★RELEASE BLITZ : REVIEW + EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY★ EoC 1: Attraction by Penny Reid

MY RATING

Penny Reid strikes again! I swear if tomorrow she starts writing YA, I’d follow her as well!
Attraction was a great introduction to Elements of Chemistry, I love the witty and awkward heroine, Kaitlyn Parker and I love the the hero, Martin Sandeke as much as I hate him. I can’t wait to know what will happen in part 2, Heat…  

Book infos & Purchase Links

24950568One week.
Private beach.
Invisible girl.
Jerk-faced bully.
What’s the worst that could happen?
Kaitlyn Parker has no problem being the invisible girl, which is why she finds herself hiding in various cabinets and closets all over her college campus. Despite her best efforts, she can’t escape the notice of Martin Sandeke—bad boy, jerkface bully, and the universe’s hottest, wealthiest, and most unobtainable bachelor—who also happens to be Kaitlyn’s chemistry lab partner.
Kaitlyn might be the only girl who isn’t interested in exploiting his stunning rower’s build, chiseled features, and family’s billionaire fortune. Kaitlyn wants Martin for his brain, specifically to tabulate findings of trace elements in surface water.
When Kaitlyn saves Martin from a nefarious plot, Martin uses the opportunity to push Kaitlyn out of her comfort zone: spring break, one week, house parties, bathing suits, and suntan lotion. Can she overcome her aversion to being noticed? Will he be able grow beyond his self-centered nature? Or, despite their obvious chemistry, will Martin be the one to drive Kaitlyn into the science cabinet of obscurity for good?

Author : Penny Reid
Title : Attraction
Series : 
Elements of Chemistry (Hypothesis) #1
Publisher : Caped Publishing.
Pages : 170
Release date : April 9, 2015
Genre : New Adult, Romance.
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Excerpt

Parties?” I may have curled my lip in a miniature sneer.

“Yeah, on the island, at some of the other houses, friends of mine. You know, the usual college scene stuff.”

Usual college scene… just a bunch of billionaires’ kids and their friends. It sounded delightful.

“Yeah, no thanks.” I pulled my eyes from his, inspected the rocks. “I don’t like parties. But don’t let that stop you from going.”

“Parker.”

I sighed, then met his gaze.

“I want you to come.”

“No thank you.”

He ground his teeth. “Kaitlyn, you promised you were going to give this a try.”

“I will…”

Once again he was giving me the severe stare down, likely because my weakly delivered I will didn’t even sound convincing to me.

Managing to swallow around the sudden thickness in my throat, I squared my shoulders so that I was facing him. “Here’s the thing, Sandeke. I am. I am going to give this a try. Despite my worries-”

“What worries?” He sounded exasperated.

I ignored his question, “Despite my worries and reservations, I’m going to give this the good college try. But I don’t even know how to dance. I can tango like a pro, but I don’t do the body wiggle weird thing. And isn’t that what the kids do these days at parties? Dance?”

He lifted an eyebrow at my excuse—obviously unimpressed—and with two fluid strokes moved to join me.

I stiffened, my eyes wide, and backed up a step at his advance. “What- what are you doing?”

“I’m going to teach you how to dance,” he said simply, already on me, reaching for my body.

I stiffened further, feeling unaccountably breathless as his big hands slipped around my waist and settled on my hips and lower back.

“But there- but we- but-”

“Shhh…” he said, pulling me closer. “Relax.”

“Create cold fusion,” I murmured in response, unable to relax and placing my hands nowhere, because placing them anywhere on Martin felt perilous to my wellbeing.

He glanced down at me, his eyebrows in a perplexed V. “What does cold fusion have to do with anything.”

“You tell me to relax, which is impossible. I tell you to create cold fusion, which is impossible.”

His answering smile was crooked. “You can’t relax?”

“No.”

“Why not.”

“You know why not.”

“Well, it might help if you touched me.”

“That will not help.”

“It might.”

“It won’t.”

