Whisper by Heather Hildenbrand

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Synopsis
The Cherokee believe when a person dies, their soul is reborn. Life is repeated. An endless cycle of lessons to be learned, love to be found, destiny to be fulfilled. For the past six months, in every flower, every bird, I’ve imagined my parents, relieved of their human forms.Now, after five months at the Skye View Wellness Center, it was summer. A time for parties and friends, but that’s the last thing I want to do. So when my best friend Erin convinces me to attend a bonfire at Eagle Point, I can’t handle the crowd full of sympathetic stares or drunken class clowns who would use my tragedy as a way into my heart – or my pants. The solitude of the woods offers an escape, until I stumble upon a boy, unconscious and bleeding, his pockets stuffed not with identification but with poetry illustrating the beauty of dying. I’ve seen enough death. I will not leave this boy’s side.Even after he wakes, when the only thing he can remember are visions of events that haven’t happened yet…

The choice to read this book was an incredibly simple one to make.  I absolutely fell in love with the author's Dirty Blood series; if you haven't read them yet, you definitely should. Not convinced? Check out my reviews for Dirty Blood and Cold Blood. Anyway, back to my review of Whisper. It was everything I hoped it would be and more!

The main character is Whisper and when we are introduced to her she is still trying to come to terms with her parents dying. There is so much to admire about her: she's caring, intelligent, witty at times, and extremely passionate when it comes to rescuing animals. The family farm serves as a reserve for these animals that have nowhere else to go. It's obvious that Whisper has always had a love for animals, based on her memories, but I suspect it became more important to her after her parents died, since it was a big part of their lives as well. It certainly served to help her feel connected to them, by continuing their work. Her grandfather, Tinker, is a huge part of her life. They are very close and he's really the only person that knows exactly how she feels about her parents; he lost them too. There's a guy, Taregan, who works at the animal clinic and seem so to have some sort of romantic interest in Whisper. When we first meet him he seems innocent enough; just a boy with a crush. Things soon change though, which I'm not going to elaborate on. Mystery and intrigue enter the picture when Whisper happens to find a young man, Dylan, in the woods. He can't remember anything about who he is, but the connection between he and Whisper was very apparent early on. The characters were all so  detailed and such great care was taken to develop them, that it was easy to forget that they don't really exist.

Let's talk a little more about the connection between Dylan and Whisper, shall we? I'm not sure there were ever two fictional book characters more right for each other. Even though Dylan couldn't remember a thing, the way he was with Whisper made me fall in love with him. He understood her without even knowing much about her, something most people who had been in her life for years could not do. I had a lot of respect for him from the beginning, especially after Whisper tells him what happened to her parents. 

I pressed my lips together, determined to keep my expression neutral, but I couldn't look at him. I hated this part more than anything else - the part where I had to tell someone new. Delivering the news, like an unexpected blow, always created an awkward gap where people were at a loss, no idea what to say next. Then I was left picking up the slack with things like, "It's okay. I understand there's nothing to say." And in the end, I'd end up comforting them instead of the other way around. No matter what was said next, I hated this part. ~ " You must really love them." ~ I blinked back tears, but part of me wouldn't have minded if they fell. It wasn't so much what he'd said as how he'd said it; he'd used present tense, like me. I smiled. "I do."

 There are so many sweet moments like this that just cement the fact that these two were meant to be together. Their relationship is actually much more complicated than it seems (yes that's an understatement, and yes, I realize I'm being cryptic). You'll just have to read it for yourself to find out what I mean. I do want to share my favorite part of the book though. Here it is, enjoy!

"One last time: you are not holding me back. Do you know how many steps forward I've taken since you got here?" ~ "That's just it. If I hadn't been here, maybe you would've taken those steps with someone else." ~  "Or maybe I took them because of you." I stopped. It was the closest I'd come to admitting I felt something for him. To either of us. I think Dylan knew that, because he watched me for a long moment, neither of us willing to go there. ~ "I don't want to hold you back." he whispered. ~ "I can't move forward without you." The words were out before I could stop them.

I loved the mystery that surrounded Dylan. Who he really was, what he was doing in the woods that night, who might have wanted to hurt him. It made it impossible for me to put the book down. I enjoyed the ending immensely. Not only was it intense, but some mystery still remained as to how everything would work out.

It was hard to write this review, simply because I didn't want to give too much away. All you really need to know is that the characters and story are absolutely amazing and you will love the romance between Whisper and Dylan. 

Now let's get on to some fun stuff. First, let's find out a FACT related to the book, courtesy of the author, Heather Hildenbrand!

