My Ticket Out by J.N. Marton Release Blitz

A senior basketball player. A mysterious new girl. A secret romance…

Charlie Baker wants out. She wants out of her small, southern hometown of BluHaven and she has her sights set on a basketball scholarship to a college as far away as her dreams can take her. Everything is going according to plan until she moves to town.

Aspen Sullivan is breathtaking. She is beautiful, smart, talented… She evokes feelings in Charlie that she hadn’t thought possible. When their friendship blossoms into something more, Charlie discovers a new truth about herself. But with Aspen’s mysterious past, they must keep their relationship a secret.

Will their love be strong enough to endure the trials of deceiving those closest to them?
Do they have what it takes to escape the constraints of the south and the closet together?

My Ticket Out is a Young Adult, LGBT story about love, and self-discovery. If you enjoy stories that include romance, heartbreak, and embracing who you are, then you will definitely love this book by author J.N. Marton.

 

 

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~  Also Available with KindleUnlimited  ~

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
3.5 stars

This is an emotionally charged read, full of impossibly heightened adolescent angst. It is the story of Charlie, a small town basketball star in her last year of high school. The book follows Charlie as she grows into herself, prepares for the future, and falls in love for the first time.

It is impossible not to fall hard for Charlie. Certain that she doesn’t belong in her small town, she devotes herself to her basketball – her ticket out. I love Charlie’s intense friendship with her friend and rival Riley, and I love her complicated relationship with her brother. Charlie’s background is complicated and her relationship with her grandparents is fragile. Charlie is a fighter, she’s a survivor, and she’s pretty fabulous.

I’m not entirely sure why this book is marketed as a romance. It is definitely a coming of age story and it is definitely a young adult, not a new adult read, but I’d argue that the focus of this book is the growth we see in Charlie herself over the school year. Without spoilers, there is a romance element to the book but it is a difficult, fractured romance for most of the book and the storyline doesn’t use a conventional romance novel structure.

My initial reaction to the dramatic storyline around Charlie’s coming out experience was disbelief – but sadly I’ve seen enough American news in 2020 to understand that small town America is quite possibly as hostile to LGBT teens as Charlie’s story suggests. However, I do feel like the book gets unnecessarily preachy in places – especially at the end where resolutions feel too easy and a bit trite. I’m not sure deep hurts can be healed quickly with pretty apologies. Charlie, Riley, and Matthew feel like complicated, fully developed characters. I didn’t quite know how to feel about Aspen in various parts of the story – but all of the other characters feel a little bit too simplistic. Either goodies or baddies, there isn’t much room for multifaceted humans in this book.

I recognise that as a teacher in my 40s, I’m definitely not the target audience for this book. I think the angst, the emotional turmoil, and the intense romantic scenes will resonate better with teen readers than they did with me. It’s all a little too much for me but it did make me smile – and cry.


Shannan – ☆☆☆
My Ticket Out is a young adult angsty story.

Charlie is a senior in high school. She doesn't feel she belongs in her hometown. She has hopes to get a basketball scholarship to be her ticket out. When Aspen is a new student, Charlie immediately notices how beautiful she is. Together they form a friendship that grows into something more.

The pace was very slow for me in the beginning, it did seem to move better the further I got into the read. I didn't feel as though I connected with the characters as much as I wanted to. As a young adult read, this is a very high-angst book, but with teenagers that is pretty realistic. The ending seemed a bit too easy for me, with a few apologies it was wrapped up in a bow. I did like that it touched on very realistic issues affecting LGBTQ teens.

 

 

J.N. Marton graduated from the University of Central Arkansas with a Bachelor’s degree in education. Along with educating the future of our nation, she enjoys taking her daily morning run, reading any book she can get her hands on, and binge watching the latest shows on Netflix. Marton happily lives with her wife, Hollis, and their Lab/Basset Hound mix, Sam.

Connect with J.N.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of My Ticket Out by J.N. Marton to read and review for this tour.

The Morning Flower by Amanda Hocking

New York Times bestselling author Amanda Hocking returns to the magical world of the Trylle with The Morning Flower, the second book in the Omte Origins arc.

Welcome back to the kingdom of the Omte—a forest realm where secrets and danger, human nature and ancient mythology collide.

Where truth is stranger than fiction.

Searching for answers to her own shrouded origins, Ulla Tulin’s journey of exploration takes a sudden turn when Eliana is kidnapped. Turning toward the Omte capital instead of the institute where she hoped to learn the truth about her identity, Ulla must put Eliana’s welfare before her own—a sacrifice that will present all new dangers to them both.

When history is still unwritten.

Ulla never expected that once she arrived she’d discover the identity of a Skojare man who crossed paths with her mother—a man who could very well be her father. Given the man’s connections to the Älvolk, a secret society tasked with protecting the location of the First City, Ulla is soon dispatched to Sweden to find him.

One woman will dare to go wherever fate will take her…

Now Ulla, along with her maybe boyfriend Pan, finds herself on a desperate race against time to locate her kin—who could very well pose a danger to her kingdom. Nobody and nothing is as it seems as she penetrates the dark heart of the Älvolk… all the way to the secret Lost Bridge to the First City, where an unknown future awaits for Ulla and her kind.

Don’t miss book one in The Omte Origins Trilogy, The Lost City. For reviews & more info, click HERE.

Book 2
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Wednesday Books

Jordan – ☆☆☆
After finishing The Lost City (The Omte Origins #1), I had hoped that maybe book two, The Morning Flower, would hold more appeal, but I ended up feeling just as disenchanted with the sequel as I was with the first book. I just didn’t care for it.

I really wanted to like this series and I hoped that I might find myself more enchanted with The Morning Flower, but that just wasn’t the case. The Morning Flower picks up shortly after the ending of The Lost City, with Ulla and Pan on the road to the Omte capital. Much like the first book, the second book seemed to just drag itself out without anything of real interest happening for the majority of the book and then the only interesting tidbits seemed to happen in the last 20% of the book, only for it to end with another cliffhanger. At this point, I don’t even feel the desire to read the final book in The Omte Origins trilogy. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t find myself interested enough in Ulla or even the spark of potential between her and Pan or any other potential love interest such as, Jem-kruk. I had hoped that I might feel more enamored with Hocking’s characters by the end of The Morning Flower, but that wasn’t the case.

All in all, three stars for The Morning Flower by Amanda Hocking.

AMANDA HOCKING is the author of over twenty young adult novels, including the New York Times bestselling Trylle Trilogy and Kanin Chronicles. Her love of pop culture and all things paranormal influence her writing. She spends her time in Minnesota, taking care of her menagerie of pets and working on her next book.

Connect with Amanda

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Morning Flower (The Omte Origins #2) by Amanda Hocking to read and review.

The Lost City by Amanda Hocking

Amanda Hocking, the New York Times bestselling author of The Kanin Chronicles, returns to the magical world of the Trylle Trilogy with The Lost City, the first novel in The Omte Origins—and the final story arc in her beloved series.

The storm and the orphan

Twenty years ago, a woman sought safety from the spinning ice and darkness that descended upon a small village. She was given shelter for the night by the local innkeepers but in the morning, she disappeared—leaving behind an infant. Now nineteen, Ulla Tulin is ready to find who abandoned her as a baby or why.

The institution and the quest

Ulla knows the answers to her identity and heritage may be found at the Mimirin where scholars dedicate themselves to chronicling troll history. Granted an internship translating old documents, Ulla starts researching her own family lineage with help from her handsome and charming colleague Pan Soriano.

The runaway and the mystery

But then Ulla meets Eliana, a young girl who no memory of who she is but who possesses otherworldly abilities. When Eliana is pursued and captured by bounty hunters, Ulla and Pan find themselves wrapped up in a dangerous game where folklore and myth become very real and very deadly—but one that could lead Ulla to the answers she’s been looking for.

Book 1
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Wednesday Books

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Jordan – ☆☆☆
I have read several books by Amanda Hocking that take place in the same world as The Lost City, but it has been awhile since I’ve been back in Hocking’s world of Trylle. The Lost City is the final arc for Hocking’s Trylle world, but prior knowledge or reading of the previous arcs do not seem necessary to read prior to starting The Lost City.

The Lost City focuses on the secretive Omte tribe and follows the story of Ulla Tulin, who was abandoned as a baby. Now, 20 years later, Ulla has landed a prestigious internship at the Mimirim institute, where she will finally have an opportunity to search for her birth parents.

