Book Review: HIDDEN HOPE by Amy Patrick

Book: Hidden Hope

Author:  Amy Patrick

Publisher:  Oxford South Press

Genre:  Science Fiction & Fantasy; YA Fiction

Release Date:  September 28, 2015

Blurb via Goodreads:

Ryann is torn between two kings… two brothers.

Lad, the king of the Light Court, is her first love. Nox, the new king of the Dark Court, came through when she needed him most and won her heart. 

But Lad has revealed a secret to Ryann that devastates her and tears at her loyalties. And though Nox and Lad are fierce rivals for the girl they both claim to love, an even bigger problem threatens them all.

The unsuspecting human population of the world hangs in the balance of an approaching war between Dark and Light. Powerful fan pods have transformed the face of the country. It’s abnormal NOT to be in one now. 

The Dark Council’s plan is almost accomplished, and they are nearly ready to reveal themselves and take back rulership of the world, as it was in the old days, before the history books were written.

Ryann can’t believe the Nox she knows and loves would allow that to happen, though he is now deeply entrenched in the Dark Court and seems to be changing by the day. Is his love for Ryann strong enough to give him the strength to stand against his people and their plot?

Or should she side with Lad and the Light Court, who appear to have the welfare of humans in mind? He is fighting the looming danger hard as he can, fully involved now in the world of Fae politics he tried so hard to avoid. 

And what can Ryann-- only partial Fae-- personally do?

She will have to learn to balance her own Dark and Light sides-- and somehow make a the right choice between two tempting Elven guys-- or face the consequences of a wrong decision eternally and watch her family and the entire human world fall under the oppression of the Dark Court.

My Review:

Strange flutterings in my stomach came and went as I was reading this last book in the Hidden series, particularly when the scenes had anything to do with Nox, the new King of the Dark Court.  As I explicitly shared in my review of the 2^nd book, Hidden Heart (click here for the review), I love Nox and am all for him getting the girl and his happily ever after.  Now the question in reading Hidden Hope is if it is the girl I’m rooting for that he gets the happily ever after with.  THAT one, I can not answer obviously as I do not want to spoil anything for you.

The story picks up about a month after it ended in Hidden Heart.  Nox is now within the Dark Court, navigating the dangers of it with Vancia, the former King’s adopted daughter and the current fiancée of Lad who now heads the Light Court.  Vancia is extremely beautiful and is openly devoted to Nox, who happens to be the boyfriend of Ryann, our main protagonist.

Ryann loves Nox and is trying her best to follow Nox’s instructions for her own safety which is to stay away from the former king of the Dark Court, who happens to also be her long lost biological father, Davis.  But trying and doing are two different things especially when Davis threatens the life of Ryann’s mother.  Davis is one of the most powerful Elf in the world, he has The Sway, which means he can make people do whatever he wants them to do.  The ability to influence at it's best and worst. What he doesn’t know and what Ryann is trying to hide, is that she inherited that power from him.  She also inherited the power of empathy from her mother’s side of the family.  She has two great powers which she believes are not useful enough…..or that she is not strong enough to use at least.

Nox wants Ryann but is unable to be with her since he is trying to keep their togetherness a secret from his world lest she be put in more danger than she already is.  Lad on the other hand, sees her as much as he can, despite being affianced to Vancia, the childhood friend of Nox.  This is no love triangle.  It’s a quadrangle filled with thrilling moments and sweet words that romantics would gobble up.  I sure did.

Much as I was sure in Hidden Heart that I wanted Nox to end up with Ryann, mid book I didn’t know where I wanted to go.  Lad is a dream, Nox equally so.  Vancia was an extra I thought I could do without….but no…. she is one of the most important “twists” in the series that I’m sure readers would also come to love. 

The Lad who was first introduced in Hidden Deep (click here for the review), the honest yet innocent Lad is back with a vengeance and all ready to finally fight for what or who he REALLY wants.  Nox is too... but at what point can one measure someone’s love in their world?  How can one understand where true love ends and elven glamour begins? Just who belongs to whom? Oh so very hard to answer indeed.

