Review: Jack and Djinn (Book 1: The Houri Legends)

Rating: 3.5 Out of 5 Stars
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Author: Amber Sweetapple
Publication Date: May 22, 2012
Buy: eBook and Paperback on Amazon
Blurb: Miriam's life is a hot mess. Her boyfriend Ben is no longer the man she fell in love with, and he won't stop knocking her around. Every time she tries to leave him or stand up to him, she gets hurt even worse. 

Then one day she's saved by a sexy stranger named Jack. He's kind, handsome, and sweet: everything she could ever want and more. And he's determined to protect her at all costs.

As her passion for Jack ignites, so does the rest of her body...

But Ben won't give up his girl so easily, leading to a violent confrontation with deadly consequences no one could have predicted.

When I received Jack and Djinn from NetGalley, I didn't really know what I was in for. From the title I assumed it may have something to do with Jinn (a leap, I know) and from the blurb, an abusive relationship. That being said, I didn't really have any expectations and was just looking forward to another Paranormal Romance read.

Jack and Djinn begins with two detectives at a murder scene - an unrecognizably burned body was found in a casino. However, the fire seemed to only burn the victim, not anything around him, leaving the detectives baffled. 

We quickly skip back to a few weeks before the incident and meet Miriam, our female protagonist. Miriam has led quite a difficult life. She lost the only positive male figure in her life at the tender age of 11, her mom abandoned her as a teenager, and every man she dates is *eventually* physically abusive. 

So when she met Jack, she couldn't have been more surprised and he couldn't have come at a more difficult time in her life. Weird things keep happening and somehow, Miriam believes she's responsible for them.

The story develops over a course of a few weeks, jumping from the past to the present and then meshing together at the end. I thought Ms. Sweetapple did a wonderful job jumping back and forth between past and present. It was actually one of my favorite parts of the book. 

Although I enjoyed the writing style, I really didn't connect with Miriam. She was much to weak of a character for me to relate to. I was extremely frustrated with her relationship with Ben, but not in a good way. I've read several books with broken characters but Miriam wasn't broken enough for me to feel sorry for and she wasn't strong enough for me to respect. She just walked the muddy middle road. However, she did begin to grow on me and by the end of the book I enjoyed her much more, it just took a long while.

Jack was a great character - although again, not relatable. He got stronger with each page turn and I truly enjoyed his real-life moments. I would say the character who made the most sense was Ben, our villan. Ben was completely hate-able and I enjoyed every minute of hating on him! 

I gave this book 3.5 stars because even with the above issues, I really saw Ms. Sweetwater grow throughout this book, creating a unique plot with difficulties that truly affect the reader. I just hope that the characters in the second installment grip me a bit tighter.