Waiting on Wednesday: The Edge of Always by J. A. Redmerski

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The Edge of Always

The Edge of Never #2

Author: J.A. Redmerski

Release Date: November 5th 2013

Publisher: Forever Romance

Available: Amazon 

Summary: (from goodreads) He was taking the long road. She was taking the road to nowhere. It just so happened that they led to the same place…

Five months ago, Camryn and Andrew, both dealing with personal hardships, met on a Greyhound bus. They fell in love and proved that when two people are meant to be together, fate will find a way to make it happen.

Now, in the highly anticipated sequel to THE EDGE OF NEVER, Camryn and Andrew are pursuing their love for music and living life to the fullest as they always swore to do. But when tragedy befalls them, their relationship is put to the ultimate test. As Camryn tries to numb her pain, Andrew makes a bold decision: To get their life back on track, they’ll set out on another cross-country road trip. Together they find excitement, passion, adventure—and challenges they never could have anticipated.

Sexy. Daring. Dangerous. THE EDGE OF ALWAYS takes you on a ride you won’t forget.

Book Review: The Ballad of Aramei by J. A. Redmerski

The Ballad of Aramei
The Darkwoods trilogy #3
Author: J. A. Redmerski
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Paranormal
Released: November 18th 2012
Review Source: Author
Available: Author
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) Everything about Adria Dawson’s life has changed in unimaginable ways: the shattering betrayal of her mother, the fight for her life and sanity…the loss of her humanity. But now Adria must face the ultimate challenge and risk not only her life, but the lives of everyone she loves at the wrathful hands of Isaac Mayfair’s father.

Determined to help unravel a mysterious message deeply rooted in an unhinged mind, Adria becomes obsessed with traveling into Aramei’s turbulent past to see the truth of how the relationships and betrayals between the Mayfair and Vargas bloodlines were formed.

Meanwhile, Adria and the Mayfairs are doing everything they can to smoke out and trap the Praverian traitor. A trip to Providence uncovers not only an old family line who are enemies of the Praverians, but also raises questions about the Praverian’s true agenda.

But the traitor will be caught. People will die. And Adria’s destiny to be the cause of a war will come to pass. But what could a kind and simple girl like Adria Dawson ever do that could be considered an act of war? The landscape of the werewolf world will be forever changed in the climactic conclusion to The Darkwoods Trilogy.

In this epic conclusion to the Darkwoods Trilogy, Adria finds herself stronger than ever. She is basically in the roll of the "female Alpha" of Isaac's pack and is often referred to as his "wife" though she doesn't seem to mind in the slightest. Adria's sister, Alex, comes back to the story and becomes a main player in Issac's pack as she escapes Viktor Vargas's pack of mongrel, rogue werewolves. Adria is personally assigned by Trajan (Isaac's father and Sovereign ruler of the Werewolves around the world), to be the caretaker for his wife, Aramei. Adria feels herself drawn to Aramei in strange new ways and wants to help her but Aramei is still fairly lifeless and isn't speaking to her directly like she did one time in the cave, long ago. It isn't until Aramei speaks to Adria's mind that she wants to be free of "him" once and for all that Adria finally makes the life altering decision of what she must do to save Aramei.

In the meantime, Isaac, Adria and the rest of the Mayfair family, must find a way to deal with a Dark Praverian who is living amongst them undetected. They find out after a very condemning meeting with a witch, that they will need to set a trap to catch this Dark Praverian and then call this particular witch to capture it's soul before mother nature can free it from their trap.

As the events of the story unfold, Isaac finds himself doing everything he can to save the woman that he loves from the clutches of his evil father. He also knows that the time is coming to once and for all overthrow Trajan and take up his rightful place as the new Sovereign and set right all the wrongs that have been done under his father's 700+ year rule.

I absolutely loved this installment of the Praverian Chronicles: The Darkwoods Trilogy. This was my first werewolf series and I wasn't completely in love with the first installment, The Mayfair Moon, but the more I have read the more I have become a lover of all things that Jessica Redmerski writes. She is a brilliant story teller. I am constantly breathless, flipping the pages furiously, wanting to know what will happen next to the characters I come to love so much. If you are a lover of supernatural stories, werewolves and above all, a great romance, I strongly suggest this book to you. Pick it up the entire trilogy today if you haven't already started reading it and look for future works from Jessica Redmerski.

Read reviews for The Mayfair Moon (book 1) • Kindred (book 2)

Book Review: Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski

The Edge of Never
Author: J.A. Redmerski
Reading Level: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Released: November 16th 2012
Review Source: Purchased
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story. And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart.

Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far behind.

With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed never to fall in love.

But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things she never thought she’d do. He shows her what it’s really like to live out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But will Andrew’s dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear them completely apart?

It's been almost 24 hours since I finished The Edge of Never and I'm still going back and re-reading the last chapter over and over. The ending was that overwhelmingly beautiful. I can't give a proper synopsis like I usually would because anything other than the Goodreads synopsis and I'd just be giving away spoilers. So, in an effort to leave this review spoiler free I will share a few of my favorite quotes from this breathtaking story.

"For the first time in my life, I’ve felt whole, alive, free. You were the missing piece of my soul, the breath in my lungs, the blood in my veins. I think that if past lives are real then we have been lovers in every single one of them. I’ve known you for a short time, but I feel like I’ve known you forever."

"I was taking the long road and Camryn was taking the road to nowhere and it just so happens that they led to the same place."

If those two quotes don't curl your toes and convince you to go pick this book up then I don't know what else I can say. Except for ... this was hands down the most breathtaking, heart stopping, jaw dropping love story I have ever read. This is saying something because I am a huge Nicholas Sparks fan, but he has never written a book that had the ability to knock the wind out of me one minute, leaving me in complete and utter agony and then bawl tears of joy the next. I am talking sobs, tissues were consumed as I grasped my iPad in my hands and tried to keep reading through the tears. Love stories are told and retold time and again in different ways but Camryn and Andrew's journey to find one another and the events that unfold between them on their road trip across country is what sets their story apart.

I could go on and on and sit here grinning like a fool for another couple of pages but I think I will just summarize my feelings by saying, the bar has been set by J.A. Redmerski! I will forever be in awe of the story of Camryn and Andrew. Whenever I need a reaffirmation of love and of life, this is the book I will turn to. Bravo!

Book Review: Kindred by J.A. Redmerski

Kindred
The Darkwoods Trilogy #2
Author: J.A. Redmerski
Reading Level: Mature YA/Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Released: July 20th 2011
Review Source: Author
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) Isaac Mayfair is hiding a dark secret. And just when Adria Dawson thinks the worst of her life among the werewolf world is over, she learns the secret that can rip her and Isaac’s love apart. Adria must come to terms with what the truth means for her. What it means for her life and how much time she has left to live it. She must choose between two different fates, neither of which can offer life as a certainty.

As if Isaac’s betrayal isn’t enough, Adria learns that there are things out there older and more powerful than werewolves could ever be. An archaic entity known only to few as the Praverian, unlike anything Adria has ever known or heard of.

As Adria struggles with her own fateful dilemmas, she must also try to find out why the Praverian is so interested in her and do everything in her power to stay out of its way.

Due to adult content, this book is recommended for 17+.

When we left our characters in Mayfair Moon, Isaac Mayfair had just battled Viktor Vargas to save Adria Dawson's life. Isaac's father, Trajan (the Alpha of their pack) stepped in to save Isaac's life and Isaac believed Viktor to be dead. He had declared his love for Adria and sworn to protect her, even if it meant stepping away from his rightful place in his packs next Alpha to be with the human love of his life.

We pick up 7 months later with Adria still harboring the secret that Viktor Vargas was not killed by Trajan. Adria knows Viktor is still alive and a threat to Isaac's family because Aramei (Trajan's wife) is still alive. Aramei is kept alive by a secret Blood Bond she shares with Viktor and the blood that Trajan continues to feed her. Should Viktor ever die, Aramei would also perish. Trajan has always known and kept this a secret from his children.

Adria is also suffering dizzy spells, often blacking out and waking up to realize she can't remember anything surrounding the black out. She starts to believe whole heartedly that Viktor forced a Blood Bond on her that night of the bloody battle 7 months ago. This would explain the dizzy spells and her losing her mind, much like Aramei has over centuries. Adria hasn't had werewolf blood in 7 months so she believes this to be the reason why she is losing her mind so much quicker than Aramei did. It took Aramei at least 50 years before her memory loss started to kick in and she slowly started to lose control of her body. Adria doesn't want to live like Aramei but she also does not want to be "turned" into a werewolf. She's afraid to reveal what she truly believes happened that night 7 months ago to Isaac, and continues to believe that if she tells him, it would surely spell the end of their relationship.

All of her fears about the Blood Bond are further cemented with the sight of Genna Bishop hanging around the Mayfair house. She doesn't recall Genna (a girl from her Chemistry class) ever hanging out with any of the Mayfair's before. The Mayfair's don't allow just anyone into their home. They specifically don't allow humans into their home with the exception of Harry (Adria's best friend and also Daisy Mayfair's boyfriend) and Adria. So why is she becoming so front and center in their lives?

