EXCERPT AND GIVEAWAY: THE EDGE OF ALWAYS by J.A. REDMERSKI

I am happy to share an excerpt and giveaway to celebrate the release of

THE EDGE OF ALWAYS

The highly anticipated release by New York Times Bestselling Author

J.A. Redmerski!

 

Publisher: Forever Romance

Release: November 5, 2013

New Adult Contemporary Novel

 

 

  New York Times and USA Today bestselling author J. A. Redmerski brings us the second book in her heart-renching series about two 20-somethings who find each other in their darkest moment. Camryn Bennett has never been happier. Five months after meeting on a Greyhound bus, she and her soul mate Andrew Parrish are engaged-and a wedding isn't the only special event in their future. Nervous but excited, Camryn can't wait to begin the rest of her life with Andrew, a man she knows in her heart will love her always. They have so much to look forward to-until tragedy blindsides them. Andrew doesn't understand how this could happen to them. He's trying to move on, and thought Camryn was doing the same. But when Andrew discovers Camryn is secretly harboring a mountain of pain and attempting to numb it in damaging ways, there is nothing he won't do to bring her back to life. Determined to prove that their love can survive anything, Andrew decides to take Camryn on a new journey filled with hope and passion. If only he can convince her to come along for the ride...  

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Goodreads


 

I turn to Andrew again, waiting for him to spit it out. A cold breeze rushes through my knitted sweater, and I hide my hands inside the sleeves.


“You have five minutes to throw all of your stuff in your bag,” he says, and my heart is beating erratically before he finishes the sentence. He taps his wrist where there is no watch. “Not a second more.”



“Andrew—”



“This isn’t up for debate,” he says. “Go get your stuff.”



I just look at him, face blank.



My theory was right, but I didn’t want it to be. I don’t want to go on the road…I mean, I do…but it’s not right. It’s just not right.



“You have four minutes now.”



“But we can’t just leave like this,” I argue. “It would be rude.” I point at Asher. “And Asher just got here. Don’t you want to visit with—”



“I can visit my big brother anytime,” Asher counters. “Right now, I think you better do what he says or you might end up on the road wearing the same panties for a week.”



A few more seconds pass and I still haven’t moved. I’m in a state of mild shock, I guess.



“Three minutes, babe,” Andrew says and is looking at me with a serious face. “I’m not kidding. Get up there, throw our shit in our bags, and get in the damn car.”



Oh hell, he’s back to his old self again…



When I start to argue again, Andrew’s eyes get all feral-looking, and he says, “Hurry up. Time’s running out!” and he points to the house.



Finally, letting down my guard and going with the moment as much as I can allow myself, I glare at him and say, “Fine.” I’m only agreeing to it because I know he’s trying make things better. But I feel guilty as hell.



Disregarding his playful five-minute demand, I turn on my heels and walk very slowly back toward the house, purposely taking my time, partly my way of silently arguing the situation.



I push open the bedroom door, set my bag on the bed, and start stuffing everything inside of it. Then I go into the bathroom and grab our toothbrushes and various bathroom necessities. I yank our phone chargers from the wall and then my phone from the nightstand and chuck it all into my purse. I make my way around the room, hoping that I’m not missing anything.



Looks like Andrew already packed his stuff at some point and I never noticed.



Then I just stand here, scanning every inch of the place around me but not really seeing any of it. I don’t want to do this, but maybe it’s the right thing.



I hear the horn honk three times, and it snaps me out of my thoughts. Grabbing my bag, I swing it over my shoulder and grab my purse from the bed.

 

GIVEAWAYS

 

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About the Author J.A. Redmerski, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas with her three children, two cats and a Maltese. She is a lover of television and books that push boundaries and is a huge fan of AMC's The Walking Dead. Website | Facebook |Twitter| Goodreads

   

JESSICA REVIEWS: KILLING SARAI by J.A. REDMERSKI

Series: Killing Sarai #1
Category/Genre: Adult Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: 6/19/13
Format: ebook
Pages: 393
Source: Bought

From the author of the New York Times, USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling novel, THE EDGE OF NEVER, comes a story of passion and survival…

Sarai was only fourteen when her mother uprooted her to live in Mexico with a notorious drug lord. Over time she forgot what it was like to live a normal life, but she never let go of her hope to escape the compound where she has been held for the past nine years.

