Aeviternus Adventures by Teresa L. Perin

Jillian has just finished her first year of college and figures she'll have a nice quiet summer back home on the family's goat farm.  Those plans are forgotten, however, when she ad her cat and goat are transported to the kingdom of Aeviternus, in an alternate world.  She wants desperately to find a way back home and sets off in search of the one magician skilled enough to return her to her own world.  She discovers the primal elements in this realm and encounters many different creatures along the way.  She is befriended by twin clerics, but when she ends up in the hands of a sexual sadist and learns about the dark side of this land, it looks like she may be doomed.  Her cleric friends rush to rescue her with the aide of two magicians.  Will Jillian be able to get home?  Will she find love in this brutal world?  Or will she fall victim to evil?  (taken from the back of the book)

WARNING:  Not for children!  Explicit sex scenes!  Don't get me wrong, they're some of the best I've ever read.  They're so good that I actually read them.  Point is, there's no way I'd let my child read this until over the age of 18!  You can do what you want, just letting you know up front.

Having gotten that out of the way, I have to admit that I'm really impressed.  This book is like a huge ball  of Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, Lord of the Rings and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  It definitely has it's own element of wonder and fantasy, but fans of these other movies/books will find themselves absolutely captivated by Perin's world.  It's a fast-paced adventure that keeps you constantly flipping pages to see what happens next.  Characters are well-formed and most cause you to have an emotional reaction toward them. 

There was one point in the book, however, where I felt disjointed.  I don't want to give it away and have to put up a spoiler alert, but it felt like there were two books in one here.  There was a definite stopping point to one story and a definite starting point of another.  Don't get me wrong, it's the same characters and story, it just really felt like it needed a little more cohesive action to pull it all together. The saving grace in this instance is that I know this is only book one in the series, so I'm sure there's good reason for this.  I'm also sure it won't happen again in subsequent books.

So, here's my biggest disappointment.  The sex scenes.  They're amazing well written and I enjoyed them, as stated above.  Although I see the reason they're in the story, it definitely made this book more of a niche market than it needed to be.  They aren't tossed in there simply for the fact of having them.  They're an integral part of the story.  However, I can think of one person I know besides myself who would really enjoy this.  Were it rewritten without these scenes so that younger persons could read it, I can think of hundreds. 

If you're an adult that loves fantasy, this is definitely up your alley.  I can't wait to see what happens next.  I've fallen in love with the characters and the world.  This is a series for my keeper shelf.

Rereading my review, it comes across as if I have nothing good to say about this book.  The fact is, other than the two items I've mentioned, I would easily rate this 5 stars.