-Blog Tour Stop, Review + Excerpt- Pieces by Michelle Davidson Argyle

Hey guys, I'm extremely happy to welcome you to my stop on the Pieces blog tour!!!

Today I have an excerpt for you to enjoy and my review of Pieces ;)

I want to thank Giselle at Xpresso Book Tours for the chance!! :D And well to the author as well!

If you're just catching up with the tour here's a LINK to the whole schedule so you don't miss any of the fun!

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Pieces - Rhemalda Publishing / February 14th, 2013

*** Two years after watching her kidnappers go to prison, Naomi Jensen is still in love with one of them. Jesse will be released in a few years, and Naomi knows college is the perfect distraction while she waits. But when her new friend Finn makes her question what is right and what is wrong, she begins to wonder if Jesse is the one for her … until she discovers he's out on parole. Naomi must sort through her confusion to figure out where love and freedom truly lie—in Finn, who has no connections to her past, or Jesse, who has just asked her to run away with him. ***

Pieces is a companion to The Breakaway and can be read independently, if desired.

Find it,
Goodreads

Get the book!
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

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Guys!
Where to start!

I have to say though, as some kind of side note, that I'm so glad this is a companion as opposed to being a sequel. Meaning, you can actually read it without having read the first book...
Because, I couldn't read the first one... As in, I couldn't get into it...

BUT THIS BOOK??
This book was a whole other story,
Yes, Naomi was so self-conscious all the time, always second guessing herself, always doubting, always trying to stay away from everyone around her.
I mean, who wouldn't? After surviving almost a year as a 'prisoner' if you may... These people kidnap her and all of a sudden she cares for them?
So I guess it would be hard on her to learn how long they'll be spending in jail for what they did, because NAOMI, WHAT THEY DID WAS WRONG!

The setting was believable and well described and written...

Whereas the characters... Trust me, they were amazingly written and you could almost always picture them perfectly... But sometimes their personalities kind of brought me down... Specially Naomi's... Okay, being true to myself... ONLY Naomi's...

Do NOT get me wrong... This book surprised me...
REALLY surprised me... Because I've never felt this strong for a character... Sure I've related to almost all the characters from the books I read and I live all their stories while reading them... I suffer with them, I root for/with them, I cry with them... I mean... I'm just like that with books...
But in this case... With Naomi and how the author wrote her?
I wasn't living her story I DIDN'T want to... I was like this third party goer (a happy third wheel) watching from a distance and trying to comprehend everything she was going through...

It was an amazing experience if I do say so myself. I think this has never happened to me before, I always get completely immersed in the stories I read... But in this case I think I was more like invested...
I wanted to find a way to help Naomi grow up, I wanted for her to think for herself for just a second... I wanted to be her friend instead of her... Because wow...

I never would have let her believe that she HAD to do for Jesse what she did... Argh...
This is frustrating... trying to explain this to you...

Just know though... I loved Naomi as much as I hated her... And I'm pretty sure I can count on one hand how many books have made me feel that towards a female main character that has been through a traumatic experience.

Yes, I was invested in the story. Yes, I loved loved the writing. I love how sometimes the story pace was slow while others were fast. DEFINITELY A PAGE TURNER! Yes, I fell in love with Finn and THAT is a character I would very much like for myself. Yes, I hated all the parts with the boy Naomi thinks she is in love with.
Yes, I almost broke my tablet because I couldn't stand most of the decisions that were made. Yes, I cried. Yes, I identified somewhat with Naomi's personality...

If you're into books involving;
Characters with an awful, as in, kidnappedforayear kind of thing, and them overcoming all that...
And if you,
Love LOVE that is LITERALLY blind.
Like Italy.
Love cakes.
And believe that... You cannot erase your past... But you can very much start scribbling and living and making up your future?
Give this a try... You might be surprised just as I was...

As for my weaknesses?
Only one... The book tittle was in the book as well so ;) That is worth one star ;)
Adding it up------->

I give this book

3fotitos = Might've made me cry.

Now you might be wondering, if it DID make me cry... Why didn't I give it my awesome over the top rating??? It was mainly Naomi's personality... It was infuriating while also being real... Sweet while being pathetic... Innocent while being guilty...
As you can see... My thoughts are all over the place and I had such a hard time writing this review and choosing the rating... In the end this was the best I could now...
Now if you let me... I have a date with Finn, some iced tea, and a certain awesome almond cake :D
Enjoy!