J.A. Redmerski was slow with her story, laying all of the elements out for you in Mayfair Moon. It wasn't until the last few chapters that the story really got juicy. But apparently it was all to set you up to dive head first into the sequel. I absolutely could not get enough of this book. Truth be told, I noticed the sequel was released and casually asked Yara if she could get her hands on an eBook copy of Kindred for me to read and review. She came through and I proceeded to devour the pages of J.A. Redmerski's second novel. She has given us a beautiful love story intertwined with a very original take on Werewolf lore and will have you flipping pages furiously to find out what is going on with Adria and how it will effect her relationship with Isaac and the rest of the Mayfair's. She also threw the cherry on top in the last few chapters giving us what most writers give us after a novel is released. She gives us a few chapters from Isaac's perspective, letting us have a glimpse into what he is feeling about Adria and the events unfolding in his life.

If you've read Mayfair Moon, you won't want to miss Kindred and later this year, Redmerski will give us The Ballad of Aramei, the final novel in The Darkwoods Trilogy! Also, check out her giveaway at www.jessicaredmerski.com to enter for a chance to win signed copies of the entire trilogy.

Book Review: The Mayfair Moon by J.A. Redmerski

The Mayfair Moon
The Darkwoods Trilogy #1
Author: J.A. Redmerski
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Paranormal
Released: January 6th 2012
Review Source: Author
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) After a nightmarish encounter with a werewolf, seventeen-year-old Adria Dawson loses her sister, but gains the love of a mysterious young man and his legendary family.

Strange and tragic things begin to happen in the small town of Hallowell, Maine: residents come down with an unexplainable ‘illness’ and some disappear. In the midst of everything, Isaac Mayfair is adamant about keeping Adria safe, even from her sister whom he has warned her to stay away from.

As unspeakable secrets unfold all around Adria, impossible choices become hers to bear. Ultimately, no matter what path she takes, her life and the lives of those she loves will be in peril. As she learns about the werewolf world she also learns why her place in it will change the destinies of many.

I'm just going to start by saying that I am usually a vampire girl myself. I have never picked up a book that was strictly about werewolves before. This story has no other supernatural beings in it except werewolves which is a switch from most YA supernatural books. All that being said, this was a pretty interesting and different read for me.

This is a modern day story centering around Adria Dawson and starts out in Athens, Georgia. Adria (or sometimes Dria) is going into her Junior year in High School. She lives with her mother and her mothers abusive and often drunk, husband. She has a sister named Alexandra (or Alex) whom has turned eighteen and is contemplating moving out of the house and wants Adria to go with her if she wants. But one night in the woods with her sister in Georgia will change both of their lives forever. They see something that can't possibly be real, a werewolf. Neither of them believing what they are seeing end up in the middle of a werewolf skirmish in the woods and run screaming for their lives. They end up in a ditch and life is never the same. Child Protective Services and are sent to their home to investigate the girls having not been in school and suspicion that the step father has been abusive to the girls. Both girls being covered in bruises from their interesting night in the woods does nothing to silence CPS and they are sent to live with their Uncle Carl and his wife Beverlee in Hallowell, Maine. Hallowell is a small town and means a fresh start, away from the abusive father, but Alex is not interested in fitting in or starting over. She becomes reclusive but Adria is determined to try to start fresh.

Adria makes several friends her first day at school. She is also introduced to the sight of the "freak" in school, the other new girl, Zia, whom has been at the school only a week longer than Adria. Zia has a very interesting family and Adria soon becomes friends with her and finds herself interested in one of the guys that Zia lives with, Isaac Mayfair. Isaac is drawn to Adria but like most YA novels, she doesn't think that's the case and she gets swept into a world she never truly believed could exist. A world where her life is in danger at every turn because her sister, Alex, the recluse since they moved to Maine has been hanging out with members of the Vargas family. Adria soon finds herself in the middle of a feud between enemy clans and her sister is on the enemies side.

The story is broken up into two parts. Part 1 is sort of slow, especially the first few chapters, so if you find yourself like me, constantly needing to be grabbed by the first few chapters, it won't happen, just hang in there, the story will pick up. It's not until the end of Part 1 that the story really starts to get juicy but Part 2 does not fail to entertain, interest and keep the readers attention. Overall for my first werewolf book, this book was very enjoyable and I look forward to reading more werewolf stories in the future and especially looking forward to seeing where Book 2 in this series picks up next year.