Today I am featuring a first chapter review of Crossed Fire by Kim Baccellia. This is a YA paranormal series.
BLURB: Stephanie Stewart is a typical sixteen-year-old girl—she loves hanging out with her friends, going to concerts, and sipping mocha lattes. Yup. Just your average teenager . . . Except for one difference—she can see and talk to the dead. In fact, Stephanie helps dead girls who who’ve been murdered or killed, cross over. Just as Stephanie is getting used to her unique “gift”, her mom stumbles into some dangerous witchcraft that backfires and triggers similar abilities in Stephanie’s best friend Cura, and nemesis Hillary. Stephanie already has enough trouble trying to maintain a “normal” life between school and her cute boyfriend Dylan, who happens to have a supernatural talent all his own. But now she has to help her friend Cura and her “frenemy” Hillary cope with their new-found powers as well as cross over two murdered cheerleaders and battle an evil demon who wants to use Stephanie’s supernatural strengths as a free pass to The Other Side. And she needs to do it all while still getting her term papers in on time. She’s definitely going to need an extra-large mocha latte for this.
COVER: Love it! This cover is appropriate for the genre and catches the eye. Interesting that it is so different from the cover of the first book in the series, but I prefer it.
FIRST CHAPTER: Stephanie, her best friend (Cura), and her frenemy (Hillary) are brought to an old sorority house by their mothers. When their witching ceremony unexpectedly triggers abilities in Cura and Hillary, it also brings forth another girl that Stephanie has to help cross over.
KEEP READING: One hundred percent yes. Paranormal isn't the genre I typically flock to, but the blurb on this novel caught my eye and I'm familiar with the author, so I decided to give it a shot. I am so glad I did. Told in first person, Stephanie shares an incident that happened between Dylan, his grandma and her, before moving forward to the day the moms get the girls together at the condemned sorority house in the hopes of stopping any more strange events in town. Superbly told, this is definitely a book I want to read to the end. If you enjoy the paranormal, Crossing Fire should be on your "want to read" list.
Excerpt:
Funny how a little thing like a dead chick showing up at a witching ceremony can really clear the room. Or in this case, a condemned sorority building. I’m sure there was a cheesy horror movie idea in there, but I didn’t want to stick around to figure out the ending.
Emily’s screams bounced down the staircase after me like a rubber ball from Hell. I dashed down the rickety staircase, on my mother’s heels. I almost toppled us both the rest of the way after I tripped on a loose board.
Mom yanked me out the front door and we ran to the car. Getting in, Mom quickly pressed a button and I heard the reassuring thwack of the door locks sealing us in. Whew. She gunned the engine of our Toyota Rav4 and sped away. I swear she must have left tire marks.
Neither of us spoke. I knew she had to be pissed at me for trying to “do my thing.” Well, whatever. I was pissed at her for lying to me.
After a few minutes, I peeked at her from the corner of my eye. Her face was a frozen mask that had nothing to do with her bi-monthly trips to the dermatologist. She didn’t look my way or comment on the mess back at the sorority house. They should have realized that they were playing with fire. I mean, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out I was one huge ghost magnet.
Amazon:
Barnes & Noble:
Books a Million:
IndieBound:
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/crossed-fire-book-2-crossed-series
I received a free digital copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions. This first chapter review contains my honest opinion, which I have not been compensated for in any way.
I received a free digital copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions. This first chapter review contains my honest opinion, which I have not been compensated for in any way.
Kim Baccellia has always been a sucker for the paranormal. She blames it on her families’ love for such things as having picnics at cemeteries, visiting psychics, and reading her mother’s copies of the daily horoscope. In middle school, Kim wrote a horoscope column for the school newspaper. It was a huge hit!
Kim’s other published YA fantasies include NO MORE GODDESSSES, GODDESSES CAN WAIT, and EARRINGS OF IXTUMEA. All are available on Barnes & Noble.com and Amazon.
A member of RWA, Kim is currently revising a YA post-apocalyptic novel where a Latina teen questions her cult’s faith. She’s working on a romance set in Tuscany, Italy. She lives in Southern California with her husband, son, and Damon, her pet cockatiel.
Kim’s other published YA fantasies include NO MORE GODDESSSES, GODDESSES CAN WAIT, and EARRINGS OF IXTUMEA. All are available on Barnes & Noble.com and Amazon.
A member of RWA, Kim is currently revising a YA post-apocalyptic novel where a Latina teen questions her cult’s faith. She’s working on a romance set in Tuscany, Italy. She lives in Southern California with her husband, son, and Damon, her pet cockatiel.
Author links:
GIVEAWAY
Kim Baccellia will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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8 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
Are any of the characters in your book based on real people? Congrats on the release. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
Congrats on the tour and thank you for the opportunity to read about another great book. With so many readers in my family, always great to hear about more choices I think they'd enjoy reading.Having a family who loves to read, I always
I liked the excerpt.
Thanks for the great review and for hosting me.
Joseph,
No, all the characters are 'made up' though Cura's name has a backstory. At my local BofA branch, the clerk waiting on me was named Cura. I'm some what fluent in Spanish, but I never saw that name before. When I asked her about it she told me her parents were Cure fans and named her after them. I loved that idea and used the name. Cura's mother is a big Cure fan.
Rita,
Thanks!
Great post - thanks for sharing!
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