Monday 18 June 2012

Blog Tour and Review: Spectral by Shannon Duffy

Today I've been given another great opportunity to participate in another blog tour hosted by Tribute Books.




  Title: Spectral
  Author: Shannon Duffy
  Publisher: Tribute Books
  Publication date: April 10th 2012
  

Convinced she’s a part of the witness protection program, sixteen-year-old Jewel Rose is shuffled around the globe with her family like a pack of traveling gypsies. After arriving at lucky home twenty-seven, she stumbles upon a mysterious boy with magical powers claiming to be her guardian . . . and warning of imminent danger. Despite the obvious sparks between them, Jewel discovers a relationship is forbidden, and the more she learns about dark, brooding Roman, she begins to question who she can even believe — the family who raised her, or the supposed sworn protector who claims they’ve been lying to her all along.

As she struggles to uncover who her family has really been running from, she is forced to hide her birthmark that reveals who she is. With new realities surfacing, unexplained powers appearing, and two tempting boys vying for her heart, Jewel battles to learn who she can trust in an ever growing sea of lies, hoping she’ll make it through her seventeenth birthday alive.

Kindle | Nook | Smashwords | PDF

Lately I’ve taken a bit of a nose dive with paranormal reads, whereas before I couldn’t get enough and use to devour them in one sitting, I feel as though many continue to follow the same clichéd paths and thus are unable to keep my attention. However with Spectral I was first drawn to it because of the cover; it had a mesmerising allure to it and my interest was piqued by reading the blurb, what was up with Jewel? And what does fate have in store for her?

Jewel and her family have been on the run for as long as she can remember. They’ve never had the chance to settle down in one place long enough for Jewel to make friends, as her family are in witness protection. Whenever the so called “mob” turns up after her family they have to quickly move to another place. However this time around after settling into their new place strange things start happening, her family seem tenser than before and then her Aunt Eva, Uncle Bernie and gran turn up, they plan to stay with Jewel’s family until her 17th birthday which is weird as they have never stayed with them before. On top of that aunt Eva starts calling the shots around the house, taking over Jewel’s mothers responsibilities, insisting Jewel take her phone with her everywhere and deciding who she can  and cannot hang around with. What exactly are they hiding from her? She hears their whispered conversations about protecting her until her 17th birthday but why?

The reason I enjoyed reading Spectral was because for once there were no signs of vampires, werewolves or shape shifters, it was good to get a break from them and focus on something else for a change. Also because we found ourselves in the same position as Jewel; we had no clue as to what was going on, the only bits and bobs of information we got were from over hearing conversations and what others were telling us. So like Jewel we really had no idea about who to believe.

What also made Spectral an interesting read were the two hot guys; Roman and Chase, gosh they were swoon worthy. I honestly didn’t know who I liked more; on the one hand you had Chase, who had a ripped body, had Jewel’s back covered and wore his heart on his sleeve and then there was Roman, who was enigmatic, had luscious lips and a sexy accent, both of these guys had my heart pumping frantically.

“Kissing Roman was like opening presents on
Christmas morning; you could never tell what
would be wrapped up in each one, but it always
held a promise of something magical”.

Overall Spectral was an enjoyable debut about betrayal and testing where your loyalties lie, but also a story tinged with swoony scenes and a sweet romance.

Thank you to Tribute Books for the opportunity to read this book.



11 comments:

The Teen Book Guru said...

Oooh this seems great, J! Love your review as always. :) I've always wanted my name to be Jewel or Ruby!! *pouts* So jealous of her. Although I do feel kind of bad as she can't really trust anyone and also the fact that she's surrounded in a 'sea of lies'... OMG the guys in this book seem hawt!! Especially Chase, since I kind of have a thing for sensitive guys with ripped bodies, but Roman sounds pretty cool too, what with his sexy accent and all. Fab review, J!! Definitely keeping my eye out for this one, mostly for the two bad-ass book hotties!! ;)

Anonymous said...

I read this one for the blog tour some time back, but unfortunately didn't enjoy the book as much as you did. :(
I had a hard time connecting with the main character and I also had issues with the romance being too much like instant-love. But I did enjoy the plot ! Like you mentioned, it was unique and highly entertaining.
I'm glad you enjoyed this one so much more than I did, Jasprit !
As usual, fantastic review ! :D

Jenny said...

I know exactly what you mean Jasprit! As much as I love my vampires and werewolves, I often get a craving for something new and different and need to take a break from them before they lure me back in. Glad this one gave you what you were looking for, and I have to say I'm super curious about Roman and Chase, they sound highly enjoyable:) Really lovely review!

Maja (The Nocturnal Library) said...

I must admit that the love triangle worries me a bit with this one, but the premise sounds interesting and the cover is gorgeous! I am so glad it's a bit different than the usual YA PNR.
Lovely review, Jasprit!

Mimi Valentine said...

There's nothing worse than getting tired of a genre! I understand completely what you mean about some paranormal books not being as captivating as they used to be, so I'm glad that this was like a nice break from the usual. :) I love my vamps and weres, but originality will always be my favourite! And Chase and Roman... *swoon* Yay for a romance where you don't know which amazing boy to choose! x)

Beautiful review, J! <3

Sam (Realm of Fiction) said...

There are so many paranormal romances around these days, it's difficult for a book to really stand out. I'm glad to hear you found this to be enjoyable! I'm not usually a fan of love triangles but do like the sound of both boys. ;) Lovely review, Jasprit!

Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...

Well you and I differed a bit on the romance, As much as I liked Chase I just never felt like he was a candidate and the whole love triangle felt really forced. I really enjoyed the mystery and liked being in the dark but the end was a bit too chaotic. A good read, though.

Shooting Stars Mag said...

I am rather curious about this one. I was lucky enough to be on the blog tour for the playlist, but I have difficult time reading/reviewing e-books. I'm glad you enjoyed it though. sounds like a good mystery.

-Lauren

Unknown said...

Glad that you seem to enjoy this book, Jasprit! <3 I think Jewel's relationship with Roman is a definition of sweet - they're just so adorable together! Like you said, it's very refreshing to take a break from vampire, werewolf, and I must add: angel. :P

Love the quote you post, makes me want to go back and reread that part! Fantastic review lovely! :)

Tribute Books said...

Jasprit, thanks for the review! :)

Rachel said...

:0 I was chatting earlier today about the similar patterns in some of my favorite paranormal series. I also feel refresh to dive into a néw storyline where I'm uncertain shat will happen.
Fantastic review Jasprit! I enjoyed reading your view of Spectral! Two great guys? I'm in!!!

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