Improbables by Jonathan Charles Bruce Pages: 336
Published by Booktrope Editions on January 29, 2016
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Source: ecopy from Publisher
Abigail Wren's new life fresh out of college is dull, even with her (almost) dream job at the local newspaper. The only real excitement she can get is found between the pages of an endless stream of paranormal romance novels she can't help but love.
Then, on a snowy night in December, Abigail catches a glimpse of what could only be described as a werewolf. Enamored with the possibility, her investigation leads her to discover a paranormal population-improbables-harmoniously living in the midst of humanity. Between making eyes at a perpetually grumpy werewolf and hanging out with a vampire with a lust for life (and liquor), Abigail's life takes a shaky step out of the ordinary and into the fantastic.
Just outside of the sleepy town of Whitewater, however, a force of rage is building. Born of hate and delusion, a living cataclysm threatens to devour everyone in its path-human or improbable.
Improbables is a paranormal romance by Johnathan Charles Bruce. I am not sure which age group this book is being marketed as, but in my opinion it is likely a new adult book. The main character has just graduated college and is looking for her first job. I really enjoyed Improbables and the writing is engaging and excellent. The author loves to take jobs at pop culture, politics, the media, tropes in paranormal fiction that have been sensationalized, you name it. And while, I loved his writing style and I absolutely love the dialogue between the characters (in fact the conversational style was my favorite part of the story. There was wittiness galore. Big thumbs up there!), I did feel my hackles rising a bit with some of the more political jabs and the overt pushing of different women’s issues/agenda throughout. It is just not my thing. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good political book, and I love to read scholarly, and not so scholarly, work on all sides and facets of the media and politics, and politics in general, but I don’t love it in young adult or new adult. But that aside, I really enjoyed Improbables. I think it was a great take on a paranormal romance, and writing/dialogue driven readers will love Johnathan Charles Bruce’s style. I know I did.
Abigail is an awesome main character. I loved her style. She is spunky and witty and maybe just a tad too inquisitive and pushy for her own good. As soon as she arrived in Washington, I knew I was going to love her. She is one funny lady. Even the times she made me cringe, like how casual and sarcastic she was with her boss, even then she is still really funny.
The pace of the book was good. it started off great, I was immediately engaged, even though I have been on a contemporary kick lately. This is the book that has gotten back into paranormals, which is saying something big. And I attribute that all to great characters and great writing. But after Abigail met Collin at his house, I felt like the pace of the book slowed way down. It started to drag in the middle for me. It did eventually pick up again, but the first third and last third were better in my opinion than the middle third. Taking the book as a whole though, this was a really fun ride. One that I would happily read again. Johnathan Charles Bruce is a great writer. That is undeniable.
Bottom line: If you like paranormal romances with snarky characters, quirky characters, a great mix of creatures, and beyond excellent writing- check out Improbables. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.
Thank you so much for the review!