Intuition by C.J. Omololu Review

Intuition by C.J. Omololu
Series: Transcendence #2
Publish Date: June 18, 2013
Published by Walker Childrens
Source: Publisher
Find It: Goodreads / Amazon / B&N

As Cole begins to accept her new life as Akhet, someone who can remember flashes of her past lives, every new vision from her past lives helps explain who she is in this life. As her passion for Griffon grows, she learns to identify other Akhet around her, including Drew, the young self-made millionaire who reveals his startling connection to Cole-he was her husband in Elizabethan England and gave her the ankh necklace that has been returned to her after centuries in hiding. Drew's attentions are overwhelming as he insists that their connection in the past signals their future destiny together, but before she can decide who she truly loves, Cole must learn to harness her unique Akhet abilities if she is to ever understand her role in this strange new world. -(from Goodreads) 

**I've done my best to remain SPOILER FREE for Transcendence 

except for what is in the above summary.
You should be safe to read this before reading Transcendence.**

Intuition by C.J. Omololu 

My Thoughts:  I read Transcendence by C.J. Omololu over a year ago and loved it a ton. Not only was the cover AMAZING but I thought the story offered an interesting spin on the reincarnation story. I was thrilled to find that there would be another book coming out, and it's been a long time coming. Thankfully, the time arrived for me to get my hands on it and you guys, I just wasn't disappointed at all in this one. I loved it probably better than the first one. 

(You can find my thoughts on Transcendence by C.J. Omololu HERE.)

*********************************************************************

A little background from the first book: Cole and Griffon are a couple - both are Akhet, meaning that they can remember who they were from their past lives. While other people just start over with new memories in every life, Akhet keep all of their old memories and collect them, building on them with each new life. Interestingly, Akhet can sense each other in proximity, which was fun in Transcendence as we were learning characters. (By now, we've collected a group of Akhet that sort of hang around each other, which is also fun and provides a great storyline. Also: Hello, great secondary characters!) There are both good-guy and bad-guy Akhet, called Rogues, and these Rogues can cause a ton of trouble for everyone as they tend to not want to keep with the group. In Transcendence, Cole had a Rogue following her and it was Griffon that kept her safe while he also taught her about being Akhet (she was a new Akhet), and naturally the two of them fell in love. 

In Intuition: Cole is growing into her life as Akhet, becoming more independent of Griffon although the two of them are still a loving couple. They are great together and love each other a lot. Their love is threatened, however, when another Akhet, Drew, keeps showing up stating that he knew Cole centuries ago - he goes on to say that they were together in the past. Like, together together. To make matters worse, Cole is beginning to remember this life that she shared with drew (back when they were called Connor and Allison - Confusing? Actually, not really once you read the story.) This presents a challenge because Drew wants her back and Griffon loves her now, in the present. Does this mean a love triangle is in store? Cole loves Griffon but admittedly she is intrigued about the past life she had with Drew, particularly as one-by-one, her memories come back to the surface. It makes for a great part of the story and I really enjoyed reading it. 

Aside from the drama between Drew and Cole, there are still the crazy Rogue Akhet out there and you know what?- they're of course super dangerous. Super dangerous as in: in one instance, special meetings have to be called to figure out what to do because this person has caused trouble they've not encountered before. Yep, CRAZY and EXCITING and OH WOW. Anyway, back to the Rogues. One gal in particular returns from the first book and after causing a ton - A TON - of trouble in Transcendence, she causes another ton of trouble in Intuition. I didn't like her as a person, but her character brought a lot to the story and she introduced some very interesting things for this series and mythology that I didn't actually see coming. What a nasty little critter she was! Sometimes, though, the nasty ones are really fun to read and this one certainly one of those cases. 

And the music - there is music in this book again although it is in a slightly different capacity. It is still classical music - cello - and as my background music is classical in terms of playing instruments, I appreciated it so much. You guys, I don't think I will ever not like a book with music in it if it is written well. I loved the incorporation of the music theme into Intuition and there is even quite a treat that I won't spoil but I found myself smiling pretty hard and almost squealing at one point. Loved it. 

Basically, Intuition is a solid second book in this series. I had no idea that I'd like it even an inkling as much as I liked Transcendence, but I really and truly did. I think this is a fresh and unique series from everything else that is out there and I would love to see more people pick it up and read it. I recommend both Transcendence and Intuition to readers who love YA paranormal/urban fantasy stories with a bit of mystery and maybe a tiny bit of betrayal, stories with music in them, reincarnation stories, and stories that feature wonderful characters of color because Griffon is pretty dang amazing and he looks fabulous sitting up there on the cover of Transcendence. Check that fabulous cover in my picture down below. Great, great design team for this series. 

