Book Title: Sight Words (The Sensations Collection)
Author: LB Dunbar
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Release Date: June 2, 2015
Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions
Author: LB Dunbar
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Release Date: June 2, 2015
Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions
My head was starting to throb, which made me feel sick to my stomach. I’d forgotten my glasses and the morning was dragging on. It wasn’t even eight a.m. yet. Thoughts of Leon Ramirez had me tied up in knots. I couldn’t think straight and I felt the onset of a major migraine coming.
“What’s wrong with you?” Mia whispered next to me at the morning faculty meeting. We were in the library and we sat at the table farthest to the back, as usual.
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit. How’s the hot daddy-brother turned janitor-basketball coach?”
“What?” I choked. My friend made no sense.
“Oh, you know what I mean. How’s the Latin Lover?” she rolled the last two words to sound exotic and I choked on a giggle.
“Oh. My. God. You’ve lost your mind,” I whispered as I shifted my eyes to see if others were watching us. I reached for the post-it notes in front of me.
“By the looks of it, you have. What’s he done to you?” I glanced at Mia to see her squinting at me.
“Nothing.” I nervously began to doodle on the bright green pad of paper before me. The principal was droning on about state testing. I couldn’t concentrate. I aimlessly drew an L.
“Oh…I get it. That’s the point, isn’t it?” Her face broke into a large grin.
“Mia!
“No really, what is going on? I think you stay late just to see him, but you said he’s been ignoring you. I don’t know why you’re interested. You said you told him off the other night.” She paused and I continued to creatively draw on E next on the green square. Mia didn’t know what actually happened. How once again I’d hoped he’d kiss me. And once again he didn’t. I was making a fool of myself. I was acting like a middle-schooler with a crush.
“He’s too young for you, you say? Hello. Have you seen his body? With a body like that I’d overlook the age difference.”
“Mia, please,” I sighed. I didn’t even know why we were having this conversation. “Besides his age, he’s also leaving. He’s practically counting the days until he can go home.” The pen I held had a mind of its own. I gracefully made a circle: an O.
“So? That sounds perfect. Look, you don’t need another long-term serious relationship. You need a little fun. Excitement.” She shimmied in her seat when she said the last word and lifted one red eyebrow, then the other, in a dance. I giggled, but it made the slow ache in my head pinch.
“Mia,” I groaned softly.
“I’m serious. Give in to him. Or go after him. Or whatever you want to call it, with him.”
“I’m not going to anything with him. You should have seen Amaryllis that other night. It was like she caught Santa Claus making out with her mom.” I finished my artwork with an N.
“Did you kiss him? How could you not tell me?” Mia’s tone was mock horror, but she was also serious. “I bet he was good. Those lips. Mmmm. He was delicious, wasn’t he?”
“Mia,” I shushed her. “We almost did. I think. I don’t know. He leaned in, and I…oh never mind. Anyway, Amaryllis interrupted us. Or stopped it… or whatever… Her face was horrified. It would be too weird to date someone related to a student.” My voice was raspy as I tried to keep it low. The thought of Leon’s lips on mine was too much. Mia was right, they did look delicious. I wanted a dangerous taste of him. I had switched to doodling hearts and arrows around the letters I had scrolled on the post-it note before me.
“We aren’t talking about dating. We’re talking about…” Mia giggled.
“Okay. I get it!” I said too loudly. Mia placed her hand over mine to still the pen. She took it from me and drew arrows to rearrange the letters of L E O N. I looked at her in question.
“You don’t see it? And you call yourself a language arts teacher. I’ll use my math handwriting.” She wrote under the name. L O N E, then added an A before it.
I took the pen back and scribbled out the A. I traced heavily over the second two lines in the N, forcing it to look like a V.
L O V E.
I sighed as I realized what I’d done. Yep, definitely a schoolgirl crush. I yanked the paper off the pad and crumpled it into a small ball. Mia laughed softly next to me as the principal called for everyone’s attention to his PowerPoint. I definitely wasn’t going to make it through the day.