I have mixed feelings about The Lost City because I kind of expected it to be more attention grabbing, but I felt like it only got interesting the last 30% of the book and the first 70% just seemed to drag on forever without anything worthwhile actually happening. Normally I find Hocking’s books to be more alluring, but this one just didn’t do it for me. I didn’t dislike it, however, I just hoped I would have enjoyed it more than I did. That being said, I will of course give book two, The Morning Flower, a shot because I am just intrigued enough by the last 30% of The Lost City to think I might enjoy book two more.


Erica – ☆☆☆
In anticipation, I reread the Trylle Trilogy to remember Hocking's world building, hoping to pave the way for The Lost City.

Immediately diving straight into this novel, I was excited for whatever was to come my way... eight days of attempts, when I binge-read three entire books in a day... and it was a struggle to finish.

Fingers crossed The Lost City is the first book curse, where it spent every page building up to book two. The mystery behind Ulla's history is the only thing that kept the pages turning. The characters were all one-note, other than physical features, they didn't truly have any personality traits. The pacing was slower than molasses. I felt no realistic connection between the characters, which would have had me rooting for them, curious to see what the future had in store for them.

What was the worst impediment for the novel would be the info-dumpage. After reading the Trylle Trilogy to brush up on the mythology and world building, every page of this novel was a rundown with a confusing overabundance added. It flowed organically in the original trilogy, Wendy discovering the ins and outs with the reader, not too much so the reader couldn’t digest it and retain it. During The Lost City, Ulla was just as ignorant to the hows and whys, but since she was raised in a troll community, she understood what was being listed by the characters, while the reader didn't. Entire histories for each of the troll lines were written on the pages, but not in a storytelling fashion – a textbook.

I felt as if I needed to take notes, fearing I was missing something important. Just too much information at once, delivered on every page, before the reader could digest what they previously read. I just started winging it – if I missed something, I missed it, because there was no way I was going to remember a textbook of information chapters ago.

I needed more. I needed deeper character building to cause me to become invested in the story. I needed three-dimensional characters, who showed their personality traits, outside of mundane everyday events of going to work and going home. I needed an organic flow of information to keep my eyes from crossing. I needed faster pacing to keep my interests. I needed answers, since none of the mysteries presented in the novel were revealed by the end – I understand this is a series, but some progression forward would have kept my interests.

There was a plot and a story there, but it was used as a vehicle to give an entire history of the troll lines, as if the plot and story were secondary to creating the world building. But since the story itself wasn’t the focus, it wasn’t a rich universe created like in its predecessors, but just words on a page.

Honestly, if I didn't already have the second in the series, I'm not sure if I would continue reading. I'm just hoping upon hope that The Lost City was merely a heavy on the info introduction for the second in the series, where it will all pick up and keep me engaged.

The novel read exactly as a scholar in a city dedicated to recording history would...
I wanted to love it, and I wish I could recommend it.

AMANDA HOCKING is the author of over twenty young adult novels, including the New York Times bestselling Trylle Trilogy and Kanin Chronicles. Her love of pop culture and all things paranormal influence her writing. She spends her time in Minnesota, taking care of her menagerie of pets and working on her next book.

Connect with Amanda

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Lost City (The Omte Origins #1) by Amanda Hocking to read and review.

Why Can't Life Be Like Pizza? by Andy V. Roamer Blog Tour

RV is a good kid, starting his freshman year at the demanding Boston Latin School. Though his genes didn’t give him a lot of good things, they did give him a decent brain. So he’s doing his best to keep up in high school, despite all the additional pressures he’s facing: His immigrant parents, who don’t want him to forget his roots and insist on other rules. Some tough kids at school who bully teachers as well as students. His puny muscles. His mean gym teacher. The Guy Upstairs who doesn’t answer his prayers. And the most confusing fact of all—that he might be gay.

Luckily, RV develops a friendship with Mr. Aniso, his Latin teacher, who is gay and always there to talk to. RV thinks his problems are solved when he starts going out with Carole. But things only get more complicated when RV develops a crush on Bobby, the football player in his class. And to RV’s surprise, Bobby admits he may have gay feelings, too.

Warning: Homophobic bullying, homophobic slurs, physical abuse, mentions of gay bashing, racism within a character’s family.

