Autographed Book Giveaway & Review: Anew by Chelsea Fine

When her publisher told me Chelsea Fine had a new series coming out, and offered to provide autographed copies for a giveaway, I jumped on it because I loved Chelsea’s writing style in Sophie & Carter. Anew is Book #1 in the Chelsea’s new The Archers of Avalon series, a YA scifi/fantasy series which will appeal to all ages. And, two lucky readers are going to win autographed copies!

Scarlet woke up in a forest in Avalon, Georgia, and had no idea how she got there. To make it worse, she also had no memories of her life before waking up and had no clue who she was. Eventually she remembered her name but that was about it. At least she wasn’t hurt and there didn’t seem to be anything else wrong with her. The funny thing is that no one in Avalon knew who she was either.

“She rummaged through her brain for something – any information at all. She pressed her fingers to her temples as she thought, praying something would come to her, but her memories seemed lost.
Stolen, even.
As if plucked by magical precision from her head, leaving nothing but emptiness.”

It’s two years later and, even though the people of Avalon have been very kind to her, seventeen-year-old Scarlet constantly wonders who she is and where she came from. It’s like she sprang from nothing, and that’s not a good feeling.

Her best friend, Heather, has dragged her kicking and screaming to the annual Kissing Festival. The Kissing Festival is like one huge icky love fest and the whole thought of it makes Scarlet extremely uncomfortable. Heather, however, is determined Scarlet will have a good time and that Heather will get to kiss as many hunky guys as possible.

“’Uh…you can kiss whomever you’d like. I’m only here for the free mouthwash,’ Scarlet said…
’Whatever.’ Heather tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder with the kind of sass only pretty girls possess. ‘You’re here because you are fun and you really, really love kissing. I’m sure of it.’
‘Ha,’ Scarlet said. ‘I’m pretty sure I’ve never liked kissing random strangers.’”

As they’re walking along, Scarlet’s trying to avoid strangers who she doesn’t want to kiss and not look at all the people kissing around her. Suddenly she sees a strange guy from across the festival and feels irresistibly drawn to him, like she knows him, which is a shock. She’s determined to find out who he is because maybe he knows who she is. Then she meets Gabriel, whose voice makes her feel warm and safe. There’s something about Gabriel that feels like home and she doesn’t understand it; however, since it’s the first time she’s felt safe and normal, she’s not about to knock it.

“The voice at her back was familiar.
Beautifully, impossibly familiar. Reminiscent.
Almost perfect.
It wasn’t the voice of someone she’d met since waking up in Avalon.
It was a voice of the past. A voice she knew.”

Gabriel and Tristan are the Archer brothers, who’ve been searching for Scarlet. Unfortunately, Scarlet feels incredibly attracted to both of them for different reasons. And they seem very worried about her safety and health for some odd reason. It’s bizarre but for Scarlet, who’s been grasping at anything that might help her regain her memory, it feels like a godsend.

“Two years ago, the summons had started as a murmur: soft, faint and gentle.
But over time, it grew into a scream: bleating out in need and resonating in his chest without reprieve.
It was the sound of Scarlet’s heart, alive and awake, beating steadily inside her chest and echoing in his.
Haunting him.
Like a call. A ruthless demand to find her – to be with her.”

What mystery links the three of them? Why won’t Gabriel or Tristan tell her why she feels like she knows them? And what’s up with Tristan’s odd determination to stay as far away from her as possible? It’s obvious he’s as attracted to her as she is to him. She wants some answers and is determined to get them even though they could turn her nice, normal world upside down.

Anew is a unique approach to paranormal scifi/fantasy even though I’m not going to tell you how it’s unusual. I decided that to do that would give too much of the story away. I can’t call it just fantasy because there are sort-of scifi elements to this story. I also didn’t feel right about calling it paranormal at first because there are no vampires, werewolves, fairies, or other creatures I think of as paranormal involved. There is, however, a curse. And that’s the only spoiler I’m going to give you. I know, I know, I’m evil that way.

Have I mentioned that I love Chelsea Fine’s writing style? The dialogue and action in Anew flow beautifully and the characters are all developed in such a way that you feel like they’re your best friends very quickly. Heather, for example, is the feisty, optimistic best friend that every teenage girl needs who’s lost her memory and finds the whole world strange. Scarlet is like a lost puppy with spunk and teeth – she is definitely not a pushover but she’s loveable at the same time. Gabriel and Tristan are very believable gorgeous siblings whose squabbles can’t mask their undying love for each other, even when situations are painful for them both.

The bottom line is that I loved Anew and am counting the days until Book #2 in The Archers of Avalon is completed and published. *tapping foot in impatience* I’m delighted to be able to pass long this novel to 2 lucky readers in a giveaway so we can all be impatient together. There’s nothing like a chorus of impatient tapping feet to spur an author to get Book #2 finished and in our hands. If you’re into this kind of novel, I highly recommend Anew!

Anew was released on December 7, 2011, so it should be available from your favorite bookseller below. Just click the button to go there to get it.

I’d love to get your comments about Anew and/or this new series, Chelsea Fine or her other work, and/or this review.

If you like this review, please “like” it, +1 it, and share it with your friends!

BTW: If you’d like to read our review of Sophie & Carter by Chelsea Fine, click here.

The Giveaway:

Two lucky readers will win autographed copies of Anew by Chelsea Fine.

Giveaway Rules:
1) The deadline for entries is Saturday night, 2/4/2012, at 11:59pm EST. No entries after that date/time will be eligible.
2) This giveaway is open to entries with U.S. mailing addresses only because we do not ship books outside of the U.S.
3) You must be at least 13 years old to enter this giveaway.
4) You must use the Rafflecopter form. Even if leaving a comment is part of the giveaway, you must use the form in addition to leaving the comment for the comment to count as an entry.
5) If you already follow PopcornReads on Twitter or Facebook, you must still complete that part of the Rafflecopter form for your follow to count as an entry.
6) If you do not provide a complete mailing address in the Rafflecopter form, your entry will not be eligible. We will use your mailing address to ship your book to you.
7) That’s it – it’s a very easy giveaway, so have fun and best of luck!

If you’ve never used Rafflecopter before to enter a giveaway, here’s a little 45 sec. video on how to do it: