Shattered Promises Blog Tour By Author Jessica Sorensen with Review and Interview.
(A re-imagining of The Fallen Star told as a New Adult Paranormal)
For twenty-one year-old Gemma, life has never been normal. She knows nothing about her past and has been haunted by the same monsters in her nightmares for the last few months. Unemotional and numb to life, she feels disconnected from everyone. Until the very first day she cries. After that, nothing in her life is the same.
Her emotions slowly surface and she starts experiencing love, happiness, and anger, feelings she never knew existed. But they leave her confused and she doesn’t know whether to embrace them or run away from them.
Her life only gets more complicated when she meets Alex. Sexy, arrogant, and secretive, Alex can get under Gemma’s skin like no one can. Yet she’s drawn to him by an invisible connection she has no control over. She’s also seen him before. In her nightmares.
Every part of Gemma’s mind is screaming at her to stay away from Alex, but every other part of her is begging to get close to him. But the closer she gets, the more she realizes Alex knows more about her than he originally let on.
As secrets about her past unravel, Gemma’s life becomes threatened. She needs to figure out what’s going on, before she winds up dead. But the only person she can turn to for answers is the one person she isn’t sure she can trust.
The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Jessica Sorensen, lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she's not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.
Review:
First let me state that it is not necessary to have read The Fallen Star series as this book is a "re-imagining" of the original geared to a more adult audience. I have not yet read The Fallen Star series and I definitely do not feel as though I missed anything for not having read it prior to delving into Shattered Promises. That being said, allow me to move on to how I felt about the book...
My first impression of this story is that, to me at least, it is a very original concept. The idea of moving through life never connecting with other people fully or even being able to feel any type of apropriate human emotion drew me in immediately. How would a person cope being so separated from those around them? And more importantly for this story, how would a person cope when suddenly every emotion never felt before suddenly became extremely real with no explanation as to why?
I thoroughly enjoyed the author's telling of Gemma's story. The heroine of our story is easy to like and feel a certain level of empathy for. Although she makes some ill advised choices, given the magnitude of changes she is forced through in a short period of time I suppose it is not unexpected. Alex, our hero, is likeable at times and infuriating at others. His character made me smile and then made me want to throw my reader across the room in pure frustration. Gemma and Alex's story is a complex and complicated one that has a great deal more to be explored and I look forward to the ride.
I do hope the author expands on some of the things she introduced in this first installment of Gemma's story. I would really like to know what it was that prompted Gemma's feelings to surface as well as quite a few other questions (which I cannot say more on without giving away too much of the story!) that surfaced while reading.
On the whole this was a great read that I would highly recomend. I am anxiously awaiting the next book to find out where the author takes the tale next.
~Caron
Interview With Jessica Sorensen
- First let me start off by asking you how you are? Hope you are well. I also want to thank you for taking the time to answer these questions.
You’re
very welcome.
- What can you tell us of Shattered Promises without giving too much away?
Shattered
Promises is a New Adult Paranormal book, and it’s actually a rewrite to one of
my young adult paranormal books. It’s about Gemma who hasn’t been able to feel
emotions for most of her life. When she suddenly starts experiencing things like
happiness, sadness, and pain, she thinks she’s crazy. But then she meets Alex
and realizes there’s so much more to her and life than she originally thought.
- Where did the idea for the story come from?
A dream I
had. It started out just being about a girl who couldn’t feel emotion. The
paranormal aspects were added later.
- Who/What inspired you to write it?
I’m not
really sure what the exact inspiration was behind the concept of the story. I
loved the idea of trying to write about a character that was learning about
emotions. And the vampires, fey, and witches part came from my love for the
paranormal.
- How long have you been writing?
Since I
was a kid, but I mostly wrote short stories and poetry back then. I started
writing novels about five years ago.
- Did you always know you wanted to be an author?
I’ve
always loved to write, but I didn’t always want to be an author. I went through
a lot of phases that included wanting to be a vet, lawyer, teacher, journalist.
- Is there anything you would like to say to your friends/family/fans reading this right now?
Hi! And
thanks so much for all your support!
- Do you have any other works coming up and if so, what can you tell us about them?
The books
I have schedule to release this year are The
Forever of Ella and Micha, the follow up to The Secret of Ella and Micha,
one of my new adult contemporary books. The
Evanescence, the last book in the Fallen Souls series, which is one of my
young adult series. And I’ll be release Fractured
Souls, which is book two in the Shattered Promises Series.What
inspires you to write and how do you push through writer's block?
- What inspires you to write and how do you push through writer's block?
-
Music,
life, something I’ve read, or seen on television—inspiration pretty much comes
from anywhere.
As for
writers block, if I find myself really struggling to get words down, I’ll
usually take a fifteen-minute break to clear my head and usually I can jump
right back into the story.
Are there
any people you would like to specifically point out who have helped you in any
way?
There are
so many people that have helped me—family, friends, bloggers.
A Small List of Favorites:
- Television Show? The Vampire Diaries
- Movie? Hmmm… I don’t really have a favorite, but I’m a sucker for comedies like Bad Teacher and The Hangover.
- Actor(ess)? Ian Somerhalder
- Ice Cream Flavor? Cookie Dough
- Color? Purple and black
- Book? There are way too many to just name one.
- Author? Lol, again way too many.
- Hobby? Playing the piano or drums
- Genre to read? New Adult Contemporary
- Genre to write? New Adult Contemporary
- Band? Spill Canvas
- Genre of music? Rock/Alternative
This or That:
- Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla
- Spongebob or Dora (The 7 year old here wants to know that one xD )? Spongebob!
- Texting or Phone Call? Texting
- Reading or Writing? Writing
- Facebook or Twitter? Facebook
- Red or Blue? Blue
- Music or Silence? Music!
- Pancakes or Waffles? Waffles
- Love or Crush? Love
- Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day? Valentine’s Day
- Thanksgiving or Fourth of July? Thanksgiving
- Birthday or Christmas? Christmas
Thank you again for taking the time to answer these. You can refuse to answer any you want and I will exclude it from the list. I hope the fans and readers get to know more about you with you answering these! Thanks again!
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~Tonya, Bree, and Caron
I have heard nothing but good things about this book! Can't wait to read it!
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