Victor is a cold-blooded assassin who, like Sarai, has known only death and violence since he was a young boy. When Victor arrives at the compound to collect details and payment for a hit, Sarai sees him as her only opportunity for escape. But things don’t go as planned and instead of finding transport back to Tucson, she finds herself free from one dangerous man and caught in the clutches of another.

While on the run, Victor strays from his primal nature as he succumbs to his conscience and resolves to help Sarai. As they grow closer, he finds himself willing to risk everything to keep her alive; even his relationship with his devoted brother and liaison, Niklas, who now like everyone else wants Sarai dead.

As Victor and Sarai slowly build a trust, the differences between them seem to lessen, and an unlikely attraction intensifies. But Victor’s brutal skills and experience may not be enough in the end to save her, as the power she unknowingly holds over him may ultimately be what gets her killed.

This is their story…

Always paranoid. Always assuming the worst. Always approaching everything with caution and weapons, and rightfully so. Such is the way of life filled with drugs and murder and slavery.

Where do I even start with this review? Holy moly! That was one crazy ass ride.

I absolutely adored J.A. Redmerski’s THE EDGE OF NEVER and I had no worries about loving this book as well. I know that for some, TEoN was a bit slow in the beginning, but for me it was not at all. On the contrary, I loved the buildup from page one. So KILLING SARAI may be slow for those same people. Not to worry though. You are going to want those moments to breathe because once the ride starts, there is no stopping.


I guess now I know what it feels like when a person has spent half of his or her life in prison and is released back out into the world. They don’t know what to do with themselves, they don’t know how to fit back into society. They constantly look over their shoulder. They can’t sleep past five a.m. or believe that they can choose what to eat and when to eat it. Violence and darkness and confinement is so much a part of them that half of them never learn any other way.



This is definitely NOT your typical boy meets girl story. Actually, there is nothing typical about this story. For one, the lead male is definitely NOT a boy. He is a man and ALL man at that, a man on a damn, out-of-control mission to kill. And when I mean kill, I mean in all definition of the word. Victor is out to kill those that are on his hit list. Starting with Javier, the man that has held Sarai captive for the past nine years. With the help of his brother, Niklas, they tag team working for an organization that eliminates those that are a threat to the nation-or to their organization. However, neither Victor nor Sarai were anticipating the wide ride they were getting themselves into, or that Victor’s brother would play a role in this trip of theirs. And I’m not just referring to the physical aspect of their journey.

How can anyone go through life so surreptitious, emotionless, so unattached to anyone or anything? When I look into his eyes I see something there, although dormant and completely indistinct, I know it’s there. And it’s powerful. I want to understand it, to feel it, to taste it on his lips.


Sarai is a survivor. She overcame nine years of being Javier’s sexual partner and captive. She did whatever she could to survive the horror that it was to be in the presence of a demented and horrid man that would traffic women, drug and weapons. His dirty money made sure that Sarai lived better than the other girls but behind the prettier dresses and the perfumed lotions and soaps, hid the knowledge that that money came from blood, tears, rape and murder. Every day Sarai would see this and keep her mouth shut, knowing there was no way out. Until Victor came into the picture. Now, how does Sarai get this American to get her out of Mexico in one piece? And thus, begins the road trip of Sarai and Victor.

She looks defeated. Beautiful and soft and damaged standing there before me partially clothed in the light of the moon beaming through the tall window. Beautiful, but defeated. That look in her eyes, it somehow latches onto my soul and all I want is for her to turn and walk away. Because I know that if she doesn’t, if she presses me further with those soft lips and sad, vulnerable eyes that I’ll succumb to the moment and either fuck her or kill her.


At first meeting Victor, he is a hard ass and set to be a killer with no guilt or conscience. He has his hit list and he is going to go at it just as he does with all this other ones. Nothing changes. Not even this young girl who escaped and hid in his car. He is his typical self of showing no emotion and keeping his cool but really there is only so much a man can take when you have an overeager and chatty woman in your back seat, a woman who hasn’t seen the real world or the United States in nine years. As much he would love to push her away, leave her stranded in the middle of Mexico and forget she ever exist, he just can’t. He can’t seem to let her go. Even with Niklas’ incessant drilling in his ear to get rid of her, Victor can not part with her. He doesn’t want to let her go.


