Free Spirits

Reviewed by Michelle Ellis © 2006

Wild Child Publishing.com © 2006

Author: Zinnia Hope
Publisher: Freya's Bower
Length: Novella
Genre: Fantasy, erotic romance
Rating: Sizzling
Price: $4.75
Release Date: April 2006
Format: eBook - PDF
ISBN: 0-9771314-8-3

Hours have passed since reading Free Spirits yet the story is still haunting me. I have one word for it: Beautiful. This novella will stay with me for a long time. It touched me to such a degree that I cried at the end. A lot. Rarely does a story induce the lump in my throat to hurt, but for some reason, this one did.

Beth, a young girl, falls in love. The second chapter depicts the feelings of first time romance wonderfully. I felt Beth's worries and apprehension. As I don't usually read erotica or romance I had the misconception that it would be too rude and soppy for my l'il eyes. How wrong could one be? The sex scenes in Free Spirits were done with dignity and I thought more of love and romance while reading them, than what I had expected, which was embarrassment at reading something dirty.

Zinnia Hope has opened my eyes to what erotica is all about. I would eagerly grab a new copy of her book the minute it found its way to the bookshelf. I'd be one of those women who clubbed another to get my hands on the last copy in the shop.

When Beth encounters the black panther, I expected to feel that the plot wasn't going to work. Wrong again. The way this was written made the appearance and incorporation of the panther into the story so smooth that when you come to realise the panther is a reincarnation of Beth's true soul mate, a warrior, who visits Beth when trouble is afoot in her life, it works incredibly well.

The scenes with the warrior were my favourite. So well done, I really did feel the love between the two lovers. My eyes filled at several points during the novella when reading the warrior scenes. The descriptions were wonderful and lush, and I saw everything described as if I were there. Even the small detail of pollen dusting the panther's coat as he came out of the foliage... just excellent.

Spanning her life from a young woman to her old age, we get to meet a woman and know her wants and desires, but we also get to ask ourselves questions. Is there really a soul mate out there for everyone? If we don't meet in this life, do we come back and meet in the next? This story affirmed everything I've always thought, that yes, we do.

I don't want to reveal any more of the story in this review, as doing so would spoil it for future readers. However, I do urge you to read Free Spirits. I promise that you will feel as optimistic and believing as strongly in true love as I did by the end of the tale.

Again, a lovely story. If Zinnia Hope doesn't get a book deal, I'll eat my hat. She has found a new fan. For the way this touched me, and stayed in my head, for the wonderful descriptions and feeling of knowing this really could happen, for being transported into a fantasy world I never dreamed I would visit -- as I'm a horror fan -- I would like to award Free Spirits the Freya's Bower gold star.

This book left me wondering, "Why hasn't an agent or publisher snapped up Zinnia Hope?" and knowing that, one day, everyone will know her name.

To learn more about Zinnia Hope, you can visit her blog. To purchase Free Spirits, you can visit Freya's Bower's store.