Title: Break Away (Away, #1)
Author: Tatiana Vila
Publisher: Smashwords, Self Published
From: the Author, Thank You!
Synopsis: Ice Queen. That's what everyone calls Dafne at school. The girl with the striking looks of a Raven Princess but whose cold-steeled touch freezes everyone in her way. Her reputation works for her and she even likes it. People don't mess with her—except for her sister's infuriatingly handsome boyfriend, Ian, who loves pushing her subzero temper to its limits.
Life in Berryford is flowing exactly as she wants it—no drama, no boy trying to get into her pants—until she starts noticing odd, glazed-eyed students everywhere. Something weird is happening and, unusual enough for her, she needs to find out why. But when people start falling into a coma with no reason, among them Dafne's sister, she decides to take the matter in her hands, because if her intuition is right, this isn't something doctors or virologists can fight. This is something…more.
With frustration and guilt leading her way, and Ian forcing himself to her side, Dafne will step onto a road that'll open her eyes to why ignorance is bliss, why hate is so close to love, and why our imagination might be the most dangerous weapon ever known.
Review: 3 Stars - Tatiana Vila’s new book Break Away is the first book in a
new series.
Twins Dafne & Buffy know loss. They live with their aunt
and grandmother after losing both their parents. Dafne freeze’s everyone out and
she has succeeded with her ice queen reputation. Buffy is the opposite, popular
and with a boyfriend that likes to push Dafne as close to the edge as possible
when it comes to irritating her.
When Dafne starts to notice people acting strange and learns
that many are falling into a coma for no reason all over the world, she knows
something bigger is going on than even the CDC could understand. When Buffy
falls into this weird coma, Dafne knows she has to find a way to bring her and
everyone back or a way to stop it from happening to anyone else before it’s too
late.
Dafne’s an interesting character. She hides inside herself,
keeps everyone out, is artistic and lost after losing her parents. She has a
great support system at home if only she’s let more people in other than her
Grandmother and best friend. I could somewhat relate to her, which I’m sure
many people will since most of us have had some kind of pain or loss in their
lives.
And then we have Ian, Buffy’s boyfriend, who if you ask me
is attracted to Dafne when he shouldn’t be. I mean he’s dating Buffy and all,
so I more than understood why Dafne thought of him as a slime ball. He kind of
frustrated me and seeing how he knew exactly how to push Dafne’s buttons doing
it with such excitement was madding for me as the reader. Then, as I continued
to read, Vila explains their strange relationship and while I had a much better
understanding about the two and what their draw to each other was, in the end I
still ended up with mixed feelings for both characters. Talk about a roller coaster ride of emotions for me when it came to these two!
The story was somewhat confusing throughout the first half
of the book. It felt kind of… choppy. While continuing reading it felt better
rounded and the last few chapters were what made the book for me. Some things
could have been a bit more fleshed out, making the book as a whole and the characters
a bit fuller. However, that ending totally grabbed a hold of me and I think I
groaned in frustration over the somewhat cliffhanger Vila left us with. Not to
mention wanting to find out more about the coma and waking people up from it.
So, I guess we’ll just have to wait for the next book in the series, right?
All in all, I liked Vila’s imagination and the whole idea
behind the story. She found a way to change things up and to put a bit of a
paranormal twist into this one, making it so far from the norm that many will
find this title an interested and entertaining read. I did enjoy the story and
the characters had an emotional affect on me as I’m sure they will on you, so
check it out and see what you think of it.
Looking forward to the second book in the Away series and after reading this
one, I think you will be too.
Excerpt:
He ran his hand through his hair, with one of those girl-melting smiles playing on his lips, and looked at me. “It’s part of being a passionate art slave. Paint runs through my veins.”
“Take it easy on the theatrics,” I scoffed, laying down the chopsticks on the plate. “I'm passionate about Art, too, and I don’t need to sport a freaking splotch on my skin twenty-four-seven like some neon sign.” Maybe it wasn’t seven days a week, but it was enough to set it as one of his trademarks.
“Well, I like it. I think it’s cute,” Buffy said as she straightened holding several DVDs in her hands, then glanced at him and winked.
