Thursday, January 16, 2014

Virtual Book Tour: Lunangelique Trilogy by Kristin R. Campbell



Welcome to my stop on the Lunangelique Trilogy Virtual Book Tour. Below you will find my reviews on each individual book as well as the trilogy as a whole. There are a couple of excerpts and a giveaway   at the bottom of the post. Enjoy!



YA Paranormal Romance
Date Published: 2012

Lunangelique: 


For Alexis and Alex life has been great. They have loving parents, great friends and live a life every teenager dreams. However, they are adopted and Alexis struggles with wanting to know who their real parents are and not wanting to hurt her adopted parents. Then, a stunning guy moves across the street from them. One who has a secret past and seems to know things about Alexis. One who does mysterious things and leads her to other mysterious persons. One who pushes her to discover her extraordinary birth family and the truth between mythology and religion.


My Review of Lunangelique:

★★★★★


This was a great start to a wonderful trilogy! I really enjoyed the closeness the twins and their friends all share. Their adoptive parents are the kind everyone wished they had growing up. They trust their children and allow them more freedom than most parents would. 

The story starts out with a couple of new guys moving in to town, one right across the street from the twins. While she really liked the first one, who she met at the mall with friends, it was the new neighbor that she feels instantly drawn to. You can really feel the heat between them as they immediately start to get lost in one another.

All seems to be going well until a few secrets start cropping up. Things that don't seem to make sense start happening. Then once the truth is know, the book really gets interesting. Suddenly they find out that myths of gods and demigods are real and there are such things as angels. The twins learn that they are more than just human. There is a huge role for them to play in the near future that will effect the fate of the world.

I love how the author wove mythology into this story. It is a new and fresh way to read about it. I found myself really interested and excited about the story. As soon as I finished the first book, I opened up the second one. I couldn't wait to see what happened next!


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Sleeping Gods:


Alexis must pick up the broken pieces of her heart and pull herself together because she has a mission: To awaken the sleeping gods. When she is at the point of giving up, wearing her pretend smiles and feels like there is nothing left of herself, her friend becomes her savior. Patryck helps put Alexis back together again and in return Alexis sees him as something more than a friend…

Together with her brother, Alex, her father, Edmund, and a team of angels they make their way to Mount Latmos, to awaken the gods. But obstacles are in their way, one of them being Cole, the traitor, the one who shattered Alexis’ heart.
New friends and family she never thought she would meet will come to aid Alexis.

…And a love will blossom that will redefine the saying, “Love you forever.”


My Review of Sleeping Gods:

★★★★★


The second book in the wonderful Lunangelique trilogy was a little different from the first. It was written in two POVs; Lexi's and Cole's. I found this slightly offputting at first but, after a few chapters, I really enjoyed it. I liked seeing things through Cole's eyes and being able to understand his motivations. He is my favorite character, other than Lexi, and it was great to get to know him better through his perspective.

The book is a little darker than the first one, as it heads towards a battle between the twins and those that stand in their way. I was really emotionally engaged in the story already, but this book really drew me in even further. The characters and events are so well written that I almost forgot I was reading a book instead of watching it unfold before my eyes. 

Again, as with the first book, as soon as I finished the book I had to open the next one. I was determined to find out what happened next. I am so glad I had all three already and didn't have to wait for the next one!


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 Awakened Gods:


Lexi has fulfilled her destiny and now the gods have awakened, but is that a good thing?

Now, Lexi lives in a world that is on a global collapse. The gods are angry that they have been forsaken and are seeking revenge on humanity. The oceans are in turmoil, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcano eruptions and famine are causing global chaos, and the sun is being held hostage in an astrological phenomenal, never-ending solar eclipse by the avenging Helios. 

Then, there is the problem of Zeus’ threat. Lexi must choose between giving herself to him or watching the “abominable” angels die by his hand. Not to mention, Hera, Zeus’ wife, is proposing her own jealous-driven proposition to Lexi: stay away from her husband or the angels and everyone dear to her will die. Lexi sees no way out of either predicaments and it puts a strain on her relationship with Cole. Will she lose him either way?

My Review for Awakened Gods:
★★★★★


This book was pretty great! I liked the addition of yet another POV, that of a character that I had been trying to figure out. Patryck had been a big question mark in my mind the whole of the second book. I really wanted to understand what was driving him. The addition of his POV was a great idea by the author. 

This book was darker still and I felt tense through it, reading faster and faster, trying to guess what the end would be like. The addition of Zeus and Hera in the story, popping into Lexi's life at random moments, really kept me on tenterhooks. I never knew what might happen next. I really enjoyed that. 

This book was a great conclusion to the Lunangelique trilogy. I think that I will put this trilogy in my rotation of series that I reread every year or so. I enjoy a reintroducing myself to great books after I haven't read them for awhile. Many times I pick up on things I didn't notice the first time or two I have read something. It's like a little surprise each time I read them. 


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My Review for the whole trilogy:
★★★★★

So all together I give this trilogy a five star rating. It kept me entertained, I felt really drawn  to the characters and the story line, and it is well thought out without any huge mistakes that I have run across in some series that I have read. I hate when a character suddenly has different eye color or accents, or some other change from one book to another. I am really glad I didn't run across that in this trilogy!

I recommend that you read this series in order. You might be able to read one without the others and not feel too lost or confused, but you would constantly be wondering what happened in the other books. You don't want to do that to yourself, do you? The three books flow effortlessly from one into the next, without the huge leaps of time or changes in characters lives that occurs between books that you find in some series. 

