VBB: Alpha Girl by Kate Bloomfield ~ Review and Giveaway

 
BLURB:


Seventeen year old Rose Goldman is highly unpopular in the little town of Halfway. Ever since the 'attack' when she was a girl, people and animals have been afraid of her. She gets bullied in school, and called 'wet dog' because of the way she smells, despite being extremely hygienic. However, life takes a turn when a new teacher starts at Halfway High. Mr. Stone, the quirky and charismatic English teacher is twice Rose's age, but she feels an unexplainable pull towards him from day one. Despite her better judgement, Rose pursues a friendship with Mr. Stone, who seems unable to stay away from her.

What is pulling this unlikely pair together?

Alpha Girl is the first book of the Wolfling Saga, and is not intended for audiences younger than 15 years of age, as it contains scenes of a sexual nature, and coarse language.

Please do not read if you are easily offended.

 


 Purchase it from Amazon.




Here's an excerpt:

Mr. Stone’s smile faltered. ‘I like my women to have a mind of their own – to be witty. Like you.’


My throat closed up. Like me?

‘You’re an amazing girl,’ he said suddenly.

His use of the word girl made my stomach twist painfully.

‘Am I?’ I asked.

‘Of course.’

‘A girl?’

He smiled knowingly. ‘An amazing woman,’ he corrected himself.

‘No one has ever told me that before,’ I said.

‘I don’t believe that,’ he smiled. ‘You’re clever, and beautiful, and damn witty.’

Mr. Stone’s jaw tensed as he realized what he was saying.

‘Beautiful?’ I asked, the word escaping as nothing more than a whisper.

‘Don’t you know?’ he asked.

My heart thundered as I stared at him. Oh please, my mind begged. Please tell me what is going on in that head of yours.

‘D-don’t I know what?’ I asked.

‘Don’t you know what you’re doing to me?’ He said as though I was torturing him.

‘What?’ My skin stung and my head swam with the possibilities.

‘Rose, I-’ He paused to collect his thoughts. ‘I’ve felt this … this pull towards you since day one. I can’t explain it.’

He didn’t need to explain it, because I felt it too. His eyes, his smile and his scent had me drawn in.

I placed a shaking hand over his, which was still on the steering wheel. He looked at our hands for a moment before allowing me to thread my fingers through his. I could feel his pulse in between each of my fingers.

Mr. Stone inhaled deeply. ‘Christ,’ he muttered, shutting his eyes tightly.

‘What’s the matter?’ I breathed.

‘That … that scent. The way you smell-’

I suddenly became very self-conscious. Bullies at school often accused me of smelling like wet dog. I sniffed my shirt, but I smelled perfectly normal.

‘What is it?’ I said defensively. ‘I showered this morning-’

Mr. Stone laughed, and I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment.

‘No,’ he said with a small smile. ‘You smell amazing.’

‘I do?’

‘Absolutely. You always do.’

I never wore perfume, only regular home brand antiperspirant.

‘It makes me dizzy,’ he confessed. ‘It’s intoxicating.’

‘What do I smell like?’ I asked, rather flushed.

Mr. Stone licked his lips as though he could taste me in the air. ‘Sweet,’ he said.

My cheeks burned crimson, and I wished he would look at me. I couldn’t believe this was happening.

‘I want to kiss you so very badly, Rose,’ Mr. Stone said under his breath. ‘But I can’t … and it’s killing me.’

My heart hammered so loudly against my ribcage that I was sure Mr. Stone could hear it from where he sat.

Suddenly, I felt powerful. He wanted me … and it terrified him.

‘Mr. Stone,’ I breathed, but he still didn’t look at me. ‘Tom.’

A small groan escaped him as though his name leaving my lips was taboo.

‘Look at me,’ I said, my eyes fixated on him.

‘I can’t,’ he said, shaking his head.






AUTHOR Bio and Links:


Best-selling and independent Australian author, Kate Bloomfield, has successfully made a name for herself in the world of self-publishing at just twenty-three years old. Her newest and most precious book yet, Alpha Girl, is a controversial Paranormal Romance between a student and teacher. A book not for those easily offended.

Kate was born in Enfield, London in 1989, but has lived in Wollongong, Australia for most of her life.

Now working full time as an independent author, Kate has published four novels, and two short stories.

Her fifth novel ‘Alpha Girl’ is a paranormal romance that explores a complicated a student/teacher relationship. It is due for release on April 1st 2013.

For more information about Alpha Girl, please visit: www.bloomfieldkate.com

 Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Wattpad / Goodreads / Amazon
 

Kate will be awarding an autographed copy of ALPHA GIRL to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour (US ONLY). Sorry Int. followers. :-(  It's Not my choice!


If you follow the tour and comment on all of the posts, the better your chances of winning! The tour dates can be found here.

My Thoughts:
Alpha Girl was original. I found it a little slow to start. Also there were small things that I found irritating. Let me tell you why.

First of all, I found Rose to be whiny and rather odd. Not that being odd is a bad thing! It just seemed wrong that she would just accept being treated poorly by her peers and her parents. It seemed wrong that her parents left her alone and didn't seem to care about her except for when they should have left well enough alone! 

Perhaps I should explain some things. Rose is a seventeen year old student who was bitten by an animal when she was very young which resulted in her having an episode each month around the full moon. Her classmates call her wet dog and say other hurtfull things to her. Her parents have not been together since the attack. They both spend their time working and having affairs and seem very unconcerned about her for the most part.

One time when Rose was twelve, her parents neglected to come home and restrain her during her episode. She escaped and woke up naked in the woods. She had no knowledge of how she got there or what she did while she was loose.

Thankfully, they haven't forgotten to be home for her episode since that time. 

On the first day of school, Rose meets Mr. Stone her new English teacher. There seems to be an almost instant connection although neither of them know why.

Their relationship progresses slowly with Mr. Stone dragging his feet the whole way. He knows that he should not be interested in one of his students in that way. He just can't seem to stay away from her. If he was looking for her to rebuff his feelings, he will be sorely disappointed. She wants him badly. She has never been interested in boys before but something about him appeals to her.

There is a lot of back and forth with Mr. Stone wanting Rose and trying to not want her.  Some of the book drags and other parts whiz by very quickly.

I can't say that I loved this book but I did enjoy it and for the most part, I liked it. I can say that I will be reading the next book in this series because it has me curious as to what will happen next. I was so not expecting the revelation near the end of the book!

I did like the ending although I am leery of Mr. Stone's acceptance of Rose and of all that happened. I hope that I am just being paranoid as I sometimes am with the men in books. :-)

In this book you'll find romance, some mystery, a little angst, and small amount of action. There are some characters that are interesting to say the least and some that I really despise.

Overall, I thought this was a great start to an completely original new shifter series. I am looking forward to reading the next book. :-)

I would reccomend this book to older readers due to some of the actions and characters in the book.

I received a copy of this book from Goddess Fish in exchange for my honest opinion.




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