One genre of books that I have jumped right into this year is young adult. Other genres I really enjoy are romance and paranormal. So when I was given the chance to review a young adult paranormal romance, I knew I had to give it a go. I was sent the book Amber Eyes by Jolyn Palliata and started it right away.
Here is the summary:
Eyes are the window to the soul, in a time when souls are ancient.
After an accident, one she shouldn’t have walked away from, Lexi’s life finally begins. She meets Dez, a new student with the most beautiful eyes she’s ever seen. And since gazing into them, Lexi has had vivid waking dreams that pull her back through time, and into the warm embrace of a mysterious stranger—a stranger who becomes all too familiar. When offering an explanation for her detailed visions, Dez changes her world forever with two simple words: Soul mates.
For the first time in her life, Lexi feels safe and complete. But lingering in the shadows is the embodiment of evil, coveting the light within her. He’s a threat to Lexi’s very existence, and to a love that has transcended time.
I was immediately drawn to the character of Lexi in this book. She seems to be a typical teenager who just wants to enjoy her teen years with some good friends and good music. As time goes on, you meet Dez and find out what role he plays in her life (or lives as the case may be) and you are really hoping for more for them. Sadly, the evil threat is one that keeps coming through. I say sadly because I enjoy Dez and Lexi so much that I don’t want anything to come between them. But, I will admit that the evil presence is what keeps you on your toes with this book… and keeps you hungry for more.
I had hoped that some of the questions about the semantics of the relationship would have been answered earlier. For instance, it wasn’t until the last chapter that you realized how Dez was able to stay in his house but I was curious about that from the time I first found out “who” he was. I think this is something that wouldn’t bother others as I tend to think too deep into things at times. I actually asked Jolyn about this and she said she had thought about that herself but didn’t want to cause the storyline to slow to answer those questions. I totally see where she is coming from with that too. So, in the end, I am glad she waited to give me those answers I needed. I wanted to know what was going to happen so badly during this read that any unnecessary lags would have been bad! In the end, I wanted to yell; “noooo, I was just feeling okay with everything”. I will for sure be reading book 2 in the Entwined Souls series and can’t wait for it to come out. I want to know what the future holds for Lexi and Dez as well as Brittany and Jayson.
I would certainly recommend this book to anyone wanting a good paranormal romance geared towards young adults. There was drama, suspense, and humor in this book for a great read. It was a fast and fun read and I am so happy to have been given the chance to read it. Since I have read this book, I have read more from Jolyn Palliata (as you know if you follow my blog!) and have become friends with her as well. In fact, she is a great friend thanks to my reading this book! While her friendship is a blessing to me, it is NOT the reason I recommend this book and I do recommend it! I have already recommended it (as well as her others) to my book club and can’t wait to hear what you think of it too. Be sure to see what others have to say about Amber Eyes on this blog tour. Also, please be sure to stop by tomorrow for a guest post from Jolyn Palliata!
Author Bio:
Jolyn’s writing career began in 2009 when she looked across the sea of cubicles at work, and thought, “I was meant for something more than this.” That thought was immediately followed by, “I wonder if I can write a novel.” Four novels and one novella later, that question has been answered. She started with Amber Eyes (Entwined Souls Trilogy – Book One), a young adult paranormal romance. They always say, with the first book, you write about what you know. And she certainly did! Drawing off her teenage years in Oshkosh, WI, Jolyn incorporated her high school and favorite haunts. She even pulled out her favorite music from back then to help recapture the teenager within.
Jolyn has absolutely no qualifications whatsoever to be a writer, other than a knack and a passion. The knack she worked hard for through betas, critique partners, writer sites, editors, etc, but the passion she’s had since she was in middle school.
Being married, and mother to one very precocious six-year-old, doesn’t leave her with a whole heckofalot of time to write – not to mention working full-time – but that is where lack of sleep comes in very handy. Jolyn has a gift of functioning on minimal sleep when totally absorbed by a writing project…although she crashes like dead weight when it’s fully completed/edited (usually 2-3 months later).
Her current listing of published books includes:
- Amber Eyes (Entwined Souls Trilogy – Book One) – young adult paranormal romance
- Connected (Twists of Fate #1) – paranormal romance
- A Modern Love Story – contemporary / romantic suspense
Random information and quirks about Jolyn (because everyone has them):
- She likes to listen to loud music. Period. But especially when she has a headache (helps to drown it out).
- When she’s overtired, she gets slaphappy. (Heaven help those around her.)
- She titles a book before she writes it, because she’s anal enough to where that would bother her.
- She can’t walk into a Barnes and Noble without buying a book. Even if she has a pile of unread books at home (which she does), it just doesn’t feel right to leave empty-handed.
Links to Jolyn’s world:
Disclosure: I was gifted this book for the purpose of review. Many thanks to Chick Lit Plus for including me in this blog tour! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Samantha says
Thanks for a great review, so glad you have connected with Jolyn! 🙂
Jolyn Palliata says
Thank you so much for the review, Stefany!! And for participating in the tour. Can you imagine if you hadn’t signed up?? We never would have met! *gasp*
You are a wonderful person, and I’m blessed to count you as a friend. Mwau!
Looking forward to the guest spot tomorrow. It’s going to be lots of fun!!