Book Review: Cadence Duology by Katie Hamstead


Deceptive Cadence (Cadence #1)
Release Date: June 2015
REUTS Publications

Summary from Goodreads:
Cadence Anderson has the perfect definition of happily ever after . . .

Until she doesn't. A freak earthquake shatters her life as surely as her home, taking away everything she holds dear. She wakes in a hospital to find that her beloved husband and infant daughter have been killed, crushed by the earthquake's wrath. Disoriented, injured, and alone, Cadence refuses to accept the loss. So when a man claiming to be her guardian angel appears and offers her a chance to go back in time to save her family, she doesn't need to give it a second thought. She accepts.

Thrust back eleven years, she now faces the ordeal of high school all over again. But this time, she's armed with all the knowledge of her adult life and the determination to do everything better, from preventing the loss of her best friend to avoiding her original, drama-inducing boyfriends. She's focused solely on Austin, her future husband, and is content to bide her time until she meets him again.

But then James Gordon crosses her path. Cadence wants to remain single, but James has his sights set. He is determined to win her over, and he's very hard to resist. As Cadence starts to develop unwanted feelings for him, she realizes he threatens to disrupt everything, changing the future and distracting her from her original goal. Now, Cadence must choose: deny the unpredictable and exciting path James offers her, or stay true to the life she had and is trying desperately to resurrect. Second chances are more complicated than they seem.

Deceptive Cadence combines the soaring emotion of a heartfelt romance with the innovative storytelling of magical realism, crafting a uniquely moving, intricate tale about love and loss that asks: what would you do if given the chance to right all your wrongs?




Buy Links:
Amazon│Barnes & Noble

Diverging Cadence (Cadence #2)
Release Date: August 25th 2015
REUTS Publications

Summary from Goodreads:

When Cadence Anderson woke to find her husband and infant daughter had been killed, she thought her life was over. Instead, she was offered a second chance and sent back in time to do it all again. 

She’s made the most of this opportunity, repairing her relationship with the best friend she lost the first time, avoiding the romantic mistakes she made originally, and even bringing her family closer together. But she’s also done something she wasn’t planning on—she’s fallen in love with someone other than her future husband.


Stepping onto a plane and flying across country to attend university is the hardest decision she’s had to make. But unless she follows through with it, her future with Austin might never happen. And what becomes of her beautiful baby if she stays with James, the man she was never supposed to love?


The only thing she knows for certain is that she has to see Austin again, and she’s intent on reliving that part of her previous life exactly like she did the first time. Even if that means she has to lie to James to do it. Because, deep down, she can’t quite bring herself to let him go. 


Now, past and future are about to collide, and Cadence has to make her final choice—follow the uncertain path of a life with James, or the one she came back to save . . . with Austin. 


In this emotional conclusion to the story that began in Deceptive Cadence, relationships will be tested, identities revealed, and the past will overshadow the future, putting the finishing touches on an unforgettable tale of courage, sacrifice, and, above all, love.



Buy Links:
Amazon│Barnes & Noble


This review covers both books 1 and 2 of the Cadence Duology. Thanks to YA Bound Book Tours for the review copy.

Cadence Anderson's life is complete due to her husband and daughter's presence. So, when an earthquake snatches both of them from her forever. Grief consumes her til her "guardian angel" came and gave her an opportunity that can save her most loved ones. This time, she now can think of her decisions, mend her past relationships and later on, get to the future family she will have. What she doesn't know is that for every decision changed, a new person will be affected, and will later on be part of the story she strives to recreate. 

This book, though it shows second chances, also calls attention to how we should always think before we act. If we can go back in time, there would always be key moments in one's life, the turning point that would lead them to be who they would become in the future. And yet, no experience is the same. Our decisions, may it be small or drastic, can affect not only our lives but also of others. No matter the choice, there would always be someone affected by it. It all depends if the actions you make in the future, or learn from past mistakes, in order to move forward to better outcomes.




