Title:
Under Different Stars (Kricket #1)
Author:
Amy A. Bartol
Genre:
YA Dystopian
Book Blurb:
All she wants is a home, but can she find one...UNDER
DIFFERENT STARS
Kricket Hollowell is normally not one to wish upon stars;
she believes they’re rarely in her favor. Well versed at dodging caseworkers
from Chicago’s foster care system, the past few years on her own have made
Kricket an expert at the art of survival and blending in. With her 18th
birthday fast approaching, she dreams of the day when she can stop running and
find what her heart needs most: a home.
Trey Allairis hates Earth and doubts that anyone from his
world can thrive here. What he’s learning of Kricket and her existence away
from her true home only confirms his theory. But, when he and Kricket lie
together under the stars of Ethar, counting them all may be easier than letting
her go.
Kyon Ensin’s secrets number the stars; he knows more about
Kricket's gifts than anyone and plans to possess her because of them. He also
knows she’s more valuable than any fire in the night sky. He’ll move the
heavens and align them all in order to make her his own.
When everything in their world can be broken, will Kricket
rely upon love to save her under different stars?
My Kaptivating 4.5 Star Review
“I’m just saying that when there
is little left to lose, the consequences of ones’s actions don’t carry the same
weight...painful or otherwise.”
Kricket
Hollowell never really had it easy. Growing up in the foster care system, she
learned at a young age how to adapt and most importantly survive. She has never
really fit in and with her uncanny ability to know when people are lying; it is
after all something that has helped her survive. She only trusts her two
closest friends Enrique and her roommate Bridget. Doing everything under the
radar, Kricket can’t wait for the day she turns 18. She will be free to go to
school, get a real job and to be able to live the life she wants without fear
of the case workers putting her back into the system she has worked hard to
stay out of.
Kricket’s life changes in the blink of an eye, when two men
appear in her life. Both gorgeous and scary and they both want her for
different reasons.
Everybody wants something, Trey.
Some are up front about it and some, well...some just lie.”
Kyron Ensin wants nothing more than to own Kricket. After
all, she has been awarded to him by the brotherhood. He will do anything to get
her, for his people and hers for that matter. They believe she is the prophecy.
He will stop at nothing to bring her home and claim her.
Trey Allairis is a military man. He had no idea what he was
signing up for when he went to extract Kricket from Earth to bring her back
home. She definitely wasn’t what he expected. Her defiance intrigues him, her
bravery just takes his breath away and her beauty and wit is more than his body
can handle. They have an undeniable pull towards each other but he tries to
remind himself that she isn’t his problem. She is just a mission and the sooner
he can complete it the better. When she is threatened by an enemy, Trey does
everything he can to protect and teach her. Their rough start blossoms into so
much more, more than either of them expected. He soon realizes that he can’t be
without her and will do anything for her.
“You’re tough?”
“I’m stone.”
“Stone can be broken.”
Tilting my head towards him, I meet his eyes. “Don’t worry about me.
I’ll be fine. I’m used to holding on to nothing as tight as I can.”
Kricket is a wanted young woman, not only wanted for her
looks but also for her gifts she is slowly coming into. She realizes that she
and Trey are nothing but pawns in struggle for power.
Forbidden to be together and constantly being torn apart,
they join forces and with the help of some trusted friends, they will do what
they must to be together. Love is supposed to conquer all but their fight to be
together is just beginning. As more people find out about her gifts, the more
her life is no longer her own.
“I wasn’t trying to pawn you off,
I was trying to let you choose...I’d like to think that I would’ve let you go,
Kricket, if that was what you wanted, but the truth is that I don’t know if I’m
am capable of letting you go.”
Her dreams of being independent come to a screeching halt
and her fight for survival is kicked into high gear. With the ones she loves
being threatened she does what she can to keep them safe. She is trying to play
a game in a world she barely understands with laws that are so different from
the ones she grew up with.
Together, Kricket and Trey will do what they can to stay
together but with unknown enemies coming at them from all angles, they are far
from a happily ever after. With a war on the horizon, Trey promises to get her
back to Earth so that she will be safe. Trey along with his unit, will do anything
to make that her reality and anything to protect her.
Amy did such a great job with the wonderful characters and
bringing them to life. You felt Kricket’s struggles, her pain, her love. She is
naïve but yet so independent, quick witted and smart and not to mention brave.
She is stunning and has the body of a goddess and what makes her more beautiful
is that she doesn’t know how beautiful she truly is and that makes her more
desirable. She takes on her challenges with ease on the outside but secretly
wants to run and hide on the inside. She knows what she wants and will do what
she must to get it. Knowing the uphill battle her and Trey face, she is willing
to risk her life to be with the man she loves.
Trey is a freaking badass military man, a hot hot hot one at
that. I am definitely adding him to my book boyfriend list. He is smart, tough
and determined. He plays by the rules, always. When Kricket comes into his
life, she literally tears it upside down for him. He doesn’t know how to handle
the emotions and feelings that Kricket brings out in him. The one thing he does
know with 100% certainty is that, he cannot and will not live without her by
his side. Rules be damned. I enjoyed seeing the emotions he was battling
internally. I found myself cursing him for being lame by denying what he was
truly feeling. He frustrated me at times but in all good ways.