“Touch me.”

I scowled at his chest, my hands still in the air at my sides. Stupid perfect chest.

“Parker, if we’re going to dance you have to touch me.” He sounded amused and his fingers flexed on my bare skin. I felt the roughened calluses of his palms just before he released my body to grab my hands. He brought them to his shoulders, pressed them there, then returned his own to my hips. I didn’t miss the fact that his hand-placement was now a bit more daring than it had been a moment ago, lower, closer to my bottom.

I swallowed thickly, glaring at my fingers where they touched his perfectly sculpted shoulder.

“Don’t you want to touch me?” he asked, his inflection daring, teasing, but also something else. Something hesitant and uncertain.

I lifted my eyes to his; they were guarded, his smile looked bracing, almost like a grimace, like he was preparing himself for bad news.

I sighed and I knew I sounded resigned and a little pitiful, “Yes…”

His gaze thawed as it dropped to my lips. “Then you should… because I want you to.”

My Review

Aaaand she did it again.

Remember how I swore my eternal love to Drew Runous back in August? Well, I lied.

Hold on, technically it wasn’t a lie. I was all set up to stay faithful to Drew, but that was before Penny Reid decided to whip up this little gem she was hiding under the most bigger rock on the planet.
So, Penny, this is on YOU.

EoC_alleskelle1

 

 

 

Elements of Chemistry : Attraction is book 1/3 in Penny Reid’s new series, “Hypothesis”.

So what is this all about? 

This is a NA adult story, or so I’ve been “warned”. This book being the New Adult genre, I must confess I was afraid it would verve toward YA, high-school drama and all that. 

Well, I was WRONG. 

One thing I should know by now, is to never expect from Penny Reid the expected. She has a very unique voice, one I am definitely addicted to :

“But his laugh was a radioactive seduction and a half life of infinity. I wanted him to stop laughing never. It made his eyes crinkle and his mouth curve in a sinful smile.”

She always delivers so much more than what her blurbs promise, you think you got her all figured out after reading one of her books? Ahah.

“Penny Reid? Oh that strange lady who like to dress up as Wonder Woman and writes about a bunch of knitters who like to dance half naked and find the love of their lives?”

Yes, HER. 
Penny Reid has the ability to metamorphose, to hide, like a chameleon. She has the faculty to adapt and transform the most common storyline into the most incredible tale.I thought I was going for a nice little ride in the NA world, a little angst, a little steam and an HEA.

Wrong again.

Attraction whilst it had all the basics of a NA story, was so much more than that. I know, cliché. What I mean to say I guess, is that it was REALLY different from any New Adult book I have ever read.
The dialogues were cute and charming at times, Kaitlyn down-to-earth- mind providing all the fun. 

“I don’t like dates. They’re too sugary and stick to my teeth.”
“We won’t have dates on our dates. We’ll have tacos.”

 

EoC_alleskelle2

Okay, let’s talk about the book now.

In Attraction, I was surprised to be captivated from page one, the heroine, Kaitlyn Parker, has the wittiest and awkward inner dialogue ever. 
I had no choice but to picture this young woman as the feminine pendant to Sheldon Cooper from… (Do I need to educate you on who is Sheldon Cooper?No. Don’t answer that.)
Kaitlyn is a N.E.R.D. A word nerd, a book nerd, a science nerd, a fantasy nerd. You can’t find nerdiest than Kaitlyn.

“Foolish, absurd, brainless, crazy, preposterous, ridiculous, silly, stupid…”

 

EoC_alleskelle3
She’s the shy and quiet girl, she’s the one you vaguely know of, but only because you know, her mom is a Senator, her Dad is the Dean of Medical school and her Grandfather was an astronaut. Yeah. That’s quite the heritage to shoulder on everyday.

She was HILARIOUS, oh she had a great sense of humor, but mostly she was funny because…awkwardness. Her odd and maybe eccentric habits just made her a little more lovable in my eyes.

