Hi everyone. Today I am featuring "The Revolution Series" by: Heather Kreke. She wrote up a special guest post for you all to enjoy and included sneak peeks for both books in her series. Also read to the bottom to check out her tour giveaway. Happy reading :).
Choosing my top five favorite books is almost like asking me to choose my favorite child. I can’t. However, I shall do my best. These are in order of when I read them, not in my favorite order.
I’ve loved reading for as long as I can remember, so I’m starting with the first book I read over and over. In eighth grade the teacher assigned Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink, a middle grade book about an eleven-year-old girl growing up on the American frontier in the 1860s. This book captured my imagination with stories of grand adventure on the prairie, I read it so many times that I had to buy three copies because my book kept falling apart.
The next book is one that inspired me to write YA. Someone Dies Someone Lives, by Lurlene McDaniel, another middle grade novel about a girl in need of a heart transplant who receives an anonymous donation of one-hundred-thousand dollars. This novel moved me like none had done before. It’s more than just a good story but an underlying message of compassion and caring.
In my teens and young adult years, I stuck with a few of my favorite authors, mostly R.L Stein, Lurlene McDaniel, and V.C. Andrews. I would read these authors’ books repeatedly until one of them released a new title. After I read the new one, I would go back and reread all the old books.
Of course, as I got older, I branched out and started reading different genres, including Romantic Suspense. One of my favorite Romantic Suspense books is written by one of my favorite authors DiAnn Mills. The book, Fatal Strike, is about a killer in Galveston who uses snake venom to perform his murders. The FBI agents on the case race against the clock to stop him before he strikes again. This novel, as well as all of DiAnn’s other books, is full of adventure and excitement.
My favorite YA novels might be cliché, but I absolutely love The Hunger Games (Including The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.), by Suzanne Collins. The world building and fast-moving stories drew me in from the very beginning and kept me reading to the last page. I’m a quick reader, but this series is probably my record for the fastest series I’ve ever read, I just couldn’t put them down.
Most of the nonfiction books I read are about writing, but I thought it fitting to include my favorite nonfiction title. Into Thin Air, by John Krakauer, is about his expedition to Mount Everest in 1996, and the storm that claimed the lives of so many of his fellow climbers. I’m not sure why, but I’ve always been interested in Mount Everest, and this is a compelling narrative of the things that can go wrong on a high mountain climb.
What are some of your favorite books?
World War III has erupted on American soil. Seventeen-year-old Jadzia’s life will never be the same again.
Path to Redemption
The Revolution Series Book 2
by: Heather Kreke
Genre: YA Christian Dystopian
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Chapter One
Jadzia
I grasped one of my trembling hands with the other. Get it together. Do not look at the clock again. Mr. Jenkins has only been gone a few hours. He’ll be back soon enough. I sucked in a deep breath. Held it. Exhaled. Didn’t help. Nothing could take my mind off Ryker.
I leaned against a tree in the middle of the woods, southeast of Huntsville, Texas. We set up camp here last night, and I hated it already. I preferred the abandoned house we hid in for the last week. The summer sun beat down through patchy leaves, and I mopped my face with the bottom of my shirt.
Ryker. Everything came back to him. And the gaping hole he left when he got himself arrested, in Houston last month, to buy me time to escape. I rubbed my chest right above my heart. The spot where the ache never quite seemed to ease. Why Mr. Jenkins hoped to gain info from these increasingly unhelpful meetings was beyond me. I ran the palm of my hand along the rough bark at my back to distract myself. Didn’t work.
General Hayes always gave Mr. Jenkins the same line: “Your son is being treated well and is in good health.” Never anything about when or even if they would release Ryker.
Mom and I were all for storming the prison and busting him out. Heck, even Cassie supported us. And we never agreed on anything. Ever.
“Here.” Cassie walked over, her platinum blond hair swinging in its ponytail, and handed me a water pod.
I slowly reached for it. Suspicion crossed my face. She rolled her honey brown eyes. “It’s not poison, you know.” If I wasn’t so thirsty I’d have punched her in her smug little face. But whatever. I took the pod and bit down. The warm but refreshing liquid burst in my mouth. I sighed. “Thanks.”
Mom crossed the small campsite with a laser-rifle slung over her right shoulder. “You do realize it’s not her fault you keep exposing your left side, right?”
Cassie smirked.
Five weeks. I’d put up with this crap for a little over five weeks. I sucked in a deep breath and spoke through clenched teeth. “Fine. Let’s go again.” I stepped away from the tree, hands ball into fists.
Cassie waved me away like I was nothing more than a gnat. “I’d love to beat you up more. But you aren’t worth it. I’m getting lunch.” She turned her back and started to walk away.
I grabbed the middle of her ponytail and pulled. Hard.
She let out a cry and stumbled back. “What the—” She faced me, arm pulled back, fist ready to fly.
“Enough.” Mom wedged herself between us, shoved us apart, and kept one of her hands on Cassie’s shoulder and one on mine.
Cassie pushed away Mom’s hand. “One of these days, I swear I’m going to kill you, Jadzia.”
I scoffed. “I’d like to see you try.”
Mom shoved us farther apart. Her gray-blue eyes blazed. “I am so sick of running interference between you two. It’s exhausting.”
Cassie dropped her gaze and unclenched her fist. Her face now a mask of innocence. “Sorry, Mrs. Mills. I was just trying to defend myself.”
Oh, gag me. Cassie’s poor me act made me want to puke.
“We’re done practicing.” Mom looked back and forth between us. “You two need to stop fighting with each other and work together as a unit. One day you might be all each other has and you’ll have to be able to depend on and trust each other.” She pointed across the clearing where our packs loaded with food sat. “Cassie, go get lunch. Jadzia, give her five minutes to clear out, then you get something, eat on opposite sides of camp.” She looked at me. “I swear this is worse than refereeing you and your brother. And he’s six.”