BEAUTIFUL COVERS:
Transcendence and Intuition by C.J. Omololu

*********************************************************************

Intuition will appeal to fans of:

YA Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

with some Mystery
Reincarnation Stories
Romance: already exists, possible triangle?

Books Containing Music: Cello

Intuition by C.J. Omololu
is available for purchase on June 18, 2012.

**I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion and review. I received no compensation for my thoughts. Thank you Bloomsbury/Walker Childrens!

*********************************************************************

Did anyone read TRANSCENDENCE? 

I really loved it.

What do you guys think of those amazing covers? 

The Do Over by A.L. Zaun Review

The Do Over by A.L. Zaun
Publish Date: May 20, 2013
Source: Author - Thank you!
Find It: Goodreads / Amazon / B&N

Life doesn’t look like it’s supposed to for Dani Ruiz, a hopeless romantic. After a painful and sudden break-up with Rick Marin, Dani hides away from reality, retreating to a world of fiction where she prefers book boyfriends over the hassles of a relationship.

Almost two years later, Dani’s friends are tired of watching her in a holding pattern, so they stage an intervention, forcing her back into the real world of dating.

Unexpectedly, Dani meets Liam Lucas, a down-to-earth firefighter. He might be the person to show her she’s still worth something. Dani’s hesitant to trust her heart with another man, but their instant and electric chemistry is something she can’t deny.

As Dani starts to believe that she’s found her real-life book boyfriend, Rick decides that he’ll go to any lengths to get her back. Seeing Rick as a changed man makes Dani question everything. 

Can Dani trust her patched-up heart with Liam? Or has Rick transformed into the man she’s always wanted?  -(from Goodreads) 

The Do Over by A.L. Zaun 

My Thoughts: This book begins with main character Dani in an intense relationship with Rick, but that ends rather quickly has he abruptly ends the relationship, crushing Dani's heart. For the next couple of years, Dani sort of folds into her books, becoming very attached to the characters in the stories (much like myself). She would rather curl up with a good book than do pretty much anything, much to the annoyance of her friends and the people in her life (I love this about her). Then one day she meets Liam. 

Liam seems to be the opposite of Rick, complete nice-guy to Rick's complete jerk. She falls in love, head-over-heels, and things are going great - when suddenly Rick comes back and wants Dani back. 

*********************************************************************

Oh my goodness, you guys, I couldn't stand Rick in the beginning of the story. I mean, I pretty much hated him and I rarely feel so strongly about characters. He was such a jerk. To be fair, I never really completely fell in love with Dani either in the beginning because she didn't really stand up to Rick, but I did like her once she was on her own. When Rick shows back up - a changed man - I scrunched up my nose and felt stabby. Why? Because I liked Liam. Why does Rick have to come back and ruin things for Dani after screwing up her life years before? The guy was not cool to me.  

Anyway, Liam. The nice guy. Liam and Dani meet when she is taking a CPR course that he's teaching. He's a firefighter. A firefighter, wink wink. They have a nice little relationship and obviously I'm pulling for this side of the love triangle. 

The Do Over is a pretty good story, certainly entertaining and steamy at times. I think that it was interesting that I had such intense feelings of dislike for Rick given that I usually don't really dislike love triangles at all - in fact, I usually really like them. But I just couldn't go for Rick. Perhaps it's because Dani felt like Liam was her real-life book boyfriend and I also like feeling the connections to book characters myself? Or perhaps it's just because I think Liam was the right one for her. 

I recommend The Do Over to people that enjoy reading New Adult/Adult Contemporary Romance books, books with second chances, and books with firefighters with a 5 o'clock shadow. Hello there!

*********************************************************************

A.L. Zaun graduated from Florida International University with a degree in English Literature a long time ago.  A degree she didn’t use at all in her professional endeavors.  She loves to read, write and take pictures.  She walks around with her camera, and most importantly she has her e-reader available at all times.  Healthcare Management by day, Mommy in the evening and most nights, you can find her sitting in front of her laptop with a bottle of Diet Pepsi, bringing the voices in her head to life on the pages of her debut novel, The Do Over.

Find A.L. Zaun:  Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook   

*********************************************************************

The Do Over will appeal to fans of:

New Adult/Adult Contemporary Romance

Romance: Love triangle. 

Firefighters.

The Do Over by A.L. Zaun

is currently available for purchase. 

*********************************************************************