Vanora Lawless - Imperfect Illusions

Idealistic, aspiring poet, Elliot Stone can make people feel euphoria or horror with a simple touch. But that's only part of his magical abilities. He can also wake in the dreams of people he cares deeply for.

Stubborn, fiercely independent Warren “Sully” Sullivan is an illusionist with a secret of his own: he feels the emotions of others as visceral sensations. That, and a lifetime of fending for himself, has left him guarded.

On their last night of freedom before shipping off to training—military and magic—Elliot and Sully indulge in an explosive, emotional night together. Elliot assumes it's a one night stand and nothing more, until he awakens in Sully’s nightmare. The urge to rescue Sully is impossible to resist. And when dream-Sully begs him to keep coming back, something Sully would never do while awake, Elliot can’t resist that either.

As real life draws them into battle, their shared dreams become a refuge that only Elliot recalls. So when Elliot has the opportunity to recruit Sully to the secret elite unit of magical soldiers he leads, he’s willing to risk everything for the man he’s fallen in love with in dreams. But being away from the front lines doesn’t mean Sully’s safe. Now they battle enemies with twisted magic where their secrets are a liability.

Can they bring their dreams—and love—to life? Or will the war cost them everything?

Comment: I've seen a very positive review on this book and that was enough to convince me to try it as well. Besides, the blurb caught my eye so I'd read it regardless.

In this book, it's the first World War and we find an alternate reality in which magic exists but is kept hidden. However, people who have certain talents are requested - or strongly convinced - to join the war efforts, whether they want or not. That is how Warren "Sully Sullivan sees himself in the middle of a situation he didn't want, but his surprise is even bigger when he finds again Elliott Stone, a man he shared a last night of freedom with before all this. Elliott is now his superior, tanks to his family and upbringing, but their connection is not lost since they last saw each other, though. This is even more obvious because of Elliot's magical ability to be in someone else's dreams, but Sully can't remember that, though... 

In the middle of a war, can they maintain their connection and perhaps even have a relationship despite what isn't being said between them?

I must say this was a very captivating story to read and I was quite eager to keep reading but life caught me at a busy time at work, and I had to read this in more spaced moments than my usual pace, and that does reflect in how much I liked the book. I can't help feeling some parts of the story dragged and with my sometimes lack of time, that is probably what I'll remember the most about my reading experience.

Despite that, the plot was fascinating and that cannot be ignored, which means the book was quite appealing to me. The idea of magic being used to help - or to fight - at war was certainly intriguing. Even more so when the author imagined many different types of powers for several characters. Not everyone is magical, but those who are tend to hide it, out of fear for many reasons. I think, since this is only the first book, that this whole world building will be further explored in the following books.

Sully and Elliott share a special night and, due to their magic, they don't say it but they can kind of feel their connection is special. When they separate, they don't tell each other where they are going specifically but they know they will be at war.Elliott is aware his name and money allow him to be in  a privileged position and, to his shame, as a well ranked leader on top of it. I liked how we get to see a lot of the characters' traits and personality just by how they react to things and their circumstances and it becomes very obvious that these two are genuinely good people and that what is come won't be easy.

Their respective magical powers might be helpful at war, but war is not easy at any level. Sully, since he is at the bottom of the military rank, is fully aware he is tiring himself too quickly and he is needed all the time since he has the power to crate illusions. I liked how he is devoting himself to help everyone, to do his best and his only time to rest is while he asleep, which is how Elliott is able to communicate with him, and while this is not something Elliott does on purpose, and even knowing Sully might not want that, he keeps showing up as a way to ease up Sully's mind.

Of course, how will Sully react when he finds out about this is the question. Since he can't really remember his dreams, he doesn't understand why his feelings for Elliott don't fade away and when their paths cross, this eventually leads to a confrontation. I mean, this is more than expected but I still think this situation could have been done better. Still, I'm simply glad they were able to talk and discuss things but, as always, something terrible happens very quickly after this and now they need to fight for their lives.

I think several moments in the story dragged and certain situations were just too convenient to advance the plot, so sometimes I had the feeling things weren't as well planned by the author. But I think, looking at this from a different perspective, that the romance was both sweet and promising, as well as naturally slow, after all they can't simply be a couple for many reasons (the time period at least), therefore some of those moments had a good enough contrast to other, better, scenes. I did like how we could see them falling in love through dreams, conversations, actions and reactions...

In the end, this was a fascinating read and the details are very promising to what might be in the future books. I just hope things advance quickly in time, for war situations cannot really be only about strategy and magic, isn't it? I do hope the author will carry on to focus on things after the war but perhaps that is only wishful thinking. I think the second book is already out but I will only get it next year...

Grade: 7/10