Blog Tour for Golden Dunes of Renhala (Renhala #2) by Amy Joy Lutchen

Posted by Melanie
Release Date: November 2013
Finished Date: December 14th,, 2013

Publishers: Self Published
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Source: For Review

Format: eARC

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

How do you live with a secret so dark and so deeply woven into your being that it threatens to smother your very existence, with no known way out? Use it to your advantage.

Kailey Rooke, karmelean, and now a possibly unethical karma-for-hire, has spent the past year jumping from project to project without any real hope for salvation. With repercussions from her actions at every turn, she discovers that as time goes on, she loses a bit more of herself to that which feeds on her anguish--that which is thriving inside her own body.

When a new contract to find a missing girl arises, Kailey attempts to put her past and its associated problems on the back burner, but she soon finds out that treachery and deceit lie shortly ahead in Golden Dunes, only giving face to new problems, with one leading right back to her childhood past.

She struggles to complete her contract as her own life teeters on a fulcrum, constantly tipping according to karma’s whim. How long will she keep her balance? Which way will she fall?

The Review: **SPOILERS FOR BOOK ONE (if you haven’t read it, don’t read this!!)**

In the Golden Dunes of Renhala live a community lead by a woman covered in snakes and her name is Eve, she is a powerful woman who owns a successful plantation and has everything she wants even a son, daughter & mate….. but she no longer has her daughter, for she is missing and she will do whatever it takes to bring her back home, even employ the Karmelean – Kailey Rourke. Kailey has spent the last year putting her karma skills to good use, a little karma for hire didn’t do anyone any harm right? Well that may be a different story when you also host sudo-abominor that is steadily chipping away at her control, making her dangerous and unpredictable. When she takes on Eve’s case, Kailey may not be strong enough to come out the other side but when she gets her claws into a good case, she is determined to let karma have its day.

I really enjoyed this sequel to Renhala and I appreciated that most of the book was set there. It was very easy to reconnect with the characters again, especially Kailey who I enjoyed reading of her coming out of her shell in the first book, in this she has more struggles with herself but in a different way. After being exposed to sudo-abominor she struggles to remain balanced, unpredictably becoming angry & enraged as she wrestles for control of her own body & mind… it was good to see this side of her but you could also feel how the bad the situation was getting and how it deteriorated throughout the book and I thought it made Kailey a more dangerous threat to people and in my opinion that wasn’t such a bad thing, I like a character that can kick butt! I liked how she stayed close to the friends she made in book one, it would have been so easy for her to crawl back into herself but she stayed strong. I was surprised she had started a relationship with one of the characters, it was nice to see her have a touch of love after losing so much but I felt the chemistry more with her other suitor.

I really liked the direction the storyline went, I think the karma-for-hire idea was great because not only will it bring mystery & intrigue with each case they take but it also opens up a lot of possibilities for stories and the opportunity to explore even more of Renhala and its inhabitants. The case they took on was very mysterious, not just the case itself but also the inhabitants of Golden Dunes and I was interested in their way of life & liked how the crops & such were explained…obviously there is a lot more going on than what I can say but they brought an interesting addition to the story and even though Kailey & the gang had been invited, they also came across as territorial…or was it because they had something to hide? It wasn’t hard to know that everything isn’t as it seems & whilst I thought I had the big mystery all worked- I hadn’t – so it definitely kept me on my toes right up until the end. I liked how the series plot developed too, following the end of book one, we had five major facts 1) Kailey’s mother dies 2) Kailey’s Father apparently dies 3) Kailey’s best friend is now pregnant with her half sibling 4) Kailey has a brother 5)Kailey is now hosting sudo-abominor , all are mentioned in the book and at least two of these facts will impact this story in a big way and it’s sooo good, leading to some pretty intense moments but leaving me very excited for next book.

AUTHOR BIO
Was born in Chicago and slept in a dresser drawer for the first few weeks of my life, marking me as a future claustrophobe.

I studied at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana (man I grew up quick), where I became a number, but decided it was a good number.

I write with plenty of snacks in hand, making sure they are not in multiples of three. That number makes me nervous.

Author of the Renhala series.