Review + Giveaway: Savor by Kate Evangelista

Book Description:

Published 2013 by Crescent Moon Press

Mature and explicit content. Not recommended for readers below 18-years-old. Yup, you've got to be that old to read my story. Consider yourself warned.

I’m Dakota Collins, a tough talking, eye patch wearing, workaholic photography student. Why am I important? Well, maybe because I get to spend an entire month with Vicious, only the sickest indie rock band out there.

You see, I needed a subject for my Spring Showcase introspective in order to graduate. During a chance encounter at a club I’d been sent to cover for the Daily Gossip, our ironically named college paper, the features writer I usually teamed up with introduced me to the band—by accident, I might add. It involved a run in with a scary, bald bodyguard. Anyway, long story short, I signed a contract to take pictures of Vicious.

I should have known their handsome yet way too serious for his own good bassist, Luka Visraya, wouldn't be able to keep his hands to himself. He’s gorgeous and all, but the way he smiles spelled trouble with a capital L. I’m in for a long month with him around.

Crazy shit happens and then some. So, if you want the skinny on Vicious and the events revolving around my stay at Lunar Manor, read my story.

Again, refer to the warning above.

Reviewer's Copy: Ebook

Source: Kate + Iris from Paranormal Cravings (Thank you!)

My Thoughts:

Contrary to my usual review format I'm not starting with the main character nor the summary. My delicious confusion can be summed up in one word: Luka. What? When? How? Why? Kate's enlightening revelation wiped away my doubts: Savor is set in an alternate universe from Taste. Luka, the blue-eyed, curly blond boy, had become a magnetic and mysterious rockstar. He was a complex character, equally charming and frustrating at the same time. Half the time I wanted to understand him and give him a hug. Other times, I just wanted to give him a slap so he would wake to reality.

Dakota was unlike any other heroine I've met. She wore an eye-patch and not just for fun. She had the appreciative perception of a photographer. That was what interested me the most. Aside from that, she was a real person, not afraid to address her wants and needs in life. In her one-month stay at the Lunar Manor, she wound her roots around Vicious - the members, their lives and their secrets. It had been a long time since I read about something band-related. I was so delighted to have the familiar elements of band-in-a-story, their background, their music and their lives. Vicious was unlike any other band I ever encountered.

Dakota and Luka's push-and-pull dynamic really got to me, in a good way. I was just as eager as Luka and just as frustrated as Dakota. There was an undeniable zing between these two, so palpable that it could be cut with scissors. They were strangers attracted towards one another. It was like looking across the street and meeting someone's eyes and feeling this spark. You are interested and intrigued and yet you are afraid to cross that street, afraid to break the modicum of "no talking to strangers." Nevertheless, I loved them together. I wish there was more time for their bond to develop into something more definite. I'm looking forward to that in the sequel.

Kate's writing was just as superfluous as I remember it. Honest, funny and colorful, giving life to every bit of her fictional world and characters. The photography and music involved made Savor worth reading for me. I am a frustrated photographer, so Dakota's hobby and future career appealed to me. Aside from these things, the plot unraveled smoothly. The entire stay in Lunar Manor felt like a mini-vacation for me. I wanted to extend. 80% of my questions were answered by the end. But that killer cliffhanger definitely zombified a few of the answered questions in my head, mutated them into complex musings and predictions. To be honest, the shift from through and through contemporary romance to slight paranormal jolted me out of my seat. There was a spark of what-the-heck-is-happening?? but at the same time, there was a part of me that guessed this paranormal element. I liked how something so small in Savor had suddenly roared to life at the end. You'll find out when you read it.

Savor is sizzling, picturesque and sensually tantalizing. I recommend this for readers of Kate Evangelista's awesomeness, contemporary readers and paranormal romance readers. Suitable for older teens.

4.5 Cupids = Obsessive book love.
Almost made it as one of my favorites! I strongly recommend this!

Prize: 5 - E-copies of TASTE by Kate Evangelista (International Giveaway) running from Jan 1 till Feb 7, 2014.

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