Overall, I love how the author navigated the plot points in the series.  Everything was put in their proper places and no question was left unanswered by the end of the book.  I was satisfied with the pairings as well.  However, should author Amy Patrick decide to write an alternate ending for those rooting for the OTHER team, I’m sure I would enjoy that as well (hint*hint**). 

Have I given you guys enough hints? No? well….take my word for it.  Read this series.  I happily recommend it.

Spotlight on Author CHRISTINE BRAE

From her warm and genuine smile, it was clear how author Christine Brae is enjoying being back home after having been away for two decades.  A triumphant return too since Brae, apart from being an author, is also a high level executive at an advertising agency in Chicago, where she resides with her husband and grown up children.

Writing is not her full time profession, but it is a huge part of her life which she now shares with all of us.  On my end, it was a thrill speaking to a Filipino author who has captured the imagination, not just of her fellow Pinoys, but readers from other countries as well.  The bookworm in me could not be any prouder.

Christine is sweet, friendly and exuberant.  A joy to speak to.  She reminds me of friends with whom I can chat the entire day about anything under the sun…..and chat we did.

Here is my conversation with Christine Brae:

Lyn: Welcome back to the Philippines! Gaano katagal ka ng wala sa Pilipinas?

Christine:  20 years! 

L:  So you’ve been in Chicago the whole time?

C:  Yes.  I married someone from there.  He grew up in Indiana so we just had the kids here and then moved to the States

L:  So how’s your homecoming?

C:  It’s crazy, it's great actually.  I was a bit nervous because I really kept my life separate.  I didn’t tell people here that I wrote a book

L:  Did you imagine when you left years ago that this would happen

C:  Never.  When I left I took Eco Accounting at La Salle.  I wanted a career as a CPA, which I am.  I didn’t think I’d become a writer but here it is

L:  You’re actually an executive at an advertising company in Chicago.  You still are.

C:  Yes.  And no I won’t give that up, I love it.  I do work at an advertising company and I get to travel a lot, see a lot of cultures and experience so many things so I wouldn’t give that up and that has helped me with the kids…send them to college….its my livelihood so I'm not giving that up

L:  So what has your family said about your book.  Have they read it?

C:  The younger ones are okay with it and my aunts and my older relatives…I was a little nervous because I'm still……

L:  Kamusta reaction nila? Because I read your books and wow….

C:  They thought it was beautiful….they said the words were beautiful…. That’s all they said… so I don’t know (laughs)

L:  Yes because it's very sexy…Not for the faint of heart

C:  Yeah you know why?  Kase that’s reality.

L:  It said in your bio that you wanted to write about your life and run away as far from it as possible.  Dare I ask which parts of the book is based on your life?

C:  You know I'm pretty open about it.  First of all, my mom died in 2010 and she died without me.  I flew in from Chicago too late na, she was gone.  And I was dealing with a lot of regret so I wanted to write a book that honored her…the imperfect her.  And I wanted people to see that could be the most imperfect mother and your child can still love you to death and your child could still want to be like you.

And when I was writing this book I realized that there were actually two guys in my life that influenced decisions that I have made and the drive that I have to succeed as I have in my career.  There were two guys in my life who influenced that so I kind of incorporated them.  Plus the fact that romance was a genre that people were reading.  So that’s how it came about. 

But the catalyst was really my mom, I wanted to write about her.  Sometimes when you read the book you think na no she’s saying bad things about mom but really I’m not.  I'm seeing that she was so imperfect and that she loved her kids no matter what

L:  But that’s all moms naman

C:  It's all families yeah

L:  I loved that Isa ended up with Alex.  Why did you make it so that the good guy is that one that wins the girl? 

C:  Because I have an Alex.  And that Alex was really in the background the whole time.  He would tell me you deserve so much more and you need to be yourself, you need to be able to grow and I wanted to honor….if you saw the dedication in front….I wanted to honor that, the fact that he really stuck by me.  Although the reaction by a lot of readers was no, we’re not buying it, she’s not over Jesse…..and that’s why I had to write the second book.  I had to close it.

