Between Light and Shadow

The Well of Light, Book 1

By: Sara Tonin

Narrated by: Jessica Threet

An Urban Fantasy GameLit Adventure

They said the truth would set you free, but it’s the lies that make you powerful.

A wonder-filled story about a small city with a big secret and a high school junior, who accidentally rips the mask off of a magical coverup, discovering two powers at war within herself and vying for domination. But she may not be the only casualty.

New-to-town high school co-ed Lena Ambrose becomes obsessed with discovering the truth about the dog-like creatures roaming the streets of downtown. Defending a homeless man from their abuse unlocks a secret magical conspiracy that propels her into the shadowy depths of the city. When she accidentally unleashes her own latent magical power, she must wrap herself in secrecy and lies to protect the ones she loves from the growing danger below and within herself.

With the help of her talking chipmunk familiar Cooper and a pop-culture-quoting classmate, Hayden, Lena must harness her newfound powers and delve into the darkest of magics for a chance to save them all.

Author’s Note:

Between Light and Shadow is Book One in the Well of Light Urban Fantasy and GameLit adventure series by Sara Tonin. Set in modern-day Colorado Springs, Colorado, and filled with new creatures you may not be familiar with.

There are light touches of ability scores and progression as Lena struggles to understand her new life after an accident. To satisfy all the stat lovers, an appendix contains all of Lena’s character sheets broken up by chapter to keep the main story flowing.

If you like snappy dialogue, multi-dimensional characters, and well-balanced magic systems forged into an intriguing story, you have come to the right town. Maybe you should stay awhile and explore what lies beneath? Start listening to Between Light and Shadow today!

©2022 Mutant Redneck Publishing, LLC (P)2023 Mutant Redneck Publishing, LLC

Superb Combination of GameLit and Urban Fantasy

This book was an amazing surprise. I hadn't read anything by Sara Tonin (love the name, haha) before but the premise and sample sucked me in. I'm so glad I gave it a chance.

The writing is top notch, as is the editing. Sara Tonin uses the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains to construct her fantastic worldbuilding, blending the Urban Fantasy elements seamlessly into the narrative.

The characters are YA but it read older to me as many of the topics and issues they struggle with will resonate with mature audiences.

Motivations were clear and believable which is something not all YAish books can say. The GameLit elements were very light, with the crunch LitRPG type info in an appendix in the back, there if you want it, but it doesn't clutter up the story.

I loved the System which is well thought out and will satisfy any LitRPG/GameLit fan. The Urban Fantasy elements added an element to the story I usually dont get in LitRPG, and I enjoyed it a lot.

The narration by Jessica Threet is amazing as usual and makes an excellent story even better.

In summary, this book does something very rare, which is combining two different genres. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of LitRPG/GameLit or Urban Fantasy.

Great Listen!

Well written start to a new series! Not my usual listen but glad I did. Story kept me entertained and the character development was great! Narrator was spot on as well!