Back Jacket Hack-Job - Touch of Smoke

www.karisslaurel.com

Here’s the obligatory link to the original BJHJ in case you need a refresher on what this is all about. I needed a bit of a refresher, since this, as a new member of this blog, is my first attempt. And since I have a very recent new release, I'll take this chance to do a little shameless self-promotion. Sorry-not-sorry.

 TOUCH OF SMOKE by Karissa Laurel

 So, you like Twilight? If so, then too bad, cuz this is not Twilight. But if it WERE Twilight, Rikki Albemarle would be Bella but older because this is not a young adult novel. Rikki is also a lot less clumsy, and she doesn't have a particular intoxicating smell (unless you have a thing for Secret deodorant and industrial disinfectants). She's an EMT with her own self-agency and dreams of a career as an oncology nurse somewhere (anywhere!) outside of her small town of Forks--I mean Evansville, which is in the North Carolina Smoky Mountains instead of the Pacific Northwest, and there's a helluva lot less rain.

And if Touch of Smoke were Twilight, Owen Amir would be Edward, only not all stalkery and obsessive and cold and pale. He's warm and brown and of Palestinian descent. He has a firm understanding of several important concepts that Edward could never grasp like: a) personal boundaries b) consent c) age appropriate relationships and d) mortality. He's also had the good fortune of having grown into adult manhood, and his skin doesn't feel like stone. Sometimes he has flames in his eyes (for spoiler reasons) but he never sparkles.

And if Touch of Smoke were Twilight, the vampires would not be vampires, and there would be no werewolves because nobody in this story wanted love triangles. I'd tell you what the paranormal element is, but that detail is at the heart of this novel's main murder mystery (oh yeah, someone totally dies in this book, but not by being eaten by a vampire or werewolf). However, there are lots of clues from the start if you're the type who pays attention to details rather than just flipping through pages to get to the sex scene(s). And since this is not Twilight, nobody makes you read four books to get to the sex scene(s). And no one has bruises or broken bones or weird hybrid babies afterword. 

So, basically, this book is nothing like Twilight, and you can read the real back-jacket blurb and buy a copy here: Amazon here: Barnes & Noble here: Kobo here: Apple or here: Google Play