Sagittarius Charmed – Tamar Sloan and Tricia Barr

Book Seven in the Zodiac Guardians Series.

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Brief Recap from Aquarius Undone.
After the destruction of Eric’s home planet – Aquarius, the Guardians are closer than ever. Except perhaps Brielle and Tristan. They’re still pining for each other, but Brielle is being pulled further away from Tristan by her new beau, Karim. What Brielle hasn’t realised though, is that Karim has a secret, which, if the evil entity Chardis has its way, will destroy them all. Now, they not only have to find the remaining Zodiac Heirs, but they must also find the Arc – the refugee ship that survivors from the Aquarius Disaster fled on.

It feels like forever since Aquarius Undone was released, and I’ve been checking back and forth on Amazon, waiting for Sagittarius Charmed to be released. Then I got a lovely email this morning, with an ARC attached and I practically squealed with excitement.

Let me explain a wee bit. I came across Tamar Sloan during Lockdown in 2020, with her series co-written with Heidi Catherine. I practically devoured that series and then scoured Amazon for more. I found so many books by Tamar, and immediately went on a binge read. All of the books. And there’s a LOT. I’m talking multiple series, some written solo, some co-authored. All of them set in the real world, with a cross over of fantasy, magic, futuristic, shapeshifters or gods with teenage angst and a touch of romance. It made for a wealth of great characters, great books and lots of reading.

The Zodiac Guardians falls into the magic/futuristic genre, I suppose. The main characters are aliens with specific special powers, who either don’t realise their special heritage, or already know and are determined to find the others. As the name of each book suggests, there’s twelve Zodiac Heirs – all of whom are scattered on earth and around the same age as each other. Somehow, they all seem to gravitate to each other without realising it, congregating in a small town in Upstate New York. As the teenagers learn about their powers, their home planets and the danger that they all face, romance blossoms and rifts form.

So, Sagittarius Charmed, then. As I said, I was lucky enough to get an ARC of the seventh book in the series, and as the name suggests, the Guardians are about to meet the Sagittarius Heir. Shreya is a confident, blonde ball of energy who finds that she always seems to find whatever she’s looking for. Whether it’s the perfect little fro-yo café, a twenty dollar bill, or making friends – everything falls easy for her. She’s got a smile to knock the socks off anyone and the charm to ensure they all love her. Coupled with her individual appearance of the short pixie cut with pastel pink ends, she’s a force to be reckoned with, and the High School in Mirror Point, New York, won’t know what’s hit it.

What’s interesting about Tamar’s writing style is that she writes in the present tense from the third person perspective. It makes the book feel fast paced, and you find you read it quicker than you’d expect. Each chapter is from another characters perspective – until they all collide for the big ending. You see the other mains passing by, conversing with other people – and you wonder what’s going on – until everything comes together. It’s a clever narrative ploy – and moves the story along at a break-neck pace. I say Tamar, because I’ve noticed this same narrative style in each of her books – whether solo or co-authored. I’m not as familiar with Tricia Barr’s work, so can’t say if this style is her penchant, too.

What both baffles me and completely astounds me, is that Tamar Sloan has several projects on the go at once. There’s Zodiac Guardians, Keepers of the Light, Keepers of the Chalice, Keepers of the Grail (which I have a feeling are all going to be somehow linked), AND The Thaw Chronicles. This is one heck of a busy author, and how on earth she manages to keep each story line of each separate series straight in her head is beyond my own reckoning. In fact, I’d provably pay money to find out how she manages it!

S. A.

Anyway, if you’ve not already read any of the Zodiac Guardians, I’d recommend you do. They’re all available on Kindle Unlimited. And the reading order is:
Zodiac Guardians (a prequel)
Libra Ascending
Capricorn Conquered
Leo Rising
Taurus Divided
Virgo Incognito
Aquarius Undone
Sagittarius Charmed
Aries Armed (Due February 2023).

Sagittarius Charmed is released on Amazon on May 17th, and is available for pre-order NOW. It will also be available on Kindle Unlimited once released.