Book 1
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NineStar Press

Why can’t life be like pizza?

I’ve been asking myself the question a lot lately. I love pizza. Pizza makes me feel good. Especially since I discovered Joe’s. Joe’s Pizza is quiet and out of the way and allows me to think. And Joe’s combinations are the best. Pepperoni and onions. Garlic and mushroom. Cheese and chicken. And if you really want that little kick in the old butt: the super jalapeno. Mmmm, good. Gets you going again. And lets you forget all your troubles.

What troubles can a fourteen-year-old guy have? Ha! First of all, I’m not a regular guy, as anyone can guess from my taste in pizza. My parents are immigrants who are trying to make a better life for themselves here in the United States. Besides the usual things American parents worry about, like making money and having their kids do well in school, my parents spend more time worrying about the big things: politics, communism, fascism, global warming, and the fact they and their parents survived violence and jail so I-better-be-grateful-I’m-not-miserable-like-kids-in-other-parts-of-the-world.

Grateful? Ha! As far as I’m concerned, life is pretty miserable already. Instead of thinking about the World Series or Disneyland, I worry about terrorists down the street or the dirty bombs the strange family around the corner might be building.

I don’t know why I worry about everything, but I do. It’s probably in my genes. Other guys have genes that gave them big muscles or hairy chests. I got nerves.

And then there’s my name. RV. Yeah, RV. No, I’m not a camper or anything. RV is short for Arvydas. That’s right. “Are-vee-duh-s.” Mom and Dad say it’s a common name in Lithuania, which is the country in Eastern Europe where my parents were born. A name like that might be fine for Lithuania, but what about the United States? Couldn’t Mom and Dad have named me Joe, or Mike, or even Darryl? My brother, Ray, has a normal name. Why couldn’t they have given me one?

I even look a little weird, I think. Tall and skinny with an uncoordinated walk because of my big feet that get in the way and make me feel like a clod. Oh, yeah. I’ve been getting some zits lately, and I wear glasses since I’m pretty nearsighted. Not a pretty sight, is it? At least the glasses are not too thick. Mom and Dad don’t have a lot of money to spend, but they did fork up the money to get me thin lenses, so I don’t look like a complete zomboid.

What can I do? I try my best, despite it all. I’m lucky because I’ve done well in school, so at least my genes gave me a half-decent brain. Hey, I’m not bragging. It’s just nice to feel good about something when most days I feel pretty much a loser at so many things. When I was in grammar school, there were enough days when I came home from school and cried because some big oaf threatened me, or I got hit in the stomach during my pathetic attempts to play ball during recess…

Okay, okay, I’m getting off track. I want to write about my first day of school. Mom and Dad gave me this new—well, refurbished, but new to me anyway—computer for getting into Latin school, and they keep after me to make good use of it. So, I’ve decided I’m going to write about my new life. My life away from cretins—Lith, American, or any other kind…

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Veronica – ☆☆☆
RV is 14 years old and in his first year of high school. We spend a year with him as he goes through life dealing with issues in his family life, problems with friendships, girl problems, and dealing with his sexuality. He thinks he may be gay, or bi, he isn't really sure.

Why Can't Life Be Like Pizza? was a little slow to start off but once it got going, I really enjoyed it. As someone in their 40s, you look at a 14-year-old as someone young with no worries. Really though, they are often dealing with a lot of serious problems just like us adults, they just have less life experience.

I particularly enjoyed seeing RV’s home life. He is the son of Lithuanian immigrants and I liked seeing what life was like for him as a member of that community and what being a child of an immigrant is like.

I'm looking forward to more installments of The Pizza Chronicles and seeing what happens with RV's love life, finding out what is going on with his little brother, and generally seeing what life will bring for him next. This is a good start to a new series.

Andy V. Roamer grew up in the Boston area and moved to New York City after college. He worked in book publishing for many years, starting out in the children’s and YA books division and then wearing many other hats. This is his first novel about RV, the teenage son of immigrants from Lithuania in Eastern Europe, as RV tries to negotiate his demanding high school, his budding sexuality, and new relationships. He has written an adult novel, Confessions of a Gay Curmudgeon, under the pen name Andy V. Ambrose. To relax, Andy loves to ride his bike, read, watch foreign and independent movies, and travel.

