Monday, August 15, 2016

Promotional Tour + Review: The Curse Series by Taylor Lavati @taylorjlavati @Snsbah


The Curse Series
by Author Taylor Lavati
Promotional Tour

The Thousand Year Curse
Book One
 

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Synopsis


Being a teenager isn't all fun and games for seventeen year old Ryder. After being thrown down the social hierarchy, Ryder Mason has one goal for her senior year- survive.

Within the first month of school, Ryder goes from bullied teen to a cursed half goddess with two boyfriends. As if that wasn't enough, she travels into the Underworld to confront Hades about the curse and her missing mother. 

Ryder delves head first into a Godly world as her two knights fight to seek her approval, her best friend's loyalties are tested and people's true intentions are shown in the first Curse Books novel.


My Review:

The Thousand Year Curse

Ryder Mason is a seventeen year old high school student who doesn’t have many friends. She does have her best friend Junior whom she has been friends with since they were little kids. Ryder use to have more friends until the day her best friend Becca started bullying her calling her names and trying to start rumors about her by saying things that were not true. Ryder has no clue as to why she woke up one day and she no longer had a best friend. Ryder hated walking down the halls at school afraid she was going to run into Becca.

But then one day this new guy shows up at school and Ryder is amazed when he wants to hang out with her. Ryder and Ollie hit it off right away. Ryder falls fast and hard for Ollie. It is as if they are soul mates. They start to spend lots and lots of time together and when they are not together Ryder misses him very much. Junior and Ollie hit off as well and become good friends.

Then a few days late another new guy shows up at their school and starts showing up wherever Ryder may be. At first Ryder wants nothing to do with him but as time goes on Ryder starts to enjoy his company as well and she feels as if she has known him all her life. Of course Ollie is very jealous when he sees the two of them together. Junior doesn’t seem to like the idea of Ari and Ryder being together either. But little ‘ole Ryder is very confused as she likes both guys. What is a girl to do when she has two boyfriends? Which one will she choose?

While dealing with all the boyfriend issues Ryder learns that a curse was placed on her a long time ago and that it also involves Ollie and Ari as well. Hades put a curse on her and she is very tired of it and wants to go to visit him to ask him to remove the curse. But Ollie tells her no she cannot go visit Hades it is too dangerous. But after talking to Ari and asking him to take her he agrees. Ari can never tell her no. When Ollie finds out he is very upset with Ryder and she thinks she has lost her Ollie.

Ryder finds out that her mother is a Goddess and she is also hoping that visiting with Hades; he will then tell her who her mother is. Her mother left her and her Dad a long time ago. Ryder is hoping that her mother may be able to help her with the curse in some way among other things that she would like to talk with her about.

It is kind of amusing to watch her with the guys both of them want nothing more than to please her and make her happy. They both want to keep her safe but they both have a difference of an opinion as to what keeps her safe. You know it’s like Ollie is the kind of guy that wants to keep everything on the low side, calm so to speak and Ari is wants to step things up a bit and fly with the wind. Ari seems like the kind of person that likes to take risk but not Ollie.

This has been one amazing ride that Ryder, Junior, Ollie and Ari have taken me on and I have enjoyed ever last minute of it. I love the change that Ryder is making in her life finally standing up for herself and putting some of her fears behind her or maybe she has just gotten fed up with everything.

I can’t wait to get started on the next book in the series The Curse of Betrayal to see what adventures Ryder, Ollie, Ari and Junior take us on. When I first started reading The Thousand Year Curse I was leaning toward Team Ollie and now after finishing is I am not sure if I am Team Ollie or Team Ari. I am with Ryde how do I choose? But seriously if you have not read The Thousand Year Curse then I would like to recommend that you do. 


The Curse of Betrayal
Book Two



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Paperback: Amazon | B&N | Books A Million | IndieBound | Book Depository
Digital: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU Kobo | B&N | iBooks
  
Synopsis

Ryder has finally decided to take her life into her own hands, but things don’t always turn out as they seem. Ollie and Ari have made a pact that leaves Ryder alone until she ends the curse and chooses her soul mate. 

With her knights absent, Ryder becomes independent, seeing things in her visions that force her to question the curse—and herself. 

As strange things happen at Demi God Academy, Ryder realizes everything comes back to her. She must use the power growing within her to protect her new friends in ways she never imagined possible. But as new threats surface, she may not be strong enough to protect them all. 

In book two of A Curse Books, Ryder discovers what it really means to be Eurydice.

My Review:

The Curse of Betrayal

Ryder is excited to be starting her new school; the Demi Gods Academy in New York. She has left her old life behind her and with it a girl that was always putting her down, calling her names and beating her up sometimes. But on her first day she meets this girl Lisa who for whatever reason doesn’t like Ryder and right away starts picking on her and putting her down. But of course Ryder has put that stuff behind her she is not going to be someone else’s punching bag ever again. She puts Miss Lisa in her place right away but it doesn’t seem to faze her much.

