*This title will be released on January 31, 2012*

Title: Tangled Author:  Erica O'Rourke Series: Torn Trilogy #2 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Abigail Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Kensington Pub Corp (January 31, 2012) ISBN-10: 0758267053 ISBN-13: 978-0758267054   Sexual Content: Kissing Rating: Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.

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Though I usually can’t stand when a model’s eye color is used as the accent, the Carrie Jones’s ENDURE is the beautiful exception that proves the rule. And though Abigail and I both love a man in a fitted t-shirt, cover model on Sylvia Day’s A HUNGER SO WILD earned two enthusiastic thumbs up.  We didn’t agree on whether the high impact colors in BOUND deserved a thumbs up or a thumbs down, but RENEGADE’s trippy wonderland palette worked for us both.

 

 

There are some novel items in the mix this week.  A cover re-boot for Kim Harrington’s CLARITY paperback release, a cover model doppelganger for Stacia Kane’s newest Downside Ghosts offering, and the opportunity to vote on which cover goes to print for Tes Hilaire’s debut novel. 

Vamparazzi by Laura Resnick 

(Click to enlarge)

Description: Playing a scantily clad vampire victim in an off-Broadway play, struggling actress Esther Diamond now may be the target of someone who claims to be a genuine bloodsucker... No Author Comment Available.

Series: Esther Diamond #4 Artist: Dan Dos Santos Goodreads: Link	Publisher: DAW Release Date: October 4, 2011 Source: Goodreads
Julia’s Thoughts	Abigail’s Thoughts
Absolutely love this cover!	There is no mistaking a Dan Dos Santos cover.  He’s genius.  This is genius…his covers really tells story.

Previous Covers in This Series

Title: Torn Author: Erica O'Rourke Series: Torn Trilogy #1 Cover Art: Kristine Mills Genre: Paranormal YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher via The {Teen} Book Scene Reviewed by: Abigail Reading level: Young Adult Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Kensington; Original edition (June 28, 2011) ISBN-10: 0758267037 ISBN-13: 978-0758267030 Sexual Content: Kissing Rating: Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.

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Description

Everyone has secrets.
Even best friends.

Swirling black descends like ravens, large enough to block the glow of the streetlights. A dull roar starts like a train on the 'L', a far-away rumbling that grows louder as it pulls closer, until it's directly overhead and you feel it in your chest, except this doesn't pass you by. Verity, white-faced and eyes blazing, shouts through the din, "Run, Mo!"

Mo Fitzgerald knows about secrets. But when she witnesses her best friend's murder, she discovers Verity was hiding things she never could have guessed. To find the answers she needs and the vengeance she craves, Mo—quiet, ordinary, unmagical Mo—will have to enter a world of raw magic and shifting alliances. And she'll have to choose between two very different, equally dangerous guys—protective, duty-bound Colin and brash, mysterious Luc. One wants to save her, one wants to claim her. Which would you choose?

Review

Murder, magic, and the Mob.  That’s TORN in a nutshell.  Well if you add in one of the better love triangles I’ve read this year with two very different, but equally appealing guys, and a hidden magical world that lies at the brink of destruction.

I have no comment on the cover, but the title of TORN is perfect.  Maura “Mo” Fitzgerald is torn.  Torn between her incarcerated father and the uncle who stepped in to take care of her and her mother.  Torn between the life she led in the shadow of her vibrant and beautiful best friend and the future she must embrace in the wake of her friends murder.  Torn between a new world of magic and the mundane world she’s always known.  Torn between the human guy assigned to protect her and the magical guy who needs her to save his people.

As much as I liked the romances and the choices Mo had to make, I did have a couple issues.  The first half of TORN reads like a contemporary YA with only the barest hint of anything paranormal going on.  I wish the author had sped up the narrative and kicked in the paranormal elements much earlier as the excitement, danger, and romance really took off once they came into play.  I also never got over the protagonist’s name.  Her name is Maura but everyone calls her Mo (or even Mouse).  It never stopped sounding weird every time I read it.

