ARC Review: Entwined by Cherie Colyer

Entwined (Embrace #3)
By Cherie Colyer
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher

To Sum It Up: Having made a contract with a demon to save her brother’s life, Madison now finds herself at Caden’s beck and call whenever he requires a witch’s assistance. This arrangement puts a strain on Madison’s relationship with her boyfriend, Isaac, and Caden only seems to enjoy fueling the tension. But the more time Madison spends with the demon, the more she questions whether Caden is completely evil, even as she helps him search for a dangerous magical object.

Review: Cherie Colyer’s Embrace series continues to be an excellent paranormal read. Its strength is in finely balancing the supernatural elements with the non-paranormal; protagonist Madison is a witch, but she’s also a high school student trying to juggle family, friends, and school. Despite Madison possessing magical powers and being in a coven with her boyfriend and two closest friends, she remains well grounded.

The previous book in the series, Hold Tight, brought fae into the mix, and Entwined puts the focus on demons. A demon named Caden, specifically, who was first introduced in Hold Tight. While the consequences of Madison’s bargain with Caden in Hold Tight form the heart of Entwined, her troubles with the fae in the second book are referenced here, which adds a nice touch of continuity. Another kind of paranormal creature also makes an appearance in Entwined, the unintended result of a spell cast by Madison’s best friend, Kaylee. The actual reveal is best left to the book because the mystery surrounding what Madison and Kaylee are dealing with is quite absorbing. It’s also humorous at times, as well as a bit poignant.

Caden the demon really steals the show in Entwined. I love characters who walk the line between good and evil, and Caden is one morally gray demon. His help always comes at a price, but he just doesn’t come across as soulless and heartless. Sure, he reads Madison’s mind, calls on her whenever it suits his schedule, and is always ready with a biting comeback, but I’m unable to dislike him just for that. Rather the opposite, actually—I loved his snark and was dying to know the details of his backstory because I found him very intriguing. There’s also no denying the chemistry between him and Madison, which causes some waves between her and Isaac. The potential love triangle was the one aspect of the novel that I wasn’t too keen on, just because I’m not a fan of love geometry in general.

Overall, I thought that Entwined was another solid entry in the series. Caden is largely responsible for that, and I vote that he gets his own novel in the future because it definitely sounds like he has many more stories to tell.

All in All: I’ve really enjoyed Cherie Colyer’s take on the paranormal throughout this series, and Entwined (and Caden) did not disappoint here.

Hold Tight Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway

I'm excited to be a part of the blog tour for Cherie Colyer's Hold Tight, organized by AToMR Tours! I have a review of Hold Tight for you today, and you can enter the giveaway below for your chance to win a print copy of Hold Tight and the previous book, Embrace, (open to U.S. and Canada) or an eBook copy of Embrace (open internationally). Also be sure to follow the rest of the tour by checking out the tour schedule.

Hold Tight (Embrace #2)
By Cherie Colyer
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Publication Date: August 20, 2013
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

* A copy was provided for review for the blog tour.

Synopsis: What’s one little spell?

When you’re new to magic, one spell can be the difference between getting what you want . . . and ruining the lives of everyone you love.

Sixteen-year-old Madison has just embraced her magical powers. The trick now is learning how to control them. She and her boyfriend—and fellow witch—can’t even enjoy a simple kiss without getting shocked when their powers collide. Instead of mastering her new skills, though, Madison is stuck watching her kid brother and doing chores.

But being a witch does have its benefits. With a simple spell, Madison instantly conjures the help she needs around the house. Or so she thinks. Her idea of “help” invites trouble of its own as a pair of dangerous yet enticing beings enter her life. When a classmate disappears soon afterwards, Madison discovers she's the next victim of a threat she's powerless to resist . . . and there’s nothing it won’t kill to make her surrender.

Caught in the crossfire between two dashing but deadly creatures, Madison must figure out which one to trust and how to rid her world of the other—before one of them destroys her and everyone she cares about.

Review: I really enjoyed reading Cherie Colyer’s Embrace last year, and I was thrilled when I heard that there was going to be a sequel. Embrace was such a fresh take on witches and magic, and I loved how the book slowly revealed what sort of paranormal activity was going on. The mystery element was so much fun, and I looked forward to seeing what kinds of surprises awaited me in Hold Tight.

Madison, Isaac, Kaylee, and Josh are all back, and I really love the friendship between the four of them. Just as Embrace did, Hold Tight presents a balanced portrait of these characters; sure, the supernatural is very real for them, but we get to see them as regular teenagers, too. It’s the latter side of her life that ends up causing trouble for Madison. When juggling school, helping out at home, and dating Isaac start becoming overwhelming, she secretly borrows Isaac’s fae book and summons a faery to help her around the house. At first the arrangement with Brea, the faery who appears, seems fine, but all too soon Madison learns that one has to exercise extreme caution when dealing with these creatures.

