Eternal Blog Tour: Review

Eternal
Author: H.G. Nadel
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance
Release Date: January 2, 2013
Publisher: Sourced Media Books

Description:

A love story that spans across continents and centuries.

Julia Jones is an eighteen-year-old science prodigy with a big secret. After landing a prestigious internship with brilliant but eccentric Dr. Caleb Bertel, she is finally ready to move on from her mother's death. But after Julia revives Dr. Bertel from a near-fatal electrocution, strange things start to happen.

Without warning, Dr. Bertel disappears. Then Julia receives threatening notes on her car, and someone has her followed. The young police officer assigned to the case, Austin Moore, believes the events are connected and asks her to help him solve the mystery of Bertel's disappearance. Instantly attracted to him, Julia agrees. Still, she knows that she has seen Austin somewhere before, if only she could put her finger on it.

Will Julia uncover the mystery of Bertel's disappearance before it's too late, and does she dare trust Austin with her heart?  

Eternal is a young adult fantasy romance novel that tells the story of Julia Jones - a summer intern at a prestigious California university in the science department. She is still mourning the loss of her mother the previous year and finds herself questioning her belief in the afterlife and souls - which is part of the reason she took the internship to begin with. When her boss, Dr. Bertel, is electrocuted and is resuscitated with Julia's help - only to later go missing - Julia must unravel the mystery behind his odd behavior, along with her own feelings about death and what happens after someone has passed on. On top of all these things, Julia has the strangest connection to the young detective assigned to Bertel's case. Austin Moore is a complete stranger to Julia, yet she feels a deep connection to him - like she's known him forever. 

This was a really interesting story that deals with lots of heavy issues alongside the romance aspects of the book. The time travel and the soul mate concepts aren't new, especially to the YA genre. I liked reading about the different lives of Julia and Austin and how they lived in each one. The idea of true love and soul mates is intriguing and very romantic, so I did like that part of the novel. The characters seemed a bit flat and stereotypical to me, so I wasn't really able to closely identify with any of them. There's a bit of mystery to the plot, so I liked trying to figure out what was going on before the character realized it. The writing style was well done and flowed at a good pace. There really wasn't anything overly unique about this book that would make it stand apart from others like it in the genre, but it has a solid plot with good writing - which makes it a definitely worthwhile read for me. Recommended for fans of YA fiction, time travel, and romance.

H. G. Nadel was born in Paris and has spent most of her adult life in the United States. She began her professional career as a SAG/AFTRA agent and later started a successful acting school in Orange County, California. Nadel has written numerous screenplays, but her first love is novel writing. Her expertise in young adult drama has allowed her to write captivating coming-of-age stories in both English and French.

You can find Nadel on Facebook and Twitter.

Find out more about the characters in Eternal at www.abelardandheloisenovel.com.