Connect with Andy

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The Pizza Chronicles Blog

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Why Can't Life Be Like Pizza? (The Pizza Chronicles #1) by Andy V. Roamer to read and review for this tour.

Diamond City by Francesca Flores

Good things don't happen to girls who come from nothing... unless they risk everything.

Fierce and ambitious, Aina Solís as sharp as her blade and as mysterious as the blood magic she protects. After the murder of her parents, Aina takes a job as an assassin to survive and finds a new family in those like her: the unwanted and forgotten.

Her boss is brutal and cold, with a questionable sense of morality, but he provides a place for people with nowhere else to go. And makes sure they stay there.

DIAMOND CITY: built by magic, ruled by tyrants, and in desperate need of saving. It is a world full of dark forces and hidden agendas, old rivalries and lethal new enemies.

To claim a future for herself in a world that doesn't want her to survive, Aina will have to win a game of murder and conspiracy—and risk losing everything.

Full of action, romance and dark magic, book one of Francesca Flores' breathtaking fantasy duology will leave readers eager for more!

Book 1
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
Spoiler-Free Review

The premise hooked me straight away. Aina's story of being an orphan on the streets, forced to do anything to survive, fostered by the head of a gang who had ulterior motives. The Blade, Aina was an assassin, doing the gang's wet work for hire, fearing what would happen if she didn't do it, while also so desperately needing the validation, needing to make him proud.

On the side, Aina was the go-between in diamond smuggling, between its point of origin and the fence where it was fashioned into something else at the jeweler. In the world building, I was slightly shocked over how many diamonds go missing on a daily basis for a teenage girl to be in on the game.

The setting is during an industrial revolution, in an area where there is a diamond mine, the industry similar to the turn of the twentieth century. However, I couldn't place the time nor the location, especially with the paranormal magical elements added in. The setting and world building were fascinating to me, steampunk meets illegal magic/religion, but how it was presented wasn't to my taste.

There was excitement, action-packed scenes of pure violence, spying and slinking around, and many bodies on the floor, so many bodies I was confused as to how the city wasn't losing its population with how Aina wasn't the only assassin running around. In such a short span of time, we're talking hundreds of people dying and left to lie where they fell, by gangs worth of assassins.

As for the emotions, loyal friendships were important to Aina, but it was her need for validation from the man who groomed her that hit the hardest.

Aina was a solid heroine. Loyal, willing to do anything to survive, but also fiercely protective of those who she called friend. I'm all for not having a guilt-stricken heroine who hems and haws over what needs to be done, but I find it hard to believe that on several occasions Aina murders most of the guards and staff in the same house... like how did they get replacements so quickly? An entire household emptied of occupants. Twice? Thrice? By the end of the book, Aina had single-handedly executed an upwards of a hundred souls.

For someone obsessed with how her parents died and left her an orphan, Aina has no issue of creating dozens upon dozens of innocent orphans, if their parents merely get in her way. Like charging in the front door, slitting the necks of innocent maids and guards, who no doubt had children at home. All those new orphans have more of a reason to loathe Aina than Aina had to loathe the government for executing her parents, who were practicing acts that were widely known to hold a death sentence. Aina's parents were criminals (no matter if the law was ridiculous or not) but these random innocent maids and such did no one any harm.

An assassin by trade should be able to sneak around and only inflict death upon the ones they were hired to kill. It would be bad for business to take out entire households, several times over.

As I said, I don't want a guilt-stricken heroine, but I find it hard to swallow that she's killing so indiscriminately, as if all those people are worthless, meaningless, because she needs some coin for a "single" target. People who are also from the lower classes, who are just working to eat. Was she really good at her job if she takes out so many innocents while doing it? It's like using a nuke instead of a flyswatter for a single fly.

Where I struggled the most with the novel was the writing style. There was just something about the way the perspective was written that kept me from being able to fall into the story. My interest waned during monologues from the past, where dialogue and action from the past weren't italicized to show that it wasn't happening in the present time, the lack of transition confusing me and tearing me from the story itself. The flashbacks weren't denoted, and there were many flashbacks to be had, filled with info-dumps and meandering inner monologues that slowed the pacing.

