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Tour Schedule:
Week One:
Week Two:
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O P E N I N G L I N E:
Okay, so technically this wasn't any worse than the mounds of scrap metal and car parts at the salvage yard back home. And the fact that I was sent here against my will really sucked--like bash-me-over-the-head kind of sucked--but that wasn't why my stomach was doing flips, either. Being thrown smack-dab in the middle of a media-crazed sport while trying to keep a lid on my magnetic influences, on the other hand...
Bye-bye, frying pan. Hello, fire.
(pg. 1, US ARC edition)
MAGNETIC SHIFT has been one of my MOST anticipated reads of 2016. Ever since I first heard about it, I had to have this book. Last year, I really enjoyed TRACKED by Jenny Martin (Why I never reviewed it, I don't know, but I'll be re-reading it soon when the sequel MARKED comes out, so you'll hear my thoughts soon!). Granted, the two books aren't that much alike. TRACKED has intergalactic car racing and is full of fantasy...and princes. And it reminds me a little of STITCHING SNOW, which reminded me a little of CINDER. Even though it isn't a fairy tale. But there was something about TRACKED that I wanted more of. When I heard that Lucy D. Briand was coming out with a book that mixed racing and X-Menish abilities, I wanted it SO MUCH. When I heard that it was more contemporary than fantasy and would appeal to fans of Katie McGarry, I was intrigued to see just what made this book tick.
While both books deal with racing and have a touch of fantasy, MAGNETIC SHIFT is very much grounded in reality and feels like something that could actually happen. For one thing, nothing screams reality like Nascar, and the book opens at Daytona. I don't know very much about racing, but even I have heard of not just Nascar, but Daytona. So the setting really grounded the book for me. What's even cooler is the way Briand tackles Lexi's abilities. It's not what I was expecting, but it worked so well and really enhanced the novel. It's not so much X-Men, per-say. Lexi's natural ability to sense metal comes from nature, from a condition that causes her "iron levels to fluctuate with [her] emotions" (pg. 22, US ARC Edition). There's also an origin story at play, however, and when a freak act of nature occurs, Lexi's abilities become so much more. Suddenly, she has the ability to move metal, which can be dangerous, even deadly...especially if she can't control her emotions.
Lexi never had an easy life, but when her mother was still alive, she was protected. Her powers weren't amped up until after her mother's passing, when she lived alone with her abusive stepfather. When Dean Grant encounters the way Lexi is being abused, he cuts a deal with her stepfather and brings her onto his racing team as a mechanic. Lexi now has an amazing support system, if she can stay in control of herself long enough to keep everyone around her safe. But staying in control is hard, especially once she finds herself falling for Dean's rising star rookie Colton Tayler. She's a danger to herself and everyone around her, and her powers might destroy the new life she's built--and everyone she's coming to care about.
I really enjoyed the way it was so easy to root for Lexi and get into her head. She's such a fun character, insecurities and all, and really felt fleshed-out. Likewise for Colton, who will be starring in many bookworm's dreams as their Book Boyfriend. He's great with Lexi and isn't the hothead or bad boy kind of guy that he could have been in this sort of novel. He's very much grounded, and that made him so much more endearing. I don't think I would have liked him or rooted for the couple half so much if he'd been the stereotypical "rising star" type who's let it all go to his head. I also really liked Dean and his family, and felt that Briand did a great job bringing secondary characters to life.
MAGNETIC SHIFT is a stand-alone, but I'd love to return to this world and these characters because I'm not quite through with them yet. I also look forward to the next book Briand comes out with and already have a place for it on my TBR, even though I don't know anything about it yet! MAGNETIC SHIFT just came out YESTERDAY, so snap up this brand-new debut while you can and say that you read Lucy D. Briand in the very beginning!
~*~
C O V E R D E S I G N:
~*~
The ability to magnetize and manipulate metal with the flick of her wrist makes seventeen-year-old Lexi Adams a crack mechanic, but it’s a disaster in the making when her stepdad trades her skills to NASCAR team owner Dean Grant for an entire season’s worth of sponsorship ads.
Now Lexi has no other choice but to suck it up and hope she can keep her magnetic impulses under control—that is, until she runs into NASCAR’s hot new rookie, Colton Tayler.
When Carl Stacy, the ruthless team owner of the defending Cup Champion, discovers Lexi’s secret and plots to use it to ruin Dean’s race team for good, Lexi must either expose her ability to save Colton, risking Dean’s career and her own freedom in the process, or watch the only guy she’s ever fallen for race to his death.
~*~
Lucy D. Briand lives in Ottawa, Canada with her comic book fanatic husband and her nonchalant Siamese cat.
By day she works full time as a public servant for the Government of Canada, but by night her creative mind takes over and conjures up young adult gear-head romance stories with supernatural twists.
When not working, reading, writing, or watching way too much TV, Lucy likes to cosplay, attend ComicCons, go on road trips to Walt Disney World, and play ridiculous amounts of board games. She’s a geek to the core but is also a huge NASCAR Cup fan.
Lucy is represented by Brittany Booker Carter of The Booker Albert Literary Agency.
~*~
O F F I C I A L I N F O:
Title: MAGNETIC SHIFT
Author: Lucy D. Briand
Author: Lucy D. Briand
Release Date: April 12, 2016
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Received: For Review
Received: For Review
SUMMARY:
The ability to magnetize and manipulate metal with the flick of her wrist makes seventeen-year-old Lexi Adams a crack mechanic, but it’s a disaster in the making when her stepdad trades her skills to NASCAR team owner Dean Grant for an entire season’s worth of sponsorship ads.
Now Lexi has no other choice but to suck it up and hope she can keep her magnetic impulses under control—that is, until she runs into NASCAR’s hot new rookie, Colton Tayler.
When Carl Stacy, the ruthless team owner of the defending Cup Champion, discovers Lexi’s secret and plots to use it to ruin Dean’s race team for good, Lexi must either expose her ability to save Colton, risking Dean’s career and her own freedom in the process, or watch the only guy she’s ever fallen for race to his death.
~*~
By day she works full time as a public servant for the Government of Canada, but by night her creative mind takes over and conjures up young adult gear-head romance stories with supernatural twists.
When not working, reading, writing, or watching way too much TV, Lucy likes to cosplay, attend ComicCons, go on road trips to Walt Disney World, and play ridiculous amounts of board games. She’s a geek to the core but is also a huge NASCAR Cup fan.
Lucy is represented by Brittany Booker Carter of The Booker Albert Literary Agency.
~*~
****Giveaway*****
Enter to win...
1 winner will receive a finished copy of MAGNETIC SHIFT, US Only.
1 winner will receive a swag prize pack and 25$ Amazon Gift Card, International.
1 winner will receive a swag prize pack and 25$ Amazon Gift Card, International.
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