Born
in Australia 
Website

Twitter
katieteller1

Genre
Romance, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism

Member Since
November 2012



Born and raised in Australia, Katie's early years of day dreaming in the "bush", and having her father tell her wild bedtime stories, inspired her passion for writing.
After graduating High School, she became a foreign exchange student where she met a young man who several years later she married. Now she lives in Arizona with her husband, daughter and their dog.
She has a diploma in travel and tourism which helps inspire her writing.
When her debut novel, Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh, climbed into bestselling status, she believed she was onto something, and now has a slew of novels now available, and is published through Curiosity Quills Press, Soul Mate Publishing, and REUTS Publishing.
Katie loves to out sing her friends and family, play sports, and be a good wife and mother. She now works as an Acquisitions Editor to help support her family. She loves to write, and takes the few spare moments in her day to work on her novels.
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Blog Tour: Songs to Get Over You by Jay E. Tria



SONGS TO GET OVER YOU (Playlist #2)
Published on Feb 29, 2016
by Jay E. Tria 
Genre: Contemporary Romance


Links:


 It's harder to get over someone who was never really yours.

They say rock stars get all the girls. But Miki knows that's not always true. He, for one, though the guitarist of popular indie band Trainman, just can't seem to get the girl. It's kind of his fault, really. No one told him to fall in love with Jill. No one told him to stand still and watch as she moved on from a terrible breakup into the arms of another guy—a Japanese celebrity with the face of an angel and the body of a god.

So when someone else comes along, someone who finds him cute, smart, and funny (sometimes in the haha sort of way), will Miki finally move on? Or will he continue to pine for Jill?

May 29, Friday, night

Their first “date” constituted of him meeting up with her at Commute Bar. It was bad enough that Miki didn’t even offer to pick her up, that he only gave her directions, and those directions led her to an old, cramped watering hole tucked in the hidden recesses of Makati’s residential area. A place drowning in noise and feedback and filled to the brim with yuppies drunk on cheap beer. Miki offered Ana no semblance of privacy, making her share a table with his bandmates, only to leave her there to chase after Jill.
But Jill needed me. He said the words in his brain as if he were still defending himself to Nino. That was the night Kim had brought a date to the bar, and Jill had sat there looking like she was trying very hard not to cry, or vomit. She soon ran off and did both. What kind of friend would Miki be if he hadn’t gone after her?
Besides, Miki didn’t even know that night counted as his first date with Ana.
Anyway, he tried to make up for that. Their second date was a bit better. She had insisted it was still his choice, and so he took her to The Mind Museum at Fort Bonifacio. He figured she might as well find out the extent of his dorkiness while she could still run away.
Ana was thrilled though. Her favorite part was lying down in that small, cramped, dome-shaped tent in the dark, surrounded by noisy children, watching the short clip of stars imploding to be the universe as the world knew it. Miki liked that show too, but the sight of stars reminded him of someone else.
“One day, very, very soon, I am going to punch some sense into you,” Nino had said when Miki made the mistake of sharing. Nino did look like he meant it.
Miki grunted, shifting his weight on his lumpy seat. The shoulder of his shirt felt hot and wet, and he realized Ana was crying. Oh dear Lord, what is happening? He had been staring at the same scene, but apparently Ana was seeing something worth sobbing over.
This third date was Ana’s idea, obviously, and Miki was happy to go along. He had been to enough romantic comedies with Jill; those outings had built his endurance to chick flicks. Still, he never knew what to do when girls cried over fictional beings.
“There, there,” he muttered, patting Ana’s arm.
Ana’s throaty laugh mixed with a quick sniff as the screen faded to black. She sat up, her cheek parting from his shoulder, her gaze intent on the rolling credits. When the lights flicked back on, she turned a sober gaze to Miki. “What a crappy movie.”
“What?”
Ana was pulling out wads of tissue from her bag. “How could they go through all of that and not end up together?” she huffed, dabbing at her face and throwing the soiled tissue back into her bag. “I want a refund.”
Miki was at the dangling end of confused. “I thought you liked it,” he stammered. “Don’t girls cry when they like the movie?”
“Oh, look at you, knowing some things about life.” Ana grinned, but she was not done ranting. “I was crying because the ending was horrible,” she said, wringing her hands. “There the guy was, coming back to the girl as a changed man, and really trying his damnest for her. And she couldn’t let it go and take him back. What kind of message are they sending out to the world? That love is just as real as Santa? Yup, crappy movie.”
Miki shot her a panicked look. Their theater seat neighbors were starting to stare at them. “Let’s get out of here before you start throwing rocks.”
Ana laughed. “Yeah, we should.”
She took his hand just as easily as she gripped the strap of her bag, leading the way out the theater, past other disgruntled moviegoers. Miki stared at the simple knot of their fingers. He really thought he needed rocket science to get there.
“At least you managed to stay awake,” Ana said as they inched their way through the thick crowd.
Miki had suggested they catch the movie at this mall as it was usually spared from the after-office mob, even on Friday nights. But tonight seemed to be the exception. It looked like a lot of people were also there to see the crappy movie.
He shot Ana a sheepish look. “I’m normally good company in these kinds of movies, trust me.”
“What’s not normal about tonight then?”
How to say he was thinking about another girl while on a date without sounding like an ass? Mumbling was usually good recourse. “Jillisflyingback.”
Ana’s eyebrows flew up her forehead, but her eyes seemed to be laughing at him again. “Ah. She’s been in Japan right? How long has she been gone?”
“A week.” Seven days and about two hours. And counting.
“I looked up her boyfriend’s name on the Internet,” Ana went on. “I’m not that familiar with Japanese cinema. But Shinta Mori is … I mean, just. Wow. You go, girl.”
“Yeah, that would be him.” Miki worked his jaw to release the next words, deciding to plow on. “Anyway, Jill is being difficult as usual. Won’t tell me something as simple as her time of arrival.”
“Well a Tokyo flight is about four hours. If you know what time her plane left, your huge brain can figure out the rest.” Ana’s fingers squeezed his. She slid in front of him, walking backwards so she could hold his gaze.
“Um. What are you doing?”
“My huge brain, on the other hand,” Ana cut him off with a small smile, continuing her backward stroll, “is telling me you’d like to take me home now.”
The crowd was pressing around them, shoulder upon shoulder bumping into Miki on either side. He wondered if Ana felt the clamminess spreading down his fingers, but there was nowhere to look now but into her frank brown eyes.
“Yes.” Miki sighed. “But not because the movie is crappy.”
“No, of course not. It’s not the movie, it’s you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not even past my curfew yet.” Ana punched his shoulder with a light fist. “I thought we’d be lawless tonight!”
Miki wished she had hit him harder. Nino would have been glad. “I’m really sorry.”
Ana continued her backward walk, leading him out of a corridor and down a wider hall. The crowd had thinned. Now they just looked like two weird kids walking like drunks. Or two kids in love who couldn’t take their eyes off each other so they were walking around like drunks. Miki wished for either situation to be his reality, right about now.
“Anything else you’d like to say?” Ana prodded.
“You have a very smart brain.”
“Why, thank you.” She bowed. “But flattery won’t get you to the airport on time.”
Miki’s free fingers moved to grip the phone in his pocket like a convulsion. His walk slowed to a crawl, the fingers on his other hand slackening around Ana’s. He could hardly meet her gaze. It was their third date and he was already past the apology quota.
He racked his brain for something to say. Something that wasn’t, ‘I’ll call you’, or ‘I will make it up to you next time’, because he wasn’t sure he would do either. Three dates with Ana with Jill on his mind. Plus, he was long past the jerk quota.
So he chose honesty, or some semblance of it. “I don’t think I can make it to the horror movie after all.”
Ana pulled his hand, bringing them to a halt. A disgruntled “watch it!” came from the guy walking behind them, but Miki ignored him. The least he could do was look at Ana now.
She had let go of his hand, but her gaze demanded that he not look away. Her fingers were gentle, though her touch cold when she cupped his face in her hand.
“That’s too bad,” Ana murmured as her lips burned a soft mark on his cheek. “And here I thought you were getting better at dating me.”

