Summoned

Granted #2

by Michelle Merrill

It's been two weeks since Brielle's last assignment, and the wait is nothing short of torture. She's anxious to get back to Rock and stop the Genie Seekers before they make another move. When she's finally summoned, she arrives to a city full of surprises: a boyfriend focused on adjusting to human life and an assignment who keeps distracting her from the bigger threat.

The GS Club - who still has her lamp - is once again protected by a magic bump. While they've been quietly regrouping after Brielle's last attack, she knows they won't stay down for long. She has to figure out their end game before they strike again and finish her off for good.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

264 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2017

About the author

Michelle Merrill loves kissing her hubby, snuggling her kids, eating candy, reading books, and writing first drafts. She names her computers after favorite fictional characters and fictional characters after favorite names.

Reviews

[Michelle Merrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so happy to have this book out there in the wild! It was a pleasure to continue on with the story of Brielle and the Genie Seekers. There are different twists and turns in this book that I hope will keep you all reading to the next page! I love the characters in this series and am so happy with the way they've all come together for another adventure!

[Melanie Stanford · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stellar sequel! Love Brielle and Rock, love the mystery and tension, love how the minor characters each stand out. Can't wait to read book 3!

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a copy of this ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.*

A solid follow-up to Granted, Summoned managed to escape second book syndrome. It was fun to read and went quickly. I hope there is a third book in the works because I've enjoyed reading the series. Plus, although there isn't a cliffhanger, the story is still obviously not finished. The storyline with the GS club has progressed, and secrets are coming out on all sides.

I had hoped there would be more Brielle and Rock in this book. Without giving too much away, I'll say that although Rock didn't leave (as the love interest so frequently seems to do in a second book), certain circumstances prevented him from being as present in the book as I would have liked. But I understand, and so did he. I really like Rock.

Brielle's assignment in this book drove me crazy. No joke. I kept telling my husband, "I really just want Travis to go away." But I think it was good (in the long run) because it helped Brielle to realize the difficulty faced by a lot of other genies and why Rock hated being one, why having magic wasn't necessarily a freedom.

And let me say that I really appreciated how the relationship in this book was handled. There was an opportunity for it to make me angry, but it didn't go there. You see, Travis was Brielle's assignment, and he liked her. He'd wish for things like "more time together," "more time with me and less with Rock," and then "that we could have had just one kiss." And that obviously complicates things. But I love that Brielle and Rock were on the same page, and he understood what was going on with her. They trusted each other. There was never any drama between them, and there was no love triangle. Never even a thought of one because Brielle was committed to Rock. They weren't quite to "I love you," but she was thinking about it.

Some of my questions from the previous book were answered, like how a human can become a genie and what the GS club was trying to do (at least I think I understand--there could be more, and there likely is). In addition to the other remaining questions (in my review for Granted), I've got a couple more:
- Why were Baldy/Genie Number One and Zane involved? I'm trying to figure out what exactly their motivation was. Hopefully that comes out in the next book.
- What exactly drove Addie's parents to be in the GS club and to be psychos? We learn about something that happened to Jim when he was young (his family was killed in a house fire), but why would that get him so focused on genies and determined to do the things he did?
- And Spencer. Why was Spencer involved? How did he find out about it?

How it ends: BBrielle is caught while spying on the Genie Seekers. Jim and Spencer are taking a break from trying to crack her lamp some more when Addie and Travis show up to help her. But they're caught and tied up in the basement, too. Rock arrives and can access magic from other genies even though he's human, but it does run out and wear him out. Still, they manage to escape and go to Travis's house to recover. Carter joins them, and they make plans to go back to Addie's house to stop the GS club and retrieve the lamps. Brielle's mom has been captured, too, they discover.

Brielle finds the lamps in the master bedroom of Addie's house; Carter, Travis, and Addie get them all out. Rex, Rock's grandma, and the two genie caretakers are also there to help the mission and so Rock can access their magic. Brielle's mom is tied up in the basement. Rock uses the genies' power to fight against the GS club and help free Brielle's mom. Jim and Spencer threaten to shoot Brielle's lamp. Rock manages to get her lamp instead and finishes making the crack in it. When she wakes up, she and Rock both use the genies' magic.

Spencer makes a phone call, and Baldy/Genie Number One arrives via fireplace. Despite draining a bunch of their magic, Brielle and Rock can't stop Jim and Spencer from making the final wish required to become genies. They disappear with Baldy through the fireplace, but Zane doesn't quite make it out. They take him back to Brielle's house, along with everyone else for the time being.

So Brielle is human like Rock. Spencer and Jim are genies back in Denley with Baldy, who for some reason is in league with the Genie Seekers. It appears that the goal is to become human while still being able to use magic, thus being free from assignments and their wishes while still being powerful. The GSs were probably experimenting on genie lamps to perfect the method of cracking them (becoming human) before having it done to their own lamps, when they get them.

