Review & Giveaway - More by T.M. Franklin

Title: More
Series: More #1

Author: T.M. Franklin
Release Date: October 4, 2012

Pages: 255, Paperback

Goodreads Rating: 4.28 stars

My Rating: 4/5 stars

My Content Rating: PG

Summary from Goodreads: Ava Michaels used to think she was special.

As a child, she fantasized about having magical powers . . . making things happen. But Ava grew up and eventually accepted the fact that her childish dreams were just that, and maybe a normal life wasn't so bad after all.

Now a young college student, Ava meets Caleb Foster, a brilliant and mysterious man who’s supposed to help her pass Physics, but in reality has another mission in mind. What he shows Ava challenges her view of the world, shaking it to its very core.

Because Caleb isn't quite what he seems. In fact, he's not entirely human, and he's not the only one.

Together, the duo faces a threat from an ancient race bound to protect humans, but only after protecting their own secrets—secrets they fear Ava may expose. Fighting to survive, Ava soon learns she's not actually normal . . . she's not even just special.

She's a little bit more.

More is an exciting  paranormal adventure story with interesting characters and a compellingly mysterious plot.  Since the blurb gives a good summary of the plot (I can't tell much more without spoiling things!), I'll just jump right into what I did and didn't like.

The negatives:

• Slightly slow start.  This book started out just a little bit slowly, but this seemed somewhat necessary because Franklin really needed to set Ava up as a regular college student before things got crazy.  Also, since we don't get to really know Caleb until the second half of the story, it makes it a bit harder to connect with him at first.  But things definitely pick up as the book goes on!

What I LOVED:

• The mystery.  I thought that the mystery of who and what Caleb really was and why he needed to protect (or stalk?) Ava was extremely well-executed.  You weren't told everything all at once, but you got enough clues along the way to keep you interested in the mystery so that you weren't completely frustrated.  I found myself not wanting to put the book down because I really wanted to know why these mysterious people were after Ava and why she wasn't supposed to know they were there and why Caleb wanted to protect her and... you get the idea.  Lots of good mysteries here!
• No quick romance.  While there were hints at romance in this book, More really just sets us up for the possibility of romance in future books.  I actually really appreciated that there was no clichéd insta-love and that Ava and Caleb didn't look into each other's eyes and know they were destined for each other.  Instead, the focus of the book was on the plot and the action, with possibilities for romance fluttering throughout, getting stronger and stronger as the book went on.  Franklin managed to get me completely invested in the relationship between Ava and Caleb and I can't wait to see what develops between them in the next book!
• The characters.  I loved that Ava seemed like such a normal, stable college kid.  I could actually see a lot of myself in her.  When she was a child, she imagined she could do things - paranormal things (yep, I did that too), but now that she's an adult she knows that those imaginings were just childish fantasies.  When she starts to get hints that perhaps her childhood paranormal experience wasn't completely a figment of her imagination, she doesn't instantly jump on the "hey, I'm supernatural" bandwagon.  Instead, she denies it; she can't believe any of it.  This seemed like a completely realistic response to me and I loved that.  She also doesn't just let Caleb jump in and save her when things get rough.  She takes the reins and decides to face the danger head-on - on her terms.  And by the end of the book, Ava proves that she is a worthy opponent! Likewise, I loved that Caleb supported her in her decisions, even when he completely disagreed with her actions.  Speaking of Caleb, I really loved that he was kind of a geeky leading man (even if his "alter ego" wasn't necessarily the real him) - uber-smart and handsome (but not with the typical six-pack abs or bulging biceps).  Despite his supernatural side, he seemed like a real guy, different than the typical paranormal love interest - and I loved that!

I really enjoyed More and I can't wait to read the next book in the series (The Guardians, which I will be reading and reviewing later this month!)  If you're a fan of the paranormal genre, I would definitely pick this book up!  4/5 stars.

***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by NetGalley and TWCS in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***

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About the Author

T.M. Franklin started out her career writing non-fiction in a television newsroom. Graduating with a B.A. in Communications specializing in broadcast journalism and production, she worked for nine years as a major market television news producer, and garnered two regional Emmy Awards, before she resigned to be a full-time mom and part-time freelance writer. After writing and unsuccessfully querying a novel that she now admits, “is not that great,” she decided to follow the advice of one of the agents who turned her down—write some more and get better at it. Her first published novel, MORE, was born during National Novel Writing month, a challenge to write a novel in thirty days.

She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, Mike, is mom to two boys, Justin and Ryan, and has an enormous black dog named Rocky who’s always lying nearby while she’s writing. Whether he’s soothed by the clicking of the computer keys or just waiting for someone to rub his belly is up for debate.

In addition to MORE, Franklin penned the Amazon best-selling short story, Window, as well as another short story, A Piece of Cake, which appears in the Romantic Interludes anthology. The sequel to MORE, The Guardians, will be released November 7, 2013.

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