Tied Together by Fate • Carrier of the Mark

Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon
Series: Carrier #1
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: October 4, 2011
Source/Format: Bought || Paperback

When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she's surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeRis.

But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago - and that the passion and power that brought them together could be their ultimate destruction. 

It started with the hype - I started seeing blurbs, contests, features on Carrier of the Mark all over the book blogging community. After reading the synopsis and noting that it involved (1) elemental magic (2) in Ireland, I knew I had to get my hands on it as soon as possible. I picked up a copy at Barnes and Noble during my lunch break, read the first three chapters and was hooked. I literally finished Carrier of the Mark about an hour ago and I'm still not quite sure how to properly express how I feel about it.

Carrier of the Mark is AMAZING. Seriously. There are so many things I love about it - the story, the legend/history, the settings, the characters. Everything wove itself together into a beautifully crafted tale that drew me in and got me so intensely absorbed that reaching the ending and rejoining the real world was like having a dash of cold water tossed into my face.

The story behind the Mark is fascinating. I can't wait to learn some more about the history and the legends behind it, because I feel like there's so much more ground to be covered. Every bit of it that was included in Carrier of the Mark left me fascinated trying to piece it all together and understand it; it was almost like I was channeling Meg as I was reading!

I loved the characters as well - Megan, Adam, Rian, Aine, Fionn, Caitlin and Megan's dad. All of them were written with such clearly defined personalities that I felt like I was getting to know them quite well. My favorites though are Aine and Adam, the twins, and simply because I think they're spectacular.

The love story was a little quick for me, but I do recognize that it is possible for feelings to flare up into that level of intensity that fast. The chemistry between Adam and Megan and the intensity of their feelings left me breathless from squealing so much while I was reading. Adam is now one of my favorite characters ever and I can definitely see why Meg fell for him!

Leigh combines everything - the beautiful settings, the incredible lore, the quirky characters, the budding romance - into an interesting, exciting and spellbinding story. I cannot wait to read more from her -- especially the next book for this series, tentatively titled Dawn of the Knights.