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Grounded #1
Grounded
Alyssum Bracken sets out in search of Jensen Burkhardt…
After a longtime feud over copper between the Gremalian and the Gobel races, she hopes he has inherited his father’s legendary abilities as tensions rise to a breaking point. But when she finds him in faraway New York, Alyssum discovers she didn’t reach the handsome gremlin first. Aric, a rival goblin, is already ensconced in Jensen’s life.
However, Aric Bramble isn’t the enemy…
Courageously risking exile to save both races from a bloody war, the unlikely trio decide to work together. A forbidden friendship with Aric, a first love with the noble Jensen, while juggling her father, their leader, the prejudice of her people against the Gobel—and Aric’s people trying to kill them all—might be too much for Alyssum to handle.
Jensen’s strength is the one thing keeping Alyssum grounded, but will their relationship be threatened by her friendship with Aric?
Will any of them even survive the coming conflict? Alyssum isn't sure…but she’s going to try.
After a longtime feud over copper between the Gremalian and the Gobel races, she hopes he has inherited his father’s legendary abilities as tensions rise to a breaking point. But when she finds him in faraway New York, Alyssum discovers she didn’t reach the handsome gremlin first. Aric, a rival goblin, is already ensconced in Jensen’s life.
However, Aric Bramble isn’t the enemy…
Courageously risking exile to save both races from a bloody war, the unlikely trio decide to work together. A forbidden friendship with Aric, a first love with the noble Jensen, while juggling her father, their leader, the prejudice of her people against the Gobel—and Aric’s people trying to kill them all—might be too much for Alyssum to handle.
Jensen’s strength is the one thing keeping Alyssum grounded, but will their relationship be threatened by her friendship with Aric?
Will any of them even survive the coming conflict? Alyssum isn't sure…but she’s going to try.
- GenresParanormal Romance
282 pages, Paperback
First published May 19, 2015
11 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
About the author
Heather Young-Nichols
79 books1,720 followersHeather Young-Nichols is a USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary and paranormal romances. She writes swoony heroes and snarly heroines with a heap of romance.
When she's not writing, she's binging a show with her kids, watching baseball, or snuggling with her cuddly animals.
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When she's not writing, she's binging a show with her kids, watching baseball, or snuggling with her cuddly animals.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 3, 2016
This is one of those super rare occasions whereby I spent the entire book flickering between ratings. I can give reasons for all of the ratings between one and four stars. In the end, I settled for the three stars. I’m sure many will enjoy this much more than I did, but I flickered between ratings far too much to give it anything higher. Due to this, I’m going to try something slightly different with my review. I’m not one hundred percent sure as to how it will work out – other than lengthy, as it feels like another one of those kind of reviews – but I’ll give it a try anyway. What I’m going to try and do is explain why it was deserving of each of the four different ratings that I considered giving it.
We’ll begin at the bottom and work up, meaning we’re starting with the one star. For me, it was the romance. Anyone who has read any of my reviews about romantic books will already know what is to come. That is, I’m so picky when it comes to romance. I can think of but a handful that have managed to pull five stars from me – in the contemporary romance genre we have The Rosie Project by Don Tillman; in the romantic suspense we have Girl Missing by Tess Gerritsen; in the paranormal romance we have the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor and the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness – but as I read more and more I am offering up more of the four stars that I would usually hold back on when it came to romance reads. So, whilst I’m more accepting of romance, I’m still super picky.
My issues with the romance in this story… well, there are a few.
First, we have the instalove. This is my biggest annoyance. I understand lust at first sight – I’m sure we have all encountered people where our minds have made comments we’d rather not repeat to anyone else – yet with this one, it was very clearly love. But wait, the second issue complicates things!
Second, we have the love triangle. At times, I hate this even more than I hate the instalove – with this read, though, it falls to second place. It is the most overused literary device. It seems as though every female in the written world is doomed to have two men battling it out for her. Such is true in this book, like so many others. That, however, was the least of my problems in regards to the triangle.
