Review Thursday: Princess of the Light (#review #compassion #romance @NNP_W_Light)

 

Princess of the Light by N.N. Light

Smashwords, 2014

Imagine you’re a normal young woman, working at a bookstore, hanging out with your friends, and struggling to recover from the tragic death of your dad. Then one day you get a visit from the angel Gabriel. Yes, that Gabriel—the right hand of God. The angel reveals that you are Princess of the Light, gifted with the power to uplift and heal the broken and the hopeless, and to destroy demons. He tells you that you’ve been chosen to save humanity from the forces of evil. Most especially, you’ve been given the task of redeeming one particular homeless man who has sunk deeply into darkness through no fault of his own.

What would you do? Would you think someone had dumped some sort of hallucinogen into your drinking water? Especially when you start having visions? Or would you follow your intuition and have faith in your destiny, no matter how unlikely it seemed? Mary Miller trusts the evidence of her senses and her heart and grows into her role as God’s warrior for good.

I’ve been wanting to read Princess of the Light ever since the author first dropped by my blog to promote it as a new release. Last week, while traveling, I finally got the chance.

This is a bold and engaging book with an important message. Love and compassion can make a real difference. Even when we see ourselves as weak and flawed, we have the power to improve the lives of others. When we share our Light, we brighten the world around us.

Furthermore, it’s not demons or devils that present the greatest challenge to our living compassionately, but our own fears and doubts. When Gabriel tells Mary to keep her heart pure, he’s not talking about the desire she feels for her soul mate Joe, but rather, the negative emotions that assail her: anger, frustration, feelings of inadequacy, exhaustion, and despair. Although Mary and Joe face external battles with Than, Lisbeth and their dark army, the true struggle happens within.

If you’re looking for a realistic paranormal romance, this isn’t the book for you. Princess of the Light is a fable. The book unfolds in the idyllic town of Golden Lake, as Mary gradually comes to understand her role and to take ownership of the power and responsibility she has somehow inherited. I don’t believe we are meant to take the various hellish denizens she encounters all that seriously. They’re merely externalizations of darker forces that twist and corrupt the town’s inhabitants—especially ambition, envy, the desire for wealth and the absence of hope.

Still, when Mary slips into a vision, the author makes you believe it’s all real. And the book doesn’t shy away from tragedy and heartbreak. Everyone’s life includes loss. The challenge is to hold to the truth and let your light shine despite your grief.

I just reread N.N. Light’s original post from 2014, and noticed that she and her husband are both Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans. Even before that, I’d seen some Buffy influence in the final cataclysmic battle where Mary and Joe struggle to defeat the formidable demon Lisbeth and her legions of the damned. Actually, I was a bit disappointed in this scene, which felt like something from a whack-a-mole video game. Mary wields an axe of Light, while Joe has a shining sword, but do they really need these weapons? Shouldn’t pure love be enough to vanquish their adversaries?

In any case, I enjoyed Princess of the Light. Its message isn’t new, but it never hurts to be reminded. We are all conduits for love, which flows through us to bless others.

By the way, N.N. Light is donating a portion of the proceeds from this book to her local food pantry. If you buy the book, you’ll be doing your little bit to bring light to the world.