As an avid reader, especially of all the elements within Diamond City, I struggled to read, taking me well over a week what should have taken an afternoon. I was curious to what the outcome would be, but the writing style, the way the perspective was written, and the execution made it difficult for me to be entertained.

Curious to see where this goes, I'm willing to give the next another try. If not, I'll have to pass on the author, due to the writing style not being my cup of tea.

Young Adult age rating: 14+ due to on-scene graphic violence.

Francesca Flores is a writer, traveler and linguist. Raised in Pittsburgh, she read every fantasy book she could get her hands on and started writing her own stories at a young age. She began writing Diamond City while working as a corporate travel manager. When she's not writing or reading, Francesca enjoys traveling, dancing ballet and jazz, practicing trapeze and contortion, and visiting parks and trails around San Francisco, where she currently resides.

Connect with Francesca

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Diamond City (Diamond City #1) by Francesca Flores to read and review.

Buried Secrets by John R. Petrie

Teen detectives Wyatt and Timothy are determined to find out what happened to a group of boys who disappeared years ago—but surviving the mystery might be as challenging as solving it.

To make ends meet, Wyatt works construction instead of attending school, and it’s in an old house he’s gutting that he finds a collection of articles about a missing boy. Wyatt knew Bobby LaFleur before he disappeared, and this new clue stirs up Wyatt’s old memories.

Sheriff’s son Timothy Mitchell can’t resist a challenge—or the chance to show his dad he’s more than capable of working in law enforcement. Together with Wyatt, he investigates the disappearance and learns Bobby isn’t the only victim—and that Wyatt and Bobby were more than friends. As the case grows darker and more twisted, the connection between Wyatt and Timothy deepens. But the secrets they uncover could get them killed.

A Harmony Ink Press Title

Book 1
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Dreamspinner Press

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Veronica – ☆☆☆
Buried Secrets is a young adult novel in which local teen Wyatt asks the sheriff’s son, Timothy, for helping in finding out what happened to his friend, Bobby, who disappeared four years prior. Timothy wants to be a cop and agrees to help Wyatt try to solve the mystery, and also hopes to impress his dad.

This story mixes teenage romance and mystery well and also deals with the family lives of these two young teens. I loved the family dynamics we see with Timothy’s family. Timothy is openly gay, and he has accepting and supporting parents. Wyatt’s home life is the complete opposite with a drunk, neglectful mother who is full of prejudice.

On the mystery, as a reader, with a few clues I figured out what had likely happened early on but I enjoyed seeing Timothy figure it out and watching the story unfold. There is a good helping of danger and suspense to keep you a bit on edge right through the story. On the romance side of things, I liked the age appropriate romance. These guys are smart enough to realise they are still young and they don’t go rushing into things they might not be ready for.

I really enjoyed Buried Secrets. It has a good, fast pace and I had a good time reading it. A solid three stars from me.

John R. Petrie grew up in Boston and now lives in the Bronx, NY. Almost his entire working career has been spent around books, from his first job in the town library to more than twenty years bookselling in one of the biggest bookstores in the US. He’s also worked for the Housing Works thrift stores in NYC, Valiant Entertainment Comics, and is now a bookstore manager, which gives him too much access to books and not enough time to read them.

He’s had stories published in True Romance magazine, had a play he wrote produced at his college, acted, danced, and was nominated for a Barrymore award playing Belize in Angels in America.

He stays up too late, eats too much junk food, and has been reading Wonder Woman comics for over forty years.

He is very, very happy to be published by Harmony Ink Press. He hopes to continue writing stories which make people smile.

He likes to hear from people, so say hello.

Connect with John

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Buried Secrets (Timothy and Wyatt Mysteries #1) by John R. Petrie to read and review.

I Dare You to Break Curfew by Eva Muñoz

To save humankind, Camron may have to fall in love.

Vampires are real, and they are called the Inshari. After Camron Masters breaks curfew the first time, he discovers them living beneath Braylin Academy. The second time he breaks curfew, he meets a mad scientist who convinces him to take part in an experiment in exchange for more information about the Inshari. A small pinprick later, Camron wakes up as one of them and finds himself bonded to the prince of his dreams—vampire or not, Troyan is dark, brooding, and oh so delicious. But there’s the enigmatic Zaire vying for his attention too. Or is Camron just a pawn in a centuries-old feud?

