Tour!! A Book Review of Hunted by Jill Kaelin

Hunted (Cycle 13 #1) by Jill Kaelin

Genre: Young Adult (Fantasy Romance)

Date Published: August 17, 2013
Publisher: InkSpell Publishing

The Blurb:

8
That’s how old I was when I found out I was special. I was given my rose quartz gem and taught about my past.

13
That’s how many times I’ve lived in this world. This is my thirteenth life cycle as a human.

1
That’s how many seconds it took me to fall in love with Mike.  It’s also the amount of time I had to say goodbye to him just before he was killed by Reggie, the hunter that’s been after me for months.

Will Reggie succeed in killing me too, and possibly eradicating the planet of the unicorn race forever?

My Review:

Hunted is book one of the Cycle 13 series and debut novel by Jill Kaelin. I haven't read many books about Unicorns yet, which is surprising because I've always loved the idea of Unicorns. You just don't really come across too many books about them. So, for me, this book offered something different, and on top of that, I'd never seen these creatures portrayed quite this way either. I'm a little unsure about the blurb that goes with this book though, as it doesn't entirely match the plot. I wasn't disappointed by that at all, it just made me wonder. I'd like to know more about the unicorns in general and why they can only take a human form now. What happened to change that? I didn't get the impression that it was a natural adaptation so much as their genetics were artificially changed over the years (You'll know what I mean once you read the book), but that's just my opinion. I enjoyed the characters. Aside from being a Unicorn, Skye seemed like a pretty normal teenager. Mike was persistent and fun. She needed someone like him. He's good for her. Jules was a loyal and needed supporting character. I don't trust the Unicorn leader at all. I think he's up to something. I guess we'll find out in upcoming books. I enjoyed the story quite a bit. It was highly original, and offered some twists to keep things interesting. I think the Young Adult audience would really enjoy this story. It's a nice and much needed change from vampires and werewolves. Hunted was a very fast paced book, and I look forward to more from this author.

Hunted by Jill Kaelin was provided to me by the publisher for review. The opinions are my own.

About the Author:
Since elementary school, I remember being in love with words.  Spelling them, writing them, reading them...I even hung them up around my house.  I think I owe my love of language to my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Templeton.  I can recall sitting around in a circle in that old, red-brick school, listening to her read aloud Greek mythology.  The oxymoron there was that she was the most prim and proper teacher I ever knew, right down to the white buttoned up blouse held together at the collar with a cameo pin.  The way she read made words come alive.

I had written a few things here and there throughout my life.  I used to think I'd be good at children's books, and it wasn't a far stretch since I worked with children every day and knew what they liked.  But then I read the series by Stephenie Meyer, maybe you've heard of it...Twilight.  This was the type of story I knew I had to write.  Teenagers were my audience.  It helped I had one at home to learn from.

My idea didn't come in a dream.  No, I wasn't that fortunate.  It happened through research.  And lots of it.  The only criteria I had was that I wanted my story to be different from everything else out there.  I wanted my story to stand out.  No vampires or werewolves.  No witches or wizards.  Unicorns were my choice.  And I think the story that unfolded is definitely unique.

Writing this story has been fulfilling.  Getting this story published is a dream come true.  Inkspell Publishing has accepted my manuscript and my book will be released this summer. Somebody pinch me!

To learn more about Jill Kaelin and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.