Book
Review of Savor
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Savor by Kate Evangelista
ISBN:
Book Length: ## pages
Publisher: Crescent Moon Press
DESCRIPTION
Mature and explicit content. Not recommended for readers
below 18-years-old. Yup, you’ve got to be that old to read my story. Consider
yourself warned.
I’m
Dakota Collins, a tough talking, eye patch wearing, workaholic photography
student. Why am I important? Well, maybe because I get to spend an entire month
with Vicious, only the sickest indie rock band out there.
You
see, I needed a subject for my Spring Showcase introspective in order to
graduate. During a chance encounter at a club I’d been sent to cover for the
Daily Gossip, our ironically named college paper, the features writer I usually
teamed up with introduced me to the band—by accident, I might add. It involved
a run in with a scary, bald bodyguard. Anyway, long story short, I signed a
contract to take pictures of Vicious.
I
should have known their handsome yet way too serious for his own good bassist,
Luka Visraya, wouldn’t be able to keep his hands to himself. He’s gorgeous and
all, but the way he smiles spelled trouble with a capital L. I’m in for a long
month with him around.
Crazy
shit happens and then some. So, if you want the skinny on Vicious and the
events revolving around my stay at Lunar Manor, read my story.
Again,
refer to the warning above.
Goodreads
link to book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17159305-savor
EXERPT
“Dakota Collins!”
I lowered
my camera. The use of my full name never came with good consequences. I blinked
my vision back at her even if I wanted to spend the rest of the night taking his picture. Sweat rose over my upper
lip. I may just have found my subject for the Spring Showcase.
The only
problem?
I had to
find a way to convince him to be in my project. Something told me this wouldn’t
be easy. By the way my heart beat in my ears, drowning out the music and Silvia
having a fit in front of me, I wanted it too much. I wanted him too much.
“This the
guy you were saying?” I showed Silvia the picture I’d taken. This seemed to
pacify her because she sidled closer, mesmerized like a moth to a flame.
“Luka
Visraya,” she said with a moan like she’d just tasted the most luscious
chocolate before taking a long gulp of her cocktail. The name didn’t register.
Silvia must have noticed my blank expression because she continued. “He’s the
bassist for Vicious.”
Still no
pings of recognition in my head.
She slapped
her thigh. “Where have you been? It’s weird that you haven’t heard of them.
Their songs are on the radio like every second.”
Of course I
hadn’t heard of them. I liked listening to country and I hardly kept up with
current events.
“Name one?”
Okay, I had a name. Luka. Exotic. A bassist. Part of a band I should know
about. So he’s famous. I slowly felt my chances of asking him to be my subject
slip from my grasp. If he was someone famous, fat chance he’d say yes to a
graduating photography student like me. I just about deflated when Silvia
mentioned one of their songs. “Oh, I know that one!” By accident. It played in
the radio of the cab I rode in to Sacrifice. I stared at the picture of him
then lifted my gaze to where he sat. “He’s gone.”
“What?”
Silvia whipped around in time to come face to face with a wall of man. “Whoa!”
She pushed at him. “Watch it, buddy!”
“Give me
the camera,” he said in a threatening tone.
Big. Beefy.
Bald. The three Bs that made up the quintessential bodyguard.
I clutched
my DSLR closer to my chest and looked up at him with my good eye. “And why
would I do that?” The patch didn’t seem to intimidate him because he just
reached out. So much for my Bond villain aspirations. I moved away from his
grubby hand. No one touched my camera but me.
Despite her
size, Silvia came between me and the mountain. “We’re here to cover Sacrifice
for our college paper. You don’t have the right to take away my colleague’s
camera.”
Yeah! You give it to him, Silvy.
Not that I
couldn’t take care of myself. But if Silvia wanted to play hero, I wouldn’t
stand in her way.
“What seems
to be the problem here?” a soft, authoritative voice chimed in.
The
bodyguard moved aside to reveal the Gothic Lolita. She stood at just about the
same height as Silvia, but she possessed an older aura even if she seemed to be
our age.
“She’s been
taking pictures,” Baldy said.
Lolita’s
kohl eyes landed on me then shifted to my camera.
“As I was
saying to the big guy,” Silvia explained. “My colleague and I are covering the
opening of Sacrifice.”
“For what
paper?” Lolita asked without taking her eyes off me. I clutched my camera like
an extra appendage. In some ways it was. After losing half my sight, I relied
on my camera like an extra eye, seeing the world through its lens. I would
rather die than lose it.
“The Daily
Gossip,” I said before Silvia could answer just to relieve some of the awkward
tension building in me under her gaze. “We study at Wexler U.”
She tilted
her head, crossing her arms.
