Today I am bringing you reviews for a two-book series that was sent to me by the author herself. The Impossibly series by Shane Moragan is a new adult comtemporary romance series that follows two main characters, Moya and Branden, on their romance and personal adventures.
Not only am I bringing you a series review but the author, Shane Morgan, was kind enough to also let me interview her.
Check out all of the fun times down below!
Synopsis for Impossibly Love
All 19 year old Moya Douglas wants to do is study hard, maintain her scholarship, and make her mother proud while attending college. She doesn’t have time for a boyfriend or going on dates arranged by her best friend. Moya doesn’t believe in love. And she has no intention of ever finding it.
Branden McCarthy is determined to change her views.
A selfless romantic who’s had his heart broken in the past, Branden is fascinated with Moya’s personality and hopes to develop something real with her—a connection so strong it’ll open her heart. But just when things start to work between the two, Branden’s secret threatens to get in the way.
Will Moya finally do the impossible and give love a chance with Branden, or will fear keep them apart?
Synopsis for Impossibly True
Moya is finally listening to her heart.
She’s ready for love and willing to bask in all the joy it brings, but still, she insists on taking things slow. After all, her relationship with Branden isn’t the only one that needs a chance.
With his health scare behind him, Branden wants nothing more than to get his life back on track—play hockey again, catch up on school, and get things moving with his girlfriend.
In the middle of strengthening their relationship and sorting out their individual lives, trouble begins to brew, testing the depth of their feelings for each other.
Can Branden and Moya once again overcome their trials and prove that their love is indeed true, or will past ghosts and new temptations drive them apart forever?
Review
**These books were given to me by the author in exchange for my honest review**
This was a cute romance that follows main character, Moya Douglas, and her struggle to live life to the fullest. She is a very smart, straightforward, no non-sense college student, who quite frankly isn’t that interesting. But there’s a reason for that, which is learned throughout the book. She goes to school, goes home, and pretty much keeps to herself, and with the exception of her best friend, Nessa, she’s quite antisocial.
Morgan introduces us to the key players in this story early on, which quite frankly was a very smart thing to do because Moya could not carry this story (as we currently know her), even for a couple of chapters, by herself. Nessa is quite the firecracker and is the excitement to Moya’s otherwise very simple life. I enjoyed Nessa nudging into Moya’s life and thought it was needed to spice thngs up when it came to Moya.
Then, of course, enters the star male lead, Branden McCarthy, who has his own secrets and demons to deal with. But he adds the necessary romantic aspect to the story once he and Moya start to interact. His prods and pokes of fun at her are quite endearing and are definitely the highlight of this book, for me, at least.
The Impossibly series is most assuredly a character driven series, a fact that you can determine very early on in the first book because: 1) the chapters are named after each character (POVs) and 2) the first chapter is a huge telling into what type of series this is going to be. You don’t get much in terms of setting being a character in and of itself. Character driven books are actually my favorite types of books to read BECAUSE it’s such a hard thing to do well. Mainly because characters are either developed well or they aren’t. Most authors hit the middle.
I will say that Morgan does a bit better than a lot of authors I’ve read. I see a lot of growth in Moya by the end of the first book and at the end of the series, as well as with Branden (even though I wanted to strangle them both several times throughout). I related a LOT to Moya, which is very good on the part of Morgan. Readers have a better time connecting to characters when there’s something relatable about them. Morgan does a good job in that aspect when it comes to development.
Branden is decently developed, but I think his family really aided in that process. Which leads me to the supporting characters. They were probably more my favorites — Nessa and Ashton, especially. Ashton was quite possibly my favorite character in the book. I thought that, for a secondary character, he was so well written and so enjoyable. I actually would like to see a novella or another book just on his journey.
The romance in these books are a little bit over the top at times. And at other times, it is downright cheesy and unbelievable. But I overlooked that because of how enjoyable I found a lot of the characters. Moya and Branden’s relationship overall was very cute. I did find myself smiling more times than not.
