Mini Reviews: Tease + Remnants

TEASE
The Ivy Chronicles #2
Sophie Jordan
Contemporary New Adult
320 pages
William Morrow
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
What happens when a girl who always calls the shots meets a guy who's too wild for even her?

A born flirt and good-time party girl, Emerson has never had a problem finding a willing guy. She's always chosen her hookups carefully, and she's never broken her three cardinal rules:

Never let them see the real you.
Never fall in love.
Always leave them begging for more.

Then Shaw comes along. A hottie from the wrong side of the tracks, he's immune to her flirtatious banter and come-hither smile. After rescuing her from a disastrous night at a biker bar, he doesn't even try to take her to bed—he calls her a tease and sends her home instead. Unable to resist a challenge, or forget the sexy, dark-eyed, bad-boy biker, she vows to bring him to his knees.

But instead of making Shaw beg, Emerson finds herself craving him. For the first time in her life, she's throwing out her rule book. Suddenly, she's the one panting for a guy she can't control—a guy who won't settle for anything less than the real Emerson and who forces her to do things she's never imagined, including facing a past she thought she'd buried.

A guy who just might leave her wanting more. . . .

MY THOUGHTS
Tease is a fairly typical, straightforward contemporary New Adult read in which a young woman– driven to live her life a certain way based on a dark experience in her past–finds the one guy who makes her want to break the carefully constructed rules that govern her world. Those looking for a fresh, unique setting at the New Adult table won’t necessarily find it here, and readers like myself who struggle with unnecessary game playing will likely find Emerson frustrating on a number of occasions. She has the completely understandable need for control in her life given what happened years ago, yet every decision she makes puts her in a situation in which she has a distinct lack of the very thing she claims she needs. She drinks heavily in surroundings both familiar and not, and while everyone makes mistakes at one time or another, the fact that she continually points out her need for control before turning around and making a decision that robs her of it becomes all the more grating.

All of that being said however, Ms. Jordan has an uncanny ability to write stories where even personal distaste for certain behaviors in her characters only mildly dulls the book’s shine, and we still find ourselves easily swept up in the heat and emotion of their relationship. While Em is tricky throughout (though not at all unlikeable, I’m just not one for games), when the inevitable rough patch in her relationship with Shaw comes toward the end, she thankfully sets all her game playing aside and tries for complete honesty instead. Much to our delight, Em’s aforementioned decision to shed the veneer and be the girl she actually is, combined with Shaw’s unflappable nature and persistence throughout, keeps the drama between the two of them at a relatively low level. Overall, Tease doesn’t blaze any new NA trails, but it is a quick and enjoyable read with plenty of steamy moments instigated by a very, very swoon-worthy hero.

Rating: 3.5/5
 

Find Sophie:

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REMNANTS: SEASON OF WONDER

Remnants #1

Lisa T. Bergren

Young Adult/Dystopian

414 pages

Available Now

Zondervan

Source: Finished copy from author for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)

THEIR ARRIVAL WAS FORETOLD FOR YEARS….

Andriana is a Remnant, gifted as an empath and one of the Ailith, destined to act as humanity’s last shield against the horrors that now plague those who remain.

After years of training in stealth and warfare, Andriana and her Knight protector, Ronan, are finally ready to answer the Call and begin the life they were designed for. But as they embark with the other Remnants on the first of their assignments, they quickly discover that the world beyond their protected Valley is more dangerous than they imagined.

The Sons of Sheol will stop at nothing to prevent Dri and Ronan from rescuing anyone sympathetic to the Remnants’ cause. And as the Remnants battle the demonic forces, still other enemies close in. Dangers intensity, but so do Dri’s feelings for Ronan–the one emotion she is not meant to feel. In the midst of their mission, Andriana must find a way to master her feelings. Or risk compromising everything…

MY THOUGHTS

Remnants: Season of Wonder kicks off a broad and sweeping new series wherein a group of young men and women are called together to a shared purpose. While well-written and intriguing premise-wise, as we've come to expect from Ms. Bergren, this story progresses quite slowly, the aforementioned purpose a nebulous thing largely unclear to both characters and readers throughout as our group of gifted individuals travels from one place to the next. Given the journey on which Andriana and company set forth, we're subjected to substantial descriptive passages of people and places time and again, further halting our forward momentum as we struggle to connect to one or more aspects of the story.

Andriana is a solid heroine, fully dedicated to her calling despite not knowing exactly what it will require of her, with a relationship between her and her protector Ronan that's ripe with romantic promise. Despite those things however, she doesn't leap from the pages as we might wish her to, failing to drag us into her story with hands clenched around our hearts as was the case with Ms. Bergren's River of Time series. The religious aspect is also far more prominent than in her previous series, with Andriana and her group's belief in the Maker and His plan for them perhaps a larger component overall than those of us who typically shy away from such an element might be comfortable with. The issue of the Maker though is obviously hugely personal in nature, and will be a positive for just as many readers as it is a negative.

We're left with the first leg of Andriana and the other Ailiths' journey toward completing their purpose clear if unfinished, and it's my hope that book two brings with it some of the emotional impact lacking a touch in Remnants, that pulsing connection having taken a backseat to the tracking and finding of others called to His service.

Rating: 3/5
 

Find Lisa:

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These books were sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.