I rolled my eyes.
Ian laughed, that low and careless sound flying into the air. “Hmm, I think your sister may like it, too, and she doesn’t know how to handle it,” he told Buffy and turned to look at me. “Am I right?”
“You wish.” I arched my eyebrows and looked down at the sushi resting on my lap, my Japanese craving suddenly shrinking. I so disliked him. “Gran!” I called, the fury boiling in my stomach pitching my voice to a louder note. “I need the…”
“It’s here. It’s here,” Gran repeated as she stepped inside the living room—which had turned into a living hell—with a small bowl in her slightly wrinkled hands. She handed it to me and walked to the solid oak wood cabinet. Several pictures crowded the cabinet’s surface, some dating the times of her youth in dull, faded colors, and some displaying flamboyantly the outcome of her past—us.
Mom and Dad’s pictures were hiding in her bedroom. She’d decided to veil them from our sight for our own good. Every time we saw them smiling at us through the glossy paper, the air in the house became a cold pressure, weighing our heads and chests with a terrible pain. Whenever the need to watch those happy glimpses of time clutched our hearts, Gran’s door always welcomed our hands. Though it’d been only once for me, I knew Buffy’s fingers had enclosed that brass handle a few times more.
“You have a letter, Dafne.” Gran said, pointing to the metallic slinky I’d convinced her to use as a mail holder. It filled the empty spot where Mom and Dad’s pictures had been.
“Oh, yeah, I was waiting for it.” I bent forward and stretched myself to reach the coffee table to place the plate and the soy sauce on it.
While I stood up and peeled off the blazer, Gran turned and left the room. Buffy seemed to remember something and followed her into the foyer to speak with her, leaving me alone in the living hell with the prick of Ian.
I threw the blazer over the back of the recliner and turned to grab my mail, which wasn’t in the slinky anymore. Ian was holding it.
“If you don’t want to suffer a slow and painful death, you better give me that envelope, right now.” I pushed my hand to him, palm up, waiting.
He tsked, waving the white envelope in the air. “If you ask nicely, I may consider it.”
“Consider it?” I snapped, blushing in red-hot anger. “There’s nothing to consider. Did you hear me? Nothing.” I closed the distance between us threateningly, feeling like a black panther measuring its prey’s weaknesses. “What you’re holding in your hands is mine. And if you don’t give it back, I’ll kick your ass out of this house no matter what Buffy thinks. Understood?” I narrowed my eyes to a feline glare.
“You would love to do that, wouldn’t you?” he said with that wicked crooked smile pulling up one corner of his mouth.
I ignored his innuendo and rose on my tiptoes to snatch the envelope, but he waved it back in a flash, letting me fall flat on my feet with my hands empty. And the fact that he was about a full head taller than me didn’t help either. I wasn’t small, he was just too tall. “Give it back,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Just be a good girl,” he said in a singsong voice, lowering bit by bit the hand holding the envelope, until it was leveled to his hip.
If he was doing it on purpose or not, if it was part of some stupid strategy, it didn’t matter. I threw my hand forward in a mightily attempt, but in the same second, he snapped back his hand behind him and I crushed against him. The soft flesh crowning my chest lessened the hard contact, though it hurt a little. Ian was pure lean muscle; even the ripples of his abs were obvious under the fabric of his shirt.
Okay, I had to give him that. The guy had an amazing body.
I pushed away the thought from my mind in a flash and glared at him more intently, keeping the short distance between our bodies. My eyes almost shooting sharp ice balls. “Forget the kicking ass thing. I would gladly cover you up in meat juice and push you down into a bed of starving ants,” I said slowly, each word infused with dark fury.
He leaned down his head, placing his face only an inch away from mine, and whispered, “I'm not afraid of you, Dafne.” His voice blew into my lips. And that’s not what shot a shiver up my spine in that moment. Behind those words that seemed so daring and bold, echoed a sort of promise. A promise of what? I didn’t know. But it suffused his sharp words with warmth—a startling contradiction.
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Giveaway ends: December 2nd, 2011
FTC Disclaimer: I did NOT pay for this book, nor have I been compensated at all in any way or means for reading and writing this HONEST review.