Ryder is not worried about her though she can handle her besides she has a new best friend now, Kara. Ryder and Kara become best friends fast and quick. Kara is the kind of friend that will stand by your side until the end if it came to that. Ryder is so glad to finally have a best friend. Yeah she has Junior and she loves him dearly but having guy for your bff is not the same as having a girl for your bff. With girl you can talk about girly things and tell each other your deepest secrets.

We don’t get to see Ollie much in The Curse of Betrayal but Ari is there. He is one of Ryder’s teachers so we get to see a little action in the halls and stairwells at times. Ryder doesn’t know how she can choose between her two boys I mean she loves them both. How can she choose one over the other? She knowns that eventually to break the curse she is going to have to choose one; only one can be her soulmate. Will it be her light haired boyfriend or her dark haired boyfriend?  

One of Ryder’s new teachers her guidance counselor Professor Onassis helps her with her curse. Ryder is determined to find all that she can about her curse and to break it. She is tired of dying and being reincarnated over and over again. Besides she is having a hard time deciding who her one true love, her soulmate is.

I have really and truly loved reading The Curse of Betrayal and following along with Ryder, Kara, Megan, Lisa, Ollie and Ari with a lot more great characters on their journeys. Taylor Lavati will drag you into Ryder’s life and make you feel as if you are right there with her the whole time and feeling what she feels and what the other characters feel. She knows how to make the characters come alive right before your eyes.


There were parts that had me crying like a baby and parts that had me rolling on the floor. I think I will have to agree with some reviews that I read stating that The Curse of Betrayal was better than The Thousand Year Curse. Don’t get me wrong I loved the first book too but I do think the second book is better. Now on to the third one The Broken Curse to see which one is actually better. I can’t wait to get started to see what adventures Ryder takes us on next. Will the Curse be broken? Can she break it? How does the curse get broken? What Demons and Gods will they fight next? Who is her soulmate? Who does she love more? Does she love one more than the other?


The Broken Curse
Book Three


Add to Goodreads

Buy the Book

Paperback: Amazon | B&N | Books A Million | IndieBound | Book Depository
Digital: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Kobo | B&N | iBooks

Synopsis

After a chain of tragic events, Ryder has lost the true essence of who she is. At the cost of her emotions, she channels anger and frustration to hone her new skills. Her white knight remains by her side, but with light comes dark.
When her mentor concocts a plan to end the curse, Ryder dives in head first, but as the number of demons on Earth increases, Ryder and her friends realize their final battle affects more than just the curse.
In the final installment of A Curse Books, Ryder will decide her future—and accept the inevitable fate her decision brings with it.


My Review:

The Broken Curse

With all the hurt and the loss of so many of her dear friends Ryder deals with her grief the only way she knows how and that is to punish herself by punishing her body with exercise and training for the big fight she knows is coming. She has to break the curse that was set on her many, many years ago by Hades. She will have to gather up her army and go to the Underworld to break her curse and to stop Hades from ever making it to Earth and becoming ruler over the Earth and humans.

Ryder must choose her soulmate to break the curse. She is having a hard time because she loves both her boys; Ollie and Ari very much. How can she just make a decision like that? How can she love one more than the other? She knows when she makes her decision someone is going to leave with a broken heart. How can she hurt one of her boys like that?

All her life Ryder has never had many friends at all but of course she’s had her best friend junior since the day he moved in next door and now she has Kara but that is about it. So when the day comes for everyone that is going to be a part of her army to meet at the training center she is surprised at how many and who shows up. She realizes she has more friends than she ever thought. Some she already knows and some she has never met.

Even though she is dreading the day they all have to fight she is glad to have so many people on her side. She dreads having to go to the Underworld and bring all her friends she knows not everyone will come back and that hurt her very much. She would gladly give up her own life if she could save all her friends and keep them safe.


I would have to say that The Broken Curse has got to be the best book of the three in the series although I definitely loved reading all of them. While I was reading The Broken Curse I would get so engrossed in it that I think I may have at times felt as if I was Ryder and that I was actually feeling what she felt. There were times while I was reading that I would find myself with this overwhelming sadness come over me and tears would be streaming down my face. I just love books where the author can make you feel as if you are the characters and you feel what they are feeling. If you love books like this then you will love The Broken Curse. 




Teasers




About the Author

Taylor Lavati is a twenty-something year old author residing in a small town in Connecticut with her husband and dog. She writes both Young Adult and New Adult romances with ranging genres from fantasy, A Curse Books trilogy, to dark romance, A Reliant Love. Her books have all hit #1 on the Amazon bestselling chart for their categories! When not writing, she enjoys playing video games, hiking, and spending time with family.

Romance with a bit of CHAOS.



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What Others Are Saying About Taylor Lavati

"One for readers at the older end of the 'young adult' spectrum, The Thousand Year Curse is clearly the work of a gifted young writer. The plot and the basic premise have already been spelled out by other reviewers but what struck me most about the book was the deft and surprisingly mature touch of the author." Jay G

"I fell in love with Taylor's writing when I read the first book in her Curse Books. When I opened this book I wasn't positive what would be waiting on the other side for me, but I was certain it would be a reading adventure. Taylor didn't disappoint." Bestselling author Jesse Kimmel-Freeman



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