Today on Novels On The Run, I have my book review of Forbidden Territory and an excerpt.
Enjoy!
Published By : Zealous Design
Released : available Now
Details: Digital For Review, 192 Pages
RATING: 4.5 ELI STARS!
Book Blurb : Goodreads
Mica and Lexy have been best friends and next door neighbours since they were eight years old. They share everything and have no secrets from each other until... Tom arrives on Mica's doorstep - a gorgeous exchange student from England. And Lexy is smitten.
Suddenly both girls are keeping secrets. Mica is hiding news about Tom's English girlfriend and Lexy hasn't got the heart to tell her best friend that her brother Eli, the guy Mica is mad on, thinks of her as only a friend.
After a massive fight, the girls decide the best way to mend their friendship is to spend some quality time together. And what better way than to go camping away from their parents and why not invite along the guys they are crushing on.
So the four teenagers embark on a geo-caching expedition into New Zealand's native bush expecting a long weekend filled with flirtatious fun; instead secrets are exposed as they stumble across a hidden marijuana crop and its gun-wielding watchmen. Forced apart they spend the next forty-eight hours racing blindly in opposite directions as they fight to find each other before the hunters do.
BOOK REVIEW by Michelle :
‘Forbidden Territory’ is set in New Zealand. This is not a paranormal story, but a story about two guys and two girls who are going through the trials of falling in love. Add a criminal element to the story and this was a great read.
Eli aka Elijah, and Lexy aka Sexy Lexy ( boys!) aka Alexandra ( just don’t call her that) are brother and sister. Lexy and Mica aka Mike are bff’s. Tom aka Thomas aka Oxford ( he is the British one) is living with Mica’s family , he is the exchange student. Horse face....well, we don’t need to worry about her.
A party and protective Eli is a great opener. I really like Eli, he is rather my kind of lad ( this is fictional self talking here) . I like Mica and Eli together.....if there is a together, not saying there is.....
Lexy has fallen hard for Tom. Tom just needs to wake up and smell the roses. I think I would have liked Tom to have been a bit tougher. Lexy had her girl power going on, enough for the two of them.
What is Geo - Caching you ask? Well, I didn’t know. It is modern day treasure hunting using a GPS. Yeah, I know, go figure!
This group of four decide to go off ‘tramping’, which is hiking and follow coordinates to the treasures . Once you find it, you place your name and date in the notebook and take something from the container, add something of yours , pop it back where you found it and then the next Geo-Caching treasure hunters can find it and rinse and repeat.
BUT!!!!
This lot stumble across something they should not have and let the danger and bullets fly, not to mention a river face plant.
Amongst all the danger and bullets, there is some love emerging...awwww. The girls show their strength and determination to stay one step ahead of the baddies. The guys realise maybe the girls are worth snogging.......
The story is told from both Mica and Lexy’s POV, which I liked. I like Mica and Lexy as bff’s. They don’t take any crap from each other, they are honest when it counts and look out for each other. Both girls are strong characters.
I really enjoyed Melissa and Brenda’s story of love, danger and friends who have each other’s back.
QUOTES:
“Twice today…” Eli cleared his throat. “When those guys shot at you and when I saw you drop… both times I thought, 'Not yet. I haven’t gotten to know her properly.'”
I swivelled my head on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. “You know me,” I countered with a smile.
“Not the way I want to.”
“He’s a little weedy.”
“No he’s not! He’s gorgeous!”
“I didn’t say he wasn’t gorgeous. I said he was a little weedy.”
“He’s not weedy!”
Michelle
EXCERPT - FORBIDDEN TERRITORY
 |
| Image of the river scene |
Prickles ran down my spine at the sound of stones tumbling into the river. I whipped around to the bush where Tom had disappeared. Then I watched in unbelieving horror as Tom’s body tripped and fell from the bush down towards the swiftly running water.
“Arghhhhhhhhh.”
Tom’s shriek was like a spear to my soul. Fear took over as I raced towards the river just in time to see his head smash into a rock before the water carried him away from me.
I screamed and felt my heart stop then beat in double time with adrenalin. It pounded like venom through my veins.
Tom’s limp body bobbed back to the surface then was swept downstream. I followed him with my eyes. My breath coming out in short bursts. A log on the far side of the river caught his jersey, trapping him.
My thoughts came in bullet points.
Save him.
Get rope.
No one else.
He might die.
Think logically.
Leaping back to my pack, I ripped into it. I needed some rope or something. I found my stretchy clothes line and flung it around my neck with relief. I lowered myself gingerly down the riverbank like a spider on my hands and butt. I found a tree branch that didn’t budge when I shook it so I looped the line around it, tying it in a bowline knot. Thank goodness Dad had taught us to expect the worst. Stripping off my shoes, tee and cargos, I dipped my left foot into the river, yelping in shock. It was BLOODY freezing.
Tom was face down in the water; I didn’t have time to be a woose. Tying the elastic cord around my wrist, I leapt into the water wearing only my bra and underwear. The water hit me like a thousand needles plunging into my warm flesh. The river swallowed my scream as I sunk under the surface. My lungs begged for air. I wrestled my way to the top and quickly orientated myself. Making the most of my fresh energy, I fought against the flow and swam awkwardly across the divide.
Reaching Tom, I clung to the log with one arm and used the other to heave him over. His face was almost blue. His mouth was ajar. He looked dead.
ABOUT MELISSA & BRENDA
Melissa Pearl and Brenda Howson have been best friends for about 12 years. Both mothers of two young children, both married to school teachers and both lovers of writing, they have a lot in common. Having spent many vacations away together, they have become as close to sisters as two girls can get. It was on one of these holidays away that the Mica and Lexy Series was born.
Melissa is the author of the Time Spirit Trilogy, which was published at the end of 2011. She is a fully trained elementary teacher, but is lucky enough to stay home and watch her kids grow. She is also spending every spare moment trying to turn writng into a full time career - and loving the process.
Brenda was the one who encouraged Melissa to start writing in the first place. Once Melissa got started, Brenda caught the bug and she has been writing for ten years, in between motherhood and working at a local high school in the computer department. She has won two short story competitions and been runner up in another. Forbidden Territory will be her first published novel.
