In the late sixteenth century, Sam awakens in a divine land of inimitable beauty, where a unicorn grazes on the banks of a rainbow lake, but all he feels is emptiness. It is his own poetic vision of heaven, but the reality is hellish: his death, the day before his twentieth birthday, has separated him from the love of his life and his heart has left him. Consequently, he is condemned to spend all of eternity in this soulless place. Sam's meddling guardian angel, Athena, is desperate to atone for her role in his heavenly imprisonment and although she can't send him back to his own life, she breaks all the rules by allowing him to be reincarnated again and again - as many times as it takes for him to find Fizz, the love of his life. Sam's fate, however, was written by a higher power and death will continue to stalk him through every one of his incarnations. Only when he has solved the mystery of his original death and avoided the same fate in his new life can he and Fizz finally live in peace.
Excerpt
In the late sixteenth century, Sam awakens in a divine land of inimitable beauty, where a unicorn grazes on the banks of a rainbow lake, but all he feels is emptiness. It is his own poetic vision of heaven, but the reality is hellish: his death, the day before his twentieth birthday, has separated him from the love of his life and his heart has left him. Consequently, he is condemned to spend all of eternity in this soulless place. Sam's meddling guardian angel, Athena, is desperate to atone for her role in his heavenly imprisonment and although she can't send him back to his own life, she breaks all the rules by allowing him to be reincarnated again and again - as many times as it takes for him to find Fizz, the love of his life. Sam's fate, however, was written by a higher power and death will continue to stalk him through every one of his incarnations. Only when he has solved the mystery of his original death and avoided the same fate in his new life can he and Fizz finally live in peace.
Professional Reviews
Love prevails…
I love an original story that manages to blend a host of genres to bring the reader a truly amazing experience. This is what I feel I received from author Julie Hodgson's new novel, "Finding Fizz", which is a delightful mix of historical fiction, fantasy, romance, and so much more.
The story of Sam, who wakes up in a heavenly purgatory of sorts and is confronted with the fact that he has died at the age of twenty. His guardian angel, Athena, is there to let him know how she has failed him and what his options are. He can learn to live and exist where he is, which doesn't seem like a bad idea, or he can go back and be reincarnated again and again and try to find his lost love, Fizz. This seems like a great idea to Sam, only there is one catch. He is still not supposed to live past the age of twenty and has to figure this one out, and there is are other supernatural elements at work that would prefer that Athena not meddle in matters like this. The best part of the story, for me, was the twist involving Sam's guardian angel and Chrono.
I really loved this original story and the implications for the main character, having to wait twenty years each time for a potential resolution, or not. The time period of the setting (for some of the book) was also very appealing as it felt very King Arthur-ish with the castles and the jousting. A very well-written story that was quite easy to get engaged in early on. Definitely recommend. (This is an unbiased book review and the opinions given here are 100% my own.)
Zara’s Bois:
When the powers-that-be make the decision to return a selfish party-girl to Earth on three missions of redemption, can romance and mayhem be far behind? One hot and trendy gay nightclub, two bickering angels and three unlikely p
