Sunday, July 13, 2014

Review & Giveaway - Tempted by Brandi Leigh Hall



I'm posting my tour stop a bit late due to my daughter's hospitalization last week.  Still plenty of time for the giveaway though!

Title: Tempted
SeriesA BirthRight Novel, #2
Author: Brandi Leigh Hall
Release Date: May 27, 2014
Pages: 275
Goodreads Rating: 4.58/5 Stars
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
My Content Rating: YA/NA (Nothing more than kissing shown, Sex is discussed, Moderate swearing)

Summary from Goodreads: Book 2 in The BirthRight Series - A Sweet Upper YA / NA Paranormal Romance, perfect for fans of CHARMED! 

What if the very thing to save you--is the one thing beyond your reach?

Torn between the two men who have fallen for her--and the evil who wants to possess her--twenty-year-old Chloe Bishop can no longer remember the fatal vision which threatens her future happiness. But when the magical link is severed between Chloe and her Wiccan family, they must find a way to save her, before temptation leads her into darkness—-and into the welcoming arms of Mr. Wrong.


***This review is for book #2 in a series, but doesn't really contain any spoilers for book #1.  Check out my review of Tethered (book #1) HERE.***

Tempted is the second installment in the BirthRight series, a fun, magical paranormal romance series that will appeal to both upper YA and NA readers who are something a little less racy than a lot of the typical NA fare.

This second book in the series finds Chloe working in the governor's mansion, preparing for a New Year's Eve party.  But, when her visions disappear and Chloe's family can no longer reach her magically, it becomes apparent that something sinister is going on.  To make things worse, Chloe suddenly becomes enamored with Xander, the governor's nephew, and forgets her visions, completely forgetting the impending disaster that she should be trying to avoid.

What I loved:
  • Family ties.  Chloe's family is a big part of her story (in fact parts of the book are told from her brother's or her mother's points of view). I loved the strong family relationships and the sense of "family first" that tied them together.  
  • Hunter.  Sigh. I'm just a huge fan of Hunter - have been ever since Tethered. He's kind of the perfect boyfriend. He's sweet with Chloe, but tough when it comes to his job (and look out to anyone who tries to hurt Chloe!). Even when Chloe gave him reason to doubt her, he never even considered giving up on her and leaving her to fend for herself.  I'm definitely Team Hunter.
  • The magic.  We got to see more of the family's magic in this book.  I loved seeing everyone's powers at their full potential and learning more about the prophecy and what it might mean.
The negatives:
  • Xander.  I was not a fan of the love-triangle aspect of the book. Because of the magical aspect, it felt an awful lot like insta-love. I was actually okay with this when it seemed like Xander was just a plain bad guy who was pretending to have feelings for Chloe and Chloe was only interested in Xander because she was being forced to. But then there were times in the book where we were supposed to believe it was actually more - I just couldn't get on board. Something that Xander did made me understand why Chloe might have some confusing feelings about him, but I didn't see why Xander felt connected to Chloe in the first place.  I just never saw anything real between these two.
    Overall, I was really happy with this second book in the series.  It was a tad bit darker than book one, but still not terribly edgy.  I'm looking forward to finding out what Hall has in store for us next.  I give this one 4/5 stars.


    ***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***


    Buy Links:
      photo 111AD205-AA04-4F9E-A0F4-C1264C4E9F30-1855-000001A1E8CEB6D7_zps9b730b94.jpg  photo KoboIcon_zps515cdc1a.jpg  photo iconitunesbooks_zps8d729d7e.jpg 



    TANGLED (A BirthRight Novel #3)
    Release Date: December 2014

    About the Author
    Brandi Leigh Hall is a YA and NA author, whose stories lean towards the sweeter side of romance. Her novels combine magical elements with real-
    life issues, strong female characters, semi-old-fashioned men, and family values, woven together and told from an organic and emotional, first-person perspective. 

    Growing up in a haunted house in Central PA inspired Brandi's fascination with the paranormal, so it only made sense she'd write Urban Fantasy for both teens and adults.

    Brandi lives in central Pennsylvania with her fur-ball cats (Onyx and Klepto), where she spends most of her time attached to her laptops, reading books, appeasing her sweet tooth, and watching TV for motivation.

    Author Links:
     photo iconwebsite-32x32_zps1f477f69.png  photo icongoodreads32_zps60f83491.png  photo icontwitter-32x32_zpsae13e2b2.png  photo iconfacebook-32x32_zps64a79d4a.png