L:  I think she would always love Jesse because of the 7 years but ultimately, it’s really Alex that made her who she is.  So……you are a full time career woman, a wife, a mother and a marathon runner

C:  Half marathon

L:  Still you run, you can barely drag me off the bed…. So how do you still find time to write, work and travel

C:  Well traveling is good for me because I have the airplane time, the hotel time…so I write whenever I can.  And my family has always been so supportive that I can basically lock myself up in the room for 24 hours straight and they’ll leave me alone.  That’s how supportive they are.  And writers…we live in our heads….and just the fact that I work for this company and I travel so much and have so much alone time really helps me find time to write.  But I have to tell you from the 1st book to the 2^nd book, I lost 15 pounds.  I wasn’t sleeping.  I would schedule myself from 10pm to 2am to write every night.  That’s just how I accomplished the books

L:  Nag focus ako bigla sa 15lbs! (laughs)

C:  I didn’t even diet or anything!  The lack of sleep lang talaga….

L:  So could we expect more books with a touch of Philippines in it from you?

C:  Yes.  There always will be a touch of the Philippines, or a touch of our culture because I feel like the readership especially in the states who are housewives who stay home with young kids who don’t have the opportunity to travel at this stage in their lives, they want to sit and they wanna get away, so I always try to do that.  And you know, I got a lot of slack for writing from some Filipinos na it's too Americanized, that’s not Cebu…oh no Isa is too high class, she is not reflective of our life here….but at the same time it reflects our culture whether you’re rich or poor or middle class or whatever you are, the culture is there, the beliefs are there

L:  And the places we grew up with are there… Strumms…. Greenbelt…. D’Marks….. kaya it was familiar

C:  Yes!

FAST QUESTIONS on favorites:

L:  Dessert

C:  Bibingka

L:  Drink

C:  Gin and cranberry juice

L:  Book

C:  Thornbirds by Colleen McCullough

L:  Author

C:  Too many

L:  Vacation place

C:  Paris

L:  Relaxation

C:  Reading

L:  Hobby

C:  Shopping (laughs)

L:  Movie

C:  Splendor in the Grass

L:  Wow that’s so…

C:  I know!!! My kids are 26 and 25 na

L:  Talaga?  What did they say about the books?  Have they read it?

C:  They’re not allowed to read it and they're like mom, seriously?  How would you even know if we read it or not? But yes, my kids are grown so if they read it…they read it

L:  They just won’t tell their mom (laughs)  okay…last, what are your top 3 book recommendations?

C: I’ll tell you the good books that I've read lately.   HAUSFRAU by Jill Alexander Essbaum.  THE OPPORTUNIST by Tarryn Fisher and ADULTERY by Paulo Coelho.

You can catch Christine Brae, along with fellow bestselling authors Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher at their book signing event courtesy of the National book store this Saturday, September 19, 2015 at 5pm at the NBS booth at the Manila International Book Fair, SMX Convention Center. 

Limited to 200 slots only!  Registration starts at 10am for this event.  Only books purchased from National Book Store, NBS Express or Powerbooks will be accommodated

A special Thanks to Mr. JB Roperos and the National Book Store

Spotlight on Author COLLEEN HOOVER

If there’s one word I can think of to describe Colleen, it would be calm…serene even.  I caught her quietly signing a huge stack of cards for National Bookstore with her writing hand still bandaged up from signing hundreds of books in the days prior, at the events in both Cebu and Manila.  She simply kept on doing so until it was time for my interview.

This is a woman who has had 12 books on the New York Times Bestsellers list since starting only 4 years ago.  A woman who never imagined how her passion for the written word could take her into the lives of so many.  A writer who masterfully weaves unbelievable stories and makes the readers care for each and every one of her characters.

Here is my conversation with Colleen Hoover:

Lyn:  How has your trip been?

Colleen:  It's my first time in manila and it has been really really good.  It's probably my favorite trip so far

L:  I saw the book event in Megamall and it was crazy full

C:  it was insane!

L:  There were hundreds of people there!  So how is your right hand after all that signing? (note: at the time of this interview, her right hand was wrapped in a bandage)

C:  It's okay.  I usually don’t sign for that many in the US and they’re not that enthusiastic either so it was crazy and it was awesome

L:  So what  was the nicest reaction that you got from your fans?

