Book Tour: Like Falling by Jaden Wilkes Review

Title: Like Falling (Surfacing #1)
Author: Jaden Wilkes
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Source: New Adult Tours
Release Date: July 30, 2013
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Sarah Miller is known as a dreamer in her stifling Mennonite community, but she's hiding something from them all. A simple wish to avoid the strictly enforced life path expected of her...early marriage, babies, and work on the farm.

She wants more, so much more. Education, travel, love...sex...

A chance at university hundreds of miles away is too much to pass up, so she follows her best friend Naomi and decides to take her future into her own hands.

She had no idea this decision would change her in ways she never imagined, will the one person she falls in love with hold her back from everything she ever wanted?

***As with all my work, this novel is intended for those 18+. It is New Adult, but contains depictions of graphic sex, drug use and underage drinking.

****This is not a stand alone, it is a cliffhanger, the first of three books.

Sarah is ready to get out and learn what "real" life is like, to leave her Mennonite community behind and experience the outside world full force.  She has no desire to get married and start popping out babies.  Instead she heads out and starts her academic life at college studying archaeology.  She experiences a bit of culture shock her first day, but determines to plow through it all and make the best of it.  It seems to take a turn for the better when her professor takes a personal interest in her and they develop a bit of a friendship that may lead to more.  But there is also the intriguing tattooed boy that always sits in the back of the room - she is drawn to him as well.

Sarah was an interesting character, although I wasn't a  very big fan of her friend and roommate, Naomi.  Sarah tries to hold onto some of her basic family values but finds pressure all over the place to conform with the rest of society.  She doesn't always make the right choices, but I enjoyed seeing her decision making process - or lack there of at times.  Naomi I found to be a bit annoying.  Constantly trying to change Sarah, but saying that she accepts her just as she is at the same time.  It was an interesting dynamic to say the least.

Adam and Tyr, her two potential boys, are a study in opposites.  I didn't like either of them at first, but they are both quite complicated (as boys naturally are) in their own ways as well.  Sarah will need to try and find a way to balance the men in her life, her studies, and her very traditional family.  At time this tended to drag the story down a little as it dwelt a little too long on some of the issues.  I did enjoy that it made a point of bringing up so many issues, I just disliked hearing the hashed out over and over.

Add Like Falling on Goodreads!

Author Bio: Jaden is the pen name of a girl living on the prettiest farm in BC. She shares her space with her husband, her children, and an Irish Wolfhound named Tiberius. She can now be found lurking in the dark corners of the internet looking for artful porn gifs, dirty poems and places to promo her work.

Find Jaden on:

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Purchase links:

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Cover Reveal: The Promise by Apryl Baker

The Promise (Coven, #1)

by Apryl Baker

Synopsis:

Armed with kick-ass shoes, can CJ stop a maniacal coven leader, save the town, and still get Mr. Melt In Your Mouth Gorgeous while surviving the darkness coming for her?

The smoke from the fire burned her eyes, its heat caressed her skin and the taste of fear choked her. She was going to burn just as her ancestor did all those centuries ago in New Salem Village. How could she have been so wrong about everything?

Cassie Jayne Bishop grew up the only non-believer in town of Coven. When a stranger comes to the sleepy town of New Salem, everything she thought was true unraveled around her. Ethan made her question everything, even her sister’s death. Clues start to pile up and Cassie is determined to find out if the Coven was the real reason her sister died.

What she uncovers terrifies her to the very depths of her soul...

Other books by Apryl Baker

About the Author: 
So who am I? Well, I'm the crazy girl with an imagination that never shuts up. I LOVE scary movies. My friend Chazz laughs at me when I scare myself watching them and tells me to stop watching them, but who doesn't love to get scared? I grew up in a small town nestled in the southern mountains of West Virginia where I spent days roaming around in the woods, climbing trees, and causing general mayhem. Nights I would stay up reading Nancy Drew by flashlight under the covers until my parents yelled at me to go to sleep.

Growing up in a small town, I learned a lot of values and morals, I also learned parents have spies everywhere and there's always someone to tell your mama on you. So when you get grounded, what is there left to do? Read! My Aunt Jo gave me my first real romance novel. It was a romance titled "Lord Margrave's Deception." I remember it fondly. But I also learned I had a deep and abiding love of mysteries and anything paranormal. As I grew up, I started to write just that and would entertain my friends with stories featuring them as main characters.

Now, I live Huntersville, NC where I entertain my family and watch the cats get teased by the birds and laugh myself silly when they swoop down and then dive back up just out of reach. The cats start yelling something fierce...lol.

I love books, I love writing books, and I love entertaining people with my silly stories.

You can reach me at any of these places:

Apryl’s Blog

Twitter

Wattpad

Goodreads

Facebook

PS: DO NOT GET IN MY WAY IF THERE IS A SALE ON AT TARGET - my home away from home!

