Introductions (The Academy #1) by
C.L. Stone Series: The Academy #1 Published by Arcato Publishing on December 23, 2012
Pages: 280
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With an agoraphobic mother and a barely-there father, Sang abhors the isolation keeping her in the shadows. The only thing Sang craves is a fresh start and to be accepted as ordinary by her peers, because for her being different meant being cast out alone.
When her family moves to a new school district, Sang infiltrates a group of boys nearly perfect in every way. Grateful for an influence outside of her parents' negativity, she quickly bonds with the boys, hoping to blend in and learn from them what it means to have a natural relationship with friends.
Only the boys have secrets of their own and they' ll do anything to keep her safe from the knowledge of the mysterious Academy that they've sworn allegiance to. Bit by bit, Sang discovers that her friends are far from the normalcy she expected. Will her loyalty change when she's forced to remain in the dark, or will she accept that she's traded one house of secrets for another?
Meet Kota, Victor, Silas, Nathan, Gabriel, Luke and North in a story about differences and loyalty, truth and mystery, friendships and heart-throbbing intimacy.
The Academy, ever vigilant.
This sexy book was recommended to me by the wonderful Meredith of
Meredith’s Musings. Why did I call this book sexy, you ask? Is it because of the cover? NO. It’s because SEVEN good-looking, sensitive yet masculine males are bound between the covers of this novel. Oh, and there are two handsome male teachers to boot.
Please do not judge this book by the picture on the front! I know, I know. It looks like the cheesy cover of a naughty movie, but this book is as chaste as the sexual tension between Bella and Edward in Twilight.
Our narrator is a 16 year-old female named Sang Soreneson. She has just moved to a new neighborhood with her family, and is about to start a new school. To say Sang’s family is dysfunctional is the understatement of the year. Frustrated and broken by her mother’s crazy and fear filled tyranny, Sang decides to run away. Just for a night. She needs a taste of freedom, and decides she will sneak out, and sleep in a house that is under new construction. It’s at the beginning of this escapade that Sang meets our first of seven, hot guys.
I’m not usually one to care about secondary character’s in a book. I almost never include details about them in my reviews. As long as my MC’s are awesome, I’m good. In this book, I am in love with the secondary character’s. They have the presence of ONE, awesome MC.
This appropriately coined first installment in the Academy series is ALL introductions. We meet Sang, her family, and the warm and attractive boys that live near her home. Introductions chronicles Sang’s first experiences outside of her mother’s shadow, and her feelings as she meets and gets to know each boy. The only friction we find in this novel is a run in with some troublesome guys, and Sang’s effort to sneak out and keep her mother from discovering her new friends. Near the end of the novel, we finally get a nod towards an actual plot.
This was one of the most bizarre and addictive books I have ever read. C.L.Stone has mastered the seductiveness of an innocent touch. This story is bursting at the seams with sensations. A hand on the back there, a brush of an arm here, a finger on your hip there….It was intoxicating, and a tease. It was perfect.
Introductions had a few of the same elements that I found so attractive in Brigid Kemmerer’s Elemental series. Each of the guys in this book are more than just a pretty face. Sang’s character had depth, and I like that the author took her sweet time to develop each person in the novel. No one really feels secondary.
One of my favorite scenes in this book is when Sang gets her hair washed. It’s something so unimportant, yet memorable. Sang shares a defining and intimate moment with each male protagonist. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the books in this series develop. This story had me hooked the whole way through.
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