# 9781616504243

Author’s Website: http://lynncahoon.wordpress.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Vicki

*Beware of possible Spoilers*

Synopsis:

A rogue hunter, a clueless witch and a mission to save an unknowing world.

Parris McCall, owner of the dive bar, The Alibi, has finally constructed a life where her little quirks don’t show or matter to anyone. As for her grandmother’s warnings that she’s different, well, she’ll cross that bridge if she comes to it.

But when Ty walks into her bar, both lives are instantly changed.

Ty Wallace loves his life. How could he not? He’s a powerful human lawyer by day and the Magic Council’s rogue witch hunter by night. But after he agrees to substitute on his secretary’s dart team, all hell breaks loose. Now Ty has to help Parris admit who she is before her long-lost relatives kill her.

Review:

I always really enjoy the pacing of a short story. It’s quick, it’s to the point and there is generally no needless dialogue. Yet, I have discovered recently that I have a slightly odd relationship with the short story; it is often that I leave the characters feeling a lack of completeness. This is usually due to the fact that I want to know more: I want to live in the characters’ world for a little longer; I want to know what happened to get the characters where they are and I want to know what happens next. A Member of the Council was no different.

That is not to say that Lynn Cahoon does not offer her readers a whole story; there is an obvious beginning, middle and end. The characters of Ty and Parris are well developed and have clear arcs. However, Cahoon’s world building suffered slightly due to the fact that A Member of the Council is a short story. There was so much fodder for an in depth look into the Hunters, Witches and the history of the council and I felt as though there was not enough explanation about the mechanics of this world, which made the second half a little difficult to follow.

Ty and Parris’s chemistry is evident from their first meeting and the sexual tension builds nicely throughout but I did think that when they finally got groiny with one another that it was a bit rushed. I guess this is just another limitation of the short story category.

All that being said I really did enjoy my brief sojourn with Ty and Parris. The story was well written and entertaining. The selfish book lover in me would have just liked to read an expanded version of this story and I really think there is potential here for a series. A lot of series writers are publishing novellas in between books and at times it really did feel like I was reading something like that.

A Member of the Council made me yearn for more and for my first introduction to Cahoon’s writing, that is really not a bad thing!