Jess's Book Blog: Review for Desire Awaits and Interview with Author Jaidis Shaw!

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Review for Desire Awaits and Interview with Author Jaidis Shaw!

Title: Destiny Awaits

Series: Juniper Grove Chronicles

Author: Jaidis Shaw

Published: July 19th, 2014

Publisher: Crushing Hearts & Black Butterfly Publishing

Word Count: approx. 50,000

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Recommended Age: 14+

Synopsis:

She wants a normal life. They want her dead. Destiny has other plans.

Twenty-year-old Alayna Scott receives visions around water, but even her foresight couldn’t prepare her for the tragic accident that claimed the lives of her parents. With everything she loves gone, Alayna packs up and moves to the small town of Juniper Grove in hopes of starting over.

Jayden McKnight can’t explain the attraction that he feels whenever Alayna is near, but he does know that he will do whatever it takes to win her heart. When a vampire selects Alayna as his next victim, Jayden will stop at nothing to ensure her safety – even if that means bringing Alayna into a world that she never knew existed.

Love blossoms, challenges are made, and Alayna will find herself fighting not only to survive, but to understand what she has become.

Goodreads
Amazon

Prologue from Destiny Awaits:

Sunlight caught the crystal that hung from the rear view mirror, and rainbow bursts of color radiated throughout the car. My parents and I had gotten up early so that we could make the three hour drive to my uncle’s house, but from the line of backed up traffic in front of us, it seemed that it would take us longer. I leaned back in my seat and let the music blaring in my earbuds help pass the time. My mother turned in her seat in the front, and I glanced at her. Seeing her mouth my name, I pulled one side of the earbuds out of my ear.

“What did you say?” I asked.

“I asked if you were hungry,” she replied. “Your father thinks that we should get off the interstate at the next exit and grab something to eat while the traffic clears up.”

“Sure, that’s fine with me. It’s a good idea, anyway, since Uncle John turned vegetarian. There’s no telling what he’s going to try to get us to eat.”

My father’s hearty laugh rumbled through the car. “Do you remember that rolled up spinach thing he tried to feed us last time?”

“How could I forget?” I said.

Mom sprung to her brother’s defense. “It wasn’t so bad.”

“Then how come you didn’t eat it? I saw you slip it to the dog when you thought nobody was watching.” My father glanced at my mother while she tried to come up with a retort.

“If you saw that, then it’s obvious that I wasn’t sneaky enough.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the window.

My dad laughed as he flipped on the turn signal and merged into the right lane, coming to a stop behind a logging truck. I looked at the long logs protruding from the flatbed. “It always makes me nervous when they hang off like that,” I said. A shiver raced over my body.

“It’s okay. They make sure to load them on so that they won’t come off,” my dad reassured me.

I opened my mouth to reply, but stopped when I heard a screech of tires behind us. Turning my head, I locked eyes with the man in the driver’s seat of the truck that was hurtling toward us. The truck slammed into the back of our car, and my mother’s scream echoed in the tight space around me. A shower of white stars filled my vision as pain ripped through my shoulder and cut off my own scream. As the darkness closed in around me, I heard the faint shrill of sirens in the distance.

THE REVIEW

I felt honored reading this book, because I have done so many tours for Jaidis that I was overjoyed to read her book!!

When I first started reading this book, I felt horrible for Alayna. She's lost her parents in a fatal car accident, and all she wants to do is escape. She decides to do just that by moving to Juniper Grove. It's the farthest place from her home, and little does she know how much moving there will change her life.

She meets Jayden McKnight on her first official day in her new house. He's the one who's been keeping up the place, and the one responsible for cleaning up the house for her. Also, he's good looking. Alayna feels an attraction for him that she isn't expecting, and decides to give him a chance.

When she's suddenly attacked by Gavin, a vampire, her world is completely turned upside down. She finds out from Jayden that the things she believed were only fiction are actually true, and that Jayden himself is a shifter. Things go from bad to worse when she finds out that because of the attack, her blood is now mixed with Gavin's and Jayden's, and they don't know what she is exactly.

I loved this book! Definitely one I will read again. I loved Jayden, as his love for Alayna is complete. He will stop at nothing to protect her and see her safe. One thing Alayna didn't expect was to find a family again. Jayden's family surrounds her and are willing to protect her no matter what.

THE INTERVIEW

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing since I was in elementary school, but never really considered taking it up as a profession. I had my first short story, The Tower, published in 2011 by a small publishing house so I’m relatively new to being an author. That was followed by my first book, Destiny Awaits, being self-published in April of 2012, followed by another short story, Blind Justice, in June of that same year by the same publisher who had my other short story. Destiny Awaits was recently picked back up and is re-released with Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing and I couldn’t be more excited.

What or who inspires you to write?

I started on my first book when I was in college. It was off to a great start, but then I was diagnosed with epilepsy and had to put my writing on hold. I experienced a seizure that turned into status epilepticus, or to put it simply, I was experiencing a grand mal seizure every few seconds for over six hours. It really took its toll on my body and especially my mind. I couldn’t remember who my father was. I had to learn how to form sentences again. I was forced to put my writing on hold to focus on controlling my new condition. After that, I had lost the drive to write. Then a couple of years later, I got married and shortly after we found out that I was pregnant.

I’ve always had the desire to write, but having my first daughter really helped put things into perspective. I felt that I needed to be a good role model for her and to show her that if you want something bad enough, you can make it happen. She is my inspiration to continue writing and that’s why my first book is dedicated to her.

What genre do you like to read?

I love reading in all genres! Each one offers their own unique quality.

What is your favorite genre to write?

So far I’ve dabbled in YA paranormal romance, suspense, western, and am currently working on a paranormal thriller. I’ve loved each one so far and so I don’t think I could pick just one genre to call my favorite.

What do you love about writing and why?

I love writing because it allows me to escape from reality and create something that others can enjoy. It is also a great stress reliever, not to mention much cheaper than therapy.

What is the book about?

Destiny Awaits is about a young woman who has lost her closest family in a tragic accident. Though those still around her try and offer support, she knows that what she once called home will never be the same. She sets out on her own to find a new path to follow and create her new future. She ends up in Juniper Grove where she finds that not everything is as it appears. A vampire has taken a fancy to her, she’s learning about the paranormal world around her, and will have to fight for survival if she hopes to find some part of the new life she so desperately wants.

Who are the characters in the book?

The two main characters are Alayna and Jayden. Alayna is the female lead and is the focus of the book. Jayden is her new neighbor and soon gives in to his feelings for Alayna when she is attacked by a vampire named Gavin.

There are several secondary characters which I enjoyed creating. Julian and Sofia are Jayden’s parents and they were a fun pair to create. When they arrive in town, they bring a couple clan members with them, Darren and Kyle. Those two were especially fun to create as they have a quirky, brother-like relationship so they are always picking on each other.

THE AUTHOR

Jaidis Shaw currently resides in South Carolina with her husband and beautiful daughter (with another daughter on the way). With a passion for reading, Jaidis can always be found surrounded by books and dreaming of new stories. She enjoys challenging herself by writing in different genres and currently has several projects in the works.

Jaidis also owns and operates Juniper Grove Book Solutions, voted Top Three for Best Promotional Firm, Site, or Resource in the 2013 Preditors & Editors Readers’ Poll. In her spare time, Jaidis maintains her two blogs, Juniper Grove and Blooming with Jaidis. One of her main goals in life is to encourage her daughters to let their imaginations run wild.