“Sarai, listen to me carefully. If you choose to go with me you need to know that you could be killed. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, but it’s not a guarantee because no matter how much you trust me, you should never, under any circumstances trust anyone fully. In the end, you can only trust yourself. I am not your hero. I am not the other half of your soul who could never let anything bad ever happen to you. Trust your instincts first always, and me, if you choose, last.”


I won’t kill Sarai and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that no one else in the mansion does, either, but deep down I know that what my brother said is true. I should kill her for my sake and hers. But I can’t. And I won’t.


As they keep traveling and get deeper and deeper into their journey, so, too, does their need for each other. Victor sees in Sarai the strong, compassionate and brave woman that he has never seen in another woman before. Sarai sees in Victor that he isn’t the malicious and cruel killer she once thought. They are actually very much alike, surviving the world they were both thrown into. They gravitate to each other because they are kindred spirits of wants, needs and existence.


I never want Victor to leave me. I couldn’t bear the thought of it before, but now…now things are so much different. Our souls have become intimate, whether he wants to admit it to himself or not. We are one in the same and I don’t want to imagine being on my own without him. Ever.


“This goes against everything that I am, Sarai.”
“No, it doesn’t. It’s you becoming more of who you are really.”


I absolutely LOVED this book. It was one that kept me thinking even days after I was done reading it. There were times I was so engrossed and immersed in what I was reading that I would forget to highlight quotes in the book. Victor’s hardassness (it’s a real word, I promise you) and Sarai’s survival skills totally blew me away. I even had moments of snickering when she just kept at it with Victor, asking him question after question. (We woman are persistent and naggy sometimes) Ms. Redmerski has a magical talent in her writing. I feel like I am the character and that I am transported right into the world she writes about. And about those pesky cliffhangers we all dislike so much? Well, there is/isn’t one in this one. It’s a good thing the author feels the same way we do.


On Tuesday, July 2nd, Ms. Redmerski wrote on her website what her intentions are with this series of books. How there won’t be cliffhangers but more of a continuation of the story. She has big plans for Sarai and Victor’s story and how it will get ‘darker, grittier and sexier’. And guess what else? She won’t make us wait ages for the book! Fantastic! I am really, REALLY looking forward to the upcoming books in this series.

 

Favorite Quotes:

  My face just gets hotter and hotter, and every time I see him smile or grin, because I’m completely not used to seeing that, it just makes me blush more and it feels like a hundred drunk butterflies are having an orgy in my stomach.


 He’s smiling. Not just his yes, but his lips, too. He’s so beautiful to me. So dangerously beautiful.


  I stand silent and still at the arched entryway leading into the piano room. And I watch her unlike I’ve ever watched her before. She owns me in this moment.

 

 

Purchase Killing Sarai at:

            

About the author:
J.A. Redmerski, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of THE EDGE OF NEVER lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas with her three children and a Maltese. She is a lover of television and books that push boundaries and is a huge fan of AMC's The Walking Dead.


Connect with JA at:
 Website  | Twitter | Facebook  |  Goodreads

 

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY ~ THE EDGE OF ALWAYS

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is...


 

Series: The Edge of Never #2
Category/Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Publication Date: 11/5/13

He was taking the long road. She was taking the road to nowhere. It just so happened that they led to the same place…

Five months ago, Camryn and Andrew, both dealing with personal hardships, met on a Greyhound bus. They fell in love and proved that when two people are meant to be together, fate will find a way to make it happen.

Now, in the highly anticipated sequel to THE EDGE OF NEVER, Camryn and Andrew are pursuing their love for music and living life to the fullest as they always swore to do. But when tragedy befalls them, their relationship is put to the ultimate test. As Camryn tries to numb her pain, Andrew makes a bold decision: To get their life back on track, they’ll set out on another cross-country road trip. Together they find excitement, passion, adventure—and challenges they never could have anticipated.

Sexy. Daring. Dangerous. THE EDGE OF ALWAYS takes you on a ride you won’t forget .

Why I'm Waiting ~ I loved, loved, loved The Edge of Never. And oh boy, Andrew Parrish! I cannot wait to read this!

{EXCERPT} THE EDGE OF ALWAYS by JA REDMERSKI

I am so so so excited to be able to share an excerpt from The Edge of Always with you. I am a huge fan of the first book, The Edge of Never, and may have squealed when I learned there would be another book for Andrew and Cam! The event was organized by AToMR.