While these books carry a couple of heavier topics, it is still what I would consider a fluffy series. It cleanses the palate and gives you a few feels, which is sometimes all you need. This is, by no means, the perfect read. It does have its problems, but when I was done I felt fulfilled. For what is was. Because of that, this series is slightly better than average.
Rating: ★★★ 1/2
Interview
1. How did you know that you wanted to become a published author?
I decided to try self-publishing after learning about Createspace. I had a story that I completed and asked my family and Rae Hachton (a fellow author) to read it. They loved it and encouraged me to keep writing and publish my book, so I did. Self-publishing is something I stumbled into but writing is something I’ve been doing long before.
2. What are some authors/books that influenced you?
Jane Austen is one of my biggest influences, but more recently I’ve felt inspired by Rae Hachton (Pretty in Black series), Susan Dennard (Something Strange & Deadly), and Kelly Creagh. I find their writing to be absolutely intriguing and hope to write as hauntingly good some day.
3. Do you have any literary tropes that you are tired of? Or try to avoid in your books?
There are quite a few tropes that I’m getting tired of, especially in New Adult books. That’s sad because I love the genre. I write in that genre as well. But to be honest, I’m tired of the bad boy/virgin girl thing, missing parent with no explanation other than he (usually the father) just up and left, a female character portrayed as weak and needs saving from the guy, and most of all, the female character sleeping with both male characters because one is her best friend from childhood and she doesn’t want to hurt him. There’s really too much to name. I try to change things up, but really its hard when everything has already been used. As a writer you want to keep your writing fresh with every book, so I try to accomplish that by avoiding those common things.
4. Where does the inspiration for your books come from?
Don’t laugh, but when I was a little girl I used to cut pictures out of magazines and perform stage plays on my dresser, by myself. And I would actually give each of them a voice and come up with these crazy stories. So yeah,since then ideas just pop-up in my head on random and I would write outlines and try to make sense of them. Often times they’re interesting, and sometimes not. I get ideas from my dreams too. I kid you not. I have the weirdest dreams that are more like motion pictures. Oh and music. Music plays a big part in my writing, providing soundtrack for various scenes and dialogues. In fact, my latest book, The Right Song, was inspired by my love for music and song writing. I just had to include my lyrics in the story.
5. Do you find that you relate to any of your characters? Or are they inspired by someone else in your life?
I apply a part of myself in each of my main characters. The one that’s most like me is Moya from Impossibly Love. Her fear of trusting someone and giving love a chance is so me before I met my husband. In fact, I wrote Branden with the same traits of my husband because I wanted the story to have a certain realness to it. I wanted people to read it and relate in some way. A lot of people don’t believe love works like that but it can, and it did for me. There’s a lot of my life in that duology.
6. What advice do you have for someone that is looking to publish a book?
Find an audience. Finish the story. Find beta readers, critique groups, etc. Make changes if suggested, and then have it edited by someone who knows what they’re doing (look for previous clients and such). Create a marketing plan. Promote the book.
Self-publishing is a lot of work. Oh Lord there will be moments when you want to give up, believe me I’ve had them. But don’t listen to that voice, just keep working hard. Appreciate good and critical reviews. Appreciate your readers for taking the time to even read your book. Stay humble. Keep writing.
7. Are there any books that you’re loving right now that you’d recommend to readers?
Just started You by Caroline Kepnes. Very different. I definitely recommend this one if you’re looking for an intense read outside of the usual.
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A BIG thank you to Shane Morgan for taking the time to answer my questions.
Be sure to check out Morgan’s new release The Right Song. Click here to check it out on Goodreads!
LuLo Fangirl will be reading and reviewing this book soon, so be on the lookout for that!
Also, just in case you want to follow Shane Morgan on her social media, the links are down below!
Christina Marie 
Sorry for this late comment but I still wanted to say thanks for this great interview and insightful review. Love both. Thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it 🙂
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