Welcome to my stop on the Wicked Sense Tour. Brought to you by Innovative Online Tours. Here you can read a synopsis of the book, read my review, author bio, and short expert for you. Don’t forget to visit the other blogs on this tour for more info, their personal reviews and added info they wish to share.
BLURB:
Witches inhabit our world, organized in covens and hiding behind a shroud of secrecy, the Veil. Skye’s London coven sends her to Seattle’s Greenwood High to find the Singularity, an unusually gifted witch who may break the Veil and trigger a dangerous new era of witch-hunting. Skye’s job gets even trickier when she clashes with intimidating rival witch Jane and meets charming new classmate Drake.
Drake falls for the mysterious Skye, but odd accidents, potion mix-ups, and the occasional brush with death kind of get in the way of romance. Once he discovers Skye is a witch, he goes to war for her, even though his only weapons are a nice set of abs and a sharp sense of humor. Fighting off wicked Jane and the other dark forces hell-bent on seizing the Singularity's immense power, Skye and Drake will risk everything to save the covens.
Going on a date has never been harder.
BIO:
Fabio writes Young Adult/Urban Fantasy/Paranormal novels. He resides in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and kids. When not writing or reading, he geeks out with family and friends, solidifies his reputation as the world’s slowest runner, and acts very snobbish about movies. He’s also: author of YA paranormal WICKED SENSE, family man, gamer, “runner,” geek, kindle hugger, coffeeholic, x-men hopeful, district 3 tribute, hufflepuff, daydreamer.
My Review:
I will say one thing; this book hooked me on the first few
pages. It just draws you in, and is so well written, I was very impressed. I also love how it takes place in Seattle, so close to where I live, that it just felt more real. I love books that are written well about witches, and this is one of those.
I loved Skye, she is a very strong and fun character, she is from London, and had to transfer to Seattle to look for the Singularity, who is a very powerful witch who has just started to come into her powers. Skye and her “Sisters” need to find her before the Night Witches do, as you can guess, they are bad news, and that much power in their control, can mean destruction. Skye is there best hope to find her, as one of her powers – that they call Charms- is True Sight, which means she can sense a witch’s energy from far away, unlike most witches only can sense each other in close range.
I really love how this book was written in first person, from 2 points of view, and each chapter has the name of whose POV it is, brilliant, love it, it only goes back and forth from Skye and Drake. This is somewhat of a paranormal romance, but its light on the romance, it’s not like it’s the whole bases of the story, its only a small part, which I like. I really enjoyed how these characters were not immature and whinny at all. One thing that I get tired of in most YA is that.
Drake is a great character too, it’s the first time I have read a males point of view, and really felt like I was in his head, how the young male has their insecurities just like the young women do at that age, I guess it helps that our brilliant author is a guy. Drake is supportive of Skye, and good for her.
Conner is a typical conceited guy that thinks he is better than everyone. I didn’t like him too much. I won’t say too much on him so to let you find out. I won’t be writing any spoilers. Jane, what can I say, she is a badass for sure. She was a mystery to me from the start. As you will find out when you read it. I was weary of her from the time she meets Skye, and wondered what she was about.
Overall, this book is written very well, the characters are very well developed, and you want to get to know them, and you care what happens to them. I also like that Drake’s dad is present in this and Skye’s mom and her aunt. I like that, as some YA leave them out, like they do not exist, which is wrong to me.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes paranormal and even people who do not usually read anything paranormal, as this is only with witches, and really is a good story I think most anyone can enjoy.
5 out of 5 stars
Here is a teaser for you:
“Fate? Do you believe in fate?” she asks.
“I do now.”
She blinks a few times, seemingly amused. Her glasses are gone, and I notice her eyes are a bright shade of blue I’ve never seen before. It’s hard not to stare. For a moment, those deep pools suck me in, play with me, own me, and spit me out. She looks away, reaches into her backpack, fishes the strange rainbow glasses out, and puts them back on.
I wonder if that eye color has a name.
“So, Drake, huh?” She offers her hand.
“So, Skye, huh?” I shake it, gently, lingering for a nanosecond too long. “Nice to meet you too.”
One more teaser:
It wasn’t a good idea. Streams of thick mud cross our path and flow down to our left. We’re caught in the middle.Chapter one is here, and a few paragraphs of Chapter 2, which is in Skye’s Point of view, so to give you a taste of how the book it written.