I recommend this trilogy to anyone that enjoys mythology, as it plays a huge role in the story. There is also a little romance, some action and fighting, and a lot of great writing. I am going to introduce my kids to this trilogy. I know my eighteen year old son will love it as much as I did. My ten year old daughter will probably not read it until she's a little older. There isn't anything in the book that would be too embarrassing for us to discuss or anything, as she is pretty mature for her age. I just think that at ten, she won't find it as interesting as she would at say fifteen or so. 


Kristin R. Campbell

Kristin R. Campbell currently lives in Utah with her husband and two children. She is prior military and has pursued Religion, History and Legal Studies before finally settling with a Bachelor Degree in Criminal Justice. She is a self-proclaimed workaholic, who also loves hiking, traveling, spoiling her babies and, of course, reading and writing.




Excerpts:

Excerpt from Lunangelique (First book in series)

He laughs at me like I have said the funniest joke in the world. I keep my face neutral, not wanting to show any emotions while he finally collects himself. “You are amusing. Aren’t you afraid? Why do you not fear me? Do you know what I have done to Kakabel? What I intend to do to you?”
I shrug my shoulders, wanting to appear as calm as possible. “I won’t be scared if I tell myself there is nothing to fear. You cannot hurt me because I will tell myself not to feel pain. I don’t know what you did to my art professor so I won’t know what you will do to me.” I play him with words because I know he won’t understand.
Where are your wings?” he demands, angry now because I’m not giving anything away.
What this?” I nod my chin to the necklace around my neck. He comes forward and yanks it off my neck. “Hey, I like that,” I whine like a spoiled child.
Malachi,” he calls towards the other room. In a few seconds, Malachi is by his side. He takes Cole’s wings that Cerviel hands him and studies it before laughing. “I thought you would like that.” Malachi throws it on the floor and stomps on it. “Go back to Samson,” Cerviel orders him. Malachi is gone in the blink of an eye, leaving me alone with Cerviel again.
That’s my necklace.” I pout. “There’s no reason to treat it that way.”
It will hurt your lover,” he informs me with a malicious smile. “If you will not cooperate, then we will torture him.”
How?” I challenge him.
His wings,” he indicates to the necklace lying on the floor, “contains a link to him. They’re still connected even though they’re not attached. If you hurt one, then you hurt the other.”
You’re insane.” I act like his notions are ridiculous.
Want to test it out?” he picks it up and places his hands on either end like he’s about to twist it or break it in two.
No!” I scream, terrified that what he says is true.
Games up. I lost this match. Sugar snaps!
What are you?” he asks again patiently. He takes a chair and places it in front of me. Then, he sits down, folding his legs and hands as they rest on his leg. He’s acting like this is a normal conversation over tea with a friend.
Can I have some water, please?” I’m trying to buy some time to get away.
After you answer my questions,” he answers.
Are you going to let me go after I do?”
It depends on if I like your answers.” He smiles sweetly at me. “What are you?”
A girl who is starting to get pissed off that you keep asking me that, like I’m a freaking alien or something!” I scream it at him. I close my eyes and take a deep breath to calm down when I feel a slap across my face. My eyes dart open and I glare at him angrily. I taste blood on the side of my mouth. He stares at the wound and I see a light bulb go off in his eyes. He grins wickedly at me and then produces a switch blade from his pocket.
Let’s see how much of a pissed off girl you really can be,” he mocks me and then plunges the knife into my hand, impaling it into the arm of the chair I was gripping. My eyes bulge open in shock and horror and I want to scream, but I tell my nerves not to feel anything and my hand goes dead of feeling. I’m so glad right now that I’m a freak.
He watches my expression change with amusement and then looks lethal again when I don’t scream out. I drum the fingers of my other hand on the arm of the chair. Acting like I’m bored with this act.
Where are your wings?” Cerviel demands of me.
I don’t have any wings you freakin’ lunatic. I’m just a girl.” I start laughing because my hand not responding to being impaled is a pretty sure sign that I am not human. I feel psychotic in the moment. I think shock is setting in and I cannot control it. I just continue to laugh at him.
His face breaks out in uncontrolled angry grimace and then he pulls the knife out of my hand and plunges it into my chest. I feel it tear through the arteries of my heart. I’m so shocked he did it that I stop breathing, which ends my laughter.
Go and find her brother,” I hear him bark at someone before I black out again.


Excerpt from Sleeping Gods (Second book in Lunangelique Series)

I’m going to be normal for once. Going to have a frickin’ latte in frickin’ Italy because that’s what normal people do here.” Normal. I’ve convinced myself that I am just a girl, on vacation, before college. There is me, my brother and my adopted parents. I need to call them by the way.
I walk up to the counter and order a drink. “Ciao. Vorreiun caffèlatte, per favore.”
Quattro euros,” the cashier demands. I hand him the money and go to sit down by the window and watch the people walk by. When my drink is called I recieve it and then go back to people watching. I free my mind, only concentrating on the world passing by.
This feels good. This feels normal. I’m a girl, in Italy, enjoying a summer vacation. As was planned. A whole year has almost gone by since the craziness that is my life became my life. And to think, last summer I spent all my time trying to find out information on who my parents are and now this summer I know who they are and I’m still trying to find one of them.
Stop thinking about it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received copies of the ebooks free in exchange for my honest reviews. All opinions are my own. I was not required to leave a positive review.

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