“He’ so awful. He’s… he’s like ammonium dichromate with mercury thiocyanate. He’s the college boy equivalent of the bowels of hell.”

 

EoC_alleskelle7

Kaitlyn has a lab partner, Martin Sandeke.

Sigh.

What is it about this name, I’m asking you? Sandeke. I can picture myself as a Sandeke. Like today. (Goodbye, Drew Runous.)

Martin is the complete opposite of what Katy is. He is social, he is popular, he’s outspoken, demonstrative, heir of a Geek King and the leader of the University rowing team.

 

 

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Yes Martin’s an athlete. To Katy, he is the epitome of “unobtainable”. Well, in Katy’s mind, that is.

“Mesmerizing, hypnotic, irresistible, alluring, seductive… Hmm…”

 

EoC_alleskelle6So what happens when Katy saves Martin from a rather disturbing plot formed against him?
Martin finally gets to make his play to Katy, asking her to go with him on a secluded island in company of his rowing team during spring-break.

“Fuck me…”
My eyes darted back to Martin and I found him looking at my body with a mixture of pained hunger and appreciation. The profanity had slipped from his tongue like an odd caress.”

I won’t reveal much more than this, this part is fairly short, and I’d rather you make certain discoveries yourself. But you’ve got this all set up. The story and development is very fast paced, and you won’t know what happened until you see you’ve reached the end already! A real page turner.

EoC_alleskelle5

There’s no surprise in this, Penny Reid is one of the few that can set up a slow build tension until it quickly becomes insufferable. Can you believe I was all hot and bothered and yet not one sex scene is present in this book?

Ahah, intrigued? 

EoC_alleskelle4
Let’s talk a little about Martin, yes, Martin Sandeke. (I could literally say his name all day)

One thing I love about Penny Reid is her ability to write great male characters, and Martin Sandeke was no exception.

He’s not a huge talker you see, he never went into a diatribe, full on monologues are not his style. Martin has the ability to make Kaitlyn unravel with only so little words… Or he would cage her, overwhelm her by his presence and just stare at her with such intensity… In a way that seemed so… possessive. Oh Martin was the Alpha Male alright. And I swear, I could feel everything! All of it.

One last thing, beware that Attraction is ending on a cliffhanger, I know, I am myself wondering the meaning behind cliffhangers, I hate them, and to be honest, I’m glad I’ve got the second book secured next to this one, or I’d be set to do some damage…toward the nearest chocolate bar.

“You think I’m only interested in you for one thing. You’re wrong.” He whisperead against my ear, hot breath spilling against my neck making me shiver, his hand on my stomach inching lower.
“This, what you’re doing now how you’re touching me, does not give credibility to your words.” My breath hitched, my brain disengaging.
“You’re wrong. And I’ll prove it to you.”
“I’m right. I’m right. I’m so, so, so right.”

Wonder Woman, all scienced up, over.

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Author Bio

Author-Photo-Penny-Reid-300x300-170x170SEX! It all started with sex, between my parents. Personally I don’t like thinking about it, but whatever works for you is a-ok with me. No judgment. The sex happened in California and much of my life also occurred in that state until I moved from the land of nuts (almonds), wine, silicon… boobs, and heavy traffic to the southeast US. Like most writers I like to write, but let’s get back to sex. Eventually I married and gave birth to 2 small people-children (boy-6, girl-4 as of this writing).

By day I’m a biomedical researcher with focus on rare diseases. By night I’m a knitter, sewer, lino block carver, fabric printer, soap maker, and general crafter. By the wee hours of the morning or when I’m intoxicated I love to listen to the voices in my head and let them tell me stories. I hope you enjoy their stories.

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1 Comment

  1. I skimmed your review because I’ve not read this yet but it’s currently waiting for me in my kindle…I’m choosing to read it until I have all three books though, even though I’m unbelievably excited. Your rating makes me want to just jump in though…I can’t wait to meet these characters!

    PS. I love your blog and your blog design 🙂

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