Release Day Blitz, Review & Giveaway ~ Blue Horizons by Kathryn Andrews

 

Title: Blue Horizons
Author: Kathryn Andrews
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 19, 2015

 Book Description:

Will Ashton

Music is my motivation. I’ve always believed that, because of it, I would be somebody. Somebody to someone, and something to myself. 

At age four, I picked up my grandfather’s acoustic guitar and, up until three weeks ago, I’ve never put it down. From a single chord to a full arrangement, music fed my soul. I craved it with every fiber of my being, but now, I just don’t know. That driving force that’s always pushed me has somehow stalled, along with the thrill, the passion, and the familiarity . . . it’s all gone. I’m beginning to worry that my love for music just isn’t enough.

As the summer tour finally comes to an end, I head to the Blue Ridge Mountains instead of returning to Nashville. It’s here that I’ve always been able to lose myself amongst the solitude and the lake, but what I didn’t expect to find was her.

Wild blonde hair, light blue eyes, and a laugh I find myself trying to coax from her has me completely enamored. She’s quiet, incredibly poised, and driven by secrets as big as the mountains around us. They’re what’s made her untouchable, and left me wanting to know more.

Maybe that’s what I need. Maybe I need more. Maybe I need her.

Ava Layne

They say that life isn’t about how many breaths we take, but how many moments take our breath away. But what if those moments aren’t filled with happiness and love, but something dark and haunting? For me, it’s those moments that’ve shaped and taken over my life. I can’t change who I am, God knows I’ve tried, and, because of this, I’ve accepted the silver lining . . . I’m alive.

Fifty-two white keys, thirty-six black keys, ten fingers, seven notes, two friends, and one stage. At the piano, on the stage, with my two best friends, I finally found myself, and I live for those moments. One by one, I collect them, cherish them, patiently waiting for the next, until it arrives and changes everything. That’s the moment I meet him.

Buy Links:

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1Nk3aql
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1LxZjDt
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/1KlCJPr
Amazon AU: http://bit.ly/1CVH7ot

Our Review:

Reviewed by Donna ~ 4.5 stars
***ARC received for an honest review***


“Life isn’t about how many breaths we take, but how many moments take our breath away.”


I have been a fan of Kathryn Andrews since her first book. Anyone who knows me knows that I am an emotional reader, I am all about character connection and I relish when an author can pull me so far into their story that I feel every emotion that the characters feel and Kathryn Andrews never fails to deliver.

Will Ashton is a country music star, something that he has always aspired to be yet at the moment it isn’t proving to be all it is cracked up to be. Will is one of these artists that needs to feel his music, he loves to write his music, but fame comes with a price and that is endless appearances and a lack of time ultimately to them losing “their roots” and losing their integrity. After the culmination of years on the road and tirelessly working reach breaking point, Will escapes into hiding for a few months, he needs to regroup, he needs to sort out his head. He goes to the only place he can relax, the Blue Ridge Mountains, a place where he spent his youth with his grandfather and place he holds dear to his heart.


“All I ever wanted was to be somebody. Somebody to someone and somebody to myself.”


Ava Layne is a musician herself but is more classically trained. Ava and her two best friends are really successful in their own right and their contemporary edge on classical instruments has given them a niche in the market. Ava is escaping her past, a traumatic past and while the physical scars have healed the emotional ones have not. Ava is emotionally closed off and cannot even bare to be touched, her story is heart breaking and no matter how hard she tries she just cannot seem to move on. She keeps herself to herself preferring her own company to others but underneath that frosty façade is a broken soul who is letting her past dictate her future, but she has a heart of gold and desperately just wants to love and be loved but the scars of her past have made that virtually impossible.


“All I want is to gather her in my arms and tell her that nothing bad will ever happen to her again…only I can’t.”


Kathryn Andrews weaves a beautiful tale in her tell-tale magical way. Despite Ava’s past her flash backs are dealt with compassionately and really helps you to understand her and while those flash backs are not in the least bit pretty they are not over the top either. My heart broke for Ava so many times and to see the person she is today, even being broken, is a miracle in itself.

When Will and Ava’s paths cross, they both keep their true identities secret and are both honest about it too, but the more time they spend together the more the little snippets of their realities spill out. These two are so well suited to each other, their connection is undeniable, the only ones in denial are themselves, more so Ava than Will. They have so much in common and Will seems to be able to break through those little fissures in Ava’s armour.


“Never let yesterday use up too much of today.”


Kathryn Andrews really brings these characters to life in this story, you cannot help but feel Ava’s pain and insecurities and Will’s desperation at trying to win the woman he has fallen in love with. This book was perfectly balanced with just enough angst but the emotions are tangible and reduced me to tears on several occasions. But these tears are a true sign that the author has done their job in evoking those deep seated emotions and bringing them to my trusty tear ducts. With each book that Kathryn Andrews publishes I can see the growth in her writing, it just gets better and better, the flow, the construction of so many touching and poignant sentences and paragraphs just really brought to the surface the pain and insecurities of both these characters.

Once again another winner from Kathryn Andrews, I would really love to know Clay’s story, he is Will’s band mate but also his foster brother. His wit and mannerisms really brought some much needed humour to this story and really balanced this emotional story.

 

About the Author:

OVER TEN YEARS ago my husband and I were driving from Chicago to Tampa and somewhere in Kentucky I remember seeing a billboard that was all black with five white words, “I do, therefore I am!” I’m certain that it was a Nike ad, but for me I found this to be completely profound.

Take running for example. Most will say that a runner is someone who runs five days a week and runs under a ten minute mile pace. Well, I can tell you that I never run five days a week and on my best days my pace is an eleven minute mile. I have run quite a few half marathons and one full marathon. No matter what anyone says . . . I run, therefore I am a runner.

I’ve taken this same thought and applied it to so many areas of my life: cooking, gardening, quilting, and yes . . . writing.

I may not be culinary trained, but I love to cook and my family and friends loves to eat my food. I cook, therefore I am a chef!

My thumb is not black. I love to grow herbs, tomatoes, roses, and lavender. I garden, therefore I am a gardener!

I love beautiful fabrics and I can follow a pattern. My triangles may not line up perfectly . . . but who cares, my quilts are still beautiful when they are finished. I quilt, therefore I am a quilter.

I have been writing my entire life. It is my husband who finally said, “Who cares if people like your books or not? If you enjoy writing them and you love your stories…then write them.” He has always been my biggest fan and he was right. Being a writer has always been my dream and what I said I wanted to be when I grew up.

So, I’ve told you who I am and what I love to do . . . now I’m going to tell you the why.

I have two boys that are three years a part. My husband and I want to instill in them adventure, courage, and passion. We don’t expect them to be perfect at things, we just want them to try and do. It’s not about winning the race; it’s about showing up in the first place. We don’t want them to be discouraged by society stereotypes, we want them to embrace who they are and what they love. After all, we only get one life.

In the end, they won’t care how many books I actually sell . . . all that matters to them is that I said I was going to do it, I did it, and I have loved every minute of it.

Find something that you love and tell yourself, “I do, therefore I am.”

Social Media:

Website - www.kandrewsauthor.com
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/kandrewsauthor
Facebook - http://on.fb.me/1MrO0Ah
Twitter – https://www.twitter.com/kandrewsauthor
Amazon Central - http://amzn.to/1SIBr3b
Goodreads - http://bit.ly/1yg5Ujk

 

Giveaway:

Goodreads Giveaway – Paperback Copy (Open: 9/24 – 10/26 – US, CA, GB & AU)

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_choose_address/155583-blue-horizons