Blog Tour: Friends and Traitors




I am very excited to be a part of the Friends and Traitors' tour, hosted by Heather @ Fire and ice. I recently interviewed the author, C.J. Hill AKA Janette Rallison, and am giving away one of the Slayers' books, so go check that out here!



Friends and Traitors
by C.J. Hill
YA Paranormal
October 15th 2013 by Feiwel & Friends                

Summary

The Slayers – teens who have powers to fight dragons—are back by popular demand in this high-octane sequel, now with a new cover package!

Tori is at a White House dinner party when she hears a horrifying sound: dragon eggs hatching. It means in less than a year, the dragons will be mature and dangerous. The Slayers are well-trained, but their group is not yet complete, and Tori is determined to track down Ryker Davis, the mysterious Slayer who has yet to surface.

What Tori doesn’t bargain for, however, is the surprising truth about her powers: she isn’t a Slayer after all, but a Dragon Lord, with a built-in predisposition to protect dragons, not kill them.

How will she overcome this to save the lives of her friends?

      



My Review

I read the first book in this series, Slayers, some time ago and have been eagerly anticipating this second book ever since. It was the first book I've read that had dragons presented in such a way: as these ferocious monsters who can be controlled by a dragon lord. The dragons aren't romanticized at all, nor do they shape-shift into human form.

Friends and Traitors pretty much picks right up after Slayers ends. They have been training more and have a better idea of what they're up against, but they also don't know quite a few things. Some secrets will really tear them apart and endanger them all.

I really loved the characters in this series! I loved Tori who is still figuring out who she is. Is she the pampered and rich congressman's daughter or the slayer who now has strong bonds with the others like her? Can she be both and how does she merge her two worlds? I loved her interactions with both Jesse and Dirk. I also really liked both of them. 

Jesse is a pretty straight-forward good guy. He plays by the rules even though Tori tempts him not to. He is best friends with Dirk. Oh, Dirk. Dirk definitely plays the bad boy role rather well. He is very charming, gorgeous, and knows all the moves. I was quite upset with both of these boys at different times, as well as Tori. I'm not normally into love triangles, but this one actually works for me. I'm not completely sold on either guy, although I'm definitely leaning in Jesse's direction. He just is loyal and makes the right choices for the most part. It's just at the same time I want Dirk to make the right choice and to be rewarded for it, but I don't know if that's in his future or not. Don't people always cheer for the underdog?

The plot began at an easy pace. We get reacquainted with some new characters as well as the characters from the first book as they finish up their summer camp and go home. The pace continues, for the most part and then it begins really picking up. There is an intense action sequence towards the end that I really got into. Even with the steady pacing for the first half of the book I basically could not put this book down once I picked it up, reading it in one day. A lot of things happen that force the characters to change them. People choose sides. 

I don't know exactly what will happen in the final book. I'm just hoping that I don't have to wait more than a year for it to be released. If you love YA paranormal, contemporary, and action-adventure with some romance, I would definitely recommend picking this up!

Content: Clean

Source: Publisher/tour host, which did not affect my review in any way.




Book Trailer





About the Author


CJ Hill is a pen name for a YA author who is best known for writing romantic comedies. (Slayers will be her 18th published book.) Her writing has shifted away from the romantic comedy genre, so her editor thought a pen name would be a good idea. (New books will include: dangerous dragons, time travel to dystopian worlds, and flesh-eating beetles.) Since the publisher refused to let her have the pseudonym : The Artist Formerly Referred to as Princess, she chose a name to honor her mother. CJ Hill was her mother's pen name, or at least it would have been if her mother had published. Her mother wrote a few children's books and a middle grade novel but was taken by cancer before she had fully learned the craft.

(Most writers' first novels aren't publishable. CJ Junior's first novel wasn't, but somehow was published anyway. Now, even though it is out of print, it remains forever available on Amazon, where it taunts her with its badness. This was another good reason to use a pen name.)

CJ Hill has five children, three of whom like her on any given day depending on who is in trouble. She has lived in Arizona for the last half of her life, but is still in desert denial and hopes that one day her garden will grow silver bells and cockle shells or maybe just tomatoes




You can follow along on the tour on Fire and Ice's blog.

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