'Madly' (Madly #1) by M. Leighton

Before sitting down to 'Madly' book #1 in the aptly named Madly series by M. Leighton I'd absolutely no idea what it was about but a friend recommended it, and, if you've been around these parts for any length of time, I'll read just about anything that someone throws in my general direction. This title about Madly James and her world steeped in fairy tale lore is no exception.

At first, two things struck me. The cover being the first. Now I know what you're thinking - this is a book review, not a cover review. Don't worry, I'm not an artist or outragouesly talented marketer so I won't spend too long on it - but the cover turned me off.  Too me it looked cheap, more like a manga cover than any serious fiction I'd ever picked up. The second was how short it was. Only one hundred pages? I thought - well, if I didn't like it than at least it would be an extremely short term commitment.

While I still pretty much hate the cover art, this is a good lesson in putting covers aside and reading the material before passing judgement. Even more impressive was that I got to the last page of this fast paced introductory novella in just under an hour and was disappointed that I'd need to get my hands on the next volume to keep going.

Will I pick up Madly & Wolfhardt (Madly, #2)? Most likely, equally terrible cover and all.

Should you pick up 'Madly'? Well - if you've burned yourself out on young adult fantasy romance then I'd probably steer clear for now. But if you can get past the cover and want to read something in this genre that isn't about vampires or werewolves you've got the green light - just do yourself a favor and make sure to have book two queued up and ready to go!