Review: Coming Into Power by Tamara Smith

A fast-paced, engaging erotic fantasy, Coming Into Power by Tamara Smith is bursting with imagination and sensuality as well as consideration of issues such as trust, family, and the meaning of belonging. With its original take on the genre, thriller-like plotting, and sharply-drawn characters, the novel is a boundary-pushing, category-crossing story as sensitive as it is steamy.

As the title declares, the book is fundamentally a discussion of power, and how it grows as we become mature adults and fully ourselves. Of course, in a fantasy, this centers around the characters’ fantastical powers, whose superhuman abilities are frequently associated with growing up. However, there is also a subtler subtext at work here, in which relationships and our power within them – especially regarding how we reassess our effects on others as we get older – are explored with sensitivity and nuance, in addition to a healthy dollop of lusty passion.

On the surface, Mikayla seems a nice, normal young woman who has everything she needs out of life – a comfortable job at a cozy diner, a loyal troop of girlfriends, and a perfect fiancé, Elliot, with whom she’s planning on spending the rest of her life. However, one evening at a nightclub this comes crashing down when she catches Elliot with another woman.

Devastated, Mikayla decides to move on through an unusual course of action for her: a one-night stand, only to find that a night of casual fun will in fact change her life forever, as the glamourous Jason is in fact the leader of a glamorous pack of werewolves. With his fancy car and lavish villa, Jason seems like just a rich playboy, so she writes him off, but his keen instincts tell him that Mikayla is not just any girl, but rather the mate who will help him in the growing war against a villainous rival clan. What’s more, Mikayla also has a supernatural secret she’s not letting on, and it might even be Jason, and not her, who has bitten off more than he can chew…

While the set-up may seem somewhat familiar at its core, Smith elevates the story over other works of paranormal romance through deft character creation and storytelling structure. The narrative is written from various points of view – principally those of Mikayla and Jason but others as well – giving the story a multifaceted approach to each plot development. These narrative shifts give the action clear immediacy and allow each character to have a clearly defined personality. In other words, these aren’t cookie-cutter characters, so Smith has managed to inject a strong degree of originality into her premise, which will alternately please those readers looking for something comfortingly familiar, as well as those looking for a new take.

At times, these narrative changes can be tough to follow, but more often than not Smith is in firm command of her different protagonists’ voices, giving an innovatively colloquial and chatty style to a plot laced with mythology, for a strong entry in the genre. Strongly written and satisfyingly plotted, Coming Into Power should be a hit for fans of adult fantasy who like their stories with a twist of originality, depth of feeling, and more than a hint of spice.