The Shimmering

The Shimmering is an entertaining short read that starts on Earth with an experiment in astral projection and ends up on a planet far far away. During her out-of-body experience, Sandra is pulled through the stars to the world of Farii, giving the term ‘astral projection’ a double meaning.

Travelling directly into a politically charged socially awkward situation, Sandra lands in a body that belonged to a woman who purposefully left her body to avoid said awkward situation. That was the first sign that Sandra was in a predicament. It doesn’t take long for Sandra to get into this situation so you know that story is going to move right along.

The action does proceed quickly and Sandra comes face-to-face with her true predicament – a man. Daveck is his name and he and the body formerly known as Lira are to be married. A lot of trouble (action) ensues, intermingled with an equal amount of flirting. Both Sandra and Daveck challenged/frustrated the other sexually at every step of the way – a little equal opportunity flirting on a world where women taking charge is not the norm. Sandra and Daveck quickly formed an alliance, so-to-speak, in order to face the bad guy head on. If this had been a longer novel, the bad guy would have been a great character to expand on. He was definitely insane.

If you are a Stargate fan, you might think fondly back on a particular episode – Touchstone – where the team had to hunt down a climate control device. Similar circumstances apply in The Shimmering with the addition of a heated romance.

The Shimmering is my first Susan Kearney book since I enjoyed the Pendragon Legacy series several years ago. Both series are a fun combination of genres that will appeal to scifi romance readers who enjoy a little paranormal mixed in. At a mere 98 pages, don’t expect a deep, complex story. Do expect what is advertised – a couple of hours of pure escapist fun, no strings attached!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

I liked how this was so different from most alien romances, Sandra is a skeptic who takes a chance to see if the astral plane device works and finds herself unable to get back to her body. She finds a body to use on a different planet as this "body" was the daughter of the villain and arranged to marry Daveck, who is trying to save his planet from destruction.

I would agree that this was not a deep read but not just pure fluff either. It was a nice story that kept me reading and engaged on how the characters would interact and if they could find the device and save the planet. I liked both characters, Sandra was a strong woman and not afraid of standing up to Daveck! Poor Daveck was labeled a murderer for an accident, and most people were terrified of him, which made their interaction fun to read.

I was also curious if the Romanian prince who is mentioned in the beginning would have anything to do with the conflict but while he was not, he did get another mention at the end of the book! Little details like that matter to me!

An out of this world read that will spark your space travel fantasies! This book was a great escape into a different world.