Synopsis

Nikolai Alexei Young was born with a special gift…one he’d do anything to lose. The heart and soul of every person he comes into contact with is an open book to his heightened senses. Colorful emotions, whispers of thoughts, the sour tastes of old memories…He feels them all. The sci-fi books would call him an empath. For Nikolai, his ability has made him an exile. He roams the U.S. alone, avoiding the glut of life in big cities, and using his innate talents to win money in underground poker games. Just enough to keep going, one town to the next. He has no hope that his life can be anything else, until he meets her…

At nineteen, Fiona Starling was trapped in an ugly, desperate situation until she freed herself the only way she knew how. Now three years later, living outside Savannah, Georgia, she is rebuilding her life on her own terms; seizing every moment and saving every penny so that she might fulfill her dream of moving to the raw wilderness of Costa Rica. But behind her carefree smile beats the heart of a lonely young woman haunted by her past, until a chance encounter with a tattooed stranger changes everything…

Fiona takes Nikolai under her roof for three sultry nights, waiting out the rain of a summer storm. She grows more and more fascinated by this brooding stranger with whom she shares an intense physical connection—a connection so strong, she wonders if there is something between them beyond lust and passion. Nikolai is shocked to discover that Fiona calms the raging turmoil in his heart. She alone silences the din of other people’s lives, and envelops him in the sweet beauty of her inner self. Every moment he’s with her—every touch of her skin—brings him closer to the peace that’s been eluding him his entire life.

But Fiona harbors secrets that she is too terrified to reveal. After Nikolai confesses his unique ability, she is caught between wanting to believe him and fearing he’ll eventually unearth her own dark past. When the unthinkable happens, Fiona’s plans come crashing down, and Nikolai discovers his hated ability might be the only thing that can save the woman he loves.

Sugar & Gold is a new adult romance with shades of the paranormal and is the second book in the Dreamcatcher novels, a series of interconnected STANDALONES. It is NOT necessary to have read How to Save a Life (Dreamcatcher #1) first in order to follow the story, but characters will appear across all novels. Intended for readers 18 and up.

Értékelésem

*ARC generously provided by the Author via NetGalley*

Olyan volt ez a könyv, mint azok a festmények, amelyek először csak egy hatalmas véletlenszerű színkavalkádnak tűnnek, de ahogy egyre tovább nézed őket, észreveszed, hogy varázslatos módon a színek forgatagából kirajzolódik egy gyönyörűséges kép.

Olykor a káosz is tud csodát szülni, és ez a történet erről szól. Egy fiúról és egy lányról, kiknek életét a zűrzavar uralja. Azonban kettejük találkozása mindkettőjük életét megváltoztatja, és az összevisszaság hirtelen csenddé, és gyönyörű renddé változik.

Nikolai magányosan rója az utakat, múltját hátrahagyva, jövő és cél nélkül. Életét, gondolatait és érzéseit a ken uralja, amely egy olyan teher, amit soha nem kért, és amire soha nem is vágyott. Nikolai ugyanis színekként látja az emberek érzésit, olykor hallja a gondolataikat és ez egy olyan teher, amely életének minden napját elviselhetetlenné teszi. Olykor elgondolkozik rajta, hogy megéri-e egy ilyen szenvedéssel teli élet, de azért valahogy mindig erőt vesz magán, és mindig megy tovább. Nem tudja, hogy miért kapta ezt a képességet, és hogy mi a ken célja? Az egyetlen amire használni tudja, hogy illegális pókerjátékokban pénzt szerezzen, de nem tud túl sokáig emberek között maradni, mert a színek, hangok és ízek káosza egy idő után elviselhetetlenné válik számára.

Fiona szintén menekül. Menekül egy másik élet, a múlt elől és benne is szunnyad egyfajta zűrzavar, amelyet nem tud elengedni. A múlt fájdalmának hangjai. Most egy kisvárosban próbál új életet kezdeni és új barátokra találni, azonban a legnagyobb álma az, hogy egy távoli országban találjon végső otthonára.

Amikor Nikolai soha véget nem érő útja során egy kisvároskába ér, és megpillantja a rózsaszín hajú Fionát, valami olyasmi történik, ami addig sohasem: a színek és hangok diszharmonikus káosza hirtelen harmóniákká rendeződik, és Nikolai végre nyugalomra talál. Nem tudja, hogy ki ez a lány, vagy hogy mitől különleges, csak annyit tud, hogy szüksége van rá, és nem engedheti, hogy a nyugalom, amelyet a lány hozott magával, és amelyre hosszú évek óta vágyott, tovaröppenjen…

Nagyon egyedi és szépséges volt a történet. Emma Scott minden egyes alkalommal lenyűgöz tehetségével és kiemelkedő stílusával, de ez alkalommal izgalmas fordulatokban sem volt hiány. Igazán megkedveltem a szereplőket, és az a mélység és sokrétűség, amellyel az írónő megformálta őket igazán kimagasló.

Mindenki számára ajánlom ezt a könyvet, aki valami igazán különlegeset szeretne olvasni. Ez egy igazi 5 csillagos történet.

My Review in English

This book was like one of those paintings which at first seems to be just a huge random chaos of colors, but the longer you look at it, the more you start to notice how forms and images magically start to emerge from the vortex of colors.

Sometimes the chaos can turn into wonder, and this story is about this. This is a story about a girl and the boy, whose life is ruled by disorder, but the meeting of the two of them brings change into their lives, and the chaos turns into silence and arranges into order.

Nikolai is roaming the roads alone, leaving behind his past, without future or purpose. His life, his thoughts and his feelings are all dominated by the ken, a burden that he never asked for and he never wanted. Because Nikolai sees the feelings of people as colors, and sometimes he also can smell and taste their emotions or hears their thoughts and this is a weight that makes his days almost unbearable. Sometimes he is wondering if a life with full of suffering is worth at all, but somehow he always carries on. He doesn’t know why he got this gift, or what’s the purpose of the ken? The only thing he can use this strange ability for is to win money at illegal poker games, but it’s dangerous and he can’t stay too long near people because the chaos of colors, sounds, and flavors shortly become unbearable for him.

Fiona is also fleeing. She runs from another life, from her past, and there is also a kind of turmoil in her that she can’t break away from: the sounds of her past. Now she tries to start a new life in a small town and she tries to find new friends, but her biggest dream is to find her final home far-far away, in Costa Rica.

When Nikolai arrives in a small town during his never-ending journey and he gets a glimpse of the beautiful, pink-haired Fiona, something happens with him that never happened before. The disharmonious chaos of colors and sounds suddenly turn into harmonies and Nikolai finally finds peace. He doesn’t know who this girl is or what’s so special about her, all he knows that he needs her, and he can’t let the peace that the girl brought with her and that he yearned for years slip away from his hands.

It was such a unique and beautiful story! Emma Scott always amazes me with her outstanding talent and with her gripping writing style, and this time she spiced this amazing novel with some thrilling plot twists, too. I truly loved the characters, both the hero and the heroin had so many layers.

I highly recommend this book for everyone who would like to read something really unique.

My Favorite Quotes From the Book

“It felt like a dream. I glanced up at Nikolai Young who’d come into my life like a fiery storm of lust and passion, and became everything I’d ever wanted.”

“No rules. Live out loud. Find the sunshine.”

“We clung to each other, feeling every place we touched and knowing that it was real. I was free and he was here…”

“Fiona was a wildflower amidst a garden of perfectly pruned roses…”

“I want to walk in the sunshine with you.”

“My life has been on hold for years. It began again when I met you.”

“Love and hope.”
“She had given so much of both; my heart was full of love for her…and a gratitude greater than thank you.”

5 – Find the sunshine – Stars

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2svLwhN
Amazon Universal: myBook.to/SugarGoldEmmaScott
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/2tfNHCG

About the Author

Emma Scott is a writer, marathon runner, and caffeine addict, who lives and writes in the California Bay Area. She has two smart, feisty little girls, a super-supportive husband, and is a demonstrated fan of the Oxford comma. She is also an unabashed Star Wars geek and comic book enthusiast who fell into romance novels when a writing contest prompt turned a 1000-word romantic story into a full-blown novel. She also writes epic fantasy that suffers an epic word count.

She hopes you enjoy her work, encourages readers to leave feedback, and thinks it’s amusing to write about herself in the third person. And if she has a driving force that fuels her work, it’s that love always wins.

FACEBOOK: http://bitly.com/1yrzVvI
TWITTER: @EmmaS_writes