Third, we have the pacing of the romance. This links in with the instalove, but it continued beyond that. Things happen instantly, the romance taking centre stage. I wanted more of the story, more of the fantasy, instead of dealing with the boy trouble. We were thrown in head first, which was bad enough, but then it took far too long to be sorted out. There was no real pacing for the romance, it was as though the author simply threw it all together, allowing her to sail a ship she had created.
Of course, I’m sure many will love the romance. I’m simply extremely hard to please and I found myself unable to connect to the romance at all in this one. It bugged me every time something related to the romance happened, which was quite often. In the end, I managed to overlook things. However, whenever it started to overshadow the main story I became distracted and less than pleased all over again.
I should stop ranting about the romance now, though. This review is already growing rather lengthy and I’ve yet to move beyond my one star musing. Without further ado, the musing of the two star rating. The pacing. I sort of covered this with my final point about the romance, so I’m sure this will be a rather quick section.
For me, the pacing seemed all over the place. Well, it wasn’t so much pacing, as it was the lack of real action. In the first chapter, it seems as though things are going to be all out. We’re introduced to our main character and her actions leave you thinking that things will move at a wonderful pace. Then we reach a standstill for over a quarter of the book as we deal with the romance drama. It pulls away from what I wanted. We have very little by way of the fantasy. It is all shrouded in mystery. Whilst mystery is wonderful, I would have liked to have some kind of information as we’re reading. It’s quite late on before we receive the real information regarding the fantasy aspect of the book. Once we’re done dealing with the dragged out initial romance drama, it looks as though things are going to pick up. Whilst they do, we never had the real action that I had been hoping for. There were constant threats of action only for them to sizzle out or be over too soon. I wanted more.
Up next, we have the three star possibility. This is all relating to clichés. I’ve given a few of them already. I mentioned the love triangle and instalove, but there is more than that. We have the conflict at home. We have the characters destined to be the most amazing of things since sliced bread. We have the relationship with those who are supposed to be enemies. There are some others, but then I would be giving too many spoilers. Whilst it was all thrown into a new story, it was much of the same. It was fun, but it wasn’t quite enough to stand out completely. At times, I could have been reading any book in this genre. When it came to the storyline, in short, there wasn’t really much to distinguish it from many others in the genre. It was enjoyable, but it wasn’t something new and crazy.
Finally, we have the four star potential. This comes in two parts. We have the level of addiction, and we have the creation of the fantasy aspect. I’ll cover these separately.
The story was addictive. I know I have sounded extremely negative thus far, but I was addicted. I managed to work through the book in no time at all – and that wasn’t simply due to the length. If I’m one hundred percent against a book the length does not matter, it will take me forever to finish. With this one, however, I was turning page after page. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know what was to come. I was able to overlook my issues, as I needed to see where things were heading. I really wasn’t expecting to find myself so addicted, especially considering how long it took me to get into the book.
As for the creation of the new fantasy world… well, that one is easy to explain. We’re give new creatures to learn about, new ways of life. I was disappointed that more attention wasn’t given to this aspect, and I wish things had been a bit more informative from the onset, but I did enjoy how the author came up with something new to give us. It was a nice change, and there is a lot of potential for the future books in the series. There is no telling what more is to come.
Ergo, as you can see, I was a bit all over the place with this one. I liked it but I didn’t love it. I was annoyed yet I wanted more. Hence the three star rating.
Part of me wishes to continue with the series, but I’m not yet sure if I will. Part of me wants to – the ending left me wanting to see what comes next – yet another part of me has no wish to carry on. We’ll see closer to the time. Honestly, it could go either way.
As it’s a first in the series, and as it’s my first book by the author, I probably will give the next a try. If not the next, then I will at least try something else by the author. The female does have talent – the voice of the main character was more than enough to pull me in, and I love it when such a thing happens.
Plus, I’ve joined her mailing list. Which is actually how I knew this was free for a while. I’m not quite sure how I ended up on her mailing list – I have recently found myself subscribed to many I was not aware of, but I’m willing to give them all a try. As Grounded seems like something I would be interested in, I went ahead and gave it a read straight away. For a freebie, it was a decent enough read. For a first in the series, it sets things up. For my first read by the author, it left me curious to see what else she has to offer.
