Magnetic by Carissa Miller #Review #YA #Contemporary #MurderMystery #Romance

 Magnetic
Carissa Miller

Pages: 402

Publication date: September 10th 2017

Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

My Review:

This was a surprising, enthralling read for many reasons and the ‘A Word from the Author’ helps explain why it is so emotively written.

Elle Christiansen is a rebellious teen whose behaviour has caused her father to be expelled from his role as the parson of a small Ohio town. She isn’t a naturally, nasty, rebellious young lady but her experience of finding her dying Mum that happened just before her eleventh birthday has had severe consequences on her life and attitude.

Moving to Oklahoma, being forced to start a new school and to live with her aunt who she had previously never heard of or met are all the consequences of her latest escapades. It is when leaving the new school for the first time that she encounters Maverick Mason, she’s drawn to him, like a magnet and, even though he has sunglasses on, she can still visualise his vivid eyes. As she starts to make new friends and starts attending the school, the attraction between Elle and Mav grows irresistibly. However, there are secrets to be revealed, her Mum’s past to be investigated and possibly deadly danger to be avoided.

It is a story involving so many different layers  from family history to business lies and deceit which, as they start being uncovered, put Elle into further danger. Elle has nightmares but are they helpful portents or warnings? As Elle starts to work with Mav to discover more about her mother and grandmother this fast paced story is a real page turner. I loved how Elle starts to face her fears, matures and starts to seek answers, moving from a traumatised teen to a stronger, more potent person as her relationship with Mav grows. The conclusion is dramatic, revealing and enthralling.

I requested and was given a copy of this novel, with no obligation. This is my honest review of the book after choosing to read it.

Synposis:

When Elle Christiansen’s rebellion leads to her father’s expulsion from a parsonage in small-town Ohio, the forlorn pair is forced to move to Oklahoma to live with an aunt neither of them has ever met. Here she encounters her aunt’s neighbor—Maverick Mason, the quietly confident son of a wealthy oil tycoon who infuriates her as much as he inexplicably draws her in…

Maverick slowly gains Elle’s trust and coaxes her out from the seemingly impenetrable walls of self-protection she erected around her heart when her mother was murdered. He convinces Elle to confide the secrets of her tortured past: that she saw her mother’s murder before it took place, and she was the one who found her, bleeding to death at the end of a lonely dirt road. Together the unlikely pair begins to unlock the secrets of not only Elle’s sordid past, but her mother’s and grandmother’s as well, to uncover decades of greed, corporate corruption, lies, and murder. Quickly, the sobering realization hits: if they do not solve her mother’s murder, Elle will undoubtedly suffer the same fate. As she continues her journey toward truth alongside the boy she is magnetically drawn to in a way both frightening and uncontrollable, Elle finds the road she is most afraid of going down—that one lane dirt road where her mother was murdered—just might be the only place she can truly find redemption.

Magnetic tells of the enduring pain of living with unsolved violent crime. Inspired by debut author Carissa Miller’s true-life events, it’s a haunting account of a young girl’s struggle in the aftermath of shattering loss. With an unraveling love story, puzzling mystery, unexpected twists and turns, and a gripping pace that will keep you turning pages, our heroine takes you on her journey as she learns one of life’s great lessons: facing your fears instead of running from them, is the only way to truly find freedom.

Goodreads / Amazon

 

Author Bio:

Carissa Miller writes a lifestyle and design blog called CC and Mike, where she and her husband blog about their experiences designing, building, and flipping houses in the Midwest. She was inspired to write her debut novel–Magnetic—because of her firsthand experience living with the trauma of an unsolved violent crime, her mother’s attempted murder. When she’s not writing, blogging, or designing, Carissa loves Oklahoma summers on the lake with her husband and three children, going to Oklahoma State sporting events and cheering on the Cowboys, and traveling cross country with her family in the RV she and her husband renovated. Carissa laughs loudly, loves with her whole heart, tells it how it is to a fault, and enjoys living life to the fullest, every moment of every day.

You can follow along with Carissa and her family on Instagram – ccandmikecreative, Facebook – CC and Mike, Pinterest – CC and Mike, Twitter, or by subscribing to their blog – http://www.ccandmike.com/.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

 

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Many thanks to Xpresso Book Tours for organising this tour and providing materials for this post. The review, however, is my own, honest opinion after reading the book.