My heart squeezed at the thought of Jonathan. Been so long since I’d seen his chubby cheeks or his little smile. I leaned against the tree again and slid to the ground.
Mom took the laser-rifle off her shoulder and set on the ground next to us. She gave my shoulder a squeeze. “We’ll see him again soon.”
I nodded and flicked my wrist to open my PCD, trying to ignore the clock on my home screen and the fact only an hour passed since I last checked the time. “Maybe I could hack the signal and call him.”
She shook her head. “Don’t. Not until Michael comes back from his meeting.”
I studied Mom’s face. Lines that hadn’t been there six months ago, when the war started, crisscrossed her forehead and wrinkled her eyes. These months weren’t easy on any of us, and the last five weeks must have been especially hard on her. Leaving Jonathan with our aunt and cousin in some government run safe city while she came to find me. Having to choose to be with one child over the other? No parent should ever have to make that choice.
She kissed my cheek. “You want some lunch?”
“I guess.” I stood and started toward our packs.
The sound of a familiar Hover-engine filled the clearing. My heart rate went through the roof. I’d recognize that sound anywhere. Even in my sleep. Military grade Hover-jeep.
BLURB:
In the last year, Jadzia Mills has survived war, the death of her best friend, being almost beaten to death, and a cross-country journey to reunite with her family.
Now she’s being hunted by the military she abandoned. When almost captured, she faces a choice: continue to run or surrender and face a court-martial with an unknown sentence. To protect her family, she surrenders and is sentenced to a long prison term.
In prison she must face vicious inmates, brutal guards, and unending hours of loneliness, all while dealing with the horrors of her past.
Thanks to a favor from a sympathetic sergeant, Jadzia is released early. But the world she knew has changed. A divide between believers and nonbelievers is forming, and she must choose where she belongs.
With her family. Or the boy she loves?
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2023 Selah Award Winner in First Novel
2023 Selah Award Finalist in YA Fiction
Path of Totality
The Revolution Series Book 1
Add to your TBR List!
Check out Reviews and Recommendations!
My wrist vibrated again. Carina? Nope. Brent wanted to know if I’d give him a ride home. I told him to meet me by my Hover-bike. His house wasn’t too far out of my way. I couldn’t say no. Especially now.
I threw my school stuff and projection book in my bag and stared at the Holo-screen.
“Jadzia.” Mrs. Ladd didn’t even look up from her Holo- pad. “You can go.”
Finally. I ran to the parking lot. Brent stood next to my bike, still and glaring like he expected something to come at him. I glanced over my shoulder.
The world looked normal. Trees budded, flowers poked their heads up out of the ground, and a few birds flew over our heads. Not a cloud in the sky. Shouldn’t it be pouring or at least dreary or something? Nature didn’t know the threat we were under. I launched myself at Brent. He held his arms open, then folded me into his chest.
His breath ruffled my hair. “We’re going to be okay.”
The sob I’d been holding back broke free, and he tightened his grip.
A sound louder than anything I’d ever heard before ripped through the afternoon. Every muscle in my body tightened, and my light hold on Brent’s waist became a vise grip. He dove to the ground, shielding me with his body. I wasn’t the only one shaking. The sound faded. We scrambled to our feet.
“What happened?” I pulled a twig from my hair.
He pointed toward the city. A cloud of black smoke rose in the distance. “We have to move.”
My legs refused to work. He gave me a gentle shove. “Downtown is under attack. Let’s get somewhere safe.”
I threw my leg over my bike and Brent settled in behind me. My mind whirled. Somewhere safe. Where on earth were we safe?
I had to get to Mom and Jonathan. I pressed the starter pad. The bike roared to life and I took off so fast we almost dropped onto the pavement before I balanced us out.
“Sorry. Sorry,” I yelled over the sound of the engine. I gunned the bike, and we flew toward Brent’s house.
BLURB:
World War III has erupted on American soil. Seventeen-year-old Jadzia’s life will never be the same again.
As a mandatory draft takes effect, Jadzia finds herself on the front lines of the war, torn apart from her family. But when her best friend is killed, Jadzia is desperate to find her way back to them. She abandons her platoon and sets out on her own.
Jadzia must navigate a dangerous cross-country journey, facing betrayal, violence, and the constant threat of death. Along the way, she meets Ryker–the son of a faith leader whose places of worship have been attacked. Despite the chaos, Jadzia finds refuge and friendship among Ryker’s unlikely group of individuals … even though their faith is a little old-fashioned. And Ryker's insistence on helping her doesn't make it easier for Jadzia to resist her growing feelings toward him.
But the military is determined to capture Jadzia and all outlaws. When survival seems impossible, will sacrifice be their only route to freedom?
This action-packed YA dystopian novel is perfect for fans of The Out of Time Series and The Gifting Series.
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Heather Kreke
Heather Kreke is passionate about showing teens and young adults they can find hope in God’s plan for their lives—even through the darkest times. Her debut novel Path of Totality won first place in the 2023 Selah awards in the First Novel category.
She is the Blog Manager for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, Coordinator for the Blue Ridge Readers Connection, and a writing coach. In her spare time, she teaches writing classes, writes numerous blogs, and has completed coursework through the former Christian Writers Guild. Married since 2004, Heather has three daughters.
Follow Heather at the Following Links:
Enter to Win:
Signed Print Set of Both Books! —2 winners, US only,
$20 Amazon Gift Card —1 winner, WW
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
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I enjoyed the excerpt and guest post. Sounds like a good story.