C:  I think just walking out and hearing everyone screaming for us.  You know they’re subdued in the US so it was a different reaction that we’ve never had before.  All three of us were just really overwhelmed

L:  Was it like a rockstar reception?

C:  Yeah we felt like One Direction

L:  For your book CONFESS, you asked your readers to submit real confessions, some of which you included in the book.  Which confession was the most painful to read?

C:  There was one that I included that was probably the hardest about a woman who was molested by her father and it was still going on and she’s a grown woman and married and it was just really really sad

L:  I saw that too and that was really hard to swallow.  Did you put your own confession in the book?

C:  I didn’t.. (laughs)

L:  You commissioned paintings for CONFESS.  Did you let the artist read your book before the paintings were made?

C:  I didn’t even ask him to actually do that because that’s a lot of work and I was still writing it as he was painting them so it was hard.  I told him about the scenes and the confessions and just kind of gave him the idea of what I wanted.  a couple of them he had already painted and I bought them because I thought they fit the scene so it was a little of both

L:  All the paintings were beautiful

C:  He’s so good

L:  He is.  Do you have them all?

C:  Yes.  I bought the originals of all of them.  I gave one to Tarryn, one to my mom, one to both my sisters then I kept one

L:  Which one did you keep?

C:  I kept the one of Owen’s mother.  That one I have hung up in the bookstore that I own and it looks really great in there

L:  Your latest book NOVEMBER 9 is coming out in two months.  What can we expect from the book? Is it inspired by the movie SAME TIME NEXT YEAR?

C:  I actually don’t know that movie but there is a movie called ONE DAY and it focuses on one day every year and the couples know each other, kind of like Sleepless in Seattle but this one’s different in that they meet, they have a great connection and they have absolutely zero contact except for November9 every year so every chapter is just a different November9

L:  Is this going to make readers bleed again?  Because your books like Confess and  Hopeless are so heart wrenching

C:  It can get a little bit sad but this one is a lot funner than some of  my other books but it also has probably one of the biggest plot twist since HOPELESS so I'm excited about that

L:  What inspires you to write?

C:  I'm a people watcher.  I get my ideas from everyday.  I think writers get inspiration from everything and the challenge to me is narrowing it down.  But I don’t take inspiration from real life, from people I know.  I try to avoid that because I don’t want anyone getting mad at me.  I just try to come up with something new and different and completely opposite of the life that I live.

L:  In terms of topics, your books tackle the deepest and hardest ones like rape, incest, suicide, kidnapping….is it hard hard at all to write these things emotionally?

C:  I'm not an emotional person and that’s why I think I write about this stuff because it's not that hard for me like I did Child Protective Services, I was an investigator for 7 years so I've seen a lot of stuff and I've kind of had to learn hot to separate my emotions from things but I think the only one that ever really got to me  and the tears almost came out is when I was writing UGLY LOVE.  It doesn’t happen a lot

L:  Ultimately what do you want your readers to feel after reading your words?

C:  I honestly want readers to read my books and be entertained but I try not to send a particular message or change anyone’s life.  I feel like that would put a lot of pressure on me so my main priority is to make sure that when they read my book, they get to escape their own reality for a few hours or a few days, however long it takes for them to read it and that they feel good when it ends.  I'm not one that culd write a sad ending.  There are a lot of sad things in my book but I feel like I wrap it up pretty well.

L:  They are hopeful in the end

C:  Right…

L:  Some of your books have been optioned for film.  Which one will we be seeing first?

C:  Definitely UGLY LOVE, it is in pre production right now and it's ahead of the rest so hopefully that would be next year

L:  Are you involved in it?

C:  I don’t have a lot of involvement.  The readers actually chose the actor.  The female lead hasn’t been cast yet, I had never even heard of Nick Bateman before

L:  He’s gorgeous I just saw him online

C:  He is gorgeous.  Readers just kept commenting and tagging him.  His producer emailed me and said we are seeing this on our end too, tell us about this book.  Nick read it and I was on tour and was going to Toronto the following week and he lives in Toronto so I met with him and his producer so I ended up signing the book over to them which is kind of odd to sign a book over and already have an actor but the readers wanted him so it’s good that the readers seem to have a lot of say in how this movie is gonna play out

L:  Of your books, which one is your favorite in terms of plot?

