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Le Garde #1
Connection
Aaron and Anna haven’t been friends for almost a year, not after he deserted her when she needed a friend the most. When Aaron approaches Anna for help with his homework, she can’t deny her former best friend or the way he makes her feel. Despite her reluctance to trust him again—not to mention how much their strange telepathic connection freaks her out—she gives in. English homework. How hard could that be?
Soon Anna finds out that nothing with Aaron is easy. Not the way their touch suddenly triggers power outages and lightning storms. Not the feelings he has for her despite her already having a boyfriend—or how she’s falling for him in return. And certainly not the mysterious secret society called Le Garde that wants to recruit them. The new knowledge that they’re not alone in their powers or connection forces them to choose between continuing to live their normal lives or falling deep into the world of Le Garde together—and maybe even in love.
Soon Anna finds out that nothing with Aaron is easy. Not the way their touch suddenly triggers power outages and lightning storms. Not the feelings he has for her despite her already having a boyfriend—or how she’s falling for him in return. And certainly not the mysterious secret society called Le Garde that wants to recruit them. The new knowledge that they’re not alone in their powers or connection forces them to choose between continuing to live their normal lives or falling deep into the world of Le Garde together—and maybe even in love.
298 pages, Paperback
First published November 21, 2012
449 people want to read
About the author
Emily Ann Loveall
28 books75 followersEmily Ann Loveall is the author of Finding Fiona, Le Garde series, and The Protectors series. One of her first stories featured a young girl whose doll came to life. The rest is history. When it comes to fiction, she writes mainly young adult, contemporary, and fantasy. She also writes nonfiction, ranging from stories of her travels to thoughts on the Bible. Aside from writing, she loves traveling, being outdoors, and listening to music.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 13, 2012
The first halve of this was very confusing and too abrupt. I kept on wondering what happened between Aaron and Anna. Why their relationship just went down the drain. What happened between Anna and her ex Jordan. It doesn't really tell you much about their history, which kinda made it a bit shallow.
Then there's Anna and Aaron, the protagonists. While I do love them, I just couldn't 'feel' it. I couldn't relate with them. It feels unnatural. They seem fake, their reactions and personality a bit too unrealistic. Same goes with their relationship. One second Anna was pushing Aaron away, the next she was shamelessly checking him out. Don't get me started about Aaron's love life.
The pace was too fast. Just when you find out one thing, almost immediately another would pop out. There are always new things to discover in each chapter, not giving time for us too absorb the news and be familiar with. It's too rushed as if the author just need to get the details out there. Every single thing. Other times the timing was a bit off. It was about halfway into the book when the words Le Garde finally made sense to me. Even then, we still don't know much about it except that it was an organization for pairs with abilities like Aaron and Anna's. I think.
Also the story itself wasn't laid out that well. I found it messy, which was pretty disappointing. They don't focus much about the powers except the times when they, Aaron and Anna, practiced to control it. Most of the time it focuses mostly on their feelings for each other, how they kept on denying their connection. There are times when the characters seemed ...horny. Yes, you read it right. Sure they are teenagers, but really now. They just couldn't keep their hands of each other. And that doesn't narrow down to just Aaron-Anna moments.
I felt that the minor characters, like Sam, Kaylie, Chandler, Jordan Vickie and Wendy weren't fully developed. There's a couple of times when there are even smaller characters that randomly butt in, and disappear afterwards. They only have names, no personality or role. As if they're just there to fill up the empty spots in case the protagonists are in need of wise advice or a couple of insulting remarks or two. It would be nice to see more of them, just not when they are being ridiculously flirty - or horny, depends on how you see it - or just being the angry teen who lashed out on everything. I personally would love to know more about them, especially Kristina and Drew. It would be such a waste to just leave them be.
Instead of the powers that has the potential to rule the world, this book focused mainly on the relationship as I said. It leans more on the romance rather than the supernatural abilities. I do like the romance, however. The sweet ending really got me. I just hoped the author could tone it down a little. Give those awesomesauce powers more spotlight. I would love to see more of them.
Despite it all, I love the plot. I think it's a very good concept. The book has its potentials. The plot could be developed even more, the characters more believable. I believe it could be better and I'm willing to give it another chance. 3 and a half stars.
Then there's Anna and Aaron, the protagonists. While I do love them, I just couldn't 'feel' it. I couldn't relate with them. It feels unnatural. They seem fake, their reactions and personality a bit too unrealistic. Same goes with their relationship. One second Anna was pushing Aaron away, the next she was shamelessly checking him out. Don't get me started about Aaron's love life.