“Okay,” I
quickly stammered out. “I get that the name of our paper sounds like a tabloid,
but the Daily Gossip is a cool campus paper.” The last part maybe only I
believed since Silvia raised her eyebrow at me, but Lolita and the mountain
didn’t have to know that.
No one
spoke after that. Even in a noisy club, the silence in our group rang in my
ears. Not waiting for the situation to get any more awkward, I plowed forward
with my own selfish intensions.
“You know
Luka.” I said it more as a statement, but it came out like a question.
Lolita
nodded.
“I’m Dakota
Collins and I’m graduating this spring. I was wondering if Luka would be
interested in—”
“What would
I be interested in?” a smooth voice joined our group.
The walls
of my throat closed, chocking the rest of what I had to say. All eyes turned to
Luka. Silvia dropped her empty glass. It bounced off the bodyguard’s shoe and
landed in a clatter but didn’t break. Even with my height, I still had to look
up at him.
“What are
you doing here?” Lolita admonished. “You should be backstage.”
One side of
his lips came up. God. Without the scowl, his face lit up. I had to stop the
urge to lift my camera and start snapping away. And his eyes were piercing
blue. The kind that stretched over my mother’s farm in the summer. Damn.
Seeing him up close, I knew I’d give any
one of my kidneys for a chance to take his picture in a formal shoot.
“We have
five minutes. Chill, Yana.” He tugged at one of her pigtails.
“Luka,”
Silvia managed. “I’m a big fan. Will you sign my chest?”
Bypassing
my petite colleague, Luka’s intensely blue gaze studied me. He reached out and
I flinched back. His fingers almost grazed my patch. What the hell was the
matter with him? Trying to touch my eye patch was tantamount to poking a
bandage over a wound and asking the person if it hurts.
Gothic
Lolita—Yana—yanked Luka’s arm down. “I’m so sorry!” Her whole aura changed. She
went from all business to panicky. “My brother sometimes forgets his manners.
He didn’t mean anything about touching your…” She bit her lower lip, maybe
trying to keep herself from saying the wrong thing.
That little
faux pas cleared my head of the Luka haze and spurred me into action. “Luka,
will you let me take your picture for my final project?” I didn’t know where my
courage came from, but I knew if I didn’t take this chance, I’d regret it. I
had to have him as my subject.
Still not
removing his gaze from my face, like my patch transfixed him, he tilted his
head to one side very much like his sister did earlier.
“Luka,
don’t!” Yana said, but from the consideration on Luka’s face, she was too late.
“You’re a
photographer?”
“Yes.” I
nodded, in case the word wasn’t enough.
“And you’d
like me to be the subject of your project?”
God yes!
This time, I could only nod. I didn’t want him to see how eager I was. And I
couldn’t live with myself if I embarrassed myself further.
I waited
with baited breath.
It seemed
everyone in our group waited with baited breath for what the golden god had to
say about my brazen request. I soon realized when Luka spoke, everyone
listened. The way he pronounced every word precisely yet still spoke so
smoothly, like butter on warm toast, captured everyone’s attention. To say he
captivated us was an understatement. Something in me certainly wanted to hear
him keep speaking. He could read from an accounting textbook in that voice and
no one would get bored.
“I need to
know that you’re good,” he finally said.
Something
about his words seemed to hold a different meaning. I must have missed the
alcohol in the soda Silvia had given me. Maybe I was drunk and this was all a
blackout dream.
“What are
you saying?” Yana faced Luka all the way now, her petite form all rigid.
He
unleashed a full on megawatt smile my way. I almost had to cover my eye from
it. At my side, Silvia gasped. Her long nails dug into my arm. Like staring at
the sun, I couldn’t take my gaze away from him no matter how bad it was for me.
“We’re
about to perform. I want you to take several pictures then send them to Yana.
If she approves, we’ll see about your request.”
Then, like
smoke, he disappeared into the crowd.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack
for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After
realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered
into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today,
she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a
Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master's courses in creative
writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had
mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God,
sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today, she lives in the Philippines
and writes full time.
Contact Links
Website: www.kateevangelista.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kate-Evangelista/165693410143202
Twitter: @KateEvangelista
You Yube link: http://www.youtube.com/user/kateva11?feature=guide
Review:
So classic love story. Small town aspiring photographer meets Rock
band god and spends a month taking pictures of the members falling in love with
the leader of the band along the way.
But not so classic, this story has more twists than you can count and a
twist at the end that come from somewhere deep in left field.
I was riveted by the story. Not only does the photographer capture the
true essence of the members of the band, she becomes part of their life. Then just as things seem to be going toward
happily ever after she finds out a secret that breaks her heart. And then there is a hint of something
mystical right at the end. I can’t wait for
book 2 to see what happens next.
I give this book 4 out of 5 clouds.
This product or book may have been distributed for
review; this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