C:  In terms of plot probably HOPELESS but overall MAYBE SOMEDAY is my favorite book

L:  Which one has the best memories attached to it

C:  SLAMMED.  Only because it was my first book, I didn’t have any expectations of it and writing it was so much fun and the excitement after it was just released, everytime something would happen.  I love going back and seeing the posts from way back then and how excited we were

L:  Does it still surprise you?  When people text or tweet you about loving your work?

C:  Yes…yes…. I just started writing about 4 years ago so you know I have 12 New York Times bestsellers now and everyday I’d wake up and I'm like HOW did this happen? Because it’s all gone so fast I don’t think it has caught up with me yet but yeah, I still wonder how people outside of my hometown has even heard of the books.

L:  Has your life changed so much?

C:  A ton.  But then it's still the same.  I still live where I grew up, my kids go to the same school.  We lived paycheck to paycheck.  We were very poor.  We lived in a single wide mobile home for years and we just built our dream house on the land that our old house was on.  I was able to build my parents a house.  You know a lot of good things have come out of it

L:  What have your kids said about your books?  How old are they by the way?

C:  My kids are 9, 11 and 14

L:  Have you allowed your 14 year old to read your books?

C:  I let them read SLAMMED if they want.  My 14 year old got 4 chapters in and then said This is too much about romance.  And then my 11 year old read it when he was 10.  He liked it but he didn’t go to the 2^nd one.  He might wanna wait a little while for that one.  But the rest of them they’re too young to read those. And they’re boys so they read Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Harry Potter

L:  Which male character of all your books is your favorite

C:  Probably Ridge from MAYBE SOMEDAY.

L:  Why is that

C:  I feel like he is in a tough position and the situation that he was in, falling in love with two different girls and the way he handled it, I thought it was very mature

L:  How about female character

C:  Probably SKY from HOPELESS.  I liked her sense of humor and she’s a little bit sarcastic.  I put a lot of myself into her

L:  Would you be willing to write EXTRA novellas of your most popular characters

C:  Yeah.  I have actually thought about that it just depends on time.  I'm under contract for certain length of books with the publishers so depending on what they want and when they want it, that leaves me time to write novellas.

L:  What else can we look forward to from you

C:  Tarryn (Fisher) and I are finisher the third book in NEVER NEVER and that wraps up the series and it's gonna be out end of January and November9.  I haven't started on my next book yet.  Trying to get touring over first then I'm gonna go hoem and figure out what I'm gonna write

FAST QUESTION on favorites:

L:  Let’s play fast questions of favorites.  What's your favorite drink:

C:  Diet Pepsi

L:  Dessert

C:  Anything chocolate

L:  Favorite book

C:  That’s a tough one.

L:  Perhaps books that inspired you to be an author?

C:  Shel Silverstein.  I read all the books he wrote

L:  Favorite vacation spot

C:  Saint Thomas.  That was really nice

L:  Relaxation

C:  Sleep.  I don’t get it a lot

L:  Hobby

C:  Writing

L:  Movie of all time

C:  Oh brother where art thou.  It's so funny

L:  Book recommendations

C:  Books by Christine Brae, Tarryn Fisher (laughs).  I’m a big fan of the Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

L:  That’s why it was in Hopeless!

C:  Yeah I gave it a shout out in Hopeless.  It's a really good book you should read it.

 You can catch Colleen Hoover, along with fellow bestselling authors Tarryn Fisher and Christine Brae at their book signing event courtesy of the National book store this Saturday, September 19, 2015 at 5pm at the NBS booth at the Manila International Book Fair, SMX Convention Center. 

Limited to 200 slots only!  Registration starts at 10am for this event.  Only books purchased from National Book Store, NBS Express or Powerbooks will be accommodated

A special thanks to Mr. JB Roperos of the National Book Store