Anew (The Archers of Avalon #1)

Publication: 7th December 2011

Publisher: Acacia Publishing

Pages: 385

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Two years ago, Scarlet awoke in the forest alone, afraid, and unable to remember anything. Lost and confused, her life was a mystery...until she met a boy with a familiar voice.

Gabriel Archer has a voice from her past, and Scarlet's determined to remember why. She immerses herself in his life only to discover he has a brother he's kept hidden from her: Tristan Archer.

Upon meeting Tristan, Scarlet's world becomes even more muddled. While she's instinctively drawn to Gabriel, she's impossibly drawn to Tristan--and confused out of her mind. As she tries to piece together her history Scarlet realizes her past...might just be the death of her.

(Playlist for ANEW available at http://ow.ly/8vpU2)

My Thoughts...

OMG! How have I not read this book before now?

This book has been on my wishlist for a very long time, so when I found out that there was going to be a blog tour I jumped at the chance, and I was not disappointed!.

There's nothing that I disliked about this book it was absolutely brilliant, my only complaint, that cliffhanger at the end, I honestly wanted to cry, I desperately need to get my hands on the next book Awry, like A.S.A.P!

And so the story goes that two years ago Scarlet awoke in a forest with amnesia, flash forward two years and she is living with a guardian Laura, with still no memory of her previous life.

One day she is at her town Avalon's annual Kissing Festival (where strangers will just come up and kiss you), with her best friend Heather (who is extremely fashion conscious and is all the more hilarious because of it) when she spots a boy more than once standing at a distance staring at her, not being able to see his face she is distracted by Gabriel a new boy in town, but there is something very familiar about his voice and she instantly feels at ease in his prescence, they soon start dating but Scarlet feels that Gabriel is hiding something, and when she turns up unexpectedly at his cabin she soon finds out what that is, an identical twin brother Tristan.

Tristan also seems very familiar to Scarlet but she doesn't know why, but there is a very good reason for that and I loved the surprise of finding out what that was.

This has one of the most original storylines in the paranormal genre that I've ever read and it just added to the fantastic storyline which Chelsea has written.

And don't get me started on the Archer brothers, um yum!

Tristan is just as Elvis Presley would put it 'a hunk, a hunk of burnin' love', I love him and I'm definitely hoping that there is a happily ever after in the end for him and Scarlet, I know that Gabriel is her boyfriend but in my opinion Tristan should win hands down.

I love this series so much, definitely up there with my favourites, and I stongly urge everybody to pick up a copy of this book.

I give this a huge 5/5.

Guest Post..

High School Head Rush

By Chelsea Fine

I’m one of those rare nerds who actually liked high school. I know. SO lame. But I didn’t like high school because of my classes, or teachers, or my ability to drive legally. ;) No. I liked high school because of the books and bands that rocked my world during those pivotal years of my adolescence.

The Books

· The Harry Potter Series WHOA. Harry Potter blew my mind. I used to walk the halls of my high school sighing to myself as I thought, “I wish this was Hogwarts. I would kick butt with a wand.”

· The Vampire Diaries Series I read these books long before they were televised and loved them. You can imagine my complete and utter glee when TVD was made into a TV show. #TeamDamon, baby!

· Fahrenheit 451 I had to read this for English and wow. This book freaked me out in the best kind of way. To this day, I’ll catch myself shushing someone who’s speaking to me while I’m watching TV, and think to myself. “Oh crap. It’s happening. The world is coming to an end and someone’s going to come burn all my books.” Haha. *shifts eyes from side to side* But seriously.

· Babysitting Is A Dangerous Job This book is about a babysitter who gets kidnapped along with the kids she’s in charge of. I’m sure if I read this now I’d laugh at myself, but at the time I was like, “Oh snap. I’m never babysitting again.”

· The Notebook Aw…who didn’t love this book? I read the whole thing in one day, cried my eyes out, and immediately started rereading it. It was the best heartbreak of my life. And actually, The Notebook was the book that made me want to be a writer. True story.

The Music

· Letters to Cleo I loved this band! In high school, I taught myself how to play guitar just so I could play Alouette And Me. Ahhh! :) Big time fangirl.

· Matchbox 20 Is it just me or was every single song on the Yourself or Someone Like You album amazing? I have them all memorized.

· Sheryl Crow I loved her in high school and still love her today. Why? Because she’s a real rock star. No pretences, no showy nonsense, just good music. *love*

· Third Eye Blind This was my painting music. I was really into art in high school (still am) and I used to lock myself in my room and paint for hours while listening to Narcolepsy.

· Jewel I think every girl in the 90s would listen to Jewel and think, “Wow. She’s so deep and dark. I want to be just like her.” Haha. Jewel’s music really helped me tap into my poetic side. I was a guitar-playing, poem-writing artist. *rolls eyes* So typical. Haha.

That pretty much sums up my high school experience. Good books. Good music. Good head rush from it all. ;)

Author Bio:

Chelsea lives in Phoenix, AZ where she spends most of her time writing young adult fiction, painting murals, and avoiding housework at all costs. Her obsessions include: superheroes, coffee, sleeping-in, and crazy socks. She lives with her husband and two children, who graciously tolerate her inability to resist teenage drama on TV and her complete lack of skill in the kitchen.

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