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Between, by Kerry Schafer. © 2013. Published by Ace books. ISBN-13: 978-0425261149

It's a recognized fact among lovers of books that good characters come alive. They become friends; you miss them when you close the book.

Many a reader has experienced the feeling of falling in love with a character. But, how often can you say you've fallen in love with a penguin?

I have.

Between, a fantasy novel by Kerry Schafer, starts from a parallel worlds theme, adding a twist I haven't seen before. Two of the "worlds" are Wakeworld (our reality) and Dreamworld (where dreams live). The third is Between, "a place at the intersection of dreaming and waking where anything is possible". You don't want to be caught in the Between. Here, quite literally, be dragons, and other things to be wary of.

Kerry Schafer throws her heroine, Vivian, headlong into the Between without much preparation or ready defense. It turns out that Vivian is a Dreamshifter, but untrained, and other people want what only she has.

Soon Vivian needs friends, and knowledge, to survive. Along the way, she meets Zee, a bookstore owner who is more than he appears to be, as well as Jehanna, an unnaturally beautiful woman who is also much more than she appears to be. And then there's Poe, the aforementioned penguin.

Between has action, adventure, Dreamshifters and Dream spheres, heroes and heroines, magic, dragons… and a penguin.
I loved it.

I'm looking forward to book two, Wakeworld, which is coming soon (if not soon enough).

Learn more about Between at Kerry's website.