Car anxiety – Fact

  Whisper’s parents die in a car accident and she struggles at the beginning with panic attacks whenever she’s faced with getting into a car. That, along with her severe depression, lead to her being admitted to a psychiatric facility for a few months. I haven’t ever done a stint in a mental hospital, but I DO freak out in the car. Especially when someone else is driving! #ControlFreak It may be due to losing some close friends to car accidents when I was a teenager. Not sure, but maybe. All I know is that I’m like Dee from Clueless on the Highway:

I white knuckle the arm rest, or the “oh shit!” bar. (That’s the one hanging from the ceiling near the passenger window. Yeah, that’s its official name.) My husband hates it. I’ve tried to explain it’s not him, per se. It’s my habitual anxiety, in general. Yeah, the whole “it’s me, not you” speech. Whatever. He still takes it personally, like I’m accusing him of bad driving. Nope, I’m just a bad passenger.

If he doesn’t brake in time for my tastes, I’m like “brake, brake, brake,” under my breath. And then he’s glaring at me and then if he STILL doesn’t brake, I’m like this:

Seriously, it’s a vicious disease. #car-ophobia

Yep, that's right, it's time for an awesome giveaway! Up for grabs is 1 (one) eBook copy of Whisper by Heather Hildenbrand, courtesy of the author! All you have to do to enter is click on the link below and fill in the simple information. That's it! You have until Sunday, May 6 at 11:59 PM CST to enter. Good luck!!

Click Here To Enter The Giveaway

We Have A Winner!

I'm a bad, bad blogger! I picked a winner for the Venture Untamed giveaway oh...about 2 weeks ago! My only saving grace is that I did send that info off to the author right away so he could dispense the prize, BUT I forgot to announce the winner. So, without further ado, the winner of the eBook copy of Venture Untamed by R.H. Russell is:

Katrina @ Kindred Dreamheart!!!!

Congrats Katrina! And by the way, she has a really wonderful blog and you all should check it out. Click here to visit Kindred Dreamheart. Also, make sure you check out Venture Untamed, which is a great book!

Venture Untamed by R.H. Russell (Review Plus eBook Giveaway!)

Purchase from B&N, Amazon, Smashwords

Publisher: Morning Gate Press
Publication Date: 9/24/2011

Synopsis from B&N:
Venture Delving is a bonded servant, a member of the lowest class in the world. Already fatherless, when he loses his mother, he veers from energetic to out of control. But when Venture's rage saves the life of Jade, his best friend and his master's daughter, Venture finds himself in the last place he ever expected—a center renowned for training young boys to be professional fighters.
When Venture realizes he's fallen in love with Jade, he knows that the only way he'll ever have her, the only way he'll ever be free to live the life he's meant to live, is to defy convention, common sense, the trust of those he cares about most—and sometimes the law—and become the best fighter in the world, the Champion of All Richland. Venture must battle not only rival fighters, but the ghosts of his past and the members of a privileged warrior class who stand between him and his dream.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book; all I really knew is it was a book about young fighters written by an author with personal experience. By the end of the book, I was definitely a fan. I was very impressed by both the writing talent and the character development.

The main character of this new series is Venture Delving, a teenage boy with a heck of a lot of heart and determination. He was sure to do everything in power to make certain that his station in life did not define his destiny; that's something anybody can admire. From the beginning I wanted nothing more than to see him succeed in fighting and become champion. Luckily he had some important people in his corner, such as Grant and Jade Fieldstone, and his own brother, Justice. Grant is actually Venture's master, but he definitely didn't treat him as such. He seemed more like a father figure to the young fighter; he had such a huge heart as well and wanted nothing more than to see Venture follow his dreams. Grant's daughter, Jade, is Venture's best friend and obviously would do anything for him as well. Don't let the fact that she's a girl fool you, because she is tough and can definitely hold her own. Justice is Venture's brother and does absolutely not want him to go into fighting. Their father died doing that very thing and it makes sense that he wouldn't want to lose his brother too. Regardless, he is there for Venture no matter what. 

I really enjoyed the budding relationship between Venture and Jade. It is obviously a forbidden pairing, with Jade being his master's daughter, but that just makes it more exciting. They don't get the opportunity to act much on their feelings in this first book of the series, but I definitely anticipate reading more about this romantic sub-story in the next books.

The fight scenes were well written and easy to follow even for someone who doesn't know much about the technical aspects of fighting. It was easy to visualize these young men going head to head in an attempt to better their own lives and root for them every step of the way (well, some of them at least!).

Overall this was a really good read and a fantastic start to a new series. Readers will enjoy this book even without any knowledge of fighting, so certainly don't let that scare you off! I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Venture Unleashed, which is available now!

If you would like to learn more about the author, R.H. Russell, and this series, please check out his webpage and Twitter!

You all are in luck because the author has graciously agreed to give away one copy of his eBook, Venture Untamed, to one lucky person! No crazy gimmicks to enter, just your name and email so I can contact the winner. The giveaway will end April 14 at 11:59 PM. So what are you waiting for, go enter!

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!