We hear a roar at the same time. I glance at him. He looks to his right, and then he shoves me away without warning. Before I know it, I’m sliding down the slope, grasping for plants to stop my descent, and a tree is falling over him. He tries to get out of its way. The trunk misses him, but one of the main branches hits him in the head. He tumbles over, and I scream.
Below is an Expert for you to enjoy!
Chapter 1: DrakePimp My Profile
I don’t buy into the high-school-is-hell theory. To me, it’s more like this joyless limbo most of the time, utterly boring, with the occasional humiliation and the rare thrill.
The new girl is a fine example of the latter.
“Drake’s got a crush,” Sean taunts.
Not yet, but I’m… intrigued. She’s different. Alluring. Sitting at an outside cafeteria table twenty yards from ours, absorbed in a small hardcover black book, she remains oblivious to the darkening skies above us and to the Greenwood High crowd watching her.
“You’re staring too, moron,” Boulder says, shoving Sean playfully. Kind of. “But I don’t blame you guys. She’s hot.”
Sean chuckles. “An R-rated body.”
My eyes stay on her. “What are you talking about? She’s petite,” I say before my brain can stop me. Oh, man, they’ve suckered me into one of these testosterone-fueled talks again. With a heroic effort, I take my eyes off her and look at them. “Are we talking about the same girl?”
“Yeah, the new chick. The brunette chick.” Boulder, the paradigm of subtlety, points to her. “Don’t sweat it, D-Man. Sean is just messing with you. She’s pretty, but she’s no Priscilla. And, for the record, I don’t think you should call anyone petite.” This from the guy who just used a fowl-related word to describe a human being. Twice.
My head turns to her again, as if a pulled by a magnetic force.
She peeks over at us. It doesn’t fool me; I’ve been burned before by mistaking a furtive look for something else. Just an involuntary, split-second, rest-my-eyes-in-a-random-direction kind of glance. I know it means nothing.
“Did you see that? She looked right at me!” Sean says, chuckling once again. It must be nice living inside his head.
His reward is another of Boulder’s trademark shoves. “Yeah, right,” Boulder says. “With this male specimen here?” He taps his own chest.
I shake my head. These talks always end in—
“I’m going over there,” Boulder says. For a built seventeen-year-old linebacker with a square jaw and an above-average vocabulary, Boulder has an alarmingly high strikeout rate with the ladies. I don’t know why; he seems confident. Over-confident. Maybe that’s it. Boulder is over-everything.
“No,” I say, stealing some of his surplus confidence. “My turn.”
My brain is definitely taking the day off. I’m never that bold. Sean snickers, predictably.
Boulder, astonished at my daring, remains speechless for a few unnerving seconds. But soon he grins. He slaps me hard on the back, in what he thinks is a friendly manner, and probably damages my kidneys in the process. “Go for it! Get yourself some hotness!”
Emboldened by their approval, I get up and start my ill-advised journey to inevitable disaster. For a moment, I think the ominous gray clouds signal a bad day. But in Seattle, it just means it’s another day.
I cross the muddy grass and the gravel path. In my mind, the schoolyard vanishes. There’s only her, and I process every detail. The book still hypnotizes her. She wears glasses, a delicate red frame with a faint rainbow effect on the lenses. I drink her in: dark brown hair in a tight ponytail, thin nose, and pale, flawless skin. Something about her screams otherworldly—maybe the impossible symmetry of her face. It’s so weird. She’s not stunning, but her face is so maddeningly… attractive. She’s definitely not Sean’s type (bombshell), although she’s Boulder’s type (female).
I arrive unnoticed and say a weak “Hi.” Yup, I’m that smooth.
Apparently, the book is still very interesting. Great, I’m losing to dead trees.
At last, she raises her eyes, still hidden by those weird lenses, and says, “I’m sorry. I’m sure you’re nice and all that, but I need to finish this.” Her manicured finger taps the book.
Love her voice—slightly hoarse, but feminine. And the accent: she must be British, maybe an exchange student. Her accent comes and goes as if she’s an unprepared American actress playing a British character.
The snub doesn’t shake me. I expected it, and I thought about the perfect reply on my way over. “I understand. But I’m trying to help you. If you don’t talk to me, Boulder over there will try his luck with a much lamer and potentially offensive pickup line.” I look over my shoulder. Boulder, typically, misreads my thumb pointing at him and does the pigeon-chest thing.
She looks at me, then at him, and then back at me. I’m feeling like part of a tennis match when she closes the book and says, “Okay. What do you want to talk about?”
Of course I haven’t planned this far. I’m caught flat-footed and fumble my lines about her accent. The familiar panic starts to take over, but the least likely person saves me.
Exchange girl notices Jane arriving, as does everybody else. I mean, everybody always looks when Jane arrives; she’s impossible to avoid. Jane is a biker chick, and she’s biker-chic. She’s all about leather jackets, customized helmets, strangling pants, and sexy Italian bikes with brand names that sound like dirty words.
Sean tried to ask Jane out once, and she punched him in the face. Punched him. A firm “no”—or even a good slap—should be enough for most people. But she knocked him down and almost broke his nose. Jane fractured her hand, but she didn’t even flinch. Sean never reported her. Knowing him, I’d guess he said something inappropriate. And he probably went down laughing.
For once, it’s Jane’s turn to stare at someone else. She pierces Exchange Girl with demonic eyes. Everybody notices. Jane marches toward us, blood-red helmet in elbow, parting the sea of students with her commanding presence. It’s as if we can feel her hatred for the new girl. The weather report said to expect a thunderstorm today. Maybe this is it.
The buzz in the schoolyard rises. The excitement of a new student’s arrival is compounded by the possibility of an even more sensational event: a cat fight.
Chapter 2: Skye
The boy rises. I shouldn’t have glanced over. I should have kept my head down! But his aura is so unusual. I don’t even know how to read it.
Is he the…? No, he isn’t. Don’t be stupid, Skye. It can’t be that simple. Besides, he doesn’t radiate any energy. Follow the plan. Be ordinary. Lie low. Some contact is inevitable. I’m a little surprised, though. I thought the steroids junkie would be the one to chance it. Or maybe the stocky guy with a buzz cut and lewd eyes. I brace myself anyway.
Don’t worry. Just be sulky and moody, and he’ll go away.
Even with my eyes still on my book, I can sense him forcing each step, almost marching. He arrives, hovers for a second, and says, “Hi.”
I give him my prepared speech; he replies with a somewhat reasonable argument. I choose the lesser of two evils—as I always do—and challenge him to say something interesting. Besides, upon seeing him up close I notice an understated but undeniable cuteness.
That’s when I feel her presence. Soon she senses me too. When she removes her helmet, the girl reveals a short, spiky, almost-military haircut that she can only pull off because of her thick dark hair. I must admit, she puts on a show, dressed in several shades of brooding and black. Her fury is palpable. I wonder—
Oh, Goddess! She’s coming over. Is she insane? Everybody’s watching.
I’m paralyzed, and I’m uncertain if it’s her doing, or my own usual powerlessness. I just sit there, an easy target. Only one thought crosses my mind: don’t break the Veil.
She goes past the boy, who looks as petrified as I am. She leans over me and hisses, “What are you doing here?”
Her magical signature overwhelms me. The tingling sensation becomes almost an electric shock.
ONLINE LINKS:
Website http://fabiobueno.com/
Facebook http://facebook.com/FabioBuenoAuthor
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/FabioBueno/
Check out these other blogs to see what they have to say about Wicked Sense
Danasquare http://www.danasquare.blogspot.com/
My Cozie Corner http://coziecorner.blogspot.com/
Kristy Centeno http://booksbycenteno.com/
Great Reads and Baby Stuff http://ajscrazymommy.blogspot.com/
A Soul Unsung http://soulunsung.blogspot.com/
The Bunny's Review http://bunnysreview.com/
Little Hyuts http://littlehyuts.blogspot.com/
Oopie Poopie The Bibliomaniac http://oopiepoopiethebibliomaniac.blogspot.com/
Indiewritersreview http://indiewritersreview.wordpress.com/
whoopeeyoo http://whoopeeyoo.com/
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I have received this book free from
the author as part of Innovative Book Blog Tours. Although payment may have
been received by Innovative Book Online Book Blog Tours, no payment was
received by me in exchange for this review. I was not required to write a
positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this
in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides
Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
