22 January 2016

Review #324: Deceptive Cadence (Cadence, #1) by Katie Hamstead



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Some things just couldn't be protected from storms. Some things simply needed to be broken off...Once old thing were broken off, amazingly beautiful thing could grow in their place.”

----Denise Hildreth Jones


Katie Hamstead, an Australian author, has penned a heart wrenching tale of love and second chances in her book, Deceptive Cadence, which is the first book in the Cadence series. This book unfolds the story of a woman who lost her family in an earthquake, following which she gets an opportunity to go back in time in her high school days and make amends for her lost family.





Synopsis:

Cadence Anderson has the perfect definition of happily ever after . . .

Until she doesn't. A freak earthquake shatters her life as surely as her home, taking away everything she holds dear. She wakes in a hospital to find that her beloved husband and infant daughter have been killed, crushed by the earthquake's wrath. Disoriented, injured, and alone, Cadence refuses to accept the loss. So when a man claiming to be her guardian angel appears and offers her a chance to go back in time to save her family, she doesn't need to give it a second thought. She accepts.

Thrust back eleven years, she now faces the ordeal of high school all over again. But this time, she's armed with all the knowledge of her adult life and the determination to do everything better, from preventing the loss of her best friend to avoiding her original, drama-inducing boyfriends. She's focused solely on Austin, her future husband, and is content to bide her time until she meets him again.

But then James Gordon crosses her path. Cadence wants to remain single, but James has his sights set. He is determined to win her over, and he's very hard to resist. As Cadence starts to develop unwanted feelings for him, she realizes he threatens to disrupt everything, changing the future and distracting her from her original goal. Now, Cadence must choose: deny the unpredictable and exciting path James offers her, or stay true to the life she had and is trying desperately to resurrect. Second chances are more complicated than they seem.

Deceptive Cadence combines the soaring emotion of a heartfelt romance with the innovative storytelling of magical realism, crafting a uniquely moving, intricate tale about love and loss that asks: what would you do if given the chance to right all your wrongs?



Cadence loses her husband and her child in a devastating earthquake, which not only kills her family but also claims her life, but luckily she was saved from the accident. Devastated with the loss of her family, Cadence does not know what to do without them. Soon Cadence's guardian angel appears in her life and offers her an opportunity of lifetime that she can go back in her early teenage years and can make up for the lost time or rather say spend time with her lost husband and child. Without a second thought, Cadence accepts her guardian angel's offer and thus travels 11 years back in time when she was in high school. She prepares herself to get rid of her then boyfriends and get ready for her husband whom she will meet and fall for in her college. But when a handsome boy named James comes across Cadence life, it throws her on crossroads on whether to pursue her relationship with James or spend her time with her lost husband.

The writing style of this author is fantastic as it is layered with proper heart-felt emotions, humor and with lots of touching moments. The narrative is strong and free-flowing and the story revolves with both Cadence and James' POV, thus giving the readers a clear perspective about the character of James and Cadence. But the author does not dominate her readers' view with either James or Cadence's POV, instead she gives her readers enough space to look into the story with the readers' own perception. The pacing of the story is bit slow as there are many events which are laid out with intricate details.

Love, pain and heartbreak are the major role players in this book as it is a love story and is perfect for any contemporary romance genre fans. It feels like the author have poured all her emotions into it while treading Cadence and James' love story on the path to happiness. Yes, the love story is highly relatable as it might have happened to any one in real life with second chances and making hard decisions to letting go of something/someone precious.

The characters are another aspect which makes the book deeply moving as well as entertaining. From the main characters to the supporting to the characters who are present in the story even just for a moment, the demeanor of all of them are highly inspired with realism. Moreover, the main characters, Cadence and James, grow a lot in this story and with each their each step towards growth, they become more like-able. Cadence's family is something I adore the most in this story. I've never come across one who can sacrifice so much and support and love their children this much.

The story has so much emotions that it can bring a tear into the eyes of the readers as well as some really hilarious moments which will bring a smile in the face of the reader. In short, this is a must read story which will keep the readers glued till the very last page and not only that, as the book ends with a shocking cliffhanger, the readers will be left with wanting more and vouching for the next story in the series.

Verdict: A must read contemporary story.

Courtesy:  Received a digital copy from YA Bound Book Blog Tours.
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Author Info:
Born and raised in Australia, Katie's early years of day dreaming in the "bush", and having her father tell her wild bedtime stories, inspired her passion for writing.
After graduating High School, she became a foreign exchange student where she met a young man who several years later she married. Now she lives in Arizona with her husband, daughter and their dog.
She has a diploma in travel and tourism which helps inspire her writing.
When her debut novel, Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh, climbed into bestselling status, she believed she was onto something, and now has a slew of novels now available, and is published through Curiosity Quills Press, Soul Mate Publishing, and REUTS Publishing.
Katie loves to out sing her friends and family, play sports, and be a good wife and mother. She now works as an Acquisitions Editor to help support her family. She loves to write, and takes the few spare moments in her day to work on her novels.
Visit her here


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