Book Tour and Review: Life on the Edge by Jennifer Cormeaux

Title: Life on the Edge

Author: Jennifer Cormeaux

Genre: NA contemporary romance

Synopsis: Nineteen-year-old Emily is new to pairs skating, but she and her partner Chris have a big dream–to be the first American team to win Olympic gold. Their young coach Sergei, who left Russia after a mysterious end to his skating career, believes they can break through and make history.

Emily and Chris are on track to be top contenders at the 2002 Winter Games. But when forbidden feelings spark between Emily and Sergei, broken trust and an unexpected enemy threaten to derail Emily's dreams of gold.

Bio: Jennifer Comeaux earned a Master of Accounting from Tulane University and is a Certified Public Accountant in south Louisiana. While working in the corporate world, she sought a creative outlet and decided to put on paper a story that had played in her head for years. That story became Life on the Edge, her first published novel.

When not working or writing, she is an avid follower of the sport of figure skating, travelling to competitions around the country. Those experiences allow her to see another side of the sport and serve as an inspiration for her writing.

Author links:

Facebook

Twitter

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Purchase links:

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Smashwords

This is an excellent read for anyone who enjoys the world of figure skating.  It isn't just a romance, but a look into the good and bad times as a team prepares for the ultimate challenge - the Olympics.  Throw in falling in love with your coach and needing to lie to everyone about it and Emily has far more on her plate than she can easily handle.  It's a good thing that I absolutely love her coach, Sergei, or I would be mad at him for taking advantage of his student.  This mindset is exactly why they need to keep their relationship secret.  Sergei could be banned for life from the sport he loves if anyone ever found out.

But there is more than the secret relationship.  Both bring secrets into it that neither is willing to share at first, causing more problems than solutions at first.  With a great cast of secondary characters to help them figure out what they are going to do - some good advice and some bad - they manage to struggle through and figure out where they want to be.

But there is one person whose intentions aren't so good.  He will stop at nothing to see their success ruined and their relationship destroyed.  He sets up their final test to see if they can make it.  Throughout the entire book the emotions run high and keeps things interesting and moving along in a way that was hard to put down.  I had a slight problem picturing Sergei, but I think that was just me - the author does a great job making him an amazing character.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

Book Tour and Review: Catalyst by Jennifer Snyder

Title: Catalyst (Tethered #1)
Author: Jennifer Snyder
Genre: New Adult Paranormal
Source: New Adult Book Tours
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

After learning she’s inherited a house in the beachside town of Soul Harbor, Georgia, Addison Harmon and her best friend decided to take a much needed vacation before the pressures of life after high school suffocate them too heavily.

But what Addison finds isn’t a chance to recoup from a bad break up and hang out with her best friend while she decides what she wants to do with her future. What she finds is Kace Sullivan—a sexy guy she can’t seem to get enough of—someone who with one touch reveals a seductive world full of magick and secrets Addison isn’t sure she’s ready to be a part of.

(New Adult/Mature Young Adult: Contains sexual situations, mild language, and underage drinking.)

 Author Bio:

Jennifer Snyder lives in North Carolina were she spends most of her time writing new adult and young adult fiction, reading, and struggling to stay on top of housework. She is a tea lover with an obsession for Post-it notes and smooth writing pens. Jennifer lives with her husband and two children, who endure listening to songs that spur inspiration on repeat and tolerate her love for all paranormal, teenage-targeted TV shows.

Find Jennifer Snyder on:

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Purchase links:

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Catalyst is a fantastic start to a new series.  Addison, given up for adoption to protect her, has no knowledge of her past and the part she could play in the bigger picture.  This first book covers more than just her discovering more about her birth family, it also shows how she discovers herself and a world of magic she never knew existed.  She discovers that not only is there magic, but there are several kinds, and she is not sure if she really wants to have any part of it at all.

Addison drew me in from page one.  She is a blend of mystery and openness.  I enjoyed watching her relate to her old friend, her adoptive mom (very touching), and all the new people she meets in Soul Harbor.  The people of Soul Harbor are diverse.  With a cliffhanger for an ending, I was left not sure of who were the good guys and who were the bad guys.  While that may sound  like a bad thing, it was done brilliantly and only made the characters even more intriguing.

There were a few times while Addison was learning about magic and the town history that dragged just a little, but never enough to make me want to put the book down.  These less exciting areas were always followed by a new revelation - about a character, about the past, or about magic.  There are even a few characters that seem to be minor but show a lot of potential for expanding their standing in future books.

I think this is a great start to a series that has me hooked.  It is different enough to stand out, but still feels comfortable.  The characters are what makes or breaks a good series, and these guys definitely make it!