Darla the Muse by Kerry Barger.

Erik fancies a waitress called Darla in a diner. This is his story and Erik believes that Darla is his Muse.

This book is quite a mixture, a love story but only told from Erik’s point of view plus an exploration of this Muse concept throughout history. There is also quite a lot of religion thrown in plus some science fiction. The story starts off as a regular boy fancies girl tale, then all this stuff about a Muse inspiring people through history and how Darla inspires Erik. Then I thought that Erik was a victim of a spiked drink and the drugs had sent him off his trolley but this was the start of the science fiction section. In the end things are rounded up about how Erik’s life continued after he first met Darla in that diner.

I found this book unusual as it was such a mixture. I thought the religion was stupid and childish. I liked the start but did not like the way this book developed. As I read further this tale became more and more unrealistic. Okay, this is a cross-genre book but it does not achieve a good reading pleasure in any aspect of the text.

Darla the Muse is very different to regular novels. The change was refreshing but my reading enjoyment was simply okay. It was like reading a travel brochure in that it sparks an interest but will never be an outstanding read. I liked how the feelings Erik had for Darla and this Muse concept were fully explored. This raised the quality of this book in my eyes and am glad to vote this novel 3 stars as I found it to be an okay read.

There is one little riddle that made me think, smile and then laugh when I worked the answers out. When Erik first met Darla at the diner he asked her if she knew about Eileen who worked there...

“Oh, you would remember Eileen,” he said. “She only has one leg and wears a pink tutu over her cheerleader costume. She usually wears her hair in pigtails. Her oriental friend named Irene also works at IHOP. Eileen keeps her pet horse in a hole in her backyard.”

Darla the Muse is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2015.