Month: June 2022

Title: Places We’ve Never Been
Author: Kasie West
Publication Date: May 31, 2022
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 336

About the book:
A sweet and swoony contemporary Young Adult novel about a cross-country family road trip that puts one girl and her childhood best friend on an unexpected road to romance!

Norah hasn’t seen her childhood best friend, Skyler, in years. When he first moved away, they’d talk all the time, but lately their relationship has been reduced to liking each other’s Instagram posts. That’s why Norah can’t wait for the joint RV road trip their families have planned for the summer.

But when Skyler finally arrives, he seems…like he’d rather be anywhere else. Hurt and confused, Norah reacts in kind. Suddenly, her oldest friendship is on the rocks.

An unexpected summer spent driving across the country leads both Norah and Skyler down new roads and to new discoveries. Before long, they are, once again, seeing each other in a different light. Can their friendship-turned-rivalry turn into something more?

Before I begin my review I quickly have to thank TBR and Beyond Tours for allowing me to be a part of this book tour and for graciously providing me with an eGalley of the book to read for my review stop today.

Have you ever picked up a book by an author you have never read and wondered why you never read this author before? Well, that’s me. I have been blogging for almost 14 years now and I have never read anything by Kassie before today. Why have I not read any of Kassie’s previous books? Going back and reading all the synopsis of her books they are definitely up my alley. I know moving forward I have to start picking them up to read.

I was quite surprised at how fast I read the eArc. I never check my status when reading ebooks so I was quite surprised when I finished it a few hours after starting it. It definitely made me long for a road trip, one that I haven’t taken since 2019.

Growing up Norah and Skyler were best friends. Then eighth grade happened and Sklyer moved from California to Ohio. They tried to remain in contact but as time passed they lost contact unless you count stalking each other’s Instagram accounts. It’s now four years later when both their moms (who were college friends) have decided to do a three-week road trip with the kids (Norah, Ezra, Austin, Skyler, and Paisley) in RVs. You know with this many people and two RVs things are bound to happen and secrets revealed.

At first, Norah is excited to see Sklyer and to reconnect. She has envisioned this trip but sadly it doesn’t go off as played. Skyler has made it pretty clear that there are other places he would rather be than on this road trip. Norah knows this isn’t going to be the trip she thought it would be but at least she has Paisley who is more than willing to hang out with her. Will this be an enemies-to-lovers story?

The book is told from Norah’s point of view so you don’t fully get to understand Skyler if that makes sense. I would have loved to have had it done from a dual perspective. Although it was fun to read his reactions. I enjoyed watching this relationship grow again. Yes, it was awkward at times but I think that just added to the storyline.

I don’t want to give too much away because I want you to pick it up and read it.

As I was reading I couldn’t help but hope that this might be a second chance at love (which I have been reading a lot of lately). Will this road trip end up being everything Norah had hoped for? Or will all the secrets ruin it even more?

I think that this is the perfect book to read this summer especially if you have a road trip planned. I love books that have road trips in them especially if they talk about the stops they make. I love looking them up on a map. Hopefully one day I will make it south of the border again.

Book Links:

GoodReads

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Chapters Indigo

Indie Bound

About the author:

Kasie West is the author of many YA novels, includingThe Fill-in Boyfriend, P.S. I Like You, Lucky in Love, and Listen to Your Heart. Her books have been named ALA-YALSA Quick Picks, JLG selections, and ALA-YALSA Best Books for Young Adults. When she’s not writing, she’s binge-watching television, devouring books, or burying her toes in the sand of the central coast. Kasie lives in Fresno, California, with her family.

 

 

 

Author Links:
Website: http://www.kasiewest.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kasiewest
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/kasiewest/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5027236.Kasie_West
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057934607048

Tour Schedule: https://tbrandbeyondtours.com/2022/04/22/tour-schedule-places-weve-never-been-by-kasie-west/

Serenade
Morgan Shamy
(The Dark Nocturne, #1)
Publication date: May 31st 2022
Genres: Mystery, Paranormal, Young Adult
St. Paul’s Academy of the Arts isn’t your usual boarding school…

When November Huntington is sent away to live with her long-lost family, she’s forced to attend a music school for the gifted—which wouldn’t be a problem if November were musical. She’s an athlete through and through and hates being different.

The kids at the school don’t welcome her, they’re wary of her presence, especially Vincent, a brooding teenage boy involved with dark spirits, who can make time stop when he plays his piano. In fact, all her classmates are all obsessed with playing their instruments. And odd things happen when they do.

But something is off about the school. Deaths have occurred through the years, students showing up dead the same way November’s parents were killed—with their throats ripped out.

A killer is on the loose… November must figure out a way to stop whoever it is, balance her feelings for Vincent, and solve her parents’ past before she, too, is numbered among the dead.

The first in a Paranormal Fantasy Saga by debut author Morgan Shamy.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

She started forward once more, silently cursing, when a soft melody drifted from the woods. The sound jarred her to a stop, and her heart suddenly spiked. She wasn’t alone. Someone was out here. The music drew closer, heightening. It was slow and haunting, tinkling, like a music box. It didn’t sound like music from a radio or phone. It moved through the trees, wrapping around the bushes, spreading out toward her. She could feel it all around her, soaking into her.

“Hello?” she asked, backing up a step. She squinted into the trees. “Hello?”

No one answered.

The music continued, and she wrapped her arms around herself, backing up further.

“Hello?”

Deep into the forest, a bright light appeared, small at first until it burst outward. The light seared her eyes, large and white, and she ripped her gaze away. A voice in the back of her mind screamed at her to run. The music continued to play on the air, soaring toward her. It was getting closer, becoming thicker, heavier.

This couldn’t be happening. She was having hallucinations. She needed to get out of here. She needed to find stability. Ground herself.

She pushed herself faster, her feet pounding on the forest floor. But the music slithered after her, brushing along her back, carrying with her as she ran.

“Stop!” she yelled. “Stop!” She continued to race until she dropped to her knees. She covered her hands over her ears, squeezing her eyes shut. “Stop!”

In a blink, the music halted, and the light dissipated, but the music still echoed inside her head, hanging in the air. She stretched her eyes wide, her gaze darting side to side. She stayed frozen, her knees on the dusty ground. Her heartbeat loud as the breeze picked up and tickled the hair off her face. Birds chirped, and the forest came alive again. She slowly lowered her hands.

Everything was normal. Everything was fine. She had been hallucinating.

She huffed out a frustrated breath and headed back down the trail, shaking out her arms. She was stupid to think someone had been after her or to think she’d heard music or seen such a bright light, but the sweet melodic sound wouldn’t leave her alone. The melody lingered inside her head, weaving through her memory. Maybe someone had been there, and maybe she had been its target.

Author Bio:

Morgan Shamy is an ex-ballerina turned YA writer. She has been immersed in the arts since the young age of 4, where she performed various roles alongside a professional ballet company for over seven years, and has danced on prestigious stages like soloing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She has taught hundreds of girls in her fifteen years of teaching, where some of her students have received full-ride scholarships to schools like School of American Ballet, the Harid Conservatory, Kirov Academy of Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, to name a few.

Morgan discovered writing when her three-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer. It was through that experience that instilled the need to share art and magic with children through words on the page.

Morgan is also an accomplished concert pianist. She was the first girl in Utah to receive 75 pt. Gold Cup in the Utah Federation of Music in piano solo/concerto competition. Morgan currently lives with her X-Games gold-medalist husband and four children in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub

 

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