An epic story of romance and science fiction that is out of this world.
I won some of A. M. Hargrove’s books on her blog a while back. I am so glad that I got the first three books in this series. I wanted to read one, review one, read another, review another, but I couldn’t quit. I must go on! So I read them all, except for the newly released ReEmergent, which I will be reading very soon. Follow fundinmental for the upcoming reviews of the rest of the series.
Beginnings, the Prequel Novella for the Guardians of Vesturon and Survival, Book I of the Guardians of Vesturon are free. Grab your copies and dive into the wonderful world of A M Hargrove.
A M Hargrove is offering the rest of the series for the giveaway at the end of the post.
There is another giveaway going for Tragically Flawed. Scroll down to the end of the post for the link.
Maddie awoke to a winter wonderland in the Smoky Mountains. She made snow angels, feeling like she was in heaven. She knew she needed to head down the trail, so she packed up and began walking. She saw the tracks in the snow and thought it was lucky for her that she wasn’t all alone in the forest. Until she met HIM.
My mother had died in car accident when I was 11. My father and I were close and we loved to hike the Smoky Mountain Trails. He taught me everything I would need to know to survive in the wild. While still in high school, my father died of a heart attack. Now I was truly alone.
I wanted to go to a college that was close to the Smoky Mountain trails that I loved so much. My first day at college, I was happy when Cat and I hit it off so quickly. I thought how lucky I was that Cat loved hiking too. But Cat was going home for Christmas, so I would be backpacking alone for New Years.
Darryl had come to the Smoky Mountains to hunt and it wasn’t four legged prey he was after. 
It was Maddie’s bad luck to meet him on the trail.
Because of a lax moment, I had been caught off guard. I fought to pull myself together and control my wild thoughts. If I was to survive, I would have to use everything I knew.
He had laughed as he tortured me. How could someone be so evil? The pain overwhelmed me and I grew weaker by the second. I knew my time was running out. I couldn’t take much more. If I was going to make a move, it would have to be now.
I knew I was going over the cliff. I couldn’t save myself. I knew I would not survive.
The lights woke me. Am I in heaven?
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“There are many things that are possible, if you only believe.”
A beautiful cover that quickly drew me into Maddie’s story of love, romance, tragedy and SURVIVAL.
All I have to see is serial killer and I will pick up the book. I knew this was going to be so much more than that. I couldn’t see how it would get to the sci-fi part, but Anne Hargrove’s writing made the story flow smoothly and seem so real, that I couldn’t put the book down.
If there are aliens, they would have to be so much more advanced than us. Who is to say what is out there. The Universe is a large place. Why are we so arrogant to think we are the only ones?
I can’t begin to describe the brutality of the attack on Maddie and the subsequent torture. Her strength and determination are qualities to be admired and Anne does a fantastic job in describing the scenes in detail. I can only think that it was her will to live that kept her alive long enough for a chance encounter to save her.
I know the answer to the mystery of her rescuer is coming and I am very curious.
I was so involved in the story, I couldn’t take the time to make notes.
As I try to put myself in her place, I can’t help but hope I would respond as well as she did.
Vesturions: “We are the peacekeepers of the universe, not the destroyers.”
To understand how the Vesturions fall in love so quickly, I must explain. Vesturions bond to their soul-mate and it is for life. It is a physical thing and it consumes them. They have a high regard and reverence for their mate. To a human it would seem they are overly possessive and that could cause many problems. I chuckle as I think about the things in store for a man of Vesturon who dares to fall in love with a human, especially one as strong and independent as Maddie.
A M Hargrove’s description of Maddie dancing made me think of Elaine on Friends. I could picture it in my mind as I laughed. The book contains a lot of humor and it is woven into the story so well it seems as if I am a part of it, laughing along with the characters.
Maddie tries to explain our sayings and slang to the Vesturions:
animal that ate the bird – cat that swallowed the canary
cow in a glass store – bull in a china shop
feel like we are heading into the wolves – being fed to the wolves
When I got to the last page, the last paragraph, the last sentence, the last word, I couldn’t stop. This book has an awesome cliffhanger. I HAD to know what would happen. So I grabbed the next book and jumped right in. And the next book.
Again I would like to thank Anne Hargrove for the giveaway that brought Survival and the Guardians of Vesturon to me!
