New Update!

Hello everyone. All of my Reviews, that I have yet to write, will be posted sporadically during the summer. After the end of this summer, I will not be posting on here anymore, as you will see the info on the right side of the blog.
Thanks for your understanding.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Preservation By: Rachael Wade (Guest Post & Review)

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend! Today I'm hosting Rachael Wade's Preservation, thanks to Bewitching Book Tours! Rachael has a wonderful Guest Post to share, so you will see that below (Thanks Rachael!). My Review is also seen below, so continue reading, and thank you for visiting! :)

Blurb


Fear is sabotage’s sweetest weapon.

Kate has no time for meaningless romantic charades, and definitely no time for hot college professors who are full of themselves and smitten with her. Constantly battling eviction notices, tuition she can’t afford, and a sick, dependent mother, the last thing she needs is to be distracted with someone else’s complicated baggage. 

When she stumbles into Ryan Campbell’s creative writing class, he is only “Mr. Campbell” to her, until Ryan finds himself captivated by her writing and she is forced to face their mutual attraction. His cocky know-it-all syndrome is enough to send her running in the other direction, and his posse of female admirers and playboy reputation are enough to squander any odds in her favor. 

But underneath Ryan’s abrasive facade is something to behold, and she can’t stay away for long. Ryan and Kate must decide who they’re willing to become and fight against their former selves if they want to make things work. That’s if academia, vicious vixens, old skeletons, and their own mastery at self-destruction don’t pummel their efforts first. 


Guest Post


Real Life to Novel Life: 5 Real-World Settings that Appear in Preservation

One of the best parts about writing my latest contemporary romance novel, Preservation, was that I was able to draw a lot of inspiration from the settings mentioned in the book. Kate and Ryan’s story takes place in Seattle, Washington, and I had the privilege of visiting each location a few times before writing it. I’ve actually been in the process of planning a move there, so it was only natural that it became the city that Kate and Ryan call home. 

Here are 5 places that Kate, Ryan, Carter, and Dean all spend time in the book, and how each location inspired their story:

1. Pike Place Market – Everyone’s heard of this market, but visiting it is truly a unique experience. I love just walking around and trying different foods, and like Kate and Carter, watching the buskers play. One of my favorite Pike Place Market buskers is Whitney Monge (https://www.facebook.com/whitneymonge). I highly recommend checking her music out. I bought her album last time I watched her play and she can do some killer Kings of Leon covers.

2. Easy Street Records – Ryan and Kate’s first “date” takes place here, and they both happen to love checking out shows or album browsing here on their own. I’ve always wanted to see my favorite Seattle-native musician, Brandi Carlile, play at this store, and while I haven’t had a chance to do that yet, I have visited the Queen Anne store to album shop and really love the vibe and neighborhood.

3. Orcas Island – Kate, Ryan, and the gang all make a holiday trip a few hours north of Seattle to the San Juan Islands, to Orcas Island in particular. Here they drive up Mt. Constitution, go whale watching, and hiking—all things I love to do in the San Juans. Well, not the driving up Mt. Constitution part. I am afraid of the uphill drive there, hence the inspiration for Carter’s “freak-out” moment in the car. ;) The hotel they stay at is also a real location called Orcas Hotel, and it’s the very first historic bed and breakfast you see when you arrive at the island ferry landing. It’s a beautiful, magical place, and I kind of wish I owned the property myself.

4. Downtown Seattle – From the Space Needle and Pioneer Square to Fremont and Pike’s Place Market, Kate spends a lot of time commuting from downtown Seattle, where she lives and works, to her college campus.

5. The Ladera Resort, St. Lucia, West Indies – A far cry from the Pacific Northwest, the Ladera is where Kate travels to spend some time in the Caribbean, and it just so happens to be a real resort where I spent my honeymoon. Yup, bats (and other things) really do fly into your room at night, and no, the mosquito netting on the bed really doesn’t keep every insect out. ;) From the open, sweeping views of the ocean to the personal plunge pools, this resort is one I hope to visit again someday and couldn’t recommend highly enough.

Preservation by Rachael Wade is now available in paperback and Kindle e-book from Amazon.com. If you love paranormal romance and fantasy, also check out Rachael’s other books, Amaranth and The Gates (books 1 and 2 of the Resistance Trilogy) now at Amazon.


Review

My Rating: 4/5
R Rating (Adult Content/Language; Recommend 18+)

This was absolutely a great love story! I believe there was a good amount of conflict that really can put you on edge, and for me, I liked that, as there were unexpected turns that this story takes us, and you definitely will want to know what happens next! I enjoyed that part of the story was taken place at a college and writing was a main theme in both Ryan's and Kate's life. Speaking of these two, I think they are both well developed characters. They both have had some unfortunate situations in their past, and in ways, it might threaten the relationship (from casual to serious) that they have wonderfully formed. I liked both Ryan and Kate. In the beginning, we get a peak into Ryan's mind, and we definitely see why and how he turned into the player/arrogant person he is, when he meets Kate. The rest of the story is really in Kate's POV, and we see even though she's 25, she still has the dream to be a writer, to be an author, and enrolls in college, and she doesn't let her past get in the way of that dream. She takes some creative writing classes, and one of them is taught by Ryan. Their love story was written well, and I can see how they developed strong feelings with one another, and how that turns into something much much more...much more...Yes, there are some love scenes, and I think they are necessary, as the romantic tension/attraction that leads to that point really makes you want to, what will happen next, and if you enjoy a good romance, you will love this. I have read some stories that take place in Seattle, and this one was just as great, as there were places that were described really well, and for a while now, I've wanted to take a visit up the coast. The Guest Post you see above is awesome, as it's always wonderful to see something that was inspired into the story! 
This was a great Novel, and I recommend it! :)


About The Author

Rachael Wade is the author of the Amazon #1 best-selling paranormal romance series, The Resistance Trilogy, and the best-selling contemporary romance, Preservation. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America and her work has been published in The Storyteller, A Hudson View International Poetry Digest, and Amulet Poetry. When she's not writing, she's busy learning French, watching too many movies, and learning how to protect wildlife and stop animal cruelty. The first title in her post-apocalyptic sci-fi romance series, The Keepers Trilogy, is set for release winter of 2012.


2 comments:

  1. Marissa, thank you so much for hosting the tour today and for your lovely review. I appreciate all of your time and effort putting the post together!

    Much love,
    Rachael
    xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was wonderful hosting, thank you :)
      I look forward to reading more of your work!

      Delete

I love to read what you have to write and I like to write back, so feel free to comment :)

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