Compelling Paranormal Historical Romance

Imperfect Illusions is a paranormal historical romance set mostly in France and Belguim in 1917, featuring two young American men who are blackmailed into enlisting in the army because their special “skills” – they are magic users – make them valuable to the Allied war effort. I read it a few months back and was absolutely bowled over by how good it is; the historical background has obvously been extensively researched, the worldbuilding is superb and the romance is heart-meltingly gorgeous – so when I saw there was an audio version, I had to pick it up to experience the story all over again.

It's a gripping tale in which the author very skilfully weaves together the fantasy and real-world elements to create a unique and high-stakes story that is quite unlike anything else I’ve read or listened to. Lawless does a fantastic job of creating an atmosphere of darkness and uncertainty, of conveying the fear and inevitability of loss felt by those in the thick of the fighting, and the slow-burn romance between Elliot and Sully is terrific – they have fantastic chemistry, the steamy scenes are superbly done and their emotional connection is evident in their every interaction.

Logan McAllister delivers a strong performance with clear differentiation and a good range of character voices. He narrates expressively and really delivers on the emotional content of the story and on conveying the strength of the connection between the two leads. I noticed a few mispronunciations (the worst was Passchendaele as "PashonDELL" -which really should have been corrected in post production), but that's my only real criticism.

Imperfect Illusions was a real find – one of those books that wasn’t even on my radar until it was, and it’s one of my favourite listens of the year. The author achieves the perfect balance between plot and romance, the action scenes are well-written, the two leads are engaging and complex, and their romance is lovely.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Amazing story

The blurb was very appealing, I like fantasy and a World War I setting sounds like something different. I liked the wonderful writing style. The story is fluidly written and also well paced, the action scenes are exciting and the love scenes are sensual and hot.
The two protagonists Elliot Stone and Warren Sullivan are blackmailed into enlisting at the front because of their magic.
What follows is a slowly developing story in the midst of World War I filled with emotions of pain, sadness, hope, and a budding love.
The story is special and I enjoyed it.
The audiobook was magnificently voiced by Logan McAllister. I didn't know this narrator before but I will keep an eye on him. He portrayed the emotions well and it was easy to recognize the different protagonists. He also has a very pleasant voice.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A great listen

This was a new author to me, and I'm glad I gave it a chance because I really enjoyed it.

The narrator Logan McAllister, is one I've not come across before and I think he did a fabulous job, I'll be looking to see what other MM romances he narrates. He brought Vanora Lawless' characters to life for me and kept me listening even when I should have been doing other things
Bringing magic into this alternate timeline of WWI was an interesting choice and I thought it worked really well.

I really liked both MCs, and enjoyed the connection they had from the start. It was a dangerous era to be gay back then and I felt their fear of being discovered and what might happen. This was used against them and they are forced to join the war as 'skilled' soldiers.

I was completely absorbed in this story as they train and then go out on their missions, the push and pull of their attraction and the complications of their respective powers.

The side characters were also great to get to know and I'm looking forward to more Elliot and Sully and their team of skilled people.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Enjoyable

I globally enjoyed the book! The story had good bones, some tropes/things I always enjoyed in a book and the romance was cute. As for the plot (the military stuff), it wasn't really that interesting or engaging though. Also the miscommunication and the "I-need-to-tell-you-something-but-everytime-we-get-interupted" got on my nerves-I mean once or twice is fine but by the fifth times I was mad. And let's not talk about Elliot saying to another character that he told and explained the dreams to Sully while I was like "B*tch, you didn't! You just vomited words out of context" which of course created miscommunication *le sigh*.

As for the narrator, it was a bit weird for me because I enjoyed his characters voices during dialogues but not his narrating voice when there were no dialogues. Weird!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful