mignon mykel { reviews }: review || SPARK

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

review || SPARK

Spark by Erin Noelle

Publisher: Self-Published (4/19/2015)
Series: Fire on the Mountain, book 1
Genre: New Adult Romance
Source: InkSlinger PR
Purchase links || amazon || add to goodreads

Rating: ★★★★★

I'm failing.

My younger brother is getting worse, and my job - my duty - is to help him at all costs. We've tried everything modern medicine has to offer and nothing works.

Nothing.

Deciding to turn to unconventional treatments, we end up at Fire-on-the-Mountain, a holistic resort deep in the Rockies.

In our search for medical marijuana, I find beautiful, free-spirited Hudson Shavell - a girl who may not only hold the key to heal my brother, but to fix me as well. Even though I can't afford distractions right now, she's all I can think about. All that I want.

It's funny how everything can change with one little SPARK.

Though Spark is the first book in the Fire on the Mountain Series, it is a stand alone novel.

Intended for mature audiences only.

about Erin || Erin Noelle is a Texas native, where she lives with her husband and two young daughters. While earning her degree in History at the University of Houston, she rediscovered her love for reading that was first instilled by her grandmother when she was a young child.

A lover of happily-ever-afters, both historical and current, Erin is an avid reader of all romance novels. Her titles published include the Book Boyfriend Series, the Dusk ‘Til Dawn Series, Translucent, Conspire — co-authored with SE Hall, Surviving Us, MILF: Wrong Kind of Love and Spark.

Her books have been a part of the USA Today Bestselling list and the Amazon and Barnes & Noble overall Top 100.

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{ review } .

This story...

Talk about taking a taboo subject and running with it. Regardless of your stance on marijuana, medicinal or otherwise (I personally don't have a stance one way or another; I'm all for it if it helps, but against the abuse of it), the heart and soul of this story is extraordinary.

Right from the moment the story begins, you can't help but fall in love with these characters. Immediately, you're thrown into Crew's world -- first, his playboy ways (he keeps his girlfriend around because she's good in bed), and second, you get to see what a damn good brother he is.

"Hey, bro," I say quietly, pushing back the wet strands of hair that are plastered to his forehead. "Good to have you back."

Middle of the hallway, classmates all over... and not a care for a single one of them. His focus is completely on his little brother. Dang, I'm tearing up just thinking about it again.

After exhausting everything available to Caleb in Texas, yet his epilepsy getting worse and worse, the family (mom, Caleb, and Crew) pick up and go to check out Colorado, staying at the resort run by the Shavell family. They're there (Colorado) for research purposes, but an off-handed comment made by the boys to one of the Shavell girls, Hudson, brings what once just looked good on paper to fruition.

When Crew first sees Hudson, he's immediately drawn to her -- but shortly after he learns she's going on a date. Like any hormonal teenager, he then goes about the silent treatment for the next day, until he learns that Hudson's date didn't go so great.

I loved every moment of this story. The only time I put it down (just once) was when I could no longer keep my eyes open, as I had been awake since 3 am in the morning. So after a six hour nap (or day sleep, for us night shift folk), I picked it right back up and finished.

Hudson lives in a hippie style family. Her parents request that the kids (all named for the spot of conception)--Hudson's five sisters and one brother--call them by their given names of Melissa and Doug --

...who are often asked if they're the famous duo that makes kids' toys, but they're not. They just make kids...lots of them. --Hudson

Her grandmother is like a Betty White in personality, they pass joints like it's the mashed potato bowl at dinner, and there is not a taboo subject in their family -- such as Hudson's lack of 'giving it up' and she's already nineteen (date scheduled, check; parents bought the condoms, double check).

The family is extremely loving and open, but this is further embodied in middle child Hudson. Hudson has a fix-all and help-all mentality, as well as brains, and with that she is the child that has been helping Doug Shavell with the planting and such of their cannabis plants. Hudson takes it further and finds ways to cultivate her plants, crossbreeding them to pull out different aspects of the drug -- as well as taking on a much larger project after meeting Caleb.

While Hudson is smart and very much the lamb of her sisters, she has spunk. Some of her thoughts were just downright funny -- but I suppose they'd have to be when surrounded with equally gorgeous sisters.

I suppose licking his face real quick to mark him as mine for when I get back wouldn't be appropriate. --Hudson on Crew

What Erin does extremely well in SPARK is keeping you invested in secondary characters. I, for one, typically hate side stories. Give me the lead couple and run with the story; I won't pay too much mind to the secondary players -- I may even skim over their parts.

But you can't in SPARK. Not so much can't as won't. The Shavell sisters? Gosh, I loved them all (Brighton's story is many moons down the road, but I'm curious how she deals with everything that happens in SPARK). Rory? I really liked him. I liked how much of a good, quick friend he was for Crew -- but equally, this drama-free guy could emit negative feelings in a relatively calm speech, putting anyone (...err, Crew) in his place. And then there was Caleb. My goodness gracious, you couldn't help but fall in love with that boy, with his smiles, his laughter, and his love for life.