All Camron’s ever wanted was to live his own fairy tale. But there’s always a catch after meeting Prince Charming.

Book 1
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Harmony Ink

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
This review is by a mature adult. Do I believe a younger reader would be enthralled by the story and the characters? Absolutely yes. Do I believe I look too deeply into a novel? A resounding yes.

Cam attends a boarding school, where there is one rule... never remain on campus after curfew or risk automatic expulsion. The book starts with what exactly happens should a student remain on campus after dusk.

I Dare You to Break Curfew has a unique take on vampire culture, more flesh-eaters than blood-drinkers. Where an entire world is hidden on the grounds of a boarding school. These flesh-eaters are looking for a human to experiment on, as they slowly wither from a wasting disease.

The premise and the world-building did hit the sweet spot of highly inventive and original. However, the pacing was so rapid, I felt as if we journeyed from point A to D without B & C being explained. I was just as confused as Cam.

While I enjoyed the book, there were a few things that kept me from fully immersing myself in the storyline.

Cam's voice was inherently feminine, as well as his actions, thought processes, and behaviors. That's not a bad thing, just that I could sense the female voice of the writer beneath.

On the character front, no matter if they are adolescents by vampire terms, they still lived nearly a thousand years of days, so I was unsure why they still acted as teen humans. Time is what matures all beings, not chronological age dependent on species. So it was off-putting, how thousand-year-old vampires were essentially going to high school, yet also ready to take over the task of leading their people and developing a cure for their malady.

When it came to a betrothal, where the thousand-year-old vampire continuously attacked and bullied Cam, as if this would somehow buy Troyan's affections... I was confused.

Do teen girls act as if their crush is their hostage? Maybe.

Usually around age fourteen, we figure out, no matter our gender, the other party has a say in the matter. I mean, who would want to force someone to marry them? Held hostage for an eternity. Sociopathic much? But I see this theme repeatedly. I feel for teen girls, because they aren't the monsters literature paints them to be.

Would someone who lived a thousand years act in such an unhinged manner? No. No way. Calculating and manipulative? Oh, yes.

It just left a bad taste in my mouth, how one of the only female characters was created simply to be a vapid harpy, painting all women as if we have to force men to partner with us. Yes, I'm reading too much into this, but I see it in just about every book I read, no matter the genre or age-group.

Other than my feminist beef with how females were portrayed, I enjoyed the story for the most part, finding the novel to be unlike anything I've read before.

Where I was confused on the world building front... to slowly wither and die over a millennia seems like a better deal than to become human and perhaps die in a car accident a few days later, with no guarantee of living another fifty years at most. Also, losing all your enhanced abilities. But that's just me.

With that being said, I'm curious to see where the story goes next. I'm willing to read more by this author before I make a decision on whether or not we're a good fit, reading-wise.

Definitely recommend to readers looking for a new take on vampire culture, specifically those who don't look too deep into things or nitpick, like yours truly.

Young Adult age-range: 14+, featuring intimacy and violence.

Eva Muñoz loves dreaming of worlds filled with hot guys falling in love with each other. She believes that love is love is love and everyone has a right to find their person. Her love for writing began in high school. It was because her teacher complimented a story she had written that put her on the path she is on today. She would spin yarns on her father’s electric typewriter, bind the pages together, and bring the finished product to school for her classmate to pass around and swoon over. Little did she know at the time that writing would be a career she never knew she wanted.

She may have taken a circuitous path toward her passion for writing, but when she finally made that decision to stick with it after countless rejections, she never looked back. A degree in creative writing helps too. When she’s not at her favorite coffee shop thinking up new worlds and characters to explore, you can find Eva in a classroom teaching creative writing of all things. Talk about passion meets day job. Today she is molding impressionable minds the way her teacher once did for her.

Connect with Eva

Twitter  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of I Dare You to Break Curfew (Inshari Chronicles #1) by Eva Muñoz to read and review.

99% Faking It by Chris Cannon

Lisa is a card-carrying, book-loving Gryffindor. Solid. And that’s why everyone knows she’s awesome. Well, except for her crush, Matt. He only ever sees her as a friend. Plus, he's got his eye on another girl. Oh well, plenty of fish and all that.