-review based on a book copy provided in exchange of my honest review.-

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Pieces Excerpt

The calls and texts from her mother kept coming. Naomi, please call me. Please. Did you go stay with that man you were talking about? Hasn’t the semester started again already? And then Finn sent another text. Please let me know you’re okay. I went to see Becca, but she hasn’t heard from you, either. She said you moved back home? What happened with Jesse? Oh, and I have something great to tell you about my mom. That night, a few hours after she read Finn’s text, Naomi buried her face in her hands. She couldn’t keep lying to Jesse. It felt so wrong. Everything was stacking up around her, forcing her emotions into a space so small she knew she would burst any moment. “I got a phone,” she said into her hands during dinner. Jesse was quite for a moment. “You … what?” She lifted her head from her hands and stood from her chair. Walking into the living room, she found her phone in her purse and returned to the table. “It’s a global phone,” she said, her voice trembling as she watched confusion sweep across Jesse’s face. “I got it before we came here because I was afraid of feeling cut off … or something. I was afraid you would see it in airport security, but you didn’t seem to notice with all my other crap I had to put through the scanners.” Jesse’s confused expression melted into disappointment. Naomi could see he was trying to control his emotions. He swept away the negative expression and looked up at her with a calm, sweet smile. “I’m so sorry for making you feel like you might be cut off,” he said, reaching for the phone. “You don’t have to apologize.” Breathing a sigh of relief, she sat in her chair and leaned back. “I need to tell my parents what’s going on. Everyone’s going to think I’ve been kidnapped again, and I can’t deal with that. I have to tell them.” Jesse nodded, his face still calm. “I think we should block certain numbers,” he said. “Namely, your mother’s … until you’re ready to deal with this. She’ll be alright until then.” Naomi watched him take the phone and then navigate through some screens. A crease formed between his eyes. “Finn is texting you?” he asked, lowering the phone. “Y-yes.” She didn’t like the way he looked at her all of a sudden—that steely glaze over his eyes. He wouldn’t make her block Finn. He wouldn’t. Shakily, she said, “He’s concerned, that’s all.” He softened his expression, gazing at her with what almost looked like pity. “I think you might be able to handle things easier if you don’t talk to him for awhile.” She reached for the phone. “I’m not talking to him. I haven’t even texted him back. I haven’t talked to anyone.” “Naomi,” Jesse said firmly, “don’t lie, please. There’s a text here to your mother. I asked you not to talk to her.” Folding her arms, she grunted. “Telling her I’m fine is hardly talking to her. And that’s all I’ve texted.” She glared at Jesse as he stood and walked into the living room. He was doing something to her phone—punching buttons, scrolling through screens. “What are you doing?” she demanded, standing up from her chair. She put her hands on her hips. “I’m making things easier for you.” His back was to her, and suddenly she hated the way he hunched his shoulders forward, the way his muscles in his forearms slid under his skin as he moved his fingers wildly across the phone. She wasn’t sure what to do or say. He had never acted so rashly before—at least not toward her—not since that night he rushed her out of the house to help her escape. She hadn’t wanted to leave, she remembered. There had been a gaping hole in her chest as she had walked away, but Jesse had kept pulling on her, and then when he drove her to the police station and ordered her out of the car, she had thought her shattered heart would never heal. And it hadn’t. Not yet.

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A bit more about the first book,

THE BREAKAWAY - Rhemalda Publishing / May 1st, 2012

*** When Naomi Jensen is kidnapped, it takes her parents two days to realize she’s missing. Escape isn’t high on her list of priorities when all she has to return to is an abusive boyfriend and parents who never paid much attention to her. For the first time in her life she’s part of a family—even if it is a family of criminals. But she’s still a captive. In a desperate attempt to regain some control in her life, Naomi embarks on a dangerous plan to make one of her kidnappers think she’s falling in love with him. The plan works too well, and when faced with the chance to escape, Naomi isn’t sure she wants to take it. ***

Find it,
Goodreads

Get the book!
Amazon
-Barnes & Noble

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About the author,

Michelle lives and writes in Utah, surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. She loves the seasons, but late summer and early fall are her favorites. She adores chocolate, sushi, and lots of ethnic food, and loves to read and write books in whatever time she can grab between her sword-wielding husband and energetic daughter. She believes a simple life is the best life.

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Don't forget to check out all the other STOPS ON THE TOUR!