In Your Dreams/As You Wake by Amy Martin-a review duet

IN YOUR DREAMS-released August 2012

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This book was unique, original and conceptually intriguing. Not the norm as to what I would typically read – but I found the main characters endearing and warm. The book opens and we meet high school basketball player Zara “Zip” McKee – she is your average teen jock. She lives and breathes basketball – and has her mind set on one thing – making it to the regional championships.

Into her life comes Kieran Lanier – mysterious, Brad Pitt look-a-like only hotter. Their first encounter leaves Zip baffled, wanting to know more. And does she ever find out more. Kieran Lanier has secrets – lots and lots of secrets and a strange family that is even more mysterious and secretive than him. As the story unfolds we find out that Kieran has narcolepsy (or so the family says) and the effect of this disease has left him sheltered and shy. But when the one girl that takes the time to learn more about him, spends time with him, he begins to open up and share his secrets with her. What will these secrets entail? And will knowing them put Zip’s life at risk? Kieran isn’t your average teenager and there are others that realize this – others that want him for their own use. As Zip weaves her way further into Kieran’s life – she too becomes a target for the evil that stalks Kieran.

At the beginning of this book I was a little leery of it – I am not a sports fan at all and being that Zip was a basketball star and jock I was afraid that the book would be filled with a bunch of sports nonsense. To my surprise the book had just the right mix of high school drama, sports, romance and mystery. I was fascinated with the fact that Kieran had the “so called” narcolepsy and that his sister Kayla was extremely protective of him. I could not put the book down – wanting to know why his family was so strange and what were they hiding. I loved the two almost exact opposite family lifestyles of Zip and Kieran. Zip’s family is fun, easy going and laid back while Kieran’s family is strict, rigid and very abrupt. The two families intermixed well and I loved the dinner scene of them eating together. The secondary characters – the ones that seem to be after Kieran add a great deal of mystery and drama – which left me wanting more. I would have to say that this book was highly original and was definitely an out of the box concept. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and can not wait to read the next book in this series.

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AS YOU WAKE-released April 2013

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As You Wake is Book Two of the In Your Dreams book series by Amy Martin. The story continues with Zip McKee and Kieran Lanier on the last day of school and the start of summer vacation. As they are about to begin their summers they find out that the person that was out to harm Kieran may not have vanished as they first thought. Scared that he has brought harm to his family and to Zip, Kieran takes off. While running away is never the answer, he feels this is what he must do to protect his family and his girlfriend.

Zip is off to spend the summer with her father, miles away – and how can she possibly enjoy her summer with Kieran on the run and god knows where? Little does Zip know that a visit by Kieran’s sister turns into anything but. Kidnapped and on the search for Kieran – Zip realizes that his sister may just know where he is. Will they find him in time? And what will they find out in the end?

I found the continuation in book two very fluid and thorough. I loved how the story continued and I loved the secondary characters introduced. The inter-mingling of the two families again – left me laughing out loud. One family very strict and abrupt – the other kind of laid back and easy going. Spending time together is actually good for both families.

The relationship of Kieran and Zip progresses in this book and I could feel the bond between them growing. Kieran also gets to spend more time with his birth father whom I liked and began to really care for as a character. Kieran’s birth father really lends a lot to the story and also brings more mystery. This book was a quick read and was very enjoyable. The only bad that I have to say about the book – who ends a story like that??? UGH!!!! I have to wait until when for the next book? I definitely will be waiting with baited breath for it!

Copies supplied by the author

Reviewed by Erin

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Amy Martin wrote and illustrated her first book at the age of ten and gave it to her fourth grade teacher, who hopefully lost it in her house somewhere and didn’t share it with anyone else.

The first book she published as a grown-up, In Your Dreams,was a semi-finalist in the Young Adult category of the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Competition. The second book in the In Your Dreams series, As You Wake, was released on April 30, 2013.

A native of St. Charles, MO, Amy currently lives in Lexington, KY with her husband and a ferocious attack tabby named Cleo. When not writing or reading, she can usually be found watching sports, drinking coffee, or indulging her crippling Twitter habit (and, sometimes, doing all three at once).