 Hi! I'm a writer of contemporary Young Adult and New Adult romance. These days I'm writing paranormal/fantasy too, and it's a fun exercise. I'm often inspired by daydreams, celebrity crushes, a childhood fascination of Japanese drama and manga, and an incessant itch to travel.
NEW RELEASE: Songs to Get Over You | That Thing Called Closure #WriteBreakupSongsAbout
Also by Jay: Blossom Among Flowers | Songs of Our Breakup | Majesty
Official site: www.jayetria.com
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Wattpad: jayetria


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Blog Tour: You're Still the One by Sasha Clinton


You're Still the One by Sasha Clinton
Contemporary, Romance

One love. One man. Two chances.
Ashley has her life sorted out. After a painful divorce, she has now rebuilt her life as an editor. She is happy with her life—until her ex-husband Andrew walks into it, opening up the deep scars that even time has failed to heal.
He’s gorgeous, funny and as utterly tempting as he was seven years ago. Plus, being the editor for his new book, she cannot avoid him. But Andrew has his own issues lingering from the past.
Bound together by work, every breath they take draws them closer, into the same hopeless, passionate love that they once shared...

Marriage is a lifetime commitment of growth; learning to grow as an individual and as a part of a team. The book explores the life of two people who discovers how easy it is to fall into marriage but hard to keep the vows you once shared. 

Ashley has her whole life planned by the book. Everything she has set her eyes on is already written in her timeline as she'd do whatever it takes to achieve them, despite the minor setbacks. But one night and one person was all it took to change it completely: Andrew. They fell in love fast and got married faster. And, because of that, hardships hit them harder until they eventually caved in. Years later, they meet again, only this time, would they let the past dictate the path they may take in the future?

I love how honest this book is. It showed both the highs and lows of marriage, how it certainly is built in communication, trust and genuine care for the other. Both characters grew up as individuals and later on, learned to be part of a team of two. The growth of these two characters lead them to the lives they wanted, and to a future that definitely looks brighter.




Sasha Clinton discovered romance novels at the age of thirteen and has been addicted to the genre ever since. After getting a degree in Chemical Engineering and realizing that there was no way she could ever be an engineer, she decided to follow her passion and write romance novels. Sasha has lived in New Delhi, Melbourne, Manchester and Boston and continues to move frequently. But wherever she is, she’s hard at work on her next book.


Amazon- http://www.amazon.com/Youre-Still-One-Singles-Book-ebook/dp/B01AVVRT4M
Goodreads- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28664555-you-re-still-the-one
Website-http://www.sashaclinton.com
Twitter-@SashaClinton

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Book Review: Sparks of Attraction by Jessica E. Larsen

Sparks of Attraction by Jessica L. Larsen
Contemporary, Romance
copy from Enchanted Book Promotions

purchase now from Amazon


Serene’s big mouth and playgirl reputation get her into trouble at her ten-year high school reunion. The boy who broke her heart when she was a teenager teases her with a kiss and she is left torn over their rocky past and a future she isn’t certain they can have together. 

 Examining her past, she can see that heartbreaker Zane was the one person who let her true personality shine through after she dumped her good girl image and put on a facade to save her twin sister from being bullied. 

 Secrets and lies are uncovered as Serene makes her decision. Her head is telling her to run, but she can no longer ignore her heart.

Serene and Zane had a love-hate-but mostly love-relationship during their high school years and time did nothing to diminish the attraction between them. With various miscommunication along their lifetime, will they finally have the chance to be together, or will the circumstances finally tear them apart? 

 In the first parts of the book, I just couldn't connect with Zane and Serene. It may be because of the normal high school life that I lead back then but it can also be of the certain events that seem unlikely to happen in a real-life situation. The story definitely develops and shines in the middle part. One gets to see Serene shed the image she has built in her high school and college years and get to see her loyalty to those she loves. We definitely get to see Zane grow up into a man that doesn't bow down from his responsibilities, giving his love freely to those who matter to him. Seeing their lives tangle after all these years definitely rounds up this story pretty well. 

 Sparks of Attraction may have started at a feeble way, but passing it through and immersing oneself from the middle of their story til the end, the characters would definitely grow on you as they share their story of love, heartbreaks and finding their way back to each other. 



Jessica E. Larsen is an author of contemporary romance, YA, NA and Paranormal stories. She writes in both English and Taglish/Filipino language. 

Jessica’s not hundred percent sure what her characters are thinking, but most of the heroine in her stories love to bite her head off and fall for the guy they dislike, then blame her for their misery. 

When she's not writing, you'll find her reading or creating digital art. 

Jessica doesn’t like doing housework, but love hearing from her readers. She might be late at times, but she always takes the time to reply to comments and messages.
https://www.facebook.com/authorJessic....
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