Good thing Lisa just read a book on the “wedding ring phenomenon”—you get more attention when you’re already taken. What if Lisa pretends to be Matt’s plus one? Maybe it’ll help Matt get his girl and Lisa can hook her own fish.

After the plan works, Matt suddenly claims he doesn’t like the view from the friend-zone and wants her instead… But she isn’t interested in being anyone’s second choice. If this guy wants to earn her attention, he’ll need more than some silly “phenomenon.”

He’ll need to go all out…

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book multiple nerd-girl references, cute puppies, and snarky humor that will make you LOL!

Each book in the Dating Dilemmas series is standalone.

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Entangled Publishing

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
3.5 Stars

As a big fan of Chris Cannon, and the young adult genre, I was super excited to get my hands on this novel. Perhaps it's my mood. I've been distracted, have a lot going on in life, and struggling to work. I wanted a nice, easy dose of escapism, but it just didn't work for me. I will chalk this up to my mood/reading mood/reader’s-block. I do believe young adults will swoon for 99% Faking It. As an adult who reads this genre, in the mindset I'm in, I wasn't as entertained as I could have been/hoped to be. This is no fault of the author or the story itself, and I'm sure young adults and those young at heart will swoon for the novel. There was an ethical, moral, and maturity issue I had a difficult time traversing as well.

The rating reflects the entertainment value and my enjoyment.

Lisa and Matt are considered good friends. Lisa has an unrequited crush on Matt, while he's infatuated with another girl. While I'm sucker for the premise of friends turned 'more than friends,' it didn't feel as if Lisa and Matt were friends at all. They were more acquaintances, as they didn't know much about one another and Matt had an almost antagonistic way of speaking to Lisa, which was not friendly at all.

Matt and Lisa concoct a scheme to get Matt his girl. Lisa is hesitant at first, obviously fearing their friendship won't survive...

This is actually a PSA for the younger crowd reading the novel, maybe the adults too: the fake dating to gain the attention of your crush isn't one of my favorites. Simply because at my advanced age of 40, I have an opposing view on making someone jealous. Personally, I see it as the one trying to make someone else jealous is using the other person, while hammering home to his crush, "if you don't like me, someone else will," which I find abusive to be honest. Manipulative. If your crush did like you back, saw you with another girl, she'd assume you didn't want her and move on. She'd be hurt, not driven to gain your attention. If she were a moral person, she wouldn't want to butt into another's relationship (the fake one). If anything, it makes the person pitting two others against each other seem like he's a prize – he's not. No one is. Man-up and tell this person you like them, don't manipulate. So I don't understand this facet of the mating dance at all. It's unhealthy, but everyone seems to do it, no matter their age.

Don't get me started on the friend-zone. The friend-zone doesn't exist. You're either her friend, or you're in the friend-zone, pretending to be her friend. Which is also manipulative and skeevy. Either be her friend, or tell her you like her, and if she doesn't like you that way back, either remain her friend, or cut ties because you can't handle your own feelings.

As you can see, between the fake dating to make someone jealous, and how dare I be in the friend-zone construct, I had a difficult time enjoying a novel by an author, whose writing style is always a big hit with me. Mostly because if they are behaving like this as teenagers, I can't buy the romance angle or the longevity, because it's setting up the future of a string of broken relationships through life with this unhealthy mindset.

I apologize for the PSA, not truly reviewing the book. I just had to voice why I struggled. Yes, I took this too seriously. Again, it's the mood I'm in. I'm positive someone who is in a light and fun mood will find the novel evokes similar light moods. I'm positive young adults will eat this novel up with a spoon. But my jaded adult mind saw things from a different perspective – a parental one – and this took the enjoyment away from me, and that's on me, not a dig against the author or the novel itself.

Young Adult age-range: 12+ there is adult language.

Also Available in the Dating Dilemmas Series

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Entangled Publishing

For reviews & more info, check out our The Dating Debate post.

Chris Cannon is the award-winning author of the Going Down in Flames series and the Boyfriend Chronicles. She lives in Southern Illinois with her husband and several furry beasts. She believes coffee is the Elixir of Life. Most evenings after work, you can find her sucking down caffeine and writing fire-breathing paranormal adventures or romantic comedies.

Connect with Chris

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of 99% Faking It (Dating Dilemmas #2) by Chris Cannon to read and review.