Despite all of this, I still couldn’t bring myself to love it as much as I had wanted to.
We’ll begin at the bottom and work up, meaning we’re starting with the one star. For me, it was the romance. Anyone who has read any of my reviews about romantic books will already know what is to come. That is, I’m so picky when it comes to romance. I can think of but a handful that have managed to pull five stars from me – in the contemporary romance genre we have The Rosie Project by Don Tillman; in the romantic suspense we have Girl Missing by Tess Gerritsen; in the paranormal romance we have the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor and the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness – but as I read more and more I am offering up more of the four stars that I would usually hold back on when it came to romance reads. So, whilst I’m more accepting of romance, I’m still super picky.
My issues with the romance in this story… well, there are a few.
First, we have the instalove. This is my biggest annoyance. I understand lust at first sight – I’m sure we have all encountered people where our minds have made comments we’d rather not repeat to anyone else – yet with this one, it was very clearly love. But wait, the second issue complicates things!
Second, we have the love triangle. At times, I hate this even more than I hate the instalove – with this read, though, it falls to second place. It is the most overused literary device. It seems as though every female in the written world is doomed to have two men battling it out for her. Such is true in this book, like so many others. That, however, was the least of my problems in regards to the triangle.
Third, we have the pacing of the romance. This links in with the instalove, but it continued beyond that. Things happen instantly, the romance taking centre stage. I wanted more of the story, more of the fantasy, instead of dealing with the boy trouble. We were thrown in head first, which was bad enough, but then it took far too long to be sorted out. There was no real pacing for the romance, it was as though the author simply threw it all together, allowing her to sail a ship she had created.
Of course, I’m sure many will love the romance. I’m simply extremely hard to please and I found myself unable to connect to the romance at all in this one. It bugged me every time something related to the romance happened, which was quite often. In the end, I managed to overlook things. However, whenever it started to overshadow the main story I became distracted and less than pleased all over again.
I should stop ranting about the romance now, though. This review is already growing rather lengthy and I’ve yet to move beyond my one star musing. Without further ado, the musing of the two star rating. The pacing. I sort of covered this with my final point about the romance, so I’m sure this will be a rather quick section.
For me, the pacing seemed all over the place. Well, it wasn’t so much pacing, as it was the lack of real action. In the first chapter, it seems as though things are going to be all out. We’re introduced to our main character and her actions leave you thinking that things will move at a wonderful pace. Then we reach a standstill for over a quarter of the book as we deal with the romance drama. It pulls away from what I wanted. We have very little by way of the fantasy. It is all shrouded in mystery. Whilst mystery is wonderful, I would have liked to have some kind of information as we’re reading. It’s quite late on before we receive the real information regarding the fantasy aspect of the book. Once we’re done dealing with the dragged out initial romance drama, it looks as though things are going to pick up. Whilst they do, we never had the real action that I had been hoping for. There were constant threats of action only for them to sizzle out or be over too soon. I wanted more.
Up next, we have the three star possibility. This is all relating to clichés. I’ve given a few of them already. I mentioned the love triangle and instalove, but there is more than that. We have the conflict at home. We have the characters destined to be the most amazing of things since sliced bread. We have the relationship with those who are supposed to be enemies. There are some others, but then I would be giving too many spoilers. Whilst it was all thrown into a new story, it was much of the same. It was fun, but it wasn’t quite enough to stand out completely. At times, I could have been reading any book in this genre. When it came to the storyline, in short, there wasn’t really much to distinguish it from many others in the genre. It was enjoyable, but it wasn’t something new and crazy.
Finally, we have the four star potential. This comes in two parts. We have the level of addiction, and we have the creation of the fantasy aspect. I’ll cover these separately.
The story was addictive. I know I have sounded extremely negative thus far, but I was addicted. I managed to work through the book in no time at all – and that wasn’t simply due to the length. If I’m one hundred percent against a book the length does not matter, it will take me forever to finish. With this one, however, I was turning page after page. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know what was to come. I was able to overlook my issues, as I needed to see where things were heading. I really wasn’t expecting to find myself so addicted, especially considering how long it took me to get into the book.
As for the creation of the new fantasy world… well, that one is easy to explain. We’re give new creatures to learn about, new ways of life. I was disappointed that more attention wasn’t given to this aspect, and I wish things had been a bit more informative from the onset, but I did enjoy how the author came up with something new to give us. It was a nice change, and there is a lot of potential for the future books in the series. There is no telling what more is to come.
Ergo, as you can see, I was a bit all over the place with this one. I liked it but I didn’t love it. I was annoyed yet I wanted more. Hence the three star rating.
Part of me wishes to continue with the series, but I’m not yet sure if I will. Part of me wants to – the ending left me wanting to see what comes next – yet another part of me has no wish to carry on. We’ll see closer to the time. Honestly, it could go either way.
As it’s a first in the series, and as it’s my first book by the author, I probably will give the next a try. If not the next, then I will at least try something else by the author. The female does have talent – the voice of the main character was more than enough to pull me in, and I love it when such a thing happens.
Plus, I’ve joined her mailing list. Which is actually how I knew this was free for a while. I’m not quite sure how I ended up on her mailing list – I have recently found myself subscribed to many I was not aware of, but I’m willing to give them all a try. As Grounded seems like something I would be interested in, I went ahead and gave it a read straight away. For a freebie, it was a decent enough read. For a first in the series, it sets things up. For my first read by the author, it left me curious to see what else she has to offer.
Despite all of this, I still couldn’t bring myself to love it as much as I had wanted to.
Want to read
October 12, 2018💝FREE on Amazon today (10/12/18)!💝
March 18, 2019
3.5 star. This is essentially a YA romance with a paranormal background. The paranormal stuff should be central to the plot but instead it takes a back seat to the 'which boy do i really like', 'he is the only one for me and the other is my bff' drama. There is the threat of the supernatural war and a murder which could have been expanded but despite nothing major happening beyond Alyssum & Jensen falling in love it was still strangely engrossing and left me wanting more. But am I the only one who hopes she ends up with Aric rather than Jensen? Aric just seems like a deeper more interesting character than Jensen who is kinda bland and boring with not much more to him than being hot.
June 21, 2019
Holy wow! This story takes two supernatural races that are often overlooked in favor of the flashier, more glamorous ones, and turns everything we thought we knew on it’ head. I love Alyssum. She’s feisty and independent, and even her naivete doesn’t detract from how much I love her. In fact, I found her even more endearing for it. I adored Jensen and Aric. I would love to see a stable triad formed out of this group because I just can’t choose between the Gremalian and the Gobel. I cannot wait to see what happens next.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author.
October 19, 2018
Great characters, good story
I enjoyed reading this book right up to the end. The characters are wonderful, once you get past the superpowers the story believable.
I must not have been paying attention while reading the blurb, as I didn't expect the cliffhanger.
I enjoyed reading this book right up to the end. The characters are wonderful, once you get past the superpowers the story believable.
I must not have been paying attention while reading the blurb, as I didn't expect the cliffhanger.
August 31, 2016
If Stephanie Plum featured in a young adult novel… About goblins…
This novel follows Alyssum as she sets out to find Jensen, the lost son of the past leader of the Gremalians. She finds him, they fall for each other, and then she brings him back to her home - just in time for a war to begin.
There are many parts of the novel that I liked. I particularly respect Young-Nicholas’ sex scenes that showed a sensitivity and realism that is often lacking in YA texts. The pacing was overall good, and only the most necessary scenes were included - this novel doesn’t waste time.
But the whole thing just felt unpolished. The direct speech was confusing to follow in places, narrator-Alyssum’s voice was cluttered with cliches, and there was often great leaps taken between scenes - or even within scenes. This was a nice enough novel to be told here, but I think it needed some heavier-handed editing to make the writing fade away and bring the story to the forefront.
