Yay to another audiobook blog tour, courtesy of Audiobookworm Promotions! I am so glad that Jess reached out to me to see if I was interested in being a blog tour host because I love me some audiobooks so much! This is such an amazing company, and I love doing audiobook tours with Jess so much! Be sure to click on the banner for the rest of the schedule, more information, and to see what other tours are coming up! Maybe you can sign up to be a tour host for ABW Promotions too!

Fire and water are forbidden.

Sophia:

Liam and I survived the Elemental Cup, but the tournament was only the beginning. The Koigni Elders were impressed by my performance and believe I can help them take over the entire tribe.

But they’re asking me to fight for a cause I don’t believe in, and forcing me to use my magic in ways that feel wrong. I must learn how to use my powers to contact the ancestors – or I’ll lose everyone I love.

Liam:

Sophia Henley’s now my girlfriend. And, oh yeah, I’m supposed to kill her.

The water council has promised they’ll bring my familiar back from the dead – my literal soul – if I take Sophia’s life. But I love her more than I love myself. How can I make such an impossible decision? Even worse, how could I possibly live without her?

But this isn’t about us anymore. If don’t fulfill my mission, thousands will die…and Sophia and I are both keeping secrets that will change everything.

Click HERE for a sneak peek excerpt!

Website (M) | Facebook | Facebook (M) | Instagram (M) | Instagram (A)

Megan Linski and Alicia Rades are two best friends and the authors of the Academy of Magical Creatures series. Both are USA TODAY Bestselling Authors and award-winning novelists for teens and young adults. Megan Linski is a disabled author who loves laughter, adventure, and fantasy worlds. She is a proud member of Koigni House. Alicia Rades is a mother who enjoys exploring paranormal realms and trying new recipes. She is a champion from Toaqua House. Both girls love nature, animals, sexy romances, and eating cheese.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Jennifer Jill Araya has been listening to audiobooks since she was a young child, and the fact that she now gets to narrate audiobooks for a living is a dream come true. Jennifer’s training as an opera singer and orchestral cellist lend a musicality and depth of understanding to her narration that help bring her authors’ stories to life. She loves nothing more than giving life and breath to the printed word. When she’s not narrating, Jennifer can be found hiking, biking, running, or generally exploring her home city of Cincinnati with her husband Arturo (aka “Partner in Crime”) and their two children.

Website | Facebook

Two-time Audie Award winner and recipient of five AudioFile Earphones Awards, Graham Halstead has narrated 180+ titles for Audible, Recorded Books, Penguin Random House, Macmillan, Hachette, Harper Collins and many more.

Disclaimer: I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Tantor Audio. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Okay but really, first of all I would say that if you are able to listen to the first book first, do it. I didn’t and while I wasn’t completely lost, I did miss out on everything that our main characters had to go through in that one, and it did make me feel like I was missing out on some of the background and foundation that laid the plot for this one. I was still able to keep up and it didn’t mess up much for me, but I will say that.

Second of all, this book says it’s a YA fantasy, but dang did it get pretty steamy in a janitor’s closet. And I’m not even joking about that. It just so happened to be Valentine’s day in Orenda Academy, and Liam got Sophia some flowers. She gave him a hand job. Yes, I’m serious. She’s a virgin and wanted to do something nice for him without going all the way. Nothing wrong with that, she apparently did a great job.

BUT Darn it Liam why couldn’t you have aimed for a better spot to “finish” than her shirt?! Darn you.

So yeah, Orenda Academy feels like more of a college scene than a high school, and nothing’s wrong with that. I just wound’t label it a a YA novel. Maybe more a NA (new adult) novel? That may work out better with the content and the sexy scenes. If that’s not your bag, you can skip them. But they do get pretty juicy.

The premise of this novel was very interesting, and I haven’t seen one like it. The tribes that the students are a part of seem to have some inspiration from Native American tribes, although I could be wrong. Koigni possess power over fire, Liam’s tribe (which I’m forgetting right now, sorry) is water. It gives me Avatar: The Last Airbender vibes, mixed with His Dark Materials because each student has a familiar with them. Well, except for Liam, and that’s a sad story in itself which wasn’t explained in this one from what I remember because it was probably explained in the first novel.

I can imagine the whole water and fire don’t mix thing, and how Liam and Sophia have to fight through the odds to make their love work, and how Liam’s basically under the orders of having to kill her. I doubt he would actually do it, especially if he does love her. That’s hard, you know? Plus, that’s killing another student. Do they allow that in school?

The narrators did such a great job in this one. I really felt like I could feel their emotions while they were reading the novel, and I am so glad that they had a voice for Sophia, and a voice for Liam. Sometimes when books have multiple POVs, they can sometimes use one narrator, especially if it’s written in third person POV but you can clearly see which character the chapter revolves around. It worked out in this novel’s favor to have two separate narrators, and I fell in love with both of their voices.

Since I enjoyed this one, I would love to go back to the first novel, meet Sophia and Liam for the firs time , and see just how insane the Elemental Cup was. Because that… sounded really insane. And stressful. Thank goodness Sophia survived it.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Tuesday! Or Wednesday if you are in the future like I know some of you are. Today feels so much like a Monday because we had a holiday. For my non-American friends, we had Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day observed yesterday, and it was a day off for a lot of people. It’s a federal holiday, although I feel like maybe some people just like having a three day weekend even if they don’t really agree with his beliefs and actions. But that’s a blog post for another time, probably much later in the future when I’m smarter.

So what do you think of boarding school / academy books like this? I like that setting, keeping everything and everyone in one place plus the school aspect because hello? I personally love going to school. I don’t love paying for it, but can’t help that right now. I like the magical aspect of this novel as well, and thanks to Goodreads, I see that the magical boarding school trope can be pretty popular around these parts. I’ll have to check them out, and if you have a recommendation for one I should really read, leave it in the comments below!