Review: Deadly Intentions by Lisa Kuehne

Title: Deadly Intentions
Author: Lisa Kuehne
Publisher: Noble Young Adult
Publication date: May 21, 2012
Genre: YA, paranormal
Pages: 225 (ebook)
Source: From author for review
Series: True Intentions #2
1. True Intentions (review)
2. Deadly Intentions

**WARNING: SPOILERS**

Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old, Ava O'Brian's may have survived her ordeal with Satan, but her troubles are far from over. They're just beginning. Her premonition nightmares only create questions about her special ability; is she really capable of influencing good or is she truly creating something else—evil. Uncovering the truth behind her miraculous survival, and choosing between the two immortals fighting for her affection will reveal far more than she is expecting and expose her to Deadly Intentions.

From Goodreads

When I first started this book, it took me a little while to get back into Ava’s world. I don’t think it was for any specific reason, just that it had been a while since I’d read the first book and a few story lines were melding together in my head. But eventually I was sucked back in and along for the ride.

I loved the plot line of this book. It’s really a good continuation of what happened in the first book. Ava is doubting her abilities to influence good because of her suicidal act. She’s convinced of this because she begins to have nightmares of terrible things happening. But when she wakes up, she realizes these things are true and she’s worried she’s causing them. The way the story unfolded was set out so well and paced perfectly. I definitely wanted to keep reading whenever I had to put the book down.

Another big problem for Ava is her growing attraction to William, and the fact that he and Sam hate each other with a murderous passion. I really enjoyed the dynamic between these three. Whether it was just Ava and William talking about her problems, or William and Sam attacking each other with words and fists, I found that the relationships were clear cut and well defined.

Considering this is a self-published novel, the writing wasn’t fantastic. I did have a few issues with it while I was reading, but not enough to deter me from the story. At this point (a couple weeks later), I can’t even remember what it was that irked me. Needless to say, the plot and the characters definitely won me over!

Although I don’t know the name of it or the publication date, I know there will be at least one more book in this series. There has to be; especially after what happened at the end. Things are much more complicated now than they were before. Hopefully Kuehne doesn’t take her time, because I want to know how this series will end!

Review: True Intentions by Lisa Kuehne

Title: True Intentions
Author: Lisa Kuehne
Publisher: Noble Young Adult Romance
Publish date: May 23, 2011
Genre: YA, paranormal
Pages: 257
Source: From author for review
Series: True Intentions
1. True Intentions
2. Deadly Intentions

Summary:
Ava O'Brian is dealing with more than a teenager's typical temptations of right versus wrong. Ava is unaware she possesses a rare and unique gift, a soul with the ability to influence. Unfortunately, Satan will stop at nothing to gain control of her special ability.

Ava's faith is seriously shaken when she is the sole survivor of the car accident that kills her father and twin brother. When she relocates and faces the ultimate temptation in Samuel Perry, her mysterious classmate living on earth since 1798 to tempt and damn mankind, Ava isn't sure she can resist.

Sam must decide if he will lead Ava straight into the devil's trap or place his immortal existence on the line in order to keep her alive.

What ultimate price is Ava willing to pay for love? What if it means giving up her life or turning over her soul straight into Satan's hands for the boy of her dreams?

From Goodreads

Ava’s story starts out looking pretty bleak. She’s lost both her twin and her father in the same day, and within months, her mother has moved them across the country. The story was very fast-paced and filled with adrenaline. There was never a moment where I was waiting for the story to pick back up. I wanted to turn the page and find out what would happen next. This book definitely kept me up late at night reading.

I really enjoyed Ava as a character. She had a lot to deal with, but took it all in stride. She was really strong after her family passed away, mostly for the sake of her mother. But when they got to California and Ava could be a teenager again, she fell hard for the most mysterious, most gorgeous guy in school. Granted, she didn’t really have a chance since the point of his existence is to tempt mankind. Gotta be beautiful to do that.

Sam was a great character. He’s also stuck in a crappy situation, but he tries his best to do his job without being too horrible of a person (or demon). Unfortunately for him, Ava has powers of persuasion of her own, she just doesn’t know about them and how to use them. But her influence over him is immediate, and he’s willing to throw away his life to protect her, instead of destroying her like he should be doing. His heart is definitely in the right place.

I had to get used to the writing. I’m used to books being all first person or all third person. TRUE INTENTIONS was told mostly in first person, from Ava’s point of view, but also from third person at random times. It was different from what I was used to and bugged me at first, but eventually I got over it because the story kept pulling me back in. The ending was very open-ended and definitely left me wanting more. Thankfully, I discovered that there is a second book in the works, titled DEADLY INTENTIONS. I just wish I knew when it was coming out!

Visit Lisa Kuehne on her website here.
Buy TRUE INTENTIONS here.

Thanks to Lisa herself for the review copy!

Teaser Tuesday (35)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page

DO NOT INCLUDE SPOILERS (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away, so that you don't ruin the book for others)

Share the title and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR list is they like your teasers!

My teaser this week comes from True Intentions, a paranormal YA romance by Lisa Kuehne. I'm about half way through and it's a good story so far. Here's my teaser:

As I reach for the backpack, there's an instant, yet agonizing, sharp pain at the back of my head. Before I have the chance to scream out, my world goes black...

This story has a lot of good suspense in it. I'm enjoying it. The love story is a bit forced in my opinion, and the way it is written in different POVs doesn't quite flow for me, but it's nothing I can't handle. I'm still excited to see what will happen next!

Feel free to share links to your teasers! I'd love to see what you're reading.