Blog Tour! Writing Cave Guest Post & Review: Beckoning Light by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Today is my stop on the AToMR tour! 

Follow the tour HERE 

First Alyssa Rose Ivy will share with us her writing cave.

I don’t have an actual writing cave. Maybe it comes from having two very young children or from having moved a lot, but it’s more about what I need to write rather than where I write.

My cat is usually around when I write which I don’t mind except for when he decides to step on the keyboard right in the middle of a great scene. Otherwise, his purring is a good incentive to stay focused.

I am mildly (or okay, seriously) addicted to coffee and I love chocolate so I usually have one or both around. Often my seven month old son joins me (hence the rings). I also need music to write and right now I’m on a Spotify kick. I’m hoping that once the kids get older I’ll be able to get my cave. 


      My Review        

Beckoning Light 
(The Afterglow Trilogy #1)
by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Release Date: July 25, 2011
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 256
Genre: YA Paranormal
Source: Author & AToMR Tours
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Haunt Author: Website | Facebook | Twitter

As Charlotte steps through the gate, she has a strong feeling that nothing will ever be the same again. Moving back to South Carolina after three years away, Charlotte knows she's going to have to face people from her past and adjust to a new high school, but she's completely unprepared for what else waits for her in Charleston. Drawn through an old garden gate, Charlotte discovers a hidden world where she meets Calvin, a boy to whom she is inexplicably attracted. As Charlotte is pulled deeper into this hidden world, it's up to her older brother Kevin to rescue her. No matter how hard Kevin tries, the rescue depends upon Charlotte fighting her intense feelings for Calvin while mastering a set of abilities that she has only just discovered she possesses.   ADD TO GOODREADS

Charlotte and her brother Kevin are returning to their hometown Charleston, after living in Alaska for three years. Charlotte is both nervous and excited to make new friends and see her brother's friend Liam again. Liam whom she kissed right before she moved. Charlotte feels like she is adjusting well, meets a new guy, James, and makes a few friends. Kevin is very protective of Charlotte. He is a sweet older brother and wants her to adjust well before he has to leave for college. I've never read a book where the two alternating POVs were brother and sister. I really enjoyed it. At times I thought Kevin was a little bit too much into Charlotte's business but I loved their sibling dynamic.  

Charlotte begins to see a light beyond a gate she was never allowed to enter. She finds her mother's necklace that contains a key and enters the gate into another world. Immediately she knows she can't be in the same place because she went through the gate when it was night and now it's day. She falls immediately into love with Calvin and wants to keep going through the gate. I was immediately suspicious! LOL Don't walk into strange places no matter how magical they seem. Maybe you should ask your uncle about why your house has a magical gate? Curiosity and love get the better of Charlotte and the next time she enters, James is there. He tells her she will get all the answers she wants if she just follows him. Yup highly suspicious! When Kevin finds out Charlotte is missing, he immediately wants to go after her. Her uncle has some explaining to do about their family history and he, Liam and Kevin all venture in to rescue her.

I loved Kevin. He was such a brave brother to go through everything he did to try to rescue Charlotte.I liked James alright. He definitely had issues but they involved his evil father. He was still an entertaining character and I felt for him at times. Calvin was rather boring for me and I wasn't into the insta-love even though it was fully explained. In Charlotte's world she is of a high importance to the people. I won't get too into why as I don't want to ruin the fun unfolding the story but since she is important, she is assigned many guardians and a Gerard. A Gerard is someone with a deep connection that will be loyal and protect her to the end. I just didn't feel like it was a choice. I would prefer to see Charlotte choose someone like Liam. Yes, I loved Liam. He was such a good friend to both Kevin and Charlotte. When she was in trouble he immediately volunteered to rush into a world he just learned about to save her. I also really loved one of her other guardians, Henry. There were so many wonderful characters throughout the story.

There was really great world building. An entirely different world existed past that gate, with a history, different rules, politics, armies, magic and no electricity. It was all very interesting to read about. I love books where characters have a whole other life they never knew they were destined for. This series reminded me a little bit of one of my other favorite series, The Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking. Charlotte is an extremely important person in this new world and she has to figure out if what they want her to do is the right thing. Should she keep living there or return home? Does she even have a choice? What will happen to all the people if she leaves? I am dying to know the answers myself so I immediately bought the next book in the series as soon as I finished this one.

"You really make me do things I normally would not, but am I right to assume that you do not mind?" he asked, smiling.
"Not in the slightest." I returned his smile. 

"Charlotte, you are in Energo. We are a world not completely different than the world in which you were raised. The thing that makes us distinct is that we are the people of the Source."

"So, obviously you look like us, but are we going to run into weird creatures, like in Avatar or something?"

Rating: 4/5 Stars!

~ Afterglow Trilogy ~

    $0.99               $2.99