Overall, despite the slow start and odd name, the last half of TORN rocked.  The love triangle works exceptionally well and, like Mo, I felt torn between Collin and Luc too.  There is so much more to learn about the magical world that hides along side our own and Mo’s role in saving it.  I’m already looking forward to how it all plays out in TANGLED, the second book in the Torn Trilogy, which will be published in February of 2012.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
N/A	YA Addict Urban Fantasy Investigations Books with Bite

Please welcome Erica O'Rourke to the site today.  Erica is the author of the upcoming book TORN (available on June 28th 2011), the first in a new paranormal YA trilogy from K Teen/Kensington) which sounds better and better the more times I look at the description (my review is coming on July 3rd). She’s here today talking about the art of the Love Triangle.  Be sure to visit The {Teen} Book Scene to see all the different stops on the TORN book tour.

Geometry for Writers: The Art of the Triangle
by
Erica O’Rourke

People get a little testy these days when they hear a novel contains a love triangle. It’s manipulative, predictable, and reduces a heroine’s character arc to, “Who should I choose?”

I totally get these arguments. I’ve read books where at least one – and too often, all three – of these things occurs. But love triangles are not inherently bad. If they’re done well, they’re compelling, and revealing. And usually there’s a kissing scene or two, which I happen to like quite a bit. The triangle in Torn is an essential part of the story, and it’s because I followed the three principles below.

Side note: In Torn, Mo has to choose between two guys, but the principles apply to any love triangle, regardless of the characters’ gender.

Tip #1: Think isoceles.

In geometry, isoceles trianges are the ones with at least two equal sides. In a love triangle, the heroine is the base. The sides are your love interests, and they need to be equally well-developed. If you spend a ton of time creating a complex, interesting, incredibly sexy guy as one side of the triangle, and the other guy is has no backstory, no depth, no motivation, you have a very lopsided triangle.

You want this:

Not this:

It’s irritating. Readers know what you’re up to. One of those guys is cannon fodder, so why bother getting attached? The best part of a triangle is the tension, and a triangle like this, where the outcome is obvious by Chapter Two, has all the tension of overcooked spaghetti.

Tip #2: Make the differences meaningful.

A compelling heroine has a character arc – an internal struggle that is resolved by the end of the story. The love interests in a triangle need to offer two different ways of dealing with that struggle. That way, when she chooses between the two guys, it’s a decision that carries a lot of emotional weight. It’s not just about who is the better kisser or has the nicer smile – it’s about which guy complements the person your heroine has become.

Tip #3: Don’t take the easy way out.

A heroine needs to actively choose who she wants to be with. If one of the love interests suddenly dies, or moves to Outer Mongolia, or decides he’s actually in love with someone else, she’s not choosing. She’s making do. Even if he’s the right choice for her, and they live happily ever after, it makes for a passive heroine and an annoyed audience.

This isn’t a comprehensive list, of course. What do you think makes a love triangle successful? What’s a dealbreaker? Is there one in particular that makes you swoon?

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Author of TORN, coming from K Teen/Kensington Books, July 2011. Winner of the 2010 Golden Heart® Winner for Best Young Adult Manuscript. Awfully fond of the gray areas. Erica O'Rourke lives outside Chicago with her family, including two very bad cats.  She likes coffee, denim, naps, and sushi.  She hates fish, bridges, and talking about herself.     Visit Erica online: Website|Blog|Twitter

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Book Details

TORN by Erica O’Rourke

Available on June 28th 2011 from Kensington

Everyone has secrets.
Even best friends.

Swirling black descends like ravens, large enough to block the glow of the streetlights. A dull roar starts like a train on the 'L', a far-away rumbling that grows louder as it pulls closer, until it's directly overhead and you feel it in your chest, except this doesn't pass you by. Verity, white-faced and eyes blazing, shouts through the din, "Run, Mo!"

Mo Fitzgerald knows about secrets. But when she witnesses her best friend's murder, she discovers Verity was hiding things she never could have guessed. To find the answers she needs and the vengeance she craves, Mo—quiet, ordinary, unmagical Mo—will have to enter a world of raw magic and shifting alliances. And she'll have to choose between two very different, equally dangerous guys—protective, duty-bound Colin and brash, mysterious Luc. One wants to save her, one wants to claim her. Which would you choose?

"Who doesn't love a character torn between two dangerous worlds and two risky guys? The only thing safe about this book is how good it is." —Lee Nichols, author of Deception, A Haunting Emma Novel

"Dark, exciting and totally addictive! Just. . .wow!" -Kristi Cook, author of Haven

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