The pace was too fast. Just when you find out one thing, almost immediately another would pop out. There are always new things to discover in each chapter, not giving time for us too absorb the news and be familiar with. It's too rushed as if the author just need to get the details out there. Every single thing. Other times the timing was a bit off. It was about halfway into the book when the words Le Garde finally made sense to me. Even then, we still don't know much about it except that it was an organization for pairs with abilities like Aaron and Anna's. I think.
Also the story itself wasn't laid out that well. I found it messy, which was pretty disappointing. They don't focus much about the powers except the times when they, Aaron and Anna, practiced to control it. Most of the time it focuses mostly on their feelings for each other, how they kept on denying their connection. There are times when the characters seemed ...horny. Yes, you read it right. Sure they are teenagers, but really now. They just couldn't keep their hands of each other. And that doesn't narrow down to just Aaron-Anna moments.
I felt that the minor characters, like Sam, Kaylie, Chandler, Jordan Vickie and Wendy weren't fully developed. There's a couple of times when there are even smaller characters that randomly butt in, and disappear afterwards. They only have names, no personality or role. As if they're just there to fill up the empty spots in case the protagonists are in need of wise advice or a couple of insulting remarks or two. It would be nice to see more of them, just not when they are being ridiculously flirty - or horny, depends on how you see it - or just being the angry teen who lashed out on everything. I personally would love to know more about them, especially Kristina and Drew. It would be such a waste to just leave them be.
Instead of the powers that has the potential to rule the world, this book focused mainly on the relationship as I said. It leans more on the romance rather than the supernatural abilities. I do like the romance, however. The sweet ending really got me. I just hoped the author could tone it down a little. Give those awesomesauce powers more spotlight. I would love to see more of them.
Despite it all, I love the plot. I think it's a very good concept. The book has its potentials. The plot could be developed even more, the characters more believable. I believe it could be better and I'm willing to give it another chance. 3 and a half stars.
November 29, 2012
My review can also be found on my blog Collections.
In the beginning of Connection, I was kind of distracted by some of the unanswered questions. Why weren't Anna and Aaron friends for nearly a year? How come Anna forgave him so quickly? And why did they share this powerful connection? The story actually wasn't slow-going at all. It did, however, take me a couple of chapters to warm up to the characters, which was why I wanted clarification on certain things quick. Thankfully as the story progressed answers were revealed, and by the halfway point, I became more interested and invested into the story.
Connection is a paranormal that revolves around two high school students, Aaron and Anna. They were best friends since they were 8-years-old and have had a special connection where they can basically read each others thoughts and feel each others emotions. After becoming close again after nearly a year apart, Aaron and Anna start to realize that their connection is becoming more intense and powerful. To make matters even more complicated, they find out they may not be the only pair out there with this type of connection and that they are already being watched.
While the story wouldn't be the same without the paranormal, the contemporary aspects were what I enjoyed the most. Like the relationship between Anna and Aaron and the dynamics they had with their family and other friends. I did think it was strange how quickly Anna and Aaron became friends again after not being friends at all for a year, especially after finding out what Aaron did. But once I realized Anna actually hadn't forgiven Aaron as much as I thought she had, I ended up feeling a whole lot better about their situation. And I'm so glad that afterwards their relationship didn't immediately evolve into something romantic. It was obvious they would get together, but it took time and there were many complications along the way. Such as Anna having a boyfriend, the horrible friend Aaron chose over Anna, and Anna questioning if she would even have feelings for Aaron had it not been for their connection. I just ended up liking both Aaron and Anna as characters. I loved Anna's rational side, how she tended to question things unlike Aaron. And I liked that Aaron made sure not to waver on his loyalty to Anna again, even when there were moments they really disagreed with each other. Basically they were likeable characters, and I appreciated that.
Connection was overall a pretty enjoyable read for me. The ending wasn't climactic, though, and I felt nothing involving the paranormal aspects were resolved. But at least Anna and Aaron's relationship developed nicely because like I said, it was my favorite thing about the novel. There's definitely more to come, and I'm looking forward to it.