Note: Clean.

[Joslin Sod · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book fast. A day, maybe two? I kept wanting more. It was great. I suspected a love triangle forming, I am glad it didn't. Rock and Brielle were cute. It was nice to have a couple stay true to each other. I also like that for the second book in the series I didn't get bored, sometimes that happens in other series'. I wish there could have been more of a reason why Addie's parents got so obsessed with genies and left their family. Maybe I need to reread, but it just didn't seem like "something" in the Dad's past was enough for me. I like how Merrill used magic in the book. It was a bit of a let down for Rock to "just" be human. It added more depth to the story for him do what he does. ;) I appreciated having Brielle's parents more involved and getting to know the genie world. I would have liked more explainations about the genie council, history, genie magic, etc. But for YA genre it really was pretty perfect. I found it funny that Brielle and Addie could leave school whenever, but maybe I am just being nit-picky. I am looking forward to book 3! I highly recommend!

[Marc Sellers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy watching an upcoming other like this. It's fun watching her writing mature from experience and dedication to her craft like Michelle. This book takes you right back to the characters that you love with the correct personalities (so often with a sequel an author changes their personalities and it feels "off" this is not the case of summoned) and concerns. The dialog could use a bit of polish if this series turns into a trilogy, but it is better than the first, and the writing progresses quite nicely. It's a book you don't get bored with, it isn't too long or too short, and the book moves at a steady pace. Love Michelle Merrill as an author, I really enjoyed her short story from before summoned and Granted as well.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book! I was excited to see where the story went after the first book and was not disappointed. If you enjoyed the first book you will this one as well.

Spoilers below:

I'm so grateful that the author didn't fall into the trap of creating a love triangle! I'm so sick of that and she could have easily done it in this book. Thank you for staying strong in the relationship with Rock! It seems that so many authors take the easy way in their books to create drama with the love triangle, where this book didn't need it at all. There was good drama and excitement, and the love story was still great too. Such a breath of fresh air.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how this book continued on with the story and how it was just as exciting as the first book. It's such an easy read that keeps you on your toes! The characters are fun, sassy, clever, and each have their own fun personalities. The twist this book threw in made it super exciting but didn't leave it unresolved at all. I am excited to read her third book and see where the story goes. I love the idea about genies and humans existing together and it has left me with much anticipation to see what happens next!

[Shaille · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun, easy read! It was an exciting continuation of the first book with great plot twists and turns! We get to dive deeper into this genie world and find out more about what the opposing forces are trying to accomplish. Looking forward to the next book in this series!!!

*I received a copy of this ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.*

[Heather Taysom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It is very creative and well-written. It keeps you guessing, and on your toes to the end. The characters come to life. It is hard to put down. I read it in a week, which is fast for me.

[Rikki Brady · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite thing about this book is the characters and how real they are! I felt like I was right there in high school with them. Fantastic story! Can't wait for the next book!

[Sarah Holtry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was excited to be able to continue with Brielle and Rock's story. I enjoyed meeting Brielle's family and am excited to see where all of the suspense takes this story in the 3rd book.

[Xena Elektra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent followup to Granted. I thought there was enough suspense to the book where I really wasn't sure what was going to happen and couldn't predict a lot of the twists and turns the story took. While it's good for my ego to guess what'll happen next it can get old and having unpredictability like this is refreshing and fun.

I would've liked to see more of Rock. I felt he got sidelined here(though there is an explanation for it). I also felt like the plot progression was a bit slow.

Most of the plot was pretty slow with the story feeling stuck following Brielle who had to be with Travis. While that added some additional challenge to solving the main issues(stopping the GS club and finding out who they were working with and what their plan was) of the story it was a bit annoying. Travis was not a likable character for me and I found him sooooo frustrating. I really wanted him to go away and respect what Brielle wanted. I wanted him to respect her relationship with Rock and her wishes and boundaries. Instead he kept pushing the issue and driving a wedge(unintentionally) between Rock and Brielle by making wishes to further frustrate both their attempts to be together and her ability to have a life.

Even if you don't expect the person you're by to be a genie why would you wish for the stuff he wished for in front of someone? You don't tell someone in a relationship that "I wish you'd kiss me or I wish you'd spend more time with me so you could see I'm better, etc." It's kind of a crap move on his part even if he didn't expect his wishes to be granted.

Honestly, there were times Brielle felt bad for him but I was like nope, he's making his own issues and these are the repercussions. Plus the fixation seemed to come out of nowhere. He definitely was not this starry eyed about her in the first book.

So yeah, there's a lot of boring, unrelated to the plot content where she's stuck with a Travis related migraine or following Travis around. The last bit of the book was really good though. Lots of action and things happening and reveals.