The faeries depicted here are more the type who’ll trick you into abandoning the human world for theirs than the kind who grant wishes with no expectation of something in return. One faery in particular has an ax to grind with Isaac and is determined to exact revenge. The fae are a welcome addition to the series as adversaries, and pretty formidable ones at that, yet they don’t steal the book away from the witches. There’s still plenty of spell casting and other witchcraft, and it’s a thrill watching it go up against fae magic.

I’d hoped that there would be a twist in Hold Tight à la finding out that Isaac was a witch in Embrace, and Hold Tight didn’t disappoint in delivering one. A certain character totally caught me off guard; it was apparent that this individual was hiding something very important, but I never would have guessed what it was. I did try to puzzle it out, but I wasn’t all that upset over my lack of sleuthing skills because I really liked being surprised.

The tone of Hold Tight grows quite serious in places, and Madison faces some of her biggest challenges to date. Her trials, and she does undergo a lot here, only strengthen her, though. That’s precisely the sort of character development I like to see with a series, and this series moves forward very nicely.

All in All: Hold Tight is a strong follow-up to Embrace that deftly adds some troublesome faeries to its existing paranormal element. I’d love to see the series continue, especially with this book’s introduction of an intriguing new character who wasn’t at all what I’d thought.

About Cherie Colyer

Cherie Colyer is the author of YA paranormal thriller/romance, EMBRACE (available now), and HOLD TIGHT (August 2013), from Omnific Publishing. Check out her website and blog for news on her books and bonus material. Follow Cherie on Twitter and/or Facebook for updates on writing, book and special offers.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

** Giveaway **

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Embrace Birthday Bash & Giveaway

It’s Embrace’s Book Birthday and to celebrate the success of her debut novel Cherie Colyer is giving away a copy of her book plus swag. Before we get to that, here is a brief excerpt and some information about Embrace.

A stillness filled the air, a calm serenity that wrapped around me like the wings of an angel. A moment later, Isaac’s strong arms circled me, pinning my back to his chest. His breath smelled of spearmint. It brushed the side of my neck and sent an excited shiver through my entire body.

Embrace
By Cherie Colyer
Publisher: Omnific Publishing

How far would you go to save the people you love?

Synopsis:

Madison is familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change took her long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of her friends to suddenly hate her. It’s responsible for the death of a local along with a host of other mysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks her luck is about to improve.

Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret, but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him.

Her world really spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can’t find the answers, Madison seeks her own.

Nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.

To add Embrace to your Goodreads’ lists click here and to view the book trailer click here. If you’d like to curl up with Embrace today you can download the eBook on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Find Cherie: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

** Giveaway **

To win a copy of Embrace or swag, all you have to do is fill out the form:

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Review: Embrace by Cherie Colyer

Embrace (Embrace #1)
By Cherie Colyer
Publisher: Omnific Publishing

* A copy was provided by the author for review.

To Sum It Up: Madison is a normal teenager leading a fairly ordinary life until a new guy arrives in town. There’s something mysterious about Isaac, and Madison senses it, but that doesn’t stop her from wanting to get to know him better. But as Madison witnesses stranger and stranger events happening around her and her best friend suddenly believes that she’s being attacked by creatures no one else can see, Madison must turn to some unlikely places for answers. The truth isn’t at all what she expected, especially since it directly impacts her life, which will never be the same again.

Review: Embrace has a rather cryptic synopsis, and I’m going to have to be equally cryptic with this review lest I ruin the book for others. This was a highly enjoyable thriller of a read in huge part because I spent a good deal of the book trying to unravel all of its mysteries. I loved the plotting and how perfectly the suspense was built up; they were both just top-notch. Something very strange is happening in Madison’s town and its newest arrival, Isaac, isn’t all that he appears to be, and trying to figure out exactly what is going on is a lot of fun.

Madison has a very engaging narrative voice and is a refreshingly realistic teen with normal adolescent concerns: her grades in school, the status of her relationship with her boyfriend who moved to another state, and her current attraction to Isaac. She’s also very devoted to her family and friends. When her best friend, Kaylee, starts hallucinating in class and has to be taken to the hospital, Madison frantically searches for a way to help her. That’s not to say that Madison is without flaws, though; there’s a good balance between her being a strong protagonist and not seeming too perfect.

The paranormal aspect of the book was very well done. It gradually makes itself known, leading up to a nice surprise when all is revealed. The foreshadowing in the book was stellar, with events that I was fairly certain were mundane at the time proving to be highly significant later on in the novel. And every time I thought I had figured out the who and the why behind the dark deeds that were going down, the plot would twist again and put me back at square one. A book hasn’t stumped me like this in a while, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Again, I apologize for sticking to generalities in this review, but I really want readers to appreciate the reading experience for themselves. Embrace was an absorbing novel that immediately intrigued me with its air of mystery and made me turn the pages to see how all of the puzzle pieces fit together. I loved Cherie Colyer’s writing style, and I’d definitely read a sequel!

All in All: This is a highly recommended paranormal read with just the right amount of suspense to keep you glued to the page. Thanks to some really clever plotting, readers should be very gratified when they and Madison discover the cause of the bizarre occurrences that are taking place.