Striking, a Report Card... Book Review.

Report Card Book Review Title Striking (Amazon Link) Book list price N/A Author Rachel Higginson and Lila Felix eBook Price $3.99 Publisher Self-Published Stand alone or Series Series Genre NA Romance # in Series 1 of 4 Story- Overall Grade A Cami has lived a life of privilege. She’s materialistic, self-involved, and immature, and when her self-destructive actions spiral down to an all-new low, her socialite parents do the only thing they can think of by sending her off to her aunts sheep farm in Tennessee where she has to earn her keep by working. As in physical labor... as in absolute torture in Cami’s mind. She meets Stockton, the desperately gorgeous, and annoying, town blacksmith. Can they be brave enough to follow their dreams and will doing that pull them further apart? Plot A Romantic Subplot A I love these two together. Stockton and Cami have the ‘opposite’s attract’ thing down. I’m in love with their dynamic! Originality B Nothing too new, but I love the blacksmithing angle… a lot. Obstacle/Crisis B+ There’s not really anything external to overcome in this story, all the conflict is the angsty-internal kind. ‘Adult Content’ A Appropriate for older YA readers, and any steamy scenes (no actual sex) were very well written, and not cliché at all. Ending A Dum-dumdumduuuummmmm. Well done, and not contrived. Yay. Characters A Great cast of original characters. They were complete and well rounded, with strengths and weaknesses that were true to their characters. No cookie cutouts in this book! Protagonist A Cami is great. By that, I mean she seems real; she’s certainly not lovable at the beginning of the book. But we watch her undergo real growth, and I like that. Other Protagonist A Sexy, muscular, artistic, responsible? Seriously, what’s not to love? Supporting characters. A- They were great, but you only get a chance to fall in love with a couple of them; this story is very focused on Cami and Stockton Overall Development A The main character could have been based off of real people, that’s how well developed they were. Realistic problems. Character relationships A- Finally a love story with the characters taking the time to know each other before pulling out the ‘L’ word. Minor points off for the ‘drawn to each other at first sight’, but I take points off of all romance books for that… personal preference! Good role model A Cami is a great role model. Not because she always does the right thing, but because she learns from her mistakes. By the end of the book, she is willing to sacrifice a love (twoo wove) because she deserves respect and trust. Writing A- This would be an A but for some grammatical errors. The story flowed really well, and was easy to follow without being elementary. We got a perfect feeling for the characters, and a pretty decent one of their surroundings. Prose A Author’s Voice A These two women alternated chapters, each taking a main characters POV for the entire story. It was a very smart move, and we got a separate feeling from each protagonist, and therefore author. Editing A- In the edition I read, there were several small errors in grammar and punctuation. That being said, I read an ARC (in exchange for an honest review), so they may have been corrected by release date. Either way, it didn’t detract from the story for me. Punctuation, spelling and grammar B Additional Notes- A great romance read. This is in the New Adult genre, which is one that I’m not overly familiar with, but it seems to fit the bill. The story is good, the character development in Cami is great, and I really love how the main characters aren’t perfect and how they get in their own way more than anything else; it’s very realistic. ·       Some steamy make-out scenes, I’d still give this book an A-OK for teens to read even though it’s directed at 18-20somethings. ·       There will be more books in this series, each dedicated to one of Stocktons siblings. That means 3 more books.

Striking Blog Tour, All Aboard!

Have you seen the synopsis, and cover, of Striking yet (check it out HERE, if not!)? The fabulous book, co-written by Rachel Higginson and Lila Felix is set to release on September first. To get y'all good and ready for it (yes, I live in The South), we're doing a blog tour. Actually, there will be two blog tours going on for the next 3 weeks.

Here are all the stops, updated as they come in.

8-22 An Interview with Rachel Higginson, by me of course. It's awesome... we talk about writing, motherhood, and the ever important coffee.

8-24 Author Interview with Lila Felix and Rachel Higginson, by Christy at Christy's Written Word Love. They discuss the sexiness of blacksmithing, and how they initially partnered up to write Striking! Lots of great things I didn't think to ask, haha.

8-26 Reckless Rebels Blog Tour-Charming Interview with Lila Felix and Rachel Higginson, co-authors of Striking (Forged in Fire #1), by Haley and Caylie at H&C Reads. These lovely ladies talk about big life moments, their favorite scenes to write in Striking, and their most emotional book scenes for them to write.

8-28 Character Interview w/ the stars of Striking by Rachel Higginson and Lila Felix, by Christina on Christina's Book Reviews. A great interview with Cami and Stockton, the lead characters in this great book.

More to come, as they come!

• To find out more about Rachel Higginson, check out her website http://www.rachelhigginson.com/
• buy her books at Amazon.com
• To find out more about Lila Felix, check out her website at http://authorlilafelix.blogspot.com/
• buy her books at Amazon.com