Blog Tour: Beyond by Catina Haverlock & Angela Larkin

Reviews * Giveaway

Beyond by Catina Haverlock & Angela Larkin

Book Description:

“Dangerous. Wrong. She could be so close to finding out who I really am, and I don’t want to think about how badly that could damage her. If I have any conscience,
I’ll turn and run. But I can’t let her go.”

Presley Hale has no idea the guy she just told off in the school parking lot died in a drowning accident four months ago. Why would she? It’s not like she knows she can see the dead. Stunned by Presley’s sixth sense, Landon Blackwood rethinks his planned departure and begins tracking her to find answers to their mysterious connection.

When their complicated relationship turns dangerous, they learn that tampering with the boundaries of death comes with consequences. Can Landon save Presley from the insidious spirits who have marked her for death, or was their love doomed from the beginning?

Andrea's Review:

Ghost stories aren't something I've ever craved. I think that's because I don't like to scare myself, and I have it in my mind that ghost stories are scary. However, I've read several books that involved ghosts and their aim hasn't been horror at all-those I really like. Beyond is that type of ghost story. It is intriguing, and has some great characters that you can't help but root for.

Landon can't quite let go and move on in the afterlife. He's been struggling for months, and just when he's finally decided to proceed, he is seen by Presley. She's a complete stranger, but he can't progress in his journey without finding out why she can see him when no one else can.

Presley is a senior in high school, and her mom just moved her and her autistic brother to a new town. As if her life wasn't hard enough with her unattentive mother, and high needs brother, now she's the new kid for her last year of high school. Most of the students at Truckee High are less than welcoming and Presley has to deal with one mean prank after another. She notices a guy watching her from a distance after a prank, and she can't get him out of her mind. Was he the one who did the prank? Then he disappears, but she sees him here and there, and wants to find out his story.

Beyond was a very enjoyable story that I would read again. I read it quickly, and was captivated by how it would turn out because I was pulling for an impossible relationship to happen. I wanted more at the end, but it left a reader to imagine the best.

Content: A few swear words, mention of teenage drinking, kissing.

Tarah's Review:

Paranormal love stories are always tricky, because...well, one of them is dead. That generally doesn't work so well.  And as a random side note, has anyone noticed that YA novels portrayal of love is generally obsessive? Like, I can't go a minute without seeing you or my life is going to be over? What's with that? I really hope our young women aren't thinking that that is how true love really is. Does that worry anyone else? I mean, it makes for a fun story, but...my mother bear comes out afterward and it makes me a little nervous. My oldest still thinks boys have cooties, so I'm good for a while, but still...OK, I'm getting off my soapbox.

I liked Presley. She was kind and caring and had a good head on her shoulders. The boys in the story left a little to be desired for me. Maybe it's that momma bear coming out, but I didn't really dig the rebellious pranksters and stuff. I liked both Landon and Reese when they were with Presley, but before she moved there they kind of sounded...well...not my type.

I read the story really quickly and was pulled in and left multiple things undone to finish. I will admit that I was really disappointed with the ending. Granted, there aren't many ways a dead person and a living person can find a happily every after, but I felt like there were too many plot holes in the way this ended, and another way would have made me a lot happier. 

Rorie's Review:

Umm...wow...I just don't even know what to say about this book. It was good...like, finish it in a day sort of good...I was kept wondering through the whole story just how this was going to end up. How can a living person and a dead person make a relationship work? There are so many reasons why it can't (and shouldn't) work. So while I loved the connection that Presley and Landon had, I read the whole story knowing that there was no way it could last.

I was hoping that Presley could work things out with Reese. I liked him, even though he was quite the mischief-maker. 

I loved reading about Presley's relationship with her brother, Chase. The love she had for him and the way she knew how to calm him down was so sweet.

To be honest, a good part of the book was kind of depressing. Presley had a rough life, although she was handling it like a champ. I was so happy when she met her new friends. They are the kind of friends everyone needs to have (and the kind I hope I am.)

So, back to the whole dead/alive relationship issue. I have to say, with all the pondering I did, trying to figure out how this book could be a happily ever after type, I was taken by surprise at what ended up happening.

Definitely a well-written story. I think the authors went a little comma-crazy a few times, but that's a very minor issue. This book will go on my "keeper" shelf.

About the Authors:

Catina worked her way through college as a newspaper and television journalist. Itching to stretch her creative muscles, she convinced her university to create a dating game show, which she hosted. After spending most of her adult life in Las Vegas, Catina traded in tumbleweeds for earthquakes and now lives with her husband and four children near San Diego, California. If she’s not home, chances are you can find her at the beach, Disneyland, or In-N-Out.

Angela Larkin spent much of her childhood under a blanket with a flashlight, secretly reading past bedtime. She’s been a gold miner, a pool cleaner, a mannequin dresser, and a teacher. She's lived a true romance: meeting her husband in a case of mistaken identity. They recently moved with their four children from the sparkling city of Las Vegas to the shade of the North Carolina Pines.

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Giveaway:

Enter to win one of 5 signed copies of Beyond. Ends 8/3/17. Entrants must have a mailing address in the continental United States. Open only to those who can legally enter. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and announced here as well as notified by the entrant's contact information, and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Copies will be mailed to the winners from the author. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Literary Time Out and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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Title: Beyond
Author: Catina Haverlock & Angela Larkin
Publisher: Sweetwater Books, an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc.
Published: June 2017
ISBN: 1462120261
Source: We received copies from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase:  Amazon | Kindle | Deseret Book | Target