SPARK will put you through the emotional gamut. I laughed, I smiled, I cheered, I cried. Heck, most of Part III of the book I had at least a tear in my eye.

I'm very glad that Erin chose to write Hudson and Crew's story first. Yes, Mel and Doug met extremely young (younger than Hudson and Crew) and managed to really make love work, so I believe that Hudson and Crew have what it takes... but they're still young. I want to watch their relationship continue to flourish throughout the series.

This is definitely one of my favorite new adults of the year, and may be one of my favorite new adult series (but 'eh, I'm getting ahead of myself... it is only book one).

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a quick note from { mignon } ...

I AM NO LONGER ACTIVE IN REVIEWING

The last two years has been incredibly rewarding, giving me the opportunity to pick up new-to-me authors, as well as new-to-the-world authors. I have enjoyed supporting publishing houses as well as the indie author, and in doing so, I learned a lot about the marketing aspect of writing a book and selling it as a self-published author.

I have re-focused my journey to more writing-minded. I still read and review! But not nearly at the rate I was; three books a day has turned to three books a month.

I will no longer be accepting individual review requests (unless it's specifically author-to-author, then it will be highly considered).

I will definitely be posting reviews for commitments I have already made, though.

Thank you for understanding, & thank you to all those I have worked with over the last year plus!

~ Mignon

http://mignonmykel.com

GOODREADS updates

Dirty Saint: A Secret Baby Sports Romance by Vesper Vaughn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book almost failed to get my attention. Why?

The hero.

He is the exact public person I despise. You know the type -- all biblical with publicized praying and verses all over his public persona. Great. Good for you. Bet you're not like that behind closed doors...

Which is exactly what Esther thinks of him.

Saint and Esther attend the same super religious college. Esther is on the fast track to becoming a nun, and no I do not kid, and Saint, given name Francis, can do just about whatever he wants, because he is the star athlete and the school knows he has connections. What in the world can these two have in common? The actions of their parents.

But where Saint does what his father says, usually, because his father is pushing him toward a pro-football careers, Esther follows her parents (father) because if she didn't... Her life would literally be a living hell.

I really enjoyed these two, once we started to get to know Saint a little bit better. My only drawback with the book would be the last half goes by in super-fast time. While it helped to keep the story moving, I would have liked to see more of that time drawn out so the feelings and emotions of our two characters felt more genuine and real -- rather than simply a two month courting that their lives demanded.

I'm giving the book the full 5 stars because it came out of left-field for me. It was a book that I didn't expect to like, but the author wove it in a way that I fell hard for our characters both as individuals and as a couple. I liked watching Esther grow and find her voice in life, just as I liked watching playboy, always for the chase Saint, settle down and find a person to be terribly protective over. I loved him most in the last two chapters.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

Everything by Erin Noelle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Here's something you may know about me if you've followed my reviews -- I'm an epilogue reader. I will almost always read the epilogue first. Call me a spoilsport or no fun, or whatever but that's how I've been reading books for years. It's no wonder that when I write books, I tend to have the epilogue all figured out before I even start with "Once upon a time...".

That said... I read this epilogue and while I liked it, I just couldn't get past the ages of our characters. Couldn't do it. So I read the beginning. Still... If anything, the age of our characters was even more pronounced. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to read this. You see, I have an issue with "Happily ever after" and the hardly-twenty crowd, let alone an eighteen year old.

But that's my hang-up.

Another thing you may know about me? I will sometimes read a book in what I call a inside-out fashion. I jump all over the place until I find a snippet of story that absolutely grips me. And people -- there are a few of those parts in Everything. So because I found those gripping parts, I put my faith in Erin Noelle, and I started from page one -- and I gave Everett and Belle a chance.

And I'm so glad I did.

Everett and his twin sister have been making music forever -- literally. They're the children of a rockstar; music has always been their life. When their father's group decides to get back together (dad always said he'd go back when the twins were done with school), Mason tells the label -- if you take me, you're taking my kids: thus, giving Everett and Ashlynn the opportunity to take their music to a larger level than they have before.

Along the way, with a local gig, Everett meets Belle -- and so begins their story.

This is a story about growing up. This is a story about following your heart -- be it for a person or a career, or even both. It is about learning to trust the person you are giving your heart to, and about taking the ever-looming jump into unknown feelings. When you put your life, your wants, your desires in someone else's hands, the world opens up -- and it certainly does for Everett and Belle.

The part I most appreciated was that the author made Everett true to his age and situation. Belle was too, yes, but it was Everett and his new lifestyle that had me wanting to see true characterization for. He's a guy; he's a musician; he's new to love. He makes mistakes. And for those mistakes, I truly got on board with this story.

Everett and his Tinker Bell were incredibly cute. I liked that there's a decent time jump at the end, further allowing -- you guessed it -- growth of our characters. I'm excited to watch more of them when (if?) Ashlynn's story comes out.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

review || SPARK

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