This novel follows Alyssum as she sets out to find Jensen, the lost son of the past leader of the Gremalians. She finds him, they fall for each other, and then she brings him back to her home - just in time for a war to begin.
There are many parts of the novel that I liked. I particularly respect Young-Nicholas’ sex scenes that showed a sensitivity and realism that is often lacking in YA texts. The pacing was overall good, and only the most necessary scenes were included - this novel doesn’t waste time.
But the whole thing just felt unpolished. The direct speech was confusing to follow in places, narrator-Alyssum’s voice was cluttered with cliches, and there was often great leaps taken between scenes - or even within scenes. This was a nice enough novel to be told here, but I think it needed some heavier-handed editing to make the writing fade away and bring the story to the forefront.
June 20, 2016
This is the first story I have read by Heather Young-Nichols and it won't be my last! Great characters all with individual and unique characteristics.
Who knew Gremlins and Goblins reside in the States or that copper was so important? I love how each character has special powers and how two longtime enemies can work together.
Make sure you have no plans upon starting this story as you won't want to put it down! I can't wait for the next book~
Who knew Gremlins and Goblins reside in the States or that copper was so important? I love how each character has special powers and how two longtime enemies can work together.
Make sure you have no plans upon starting this story as you won't want to put it down! I can't wait for the next book~
May 20, 2015
What do I think of this book? I think anyone who is a fan of fantasy or paranormal romance will absolutely love this book. Heather Young-Nichols has a unique writing style that although her characters are all very different, you know you are reading one of her books. Who would have thought gremlins and goblins could be so fun and sexy?
August 10, 2016
This was an interesting story about two races with magical powers that are at war with one another over a copper mine. The copper makes them stronger and heals them and one race has been in control of it for years and the other one wants their turn. I had a hard time figuring out why they didn't just share, but maybe I will find out more in the next book.
May 13, 2015
This story is amazingly written about a girl named Alyssum, who is trying to prevent a war for her people. I can't wait to read more about the group they form to save the Gremalian and Gobel races.
September 30, 2017
I got so caught up in the secret world of these characters that I couldn't put the book down! A fun summer read- I took it to the beach and read it in a day! lol That's the sign of a good book, to me.
June 2, 2016
Great read
Great read Heather. Can't wait to read the next one. I haven't been disappointed yet by one of your books.
Great read Heather. Can't wait to read the next one. I haven't been disappointed yet by one of your books.
Currently reading
July 1, 2016Lizard: 3⋆.
Wombat: Pending⋆.
Overall: Pending⋆.
Wombat: Pending⋆.
Overall: Pending⋆.
April 22, 2017
Description: Grounded - First Book in The Grounded Series
YA Urban Fantasy Series
Magical Powers
Alyssum Braken - Gremalian Race
Jensen Burkhardt - Gremalian Race
Aric Bramble - Gobel Race
As Alyssum Braken sets out in search of Jensen Burkhardt... Need to read to find out.
I absolutely love YA Urban Fantasy Novels & I love this one too. A highly captivating novel with a intriguing plot twists. The world building descriptions are very detailed & descriptive. With compelling & unrivaled characters that grab your attention. A distinctive writing style that offers jaw dropping moments. So excited to read the next novel in this series. I highly recommend reading this novel as you will not be disappointed. I volunteerily reviewed an advanced reading copy of this book.
YA Urban Fantasy Series
Magical Powers
Alyssum Braken - Gremalian Race
Jensen Burkhardt - Gremalian Race
Aric Bramble - Gobel Race
As Alyssum Braken sets out in search of Jensen Burkhardt... Need to read to find out.
I absolutely love YA Urban Fantasy Novels & I love this one too. A highly captivating novel with a intriguing plot twists. The world building descriptions are very detailed & descriptive. With compelling & unrivaled characters that grab your attention. A distinctive writing style that offers jaw dropping moments. So excited to read the next novel in this series. I highly recommend reading this novel as you will not be disappointed. I volunteerily reviewed an advanced reading copy of this book.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews