I came close several times of giving up on this book but I plowed on and the wrap up of this story was a little better than the beginning and middle. rating of C ( )

2.5 stars. I love the cover and idea of the book. But I really struggled getting through this one. ( )

Geniaaaaaal . Amo a Carolyn Crane !

Mr. Real is the first book in the new series Code of Shadows by Carolyn Crane.

Let me start this review by saying that this book is like nothing I have ever read before. Sometimes it was so absurd and implausible that it makes a very entertaining read because you never know what is going to happen next, anything could happen and when I say anything it’s “anything”.

After inheriting a house from an aunt she didn’t know Alix Gordon is ready to prove to everybody that she can be a responsible woman despite what people think of her, if she is honest despite her usual behavior, but she is ready for a change.
She wants to make the house a bed and breakfast; while doing restorations she come across an old floppy disk, wanting to know more about her aunt she converts the data and installs it in her laptop, but nothing happens until one day when by mistake she clicked many times on a picture of necklace and next day the necklace is waiting for her by the entrance of her house.
After inheriting the house she has heard all about her aunt being a witch, but she doesn’t believe it, she needs to make sure that what she think is happening is really happening and day by day decides to order clothes and other things the same way she did with the necklace by clicking many times on their pictures. 24 hours later whatever she has ordered is waiting for her by the entrance of her house.
Alix confides in her best friend, Karen, who tells her to be very careful, she is dealing with something she doesn’t know and it may have serious repercussions. Alix promised Karen not to use her laptop again until Karen can come and check was really going on; but one night after a combination of loneliness and many beers Alix decides to order a Man, but this man is not anyone, he’s the super spy Sir Kendall, a character from the Denali liquor TV ads, what is special about Sir Kendall is that the man that played the character is Alix old martial arts instructor and her biggest crush, Paul Reinhart.

When Sir Kendall shows up Alix realizes she has made a big mistake, she is ready to take responsibility for her actions, but after spending sometime with Sir Kendall she is not so ready anymore. If Sir Kendall wasn’t enough to complicate Alix life the sudden arrival of Paul to her house it sure is.

Mr. Real story is told from multiple points of view, Alix, Sir Kendall and Paul’s. This helped to understand each character better and see what they really have in their heads.
I loved Sir Kendall; the way Mrs. Crane wrote him made a completely unbelievable character believable. It was easy to see that he really was his TV character, a super spy that was seeing plots and complots in everyone and everything.

Alix is a very hard to like character, she is a very insecure woman that thinks she can buy love and attention with sex, I really felt bad for her. Her family and friends see her as a black sheep, she doesn’t like what people think of her but still she doesn’t change her behavior and does things that reinforced their opinions of her.
Alix is also a very stubborn woman, when she thinks she is right she doesn’t care about what others think, even though everybody around her is telling her she is wrong she continues through the same path. I wanted to slap some sense into her more than once, I know in her head her intentions were good, but sometimes she was just too much.

Paul is a broken man who uses a hard façade to protect himself; he suffered a lot when he was a child and after many years he still hasn’t been able to leave his demons behind. Although I liked him I couldn’t understand what he saw in Alix, I really wish I could have seen what attracted him to her.

As I said before Mr. Real is so absurd that it was hilarious and its absurdity worked really well with the story and the characterization of the characters.
Mr. Real is well paced and so full of surprises that you don’t know what you are going to find at the turn of the page. When you think you have everything figured out Mrs. Crane throws you a curveball and leaves you gaping at the pages, showing us once more what a talented writer she is.

Mr. Real is a fun and entertaining read, one I recommend you to read with an open mind and an awakened imagination.
I’m looking forward to read more about this new world Mrs. Crane created in her Code of Shadows Series.
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I absolutely loved this book. PNRish type books (and this is not quite PNR) are hit or miss for me. This book, was a complete hit. Well developed and likable characters, charming setting, laughable but scary villain and a nice surprise at the ending. Oh and it is a sweet romance (with steam!).

This book is good. It is really good. I am always worried about a new series by an author that I am already a fan of, particularly when it is a genre switch. But I shouldn’t have been worried. Carolyn Crane wrote an amazing story. Mr. Real is fun from the beginning to the end. It is unique, a completely different take on romance, suspense, spy, mystery and the paranormal. But I feel like I am not capturing the true interesting quality. Let me start with the lead, Alix. When we meet Alix she is contemplating a quick hook up, fixing up an old Victorian, and feeling kind of left behind in life. She is not afraid of her sexuality, she is not an innocent (thank goodness, I hate that storyline ….) but she uses her sexuality to reinforce her self-esteem. Alix is fun, slightly unconventional but sensitive.

The setting of the story is a small town in Minnesota where everyone seems to know everyone else and in an old Victorian formerly inhabited by an alleged witch. Through some crazy but interesting black magic, Alix is able to bring to life anything she wishes by clicking on an image on her bewitched computer. So what does she conjure? Jewelry, clothes … and a commercial character played by a man she used to be interested in.

“Lucky this powerful magic didn’t fall into the hands of somebody who would use it merely for her own self-gratification.”

At first, Alix is thrilled but soon she realizes that she is not in control of everything she has conjured and things begin to spin out of control for her. Beginning with the fictional character come to life having his own plans, the arrival of the actor (her former love interest) who plays the fictional character and some other fun but unexpected stuff. During the unwinding of the tale, Crane slowly builds her characters and develops them for her readers. There are some books that I close and walk away from never to think of the characters again — even if I enjoyed the story. While Mr. Real is a fun and light story, the characters felt real to me. They seem to have a life off of the pages, I can see Alix drinking beer and taking care of her B&B — basically just living her life. That was the gift of this story, the characters.

Another gift of this story is the humor. There are so many quotable and laugh out loud sections. Even if this story didn’t have a unique storyline and memorable characters (which it does), it would be worth reading just because of the humor:

“Apparently a fictional, two-dimensional man makes the ideal party guest.”

“Go for it! Yay! Fuck him! A little voice inside her yelled.”

Mr. Real does not involve a murder mystery or a theft. There are no vamps on the loose or rogue weres to track down. Not that I am knocking that sort of paranormal, but it is really nice to read something new. This is paranormal in a completely new manner. If you have read Crane’s Disillusionist series, then you already know that Crane approaches fantasy from a perspective other authors are not. If you have not read her Disillusionist series, well I am not sure what else to say except - read it!

I cannot wait to read the next installment in this series. (I say this with love and appreciation …… ) Hurry up Ms. Crane!
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