Blog Tour: The Last Dance | Kiki Hamilton | Review | Giveaway

Today we are the next stop in The Last Dance blog tour for author Kiki Hamilton. This blog tour is hosted by Book Nerd Tours, you can see full schedule HERE.

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The Last Dance
Author: Kiki Hamilton
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Released: February 14th 2013
Review Source: Blog tour

Available at:

  

Summary: (from goodreads) Two people couldn't be more opposite...

Kellen Peterson, the gorgeous star quarterback of the Griffin High football team, seems to have it all. Until the night of the Homecoming game, when Kellen gets tackled and suffers a traumatic brain injury - an injury that changes his life - including his ability to walk, talk and throw a football.

Ivy Ly is a senior and counting down the days until she can escape to college. Though her parents have big plans for her to be a doctor, Ivy is afraid to tell them she'd rather pursue music as a career.

Ivy's best friend, Mira, is obsessed with Kellen. When Ivy is asked to tutor the injured football player upon his return to school, she thinks it's the perfect opportunity for Mira to get to know him better - but sparks fly - in more ways than one...

It's been a while since I've managed to read a book, let alone a paperback book, in one day. That being said, I couldn't put this book down. Every second of downtime with my children on Saturday found this book in my hands and my eyes furiously devouring the story.

The Last Dance centers around Ivy Ly, a high school senior with a very planned and prepared for Ivy League future waiting for her after graduation. Ivy has a mother who has been strict with her time since she started playing the piano at the age of three. Ma, as Ivy calls her, desperately wants her daughter to follow in her older brother's footsteps and go Pre-Med but what Ivy really wants is to follow her own dream and pursue music, though she'd never tell her mother that.

Every high school girl dreams of falling in love and living her happily ever after. But Ivy has long ago given up on this dream since she is 17 and never even had a boyfriend. Who has the time with her mother breathing down her neck about expectations. But there is a hero to this story and his name is Kellen Petersen or "Q" as Ivy and her best friend Mira refer to him. "Q" has become their code word designator for Kellen meaning Quintessential Quarterback. Mira has been in love with Kellen for over a year but of course he doesn't even know she exists. Ivy will never understand Mira's attraction to Kellen or any other jock in school. 

Kellen has always considered giving up football and going Pre-Med in college but football is the one thing he truly shines at. That is until the big Homecoming game or "dance" as he and his friends refer to all football games. During the game Kellen suffers a vicious assault on field by a helmet to the spine and appears to be fine afterwards but he is anything but okay. When Kellen blacks out at the Homecoming Dance later that night his whole world comes to a screeching halt. 

Now Kellen must come back to school after suffering from severe brain trauma and battle to finish his senior year and recover from his internal and external injuries. Armed with Ivy as a tutor, the two put Kellen on the road to recovery and a few "heart zings" later, a chemistry that neither can deny begins to build between them.

Oh I could go on and on about this story but then you wouldn't have to read it and what fun would that be? This book touched me on a personal level. I think we all remember the different social classes in high school and how some more than most always ignored others while some gravitated to each other. The cheer leader will always get the football player but I just love a story where the geek gets the guy even if he has to be broken to finally see her. I got a little of this attention my last few months of high school with my very own football player so maybe that's why this story touched me so much. It was real, the characters were overwhelmingly believable and it made me miss those carefree and sometimes stressful high school days. I just really loved this book and am even happier that Kiki Hamilton personalized the book to me when she sent it because it now has a very prominent and special place in my heart and on my book shelf! Enjoy!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Kiki Hamilton is the author of THE FAERIE RING fantasy series and the YA contemporary novel, THE LAST DANCE. She believes in magic and the idea of hidden worlds co-existing with our own. Kiki lives near Seattle, though she dreams of living in London one day. Visit her website at:www.kikihamilton.com.

   

3 Winners will receive a Signed Copy of The Last Dance + Bookmarks by Kiki Hamilton. 1 Winner will receive a Surprise ART Poster and Bookmark by James Vallesteros. 5 Winners will receive a surprise ART Bookmark by James Vallesteros. Must be 13+ to Enter. International Giveaway.

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