June 23, 2013
This book was interesting and different from whose I normally read. Anna agrees to help Aaron, a friend from way back, with his homework. He excels in one area of studies, while she excels in another. They get together and keep meeting up at various locations. Along with Aaron comes Jordan, a bad sort of guy who, it seems, in the past dated Anna and who is now into bullying her for this. To compound matters, there is a mysterious society, Le Garde, trying to recruit them. I found a lot of this book to be mundane and rather like a lot of the stories you can find today. It was sometimes not all that easy to get into it. The characterizations of Anna and Aaron were good, though hers was better than his. I also found this character Jordan to be offensive, probably bit too much for me. This is a classic tale of good versus evil, with a teen romance thrown in to spice things up a bit. If you enjoy reading these type things, you probably would enjoy the story far more than I did. However, on the plus side, it was well written, not filled with the many innumerable errors and typos that eBooks often have. I received this book free on-line to read and review.
January 9, 2013
This book grabbed me from page one, where one of the two main characters, Aaron, mentions that he and Anna (the other main character) have carried on conversations in French since the day they met, despite Aaron never having studied the language. This did seem like a random way to start a book, but a few chapters in it becomes an important fact.
The author does a wonderful job switching between Aaron and Anna's point-of-view, capturing Aaron's "harder" voice and Anna's "sweeter" one. This book reminded me of Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and I am confident that the books in this Le Garde series will be as grasping and well-written as this one.
The only criticism I have is that the book could have been proofed read better. There were a handful or so of typos that Word didn't catch. I still give the book top marks!
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The author does a wonderful job switching between Aaron and Anna's point-of-view, capturing Aaron's "harder" voice and Anna's "sweeter" one. This book reminded me of Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and I am confident that the books in this Le Garde series will be as grasping and well-written as this one.
The only criticism I have is that the book could have been proofed read better. There were a handful or so of typos that Word didn't catch. I still give the book top marks!
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
February 3, 2013
The premise of this book grabbed me: Teens that were connected by supernatural powers, in this case the ability to control electricity, reading each others thoughts and feelings, telepathy. Sounds cool, huh?
Yeah, not so much. Because only about a tenth of the book dealt with that interesting premise. The rest was eaten up by really immature ramblings of the characters relationships ("I think I like my friend, but no I like my boyfriend, but maybe I like my friend, but wait...") until I wanted to bang my head against the wall.
The author wrote literally pages of descriptions of the teens having a flour fight as they were making pizza, tickle fights, and making out. But when it came to their powers we got a sentence: "We practiced our powers for two hours."
So much fluff, so little plot. I won't be reading the sequel.
Yeah, not so much. Because only about a tenth of the book dealt with that interesting premise. The rest was eaten up by really immature ramblings of the characters relationships ("I think I like my friend, but no I like my boyfriend, but maybe I like my friend, but wait...") until I wanted to bang my head against the wall.
The author wrote literally pages of descriptions of the teens having a flour fight as they were making pizza, tickle fights, and making out. But when it came to their powers we got a sentence: "We practiced our powers for two hours."
So much fluff, so little plot. I won't be reading the sequel.
December 21, 2012
Quick review:
Plot: Unique, it's the first time I heard about characters having a supernatural (unique gifts/powers) connection.
Characters: Not very memorable, just your significant high school, with love plus supernatural problems.Love aspect isn't insta, in fact, the girl has another boyfriend.
Writing Style: Didn't encounter typos...readable
Audience: I think, anyone may want to read this, sci-fi fans would love this.
Overall: Good enough, there are just some parts that drag the story, and there seems to be few things happening for the entire storyline.. would want to read more from this author and would love to read more from this series
Won from Librarything
Plot: Unique, it's the first time I heard about characters having a supernatural (unique gifts/powers) connection.
Characters: Not very memorable, just your significant high school, with love plus supernatural problems.Love aspect isn't insta, in fact, the girl has another boyfriend.
Writing Style: Didn't encounter typos...readable
Audience: I think, anyone may want to read this, sci-fi fans would love this.
Overall: Good enough, there are just some parts that drag the story, and there seems to be few things happening for the entire storyline.. would want to read more from this author and would love to read more from this series
Won from Librarything
November 11, 2013
Overall it was a good read but I initially had a hard time getting into the book. However about 1/3 of the way into it I was enjoying the story-line and and the exploration of the two main characters paranormal connection with each other and what that means for their future. I think a lot of teens would enjoy this book for its paranormal attributes and relatable situations that the teens get into.
December 13, 2012
I really loved this book starting from the cover, till the very lat page. I am going to read more book by Emily.
March 25, 2013
Amazing! It just flowed off the pages and every time I had to put it down I wondered what would happen next. Will definitely be looking for the next one to come out!
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October 21, 2018The downside of having a book on the to read list for 6 years or so is that sometimes it doesn't seem to be published anymore when you come to actually read it. Couldn't find the book to read it, sadly.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews