[Novella Review] Mine To Tarnish By Janeal Falor & Independence Coffee Company Founder’s Pride

Title: Mine To Tarnish
Series: Mine Series #.5
Author: Janeal Falor
Publisher: Chardonian Press
Publication date: December 2nd 2013
Page Count:  128 pages
Age Rating: Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult (some violence)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received a free ARC to review

Katherine’s place is the same as any woman’s—on the shelf next to the dresses and bolts of cloth. When she’s sold to a warlock, life grows even bleaker. Her new owner is as old and rancid as he is cruel, driving her to do the unthinkable: run.

Nothing prepared her for being on her own. And she’s definitely unprepared for the warlocks hunting her down. But she must stay one step ahead because if caught, the best she can hope for is death.

My Review

The Mine series is set in Chardonia – a place where women are possessions and male warlocks use hexes, spells, and the threat of being tarnished (magically made to be bald, tattooed, and unable to have children) to keep them under their thumbs. The first book in the Mine series, You Are Mine, follows Serena as she takes steps towards independence and freedom in a warlock dominated kingdom. Fanning the sparks of free will in Serena is a tarnished seamstress named Katherine. Katherine is bold and self-sufficient – far different from what Chardonian society claims people become when they are tarnished, worth less than the shadow they cast.

Mine To Tarnish is a prequel novella that tells Katherine’s story. We learn how she came to be that bold, self-sufficient tarnished seamstress  – from far less free beginnings.

I was so excited when I saw another book had been released in this series and when I saw it was about Katherine I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I liked Katherine in You Are Mine, but after reading the following declaration from her in Mine To Tarnish, she’s become my favorite character in the series so far:

“I am not a thing,” I continue, “No other woman is a thing, and tarnished are not things. We are people, and we will be treated as such.”

You go girl!

Mine To Tarnish  is a novella, so it’s short and to the point, but it’s still packed full of feels and action. Katherine refuses to be owned, instead taking her future into her own hands and, with help and determination, carving out a new destiny for herself. She also makes the decision to become a source of help for others knowing first hand the dangers to be faced.

I loved this novella and I adore this series. The writing really flows well, the story is engrossing, and it’s full of characters I want to cheer on. This series is a must read for me and I recommend it to lovers of light fantasy and women’s fiction with magical touches.

Katherine is a good person, willing to help others and way more forgiving of those who wrong her than I would ever be, but she also has a fierce independent streak that gets her into trouble early on in the book and an iron will to survive that helps her in the end. To go with Katherine’s complimentary natures of gentle kindness and bold strength that blend so well together, I recommend Independence Coffee Company Founder’s Pride, which offers a lovely combination of elegantly creamy hazelnut blended perfectly with the sharp spiciness of cinnamon.