Kyron is your typical gorgeous arrogant man. I was kind of
torn with him, I liked him and then I didn’t like him. I developed a love hate
relationship with him. He is a part of Kricket’s world. A part of her world she
yearns to understand and he is aware of her want to know more about her mother.
He makes a fantastic frienemy.
Jax and Wayra are fantastic supporting characters. They had
just the right amount of humor and showed up at just the right places in the
story.
Amy is an author who has a knack for creating fantastic
worlds and characters you either love or hate, especially those ones you love
to hate.
This story is out of this world, a must read. Amy Bartol is
a shining star and her light is only getting brighter!
A fantastic read that fills you with sadness, frustration,
want, lust, happiness, suspense and of course love.
I look forward to more of the Kricket series and seeing the
obstacles that she and Trey along with their friends will endure on their
journey to find happiness.
Excerpt:
Water swirls around me as I open my eyes. I shiver,
realizing I’m in Trey’s arms. He’s standing chest deep in crystal blue water
with Wayra pacing on the bank only steps away. Clutching Trey closer to me, my
cheek remains on his shoulder. Watching a bead of water slip down his powerful
neck, I hear Jax say, “She’s waking up.”
Trey, cupping his hand in the water, pours some of it over
my hair. It drips down the sides of my face, cooling me. “Let’s get her out.
I’ll get the visor and we can check her vitals.”
As Trey wades out of the pond with me in his arms, I try to
lift my head from his shoulder. It makes me dizzy so I lay it back. It’s then I
notice that I’m only in my bra and underwear. A blush creeps into my cheeks as
I hug Trey tighter to me. Wayra meets us on the bank, draping a blanket over
us. Trey sits down with me on his lap. He leans against a tree trunk holding me
securely to his chest. Peeking at his face, he seems angry as he smoothes my
hair back from my face.
Hurrying over with the visor that looks like grandma
goggles, Trey sets them on my eyes. Everything is green as I gaze around at the
water in front of us. Flashing green lights and readouts occupy the peripherals
of the glasses, but the information is running faster than I can possibly read
it.
“Ho!” Jax exclaims next to me.
Immediately, Trey’s arms tighten on me as he barks out,
“What? How bad is it?”
“Naw, it’s not bad…it’s just…Kricket…” Jax breathes, like
he’s in awe. “Look at this brain activity…it’s massive.”
“What do you mean?” Trey asks with relief in his tone.
Jax grins. “She’s lighting everything up. Look at her
frontal lobe…it’s off the charts.”
“What does that mean? Is she healthy?” Trey growls.
Jax nods enthusiastically. “She’s healthy! We didn’t fry her
with heat stroke, that’s for sure. Or, if we did, she’s got more brain activity
than anyone I’ve ever seen to compensate for it,” he replies, sounding
seriously geeked about it.
“Those things aren’t broken, are they?” Trey asks
speculatively.
“No…here.” Jax pulls them off my face. “Wayra, come here.”
Wayra walks over and Jax puts the glasses on his eyes. “See!
He’s normal, well, normal for him. See how it doesn’t light up in these areas?”
he points out to Trey.
“Yes.”
“Now watch this,” he says, taking the glasses off of Wayra,
he places them back on my face. “See? It’s like Christmas in Chicago with all
those lights,” Jax says proudly.
“So that means she’s smart?”
Jax beams. “Yeah, she’s smart! She’s brilliant! There’s no
telling what she can do.”
“If she’s so smart, why did she run until she almost popped?
Why didn’t she just tell us she needed to rest?” Wayra asks derisively.
“Personality flaw,” Trey replies. “She’s going to show us
that she’s not weak.”
“She’s sitting right here,” I murmur, pulling the glasses
off my face and handing them to Jax.
AUTHOR LINKS:
AUTHOR BIO:
I live in Michigan with my husband and our two sons. My
family is very supportive of my writing. When I’m writing, they often bring me
the take-out menu so that I can call and order them dinner. They listen
patiently when I talk about my characters like they’re real. They rarely roll their eyes when I tell
them I’ll only be a second while I finish writing a chapter…and then they take
off their coats. They ask me how the story is going when I surface after living
for hours in a world of my own making. They have learned to accept my “writing
uniform” consisting of a slightly unflattering pink fleece jacket, t-shirt, and
black yoga pants. And they smile at my nerdy bookishness whenever I try to
explain urban fantasy to them. In short, they get me, so they are perfect and I
am blessed.
BLOG TOUR GIVEAWAY (OPEN INTERNATIONALLY):
●
1st place: KINDLE FIRE + ebook of Under Different Stars
●
2nd place: Kindle Cover + $50 Amazon Gift Card
●
3rd place: $50 Amazon Gift Card
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