Welcome to my stop for Awaken, Book Two in Lori Adams’ Soulkeepers series. Please be sure to check out the other tour stops, read my excerpt here and don’t forget to enter the tour wide giveaway where one lucky winner will get a $25 eGift Card of Winner’s Choice Bookseller and Copy of FORBIDDEN: The Soulkeepers Book One by Lori Adams.

Book Review:

Picking up where Forbidden ends, this is a “must read in order” series or you will be hopelessly lost. Fortunately the masses of information for backstory are almost entirely provided in the first book, so this installment read much faster, and felt far more ‘of the moment’ than the first.

Sophia has found her destiny: she is to be a Spirit Walker, a sort of crossing-guard for souls that need to pass on to the afterlife.  In this book, she is aware of and ready to assume her new task, and her determination and maturation are welcome additions to her character.  After surviving a “kiss of death” from the hell-bound Dante, she believes she can now move on and take charge. And then there is her secret love shared with Michael, because he can’t be ‘involved’ with a human. And, her father is starting to return to the land of the living after her mother’s death, so she is feeling that things are starting to head in a positive direction.  BUT…

Of course, this is a love triangle: Michael the forbidden one who spends his time alternately ignoring her or being absolutely adorable and Dante the former love from lifetimes ago who is willing to do anything to make her choose him and return to live with him in Hell.  Yeah – choices: neither of them particularly wonderful.   Add to that the questions about her new friends, her determination to achieve her own goals despite the dangers, and some true emotional upheavals that keep her unable to focus and concentrate and there is a giant ball of mess ready to explode.  And, there is a cliffhanger…..

While I didn’t expect an ENDING sort of ending, I hadn’t expected such a major cliffhanger either…. Who has the secret that could uncover everything? What happened at the dance?  And just what twists will Sophia’s experimentation with all things witchy bring?  I’m ready to know now…

Title: Awaken
Author: Lori Adams
Published by: Loveswept
Format:eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Pages: 299
Rated:
Get Your Copy: Amazon ♦ iTunes ♦ Downpour ♦ IndieBound

About the Book:

The thrills continue in Lori Adams’s addictive series of paranormal romance—the Soulkeepers—featuring the hottest love triangle in this life . . . or the next.

Sophia St. James has every reason to be happy: she survived the kiss of death from the seductive Demon Knight Dante and is free to be with Michael, her sexy Guardian Angel. She eagerly begins her Awakening to become a Spirit Walker and help lost souls cross over. But her training is fraught with setbacks, and Michael begs her to stop. The life of a Spirit Walker is far too dangerous, and he won’t be able to protect her.

Then Dante returns, threatening to drag Sophia to Hell so they can finally be together. Terrified of losing everything she has worked for, Sophia turns the tables on Dante, luring him into a deception that may get them both killed. The stakes climb even higher when Dante’s ally, Wolfgang, emerges from Hell with one order: kill Sophia. Will Michael once again be Sophia’s saving grace or will the Awakening give her the power she needs to save herself?

 

A copy of this title was provided via Publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

 

Excerpt:

Sometimes I can’t believe it’s me he really wants. Sometimes I find myself waiting for him to laugh and say it was all some supernatural joke. Guardian humor. And sometimes I’m afraid I’ll wake up and discover that he compelled me to forget I love him, forget that his heartbeat pounds inside my chest, too.And then there are times, like today, when Michael’s desire for me seems magnified beyond reasonable proportions.So why is he taking risks that he said we shouldn’t? What’s changing?“Please, babe,” he begs sweetly, brushing his nose against mine. “And stop being so suspicious. We’re fine. Now may I see you tonight?”I smile cautiously and consider. I love when Michael asks to spend time with me, but a pesky feeling is buzzing around my head, and I know I have to be the practical one. So I tell Michael that I’m drowning in homework. My academic adviser has recently tossed out a life raft, and if I hang on and don’t sink to the bottom, I might still have a decent college application.This is all true, but if I’m being totally honest, this waiting around to start my spiritual training has been driving me to desperate measures; I’ve become annoyingly tenacious about my future college plans. I don’t want to settle for less.

Michael is quiet, disappointed, and slightly pissed.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “You know I hate to disappoint you but—”

“Then don’t,” he snaps, and we lock eyes. His are still blazing indigo but when he sees my reaction, they begin to churn back to pale blue. “Sorry,” he mutters, lowering me to the floor and stepping back. He inhales and shoves his hands into his pockets. I feel empty and alone without his touch.

Me and my stupid mouth.

I really do hate to disappoint him, so I scramble to make amends. “Actually, if I leave now and work on my essays, we can hang out later. Around nine?”

Michael contemplates with a greedy look. “Eight o’clock.”

My eyes narrow, and I decide to ignore his bossy tone, again. “Well, maybe eight-forty-five but—”

“Eight-thirty,” he challenges. He’s being uncharacteristically stubborn and my interest peaks.

“Fine, Michael. Eight-thirty. But I’ll drive to you.” There is a glint in my eyes that says I mean business. See, I can play tough, too.

Michael steps closer, towering over me. He grasps my chin and looks hard into my eyes. “Do. Not. Be. Late,” he warns, and then crushes his mouth onto mine in a quick, demanding kiss that buckles my knees.

 

Giveaway

About Lori Adams

Lori Adams is the author of the Soulkeepers series: Forbidden, Awaken, and Unforgiven. She wrote her first book—about scary sharks—at the age of eight. Now she writes New Adult, young adult, and middle-grade fiction. Originally from Oklahoma, Adams lives in Southern California with her husband and two daughters.

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