Tempered by Fire
H.E. Birss
ISBN # 9781477530429  

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Lindsay

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to give this book 3 or 5 stars.  Why, you ask?  Well, let me explain.  Hailey Catherwood is not your average teenager.  She has a special ability called the Sight.  This gift allows her to see into the fairy realm.  Basically, she can see fairies who appear normal to humans.  When Ryan O’Connor shows up as the new guy in school she instantly recognizes him as a fairy.  After ignoring him, Ryan threatens her grandmother and forces her to serve as his bodyguard.  Ryan played a prank on Vivian, the Queen of the UnSeelie Court.  Now she is after him so he needs Hailey’s help to spot any fairies near him before they can take him back to Vivian to be held responsible for his prank.  When her grandmother, Rose, and Ryan’s lifelong friend, Dolan, end up missing.  They both know who is responsible.  Together they embark on a journey to rescue Rose and Dolan.  However, all is not as it seems.  What started as a prank turns into a quest for survival.  Ryan and Hailey must venture deep into the UnSeelie Court to learn the truth and bring Rose and Dolan home.

So, as you can see my dilemma was not due the the story line.  This really is a good story.  There are 2 reasons I had so much trouble rating this book.  First, there were a lot of grammar and spelling errors.  I can overlook a few mistakes but there were so many in this book it disrupted the flow.  I found myself having to stop and think about what was actually being said.  Second, the book just didn’t impress me much until the end.  It’s not a boring book but it just didn’t grip me.

With that being said, I decided to give the book 4 stars.  Tempered by fire is full of off color humor.  Many times I found myself laughing because that is something I would’ve said.  Birss does an excellent job writing from Hailey’s perspective.  It reads just like you are hearing her thoughts.  I would recommend you give this book a chance.  It is a well written story (minus the spelling and grammar mistakes of course) that will keep you chuckling until the end.  It is a fast paced read that builds to an unexpected conclusion and, in this reviewer’s opinion, is worth your time for the story and humor alone.