Review: The Arrival (The Birthright Trilogy: Book 1) by Nicole MacDonald

The Arrival: Birthright Trilogy Book 1 

by Nicole MacDonald

Amazon Product Description:

Cat, Kassie, Sian and Loi are anything but damsels in distress.
Fed up with a lack of decent male specimens they cast a love spell in the hopes of finding their soul-mates. And inadvertently land themselves on another planet. Oops.

The Arrival, follows the girls' adventures as they stumble through a foreign and often hostile world where humans are NOT at the top of the food chain.
Friendships are forged and love teeters on the horizon while the threat of civil war looms thanks to the girls' very unexpected 'gifts'.
Will the girls master these gifts in time to survive a war in which, not only are they the ultimate weapons, but also the ultimate prize?

First I want to say that I got this ebook as a gift from the author!  In return for the gift, I have promised an honest review.  The author is fellow blogger Damsel in a Dirty Dress!  Be sure to stop by her blog and say hi!  You can buy her book (Kindle version) for only $0.99 at Amazon.com by clicking here!  So very worth the read!

My thoughts:
I have just finished reading the book (CAN'T believe the cliffhanger ending) and am DYING to get my hands on book 2!


The fast version:  This is a fantastic read!  The characters are incredible, the story is entertaining as well as well written, and the world building is amazing!  The love story twisted in with the magic and the fantastical creatures is great.  It is an all around MUST read! 


The not so fast version:
Nicole puts together incredible characters.  There are humans, dogs, cats, dragons, griffins, centaurs, more types of creatures than I can name!  Each is described in detail, regardless of how big or small a role they play!  Each is given a personality that endears them to you from the first meeting!  Okay, some of them are less endearing - Jenviet for instance (she's the "bad guy").  I was thrilled by the interactions of the griffins and the Griffin Guard and I love that Cat is able to communicate with Loushka even though she is not linked to her.  


Of course the fact that all four of the women are strong, independent, and capable makes me love them.  I was excited that they could bring all their defense, attack, and protection skills to their new world and share them with others.  The interactions of the women with the military men when faced with training are classic.  The four main characters are fantastic, but the men!!!  Nicole has created men that I go crazy for!  I love that there are 5 Griffin Guards and that four are single and one is married to such a great woman.  I know it could seem corny that there are four women searching for soul-mates and suddenly... but truly - could it work any other way?  I enjoyed the differences in the four couples and was impressed with the thought and energy that has gone into creating them for us.  The characters are the perfect blend of serious and funny.  


The author does a great job at world-building for the reader.  The world that the women find themselves in after the spell is cast is described in detail, from the scenery to the animals.  As a reader, it is easy to place yourself right there with them.  


This is a page turner, I found myself unwilling to put it down to do anything else.  I was enthralled by wanting to know MORE!