My review of "Her Sweetest Downfall" by Rebecca Hamilton.

Her Sweetest Downfall by Rebecca Hamilton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An enchanting, magical tale full of mystique, imagination and a unique twist on Romance.

Her Sweetest Downfall is a prequel to The Forever Girl series, but could be read as a standalone book. The story was structured in the traditional model, with a beginning, middle and end, so no cliffhangers here! Which was satisfying.

The story opens up with Ophelia, who wakes up one day with "Mark of the Serpent" on her neck--a painful wound that winds up being more than such. On her way to deliver a letter, she encounters a man named Ethan, who informs her that their encounter was not by chance and soon enough, Ophelia learns that the Mark of the Serpent is a sign of a calling...a call of duty, to work for the Universe! I was immediately hooked after the first few pages, and the mystery never lets up either.

Ethan guides Ophelia on her journey, who is on the brink of a new spiritual awakening and doesn''t know why. Everything is thrown on her ever so suddenly, and I felt the character struggle with her new sense of purpose as well as her newfound fears and abilities. As she embarks on a world previously unknown to her, she begins to encounter odd-worldly beings, called, Elementals, who take on the traits of Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. Rebecca Hamilton imagines characters and locales so rich, her writing is superbly detailed and I could sense the characters breathe on the page, and I could feel the atmosphere that felt straight out of a Tim Burton film.

Throughout their adventure, mistrust creeps in around the peripheral, as Ethan's true motives are uncertain; until the latter portion of the story of course. His ability to abstain from forming an emotional attachment to Ophelia contributes to this mistrust, as Ophelia is thrown into a mission, a mission that winds up being about one of the most fundamental of all our journeys in life--the mission to find ourselves, to find our purpose in life, and most of all, to find the answers to the question of all questions-- what it means to be human.



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Interview with Rebecca Hamilton- author of The Forever Girl series !

 Rebecca Hamilton is the author of The Forever Girl series, tales of Paranormal/Fantasy and Romance. She is a prime example of self-publishing success, her novels are highly acclaimed and she has garnered many fans who cannot wait for her next book--Including me! When Rebecca offered to do an interview as part of her blog tour, I was honored, so please do take this opportunity to get to know Rebecca and her work. 

Anton:  

So what made you decide to become an Author? 

  
 Rebecca: 

Truth be told, it started off as a bucket list item. “Write a Book.” Check. As it turns out, it’s hardly that simple! Writing is addicting. 

Anton:. 

 Please tell us something about yourself, especially how you came to love vampires, witches, ghosts, and the paranormal in general. 

Rebecca: 

Great question! I am not really sure what spurned my interest in the paranormal. I’ve always just loved it in film and movies. Maybe because it’s an escape—anything is possible. I am not a religious person, but I suppose there is some part of me that wants to believe in something “bigger” than life. I don’t think witches or vampires or real, but I guess it’s just fun to pretend for a little while. Ghosts, on the other hand—well, either they are real or the mind can play some amazing tricks.

Anton: 

What inspired you to create Sophia, the main character in your Forever Girl series?

Rebecca:
  
The Forever Girl series has several big characters, each with their own story to tell, but Sophia I suppose would count as the “main” character of the series, as she is the only one who we continually re-visit throughout the series. She, like most of my characters, just “came to me”. I start writing and let the character reveal themselves to me as I do so. The only thing I really knew before I started writing about Sophia was that she is Wiccan.

 Anton: 

 Do you have any specific rituals or routines that you follow before writing? Many readers such as myself, always love to ask their favorite authors what their writing process consists of.

 

Rebecca: 

I always write at night, when the kids are in bed. I play music, usually through my playlist created on grooveshark (I make a new playlist for each book). And in the actual writing process, I just . . . write. I see where it takes me. I write down ideas for future plot points and events, or sometimes I start to map out the rest of the story, but my characters are always changing things on me.

Anton:  

What advice would you give to other aspiring writer's out there? 

Rebecca: 

Persevere. Never give up. I really believe this is the number one key to any author’s success! I shiver to think what would have happened if I had given up on my writing. My life would look so different now, and I rather like the way it is  

Anton:  

What can we expect from Rebecca Hamilton in the future? 

Rebecca: 

Later this year I’ll be releasing a co-written paranormal horror story with Riley J. Ford called Circus of Lost Souls. I’m also in the editing process for Come, the Dark (book two of the Forever Girl Series). Finally, I have a literary fiction novel on the backburner and I plan to resume working on another two paranormal horror stories with author R.P. Kraul; I’m pretty excited about these. 

 Anton:

Well Rebecca, once again, I thank you for the time to conduct this interview, it's been my pleasure.To those who joined us, If you are interested in learning  more about Rebecca or the Forever Girl series, please make sure to visit Rebecca's websites listed below. She'll be partaking in various blogs over the course of November and there’s a list of blog stops and activities listed over on her BLOG, complete with opportunities to win prizes! 

Rebecca's BLOG : http://www.paranormalfantasybooks.com/