Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway:
Bridges Burned by Chris Cannon

BookCrushin is so excited to bring you this review stop on the Bridges Burned by Chris Cannon Book Tour! In today’s post you will find all the book and series information, an excerpt and a 5-star review! Be sure to enter the tour-wide giveaway too!

 

Bridges Burned (Going Down in Flames #2) by Chris Cannon

Category: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publication: January 19th, 2015; Entangled Teen
Purchase: Amazon, B&N, Kobo

Don’t just fight the system…burn it.

Since discovering she is a shape-shifting, fire-breathing dragon on her sixteenth birthday (surprise!), Bryn McKenna’s world has been thrown into chaos. Being a “crossbreed”—part Red dragon and part Blue—means Bryn will never fit in. Not with dragon society. Not with the archaic and controlling Directorate. And definitely not when she has striped hair and a not-so-popular affection for rule-breaking…

But sneaking around with her secret boyfriend, Zavien, gets a whole lot harder when he’s betrothed to someone else. Someone who isn’t a mixed breed and totally forbidden. And for an added complication, it turns out Bryn’s former archnemesis Jaxon Westgate isn’t quite the evil asshat she thought. Now she’s caught between her desire to fit in and a need to set things on fire. Literally.

Because if Bryn can’t adapt to the status quo…well, then maybe it’s time for her to change it.

Buy Links: Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Kobo Books

Excerpt:

Zavien leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. This seemed to be his standard move when he didn’t want to talk. She should be mad, but the distraction technique worked. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Electricity thrummed through her veins.

When he pulled away from her, she sighed.

He kissed her forehead. “This is something I don’t share with Nola. I may let her cry on my shoulder, and I might go shopping with her, but I have no desire to kiss her until she melts against me.”

“I don’t melt.”

One corner of his mouth turned up. He brushed her hair aside and skimmed his mouth down her neck until he reached the sensitive skin by her collarbone.

Liquid heat flooded her body. She clamped her lips together to keep from moaning. When he applied his teeth to the area she gave up all pretenses and growled deep in her throat. She felt and heard Zavien chuckle against her skin.

“Maybe I melt a little.”

His chest puffed out with pride.

 

Series:

Going Down in Flames (GDiF #1)

Publication: June 30th, 2014; Entangled Teen
Purchase: Amazon, B&N, Kobo

If her love life is going down in flames, she might as well spark a revolution.

Finding out on your sixteenth birthday you’re a shape-shifting dragon is tough to swallow. Being hauled off to an elite boarding school is enough to choke on.

Since Bryn is the only crossbreed at the Institute for Excellence, all eyes are on her, but it’s a particular black dragon, Zavien, who catches her attention.

Zavien is tired of the Council’s rules. Segregated clans, being told who to love, and close-minded leaders make freedom of choice almost impossible. The new girl with the striped hair is a breath of fresh air, and with Bryn’s help, they may be able to change the rules.

At the Institute, old grudges, new crushes, and death threats are all part of a normal day for Bryn. She’ll need to learn to control her dragon powers if she wants to make it through her first year at school. But even focusing on staying alive is difficult when you’re falling for someone you can’t have.

 

Guest Review:

 

[book rating=5.0/5.0]

 

“I strive to be just condescending enough, but sometimes the balance is hard to maintain.”

Bridges Burned, the second book in Chris Cannon’s series, picks up where Going Down in Flames, its predecessor, ended; our tough, snarky heroine Bryn and the bane of her Blue Dragon existence, Jaxon, are chauffeured back to the Institute for Excellence after they have survived certain unpleasant events (spoiler-free zone!). Suffice it to say, the events have caused an unwary truce between Bryn and Jaxon, and the animosity they shared in the first story turns into a begrudging and humorous coexistence in this story.

Bryn returns to her regular routine and we start understand that, while Going Down in Flames (GDiF) focused on introducing us to Bryn, who and what she was, and her place–or lack thereof–within the rigid caste system of dragon society, Bridges Burned (BB) centers on Bryn’s relationships. Like any teenager, she has friends and love interests, and the first part of BB navigates her continued dealings with characters to whom we were introduced previously:  Zavien, her “spiky-haired malcontent” of a love interest; Nola, Zavien’s intended; Clint and Ivy, our favorite Black dragon couple; Valmont, Bryn’s loyal, handsome, charming knight (and my personal favorite potential romantic interest because, let’s face it, it’s a YA book so there has to be a love triangle!); and of course, Jaxon and his vision of an intended, Rhianna (I keep having mental images of Elsa from Frozen when thinking of Rhianna).

The plot of the story also revolves around a series of violent attacks that occur at Bryn’s school, at her grandparents’ mansion, and at Dragon’s Bluff. Our characters are trying to determine who is behind these attacks and what the attackers hope to accomplish. After one such attack derails Bryn’s plans to go home for Christmas break, she is forced to stay with her grandparents, and at this point, the book switches gears and really explores this relationship. Until now, we’ve only gotten fleeting and mostly icy glimpses of her grandmother and grandfather, though they did finally acknowledge her existence and claim her as their relative at the end of GDIF. BB allows us to see behind the façades of the stone cold mansion and into the hearts and minds of her grandparents, particularly her grandmother, whose silence and frosty exterior mask a smart, strong, fierce woman who was forever scarred when her only daughter left in the middle of the night to never return. The dynamics between Bryn and her grandmother color the second half of the novel with warmth and humor as we watch them learn to love and accept each other.

Because this is the second installment in the series, Ms. Cannon was able to dispense with the introductory material and delve right into the action. I read this book in one sitting and had to tear my eyes away from my phone when I was finished. I still have images of Christmas in Dragon’s Bluff floating through my head. And oh, to have a Dragon’s Bluff credit card — the damage I could do! The first book was exciting because it introduced us to Bryn and the ironclad archaic society we know she is going to eventually change; we were introduced to her powers, her fears, and her amazing and awe-inspiring appetite. In this book, things are quieter but no less enjoyable, and her appetite is still intact. Relationships and loyalties are forged (or burned!), true personalities are revealed (some surprisingly and maybe a bit out of character…I’m holding out hope for a different explanation in the third book), and the groundwork is laid for the next story which will presumably include some sort of dragon showdown. Or will it? Who knows what Bryn will be able to accomplish. I’m looking forward to watching her continue to grow and prove her detractors (Ferrin!) wrong. I’m also hoping to see more of Merrick in the third book. I missed him!

Bridges Burned: 5/5 stars! Imagery for days; wit, action, a heroine with an unstoppable appetite and super cool powers; and, an incredibly unique take on shifting.

Special Quotes:

“Okay, my grandmother is officially a badass.”

“I’ve seen you eat. ‘Less is more’ isn’t an adage that applies to your diet.”

 

Guest Reviewer: Sara Meadows

Sara Meadows is a busy mom who, when not hanging out with her family, loves reading, scrapbooking, watching anything to do with superheroes, and correcting other people’s grammar as politely as possible. Originally from Pennsylvania, Sara lives in Virginia with her husband, three children, and three animals. She reads all types of fiction, and couldn’t possibly choose a favorite book if her life depended upon it.

 

Author Bio: Chris Cannon

I love reading and writing snarky, kick-butt characters who take on the world and win.

My truths: You can never have too many books, shoes, or purses.

Coffee is the Elixir of Life.

There should be a National Nerf Bat Day where you are allowed to whack annoying people upside the head.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

 

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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