Lions and Tigers and Boys by Tawny Stokes #bookreview #fantasy

Title: Lions and Tigers and Boys

Author: Tawny Stokes

Publisher: Entangled: Crave

Publication Date: January 8, 2018

Page Count: 187 

My rating: 3 1/2 stars

About the book:

The last thing a girl as awkward as Dani Gale should be doing is trying to learn the high wire. Yet that’s exactly where Dani ends up—at OZ, the Oswald Zinzendorf School of Circus Arts. Trying to overcome her shyness is near impossible when her new partner—the hottest guy she’s ever laid eyes on, and whose touch seems to give her poise she thought impossible—also seems to be sabotaging her progress.

The last thing Cai Coppersmith needs is a distraction, especially in the form of the new, cute shy girl. He needs to focus on trying not to shape-shift into a tiger on school grounds, and completing his mission to keep Dani from winning the school’s high-wire competition. In fact, the entire safety of OZ is relying on Dani not succeeding. But there’s something about the girl that draws him in. She has magic, he can feel it. So he’ll do what he can to protect her, even if it means pushing her away.

My review:

If you’re anything like me and the first thing that pops into your head when seeing the title of this book is the Wizard of Oz then you would be somewhat correct in the guess that this has something to do with that movie. The story isn’t a retelling but more of taking some of the characters/situations of the movie and writing a new young adult fantasy around those elements.

We start with meeting Cai Coppersmith who attends the Oswald Zinzendorf School of Circus Arts (OZ) and who is also a tiger shifter. Cai is involved in a secret group at the school that is full of magical users training for a mission. One of the group is injured so a spot will be opening up and they need a new high-wire performer.

Dani Gale has just transferred to OZ and finds herself tossed into the competition at the school rather quickly. Cai is one of the only students nice to her and as she’s paired up with him she finds an attraction growing but little does she know Cai is meant to be sabotaging her performance.

The book was a fun, quick read that had a bit of romance mixed with the fantasy and full of little things to remind a reader of the classic Wizard of Oz. Now one might ask why only 3.5 stars for this one then if I found it a fun read? Well, as far as I can find there is no mention of this being the beginning of a series but yet the book seemed to cut off mid story. There was so much still needing to be fleshed out and finished but we seem to stop at the Dani/Cai relationship forming instead of the fantasy and magic story line. I would honestly rate this one a bit higher if I knew for sure there was a second book in the works but as it stands I was a tad disappointed in the ending.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online: 

Goodreads  /   Amazon

About the author:

Tawny Stokes has always been a writer. From an early age, she’d spin tales of serial killers in love, vampires taking over the world, and sometimes about fluffy bunnies turned bunnicidal maniacs. An honour student in high school, with a penchant for math and English, you’d never know it by the foot high blue Mohawk and Doc Martens, which often got her into trouble. No longer a Mohawk wearer, Tawny still enjoys old school punk rock, trance, zombie movies, teen horror films, and fluffy bunnies. She lives in Canada with her fantastical daughter, two cats, and spends most of her time creating new stories for teens.

You can visit her at http://www.tawnystokes.com or follow her on twitter @TawnyStokes

Tawny also writes adult fiction under the name Vivi Anna.