Series: The Edge of Never #2
Category/Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Publication Date: 11/5/13

He was taking the long road. She was taking the road to nowhere. It just so happened that they led to the same place…

Five months ago, Camryn and Andrew, both dealing with personal hardships, met on a Greyhound bus. They fell in love and proved that when two people are meant to be together, fate will find a way to make it happen.

Now, in the highly anticipated sequel to THE EDGE OF NEVER, Camryn and Andrew are pursuing their love for music and living life to the fullest as they always swore to do. But when tragedy befalls them, their relationship is put to the ultimate test. As Camryn tries to numb her pain, Andrew makes a bold decision: To get their life back on track, they’ll set out on another cross-country road trip. Together they find excitement, passion, adventure—and challenges they never could have anticipated.

Sexy. Daring. Dangerous. THE EDGE OF ALWAYS takes you on a ride you won’t forget .

 

EXCERPT

Camryn shrieks and I start laughing as we dash away from the cows and toward the car.

“Awww, shiiiit!” I yell when I step in a huge pile of it.

Camryn cackles with laughter and we both practically stumble the rest of the way through the field, me trying to scrape the shit off the bottom of my shoe while running at the same time and Camryn’s flip-flops getting caught on the ground trying to keep up with her feet.

“I can’t believe that just happened!” Camryn laughs as we finally make it back to the car. She arches her body over forward and props her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

I’m out of breath, too, but I still relentlessly scrape the bottom of my shoe on the asphalt. “Dammit!” I say, rubbing my foot back and forth.

Camryn jumps up on the hood of the car, letting her legs hang over the front. “Can we finally say that we did it?” she asks with laughter in her voice.

I stand still finally and catch my breath. I look at her, at how beautiful and bright that smile of hers is and I say, “Yeah, babe, I think we can safely mark it off our list.”

“Good!” she says.

Then she points behind me. “Do it on the grass,” she says with one side of her mouth pinched into a hard line. “You’re just spreading it around doing it like that.”

I hop over into the grass and start rubbing my foot back and forth again. “Since when did you become an expert on shit?”

“Better watch your mouth,” she warns, getting into the driver’s seat.

“What are you going to do?” I taunt her.

She starts the Chevelle and revs the engine a few times pressing on the gas. There’s a cruel gleam in her eyes. She props her left arm across the top of the open window and next thing I know she’s driving slowly past me.

I give her the warning eye, but her grin just gets bigger.

“I know you won’t leave me here!” I shout as she goes past me.

Surely she wouldn’t….

She gets farther away and at first I call her bluff and just stand here, watching her get smaller and smaller…

Finally, I take off running after the car.

 

Seriously CANNOT WAIT for this book!!!!

 

 

The Edge of Never Series

Click on cover for GoodReads page

 

My review of The Edge of Never

 

 

 

 

About the author:
J.A. Redmerski, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of THE EDGE OF NEVER lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas with her three children and a Maltese. She is a lover of television and books that push boundaries and is a huge fan of AMC's The Walking Dead.
Connect with JA at:
Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook | Web Site

THE EDGE OF NEVER BLOG TOUR ~ REVIEW and GIVEAWAY

 

 

I am so excited to be hosting The Edge of Never Blog Tour today! The tour is being hosted by AToMR Tours; be sure to check out the tour homepage for the complete schedule. My stop includes a review of The Edge of Never and the tour giveaway.  

 

 

 

Series: Stand alone
Genre: Contemporary New Adult
Publisher: J.A. Redmerski
Publication Date: 11/15/12

Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story. And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart.

Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far behind.

With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed never to fall in love.

But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things she never thought she’d do. He shows her what it’s really like to live out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But will Andrew’s dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear them completely apart?


Due to sexual content and language, this book is recommended for 17+ – Adult Contemporary Women’s – New Adult Fiction

 

Finding love and learning to live on the road to nowhere.

 

"This is your life, Camryn Bennett. This is your life."
 

Camryn Bennett is stuck. A twenty-year-old girl with an old, old soul, Camryn struggles to fight the drowning feeling that threatens to pull her under. A girl who has experienced tragedy and disappointment, she wants out. Out of the routine that she fears will take over her life. Out of the eyes of the friends and family who watch her. Out of the normal. Camryn doesn't have the answers, not even close. She only knows, she can't be here.

"I'm not sure what it is that I want, but I feel it deep in the pit of my stomach. It's there sitting dormant. I'll know it when it see it."  ~Andrew
 

On the seats of a bus, Camryn Bennett meets Andrew Parrish, and her life is changed. At first standoff-ish, Camryn slowly begins to trust Andrew. And though he's gorgeous, and she can't help but be attracted to him, that's not what truly pulls Andrew and Cam together. There's more at play on their journey, it's a connection that goes deep. A meeting of kindred spirits. Two souls that are lost, but just might be able to reach their destination together.

I love "road trip" books. I love them even more when the characters are in search of more than an endpoint. When the journey means more than a destination. Andrew and Camryn were destined to find one another, each needed one another more than they could ever imagine. Andrew teaches Cam to let go, not worry what others think of her, to be happy, to live.

"Never hold back, Camryn Bennett; be sure to do what you want in life, say what you feel and never be afraid to be yourself. Fuck what everybody else thinks. You're living for you, not them."

 

 

What Camryn gives Andrew isn't quite as obvious, initially. But as time goes by, and Cam becomes more entrenched in his heart and mind, Andrew learns what it means to finally experience unconditional love. To be able to love someone with his whole heart. To have someone who wants to experience life and love the same way he does. His soulmate. 

I won't lie, The Edge of Never is heavy. Camryn and Andrew have issues that will test their relationship. There are circumstances that may force them apart for good. The test each other, push one another to go farther, love harder, dig deeper. The way love should be when the two are in it, together. I guess what I'm saying is, have some tissues handy, this is a tumultuous ride.


The Edge of Never is much like life, and love: It's hard. It's messy. It's not always easy. But if you can make it through to the other side, it is always worth it.



Favorite Quotes:

  And when you're thinking more about the positive aspects of a bus ride, instead of the negative, it's easy to forget that there's anything negative about it at all. There is a guy sitting next to me with beautiful green eyes and a beautiful sculpted face and a beautiful way of thinking. There's no such thing as a bad bus ride when you're in the company of something beautiful.
  I shouldn't be here...


  "Andrew?"
  "Yeah?"
  We keep our eyes on the sky.
  "I wanted to say thank you."
  "For what?"
  She answers after a pause: "For everything: for making me shove your clothes into that bag instead of folding them and for turning the music down in the car so it wouldn't wake me up and for singing about raisins." Her head falls to the side and so does mine. She looks me in the eyes and says, "And for making me feel alive."


 "I will do anything for you, Camryn Bennett. I don't care what it is, I don't care...anything you ever ask me to do and I would do it. No exceptions."


  "Jesus, Cam, you really hit the jackpot with this one." She sits across from me sipping her iced latte. "Guys that perfect are rare."
  "Well, he's not perfect," I say, sloshing my straw around in my cup. "He's got a dirty mouth, he's stubborn, he forces me to do shit I don't want to do and he always gets his way."
  Natalie grins and sucks on her straw.
  Then she points at me briefly. "See, like I said: perfect."


You can purchase The Edge of Never at:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

GIVEAWAY

(1) Signed paperback copy of THE EDGE OF NEVER, (1) Kindle or Nook copy, (1) sterling silver custom book pendant necklace $200 value. Open to United States and Canada only.

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

About the author:

Author of THE DARKWOODS TRILOGY and DIRTY EDEN, mother, werewolf & zombie fanatic, book addict and a happy hermit obsessed with the Universe. Oh, and AMC’s “The Walking Dead”.

Addictions: Starbucks every morning, trolling Barnes & Noble’s shelves once a week, detesting winter, shopping flea markets and preparing for the collapse of society as we know it. Do I own a tin foil hat? Maybe. :-)

I was born in Arkansas and have lived here most of my life, except the couple of times when I lived in Pennsylvania. I started my first novel at the age of thirteen and have been writing something ever since. Generally, I love characters in life and on paper. I pay attention to people, especially those whose personalities make them different from the rest of us: the drug addict roaming the Laundromat that talks to himself, the young, inattentive mother in the park with the meanest kid on the playground – (the entire cast of ‘Swamp People’) – characters fascinate me and I hope that it shows in my literary work.

J.A. Redmerski | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads |  Pinterest

 

 

TEASER TUESDAY ~ THE EDGE OF NEVER

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, just do as following:

·Grab your current read
·Open to a random page
·Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
·Be careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others.

Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles.

Series: Stand alone
Genre: Contemporary New Adult
Publisher: J.A. Redmerski
Publication Date: 11/15/12

Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story. And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart.

Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far behind.

With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed never to fall in love.