5 STARS
**I received an ARC for an honest review.**
I will start this review off by saying that I LOVE every book in this series and this book was an excellent end to a SENSATIONAL SERIES.
From the beginning, in Sound Advice, we met Tricia Carter and her long time boyfriend Trent Walker. I loved her character from the start because of her selfless personality. She did so much for her family and she was just always genuine in who she was each and every time we see her. Over the last few books we got the sense that she wasn't happy in her relationship with Trent and boy what an understatement that was. I did not see the pretty heave stuff that came of that relationship coming. I just thought that her and Trent were simply in a rut and too comfortable with their relationship, but that could not be further from the truth. When it finally is revealed what all Tricia went through in her relationship with Trent it was heartbreaking, because she kept it all to herself, all because she did want to ruin someone who was already ruined to begin with.
At the beginning of Sight Words Tricia is just starting a new school year, at a new school, and with her newly single status. She isn't all that hopeful that the will find new love in the small town of Elk Rapids and she is even less hopeful when she keeps running into Trent. But that all changes when she looks out the window of her classroom and watches the physically fit man play basketball everyday and the same time.
Leon Ramirez. This is the first appearance of "King" of the whole series. He is new to town and has his priorities already lined out. Take care of his sisters and lay low, but he can't take care of his sisters without financial stability so he works not one, not two, but three jobs to take care of his sisters when his mother and father are forced to leave the country. He struggles to keep the afloat and he is working so hard to follow his fathers orders. He tries to stay under the radar, but it is hard when your are in a small town where everyone knows everyone. Not only that but the chemistry that he feels between him and Ms. Carter. He tries to fight it, because he knows he can't risk bringing her into his life.
I loved that Tricia was such a genuine person when it came to wanting to help the Ramirez family. Even though Leon was constantly pulling and pushing her away. I enjoyed the build up of their relationship over the period of time that the Ramirez Family lived in Elk Rapids. The connection of Leon and Tricia was great to watch grow from how it started to the way it ended up. I loved every bit of their story because it felt real and never far fetched or rushed. There are so many things that are going on in both Tricia and Leon's worlds and when they all come to light it is so much easier to understand what makes them both tick. I enjoyed both of them as individual characters and I LOVED them as a couple.
I said before that this was a great in to a great series and do recommend this whole series as a must read. LB Dunbar does an excellent job of drawing you into Elk Rapids and into the Scott and Carter families as if you grew up with these people all of your life. I fell in love with Jess and Emily, Ethan and Ella, Jacob and Pam, Gavin and Britton, and Tricia and Leon. I loved that in every book all of the previous characters made an appearance and I kept falling in love with them more. This group of people are such good friends and are always there for each other. It is a heartwarming series with fantastic and easy to love characters.
Playlist for Sight Words – Tricia Carter and Leon Ramirez
“The One That Got Away” – The Civil Wars
“Not Afraid” – Eminem
“Sail (The Voice Performance)” – Kat Robichaud
“Lose Yourself” – Eminem
“XO” – Beyonce
“Sex On Fire” – Kings of Leon
“The Monster (feat. Rihanna)” – Eminem
“Made to Love” – John Legend
“Reasons to Love You” – Meiko
“Love Is Blind” – Alicia Keys
“Pumped Up Kicks” – Foster the People
“Retrograge” – James Blake
“The Great Escape” – P!NK
“#Beautiful” – Mariah Carey
L.B. Dunbar loves to read to the point it might be classified as an addiction. The past few years especially she has relished the many fabulous YA authors, the new genre of New Adult, traditional romances, and historical romances. A romantic at heart, she’s been accused of having an overactive imagination, as if that was a bad thing. Author of the Sensations Collection, Sound Advice, Taste Test, Fragrance Free, Touch Screen, and the upcoming Sight Words, she is also author of the Legendary Rock Star series, beginning with The Legend of Arturo King. She grew up in Michigan, but has lived in Chicago for longer, calling it home with her husband and four children.
No comments:
Post a Comment