But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things she never thought she’d do. He shows her what it’s really like to live out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But will Andrew’s dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear them completely apart?


Due to sexual content and language, this book is recommended for 17+ – Adult Contemporary Women’s – New Adult Fiction

My Teaser ~

  I want one thing in life. It's not money or fame or a Photoshopped d!ck on a billboard in Times Square or a college education that may or may not benefit me later. I'm not sure what it is that I want, but I feel it deep in the pit of my stomach. It's there sitting dormant. I'll know it when I see16% it.  ~Andrew   (16%)


You can purchase The Edge of Never at:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

Review ~ THE MAYFAIR MOON (The Darkwoods Trilogy #1) by J.A. Redmerski

After a nightmarish encounter with a werewolf, seventeen-year-old Adria Dawson loses her sister, but gains the love of a mysterious young man and his legendary family.

Strange and tragic things begin to happen in the small town of Hallowell, Maine: residents come down with an unexplainable ‘illness’ and some disappear. In the midst of everything, Isaac Mayfair is adamant about keeping Adria safe, even from her sister whom he has warned her to stay away from.

As unspeakable secrets unfold all around Adria, impossible choices become hers to bear. Ultimately, no matter what path she takes, her life and the lives of those she loves will be in peril. As she learns about the werewolf world she also learns why her place in it will change the destinies of many. ~From GoodReads

As a fan of paranormal young adult books, I dove into THE MAYFAIR MOON with great expectations. On the whole, I wasn't overwhelmed by the story, but I did like it.

THE MAYFAIR MOON is the story of Adria, a teenage girl living in Georgia with her beloved sister, Alex, her co-dependant mother and abusive step-father. After the two girls are attacked by what seems to be a werewolf, which is mistakenly attributed to their step-father, they are sent to live with an aunt and uncle in Maine. Alex is changed by the attack. She is sullen, distant, angry and eventually runs away from home, joining what appears to be a cult. Adria, desperate to find and save his sister, is befriended by a group, a mysterious family, the Mayfairs. Adria is immediately attracted to Isaac Mayfair, son of their leader. Being pulled in two directions by two warring packs, between her sister's group and the Mayfairs, Adria must decide between her sister and her heart.

So as I said, I did like THE MAYFAIR MOON. I found the author's writing to be precise and easy to follow. This is a book that I was able to read extremely quickly, despite the length. The writing is very descriptive, setting-wise, but never felt bogged down with details.

 I also liked her take on werewolves. It wasn't just bites and full moons. There was a lot more going on than what I normally see. The werewolf world was full of centuries long vendettas, blood bonds, and political conflict. These variations added just enough to the story to make me feel as if I were reading something completely new.

But there were also a few things about THE MAYFAIR MOON that made it less than great, for me. For starters, the story moves fairly slowly. Once the girls move to Maine, there isn't a lot going on. I think that can be explained by the fact that there is a lot of world-building, or explanations that take place. Once the different people and backgrounds are in place, the plot does pick back up. And I  would expect the next book in the series to maintain that pace now that the background has been established.

I was also thrown by the connection between Adria and Isaac. It felt rushed to me. They meet, and there's an immediate connection. Then, they are around each other a few times, but nothing that screamed "True Love" to me. Then Adria finds Isaac with another girl, runs out of the house and refuses to speak to him. She's embarrassed, I understand. But I don't get the level of hurt and how she feels he owes her an explanation. When he does explain, and she accepts, then he tells her the other girls who live in the Mayfair house are jealous because of their connection. Which reminds me, the Mayfair house...it seems sort of like a harem. I understand why the people are there, but I felt sort of gross with the way the girls are always all over Isaac. But they are werewolves, so I guess it's explained by the animal attraction theory.

Overall, I would say that THE MAYFAIR MOON is a book that I didn't love, but I did like a quite a bit. With a dark, brooding atmosphere and a paranormal mystery THE MAYFAIR MOON is a book that will appeal to fans of paranormal young adult books.

Favorite Quote:

" 'No, seriously,' Nathan went on, 'Isaac is what your folks might call a Ladies' Man.'

I saw Isaac's expression out of the corner of my eye; it shrank into something less solid and more humiliated. I laughed. Inside, of course.

'He even has his own cologne,' said Nathan. 'It's called...Dark Allure or some cheesy thing like that.' (pg. 127)


Published February 6th 2012

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Source: Received from author in exchange for an honest review.