5 STARS – Would Buy It For Them (lol)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
One day, on her way home from work as a sales manager, A. M. Hargrove, realized her life was on fast forward and if she didn’t do something soon, it would quickly be too late to write that work of fiction she had been dreaming of her whole life. So, she rolled down the passenger window of her fabulous (not) company car and tossed out her leather briefcase. Luckily, the pedestrian in the direct line of fire was a dodgeball pro and had über quick reflexes enabling him to avoid getting bashed in the head. Feeling a tad guilty about the near miss, A. M. made a speedy turn down a deserted side street before tossing her crummy, outdated piece-of-you-know-what lap top out the window. She breathed a liberating sigh of relief, picked up her cell phone and hit #4 on her speed dial.
Boss: Hello
A.M.: Boss, is that you?
Boss: Why yes, A. M., who else would be answering my phone?
A.M.: Er… right. Well, I’m calling to let you know you can pick up my luxury Ford Focus at Starbucks near the interstate.
Boss: Why ever would I want to do that?
A.M.: Because I quit!
A.M. hit the end button and speed dialed her husband.
A.M.: Hi hubs, can you pick me up at Starbucks?
Hubs: Sure… Having some car trouble?
A.M.: Not at all. I don’t have a car to have trouble with because I just quit my job.
Hubs: WHAT?!
A.M.: It’s time for a new career and I am going to be a very famous novelist.
So began A. M. Hargrove’s career as an author of self-published books. Her books include the Young Adult/New Adult series, The Guardians of Vesturon (Survival, Resurrection, Determinant and the novella Beginnings) and the Adult novels Dark Waltz (A Praestani Novel) and Edge of Disaster. (It didn’t happen exactly like that, but you get the idea!)
Stalk A M Hargrove
To purchase your copy of any of A.M.Hargrove’s books, simply click on the cover below.
To see my 5 STAR review and to enter the fantastic Giveaway for an Ipad mini and an original necklace designed like the one Shan gave Riviera in Tragically Flawed, go HERE.
My Review for Edge of Disaster
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GIVEAWAY
A M Hargrove has the first two books, Beginninngs and Survival free. She is offering for the giveaway the rest of The Guardians of Vesturon Series – Resurrection, Determinant and ReEmergent. Giveaway is International. Entry is easy peasy. Simple leave your email and answer the question:
Do you believe in Aliens?
Giveaway ends November 4, 2013.
WINNER!! The winner is Georgiann.
Congratulations and happy reading. I hope you enjoy the Survival Series as much as I did!
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Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.
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I have a read A.M. Hargrove book, and it was really good! I’m sure this book is going to ROCK also! Thanks Sherry for bringing her work out! Lots of love, Emily
I am glad you have enjoyed her writing. This series is great fun to read and I can hardly wait to see where it ends.
I enjoy reading/hearing others perspective on aliens – such imagination and hope. Of course I believe in Aliens. I don’t believe in the little green people with the odd shaped bald heads but I believe there are people out there. Would be interesting to hear how their world all began and their discoveries but I don’t feel it will happen in my lifetime. Sometimes I feel there has to be intelligent life out there when I hear about things happening in our own world and it is no wonder that they don’t want to make contact with us. LOL
So true. They probably laugh at us and are waiting for us to evolve enough that we won’t blow them up when they stop in to say hi. LOL Thanks for the wonderful comment Sandy!
I believe there are aliens. How could we be the only ones in all that space? I think they would be similar to us in appearance but much more advanced and powerful.
Maddie is something else isn’t she? I really cared about her and suffered along with her.
I wept with her and laughed with her. Thank God some aliens are not only good, they can be hunkalicious.
Thanks for the great review, Sherry. I’m hooked. I went and grabbed the first two free books. I have a feeling I won’t be able to put them down! I have found a great new author and a great new series! Thanks!
Great Taylor. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Good luck in the giveaway, you could end up with the entire series. ^_^
I totally believe in aliens…especially extremely HAWT one! 😉 You are the best Sherry and I’m honored by your amazing review! THANK YOU from the bottom of my very human heart! <3
LOL You are so funny Annie. You are very welcome. I am happy to share!
I believe that somewhere out there other life forms exist. DO I believe they’re going to show up here, on our world, in the next 50 years? Not really, no
anastaciaknits at gmail dot com
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Good luck.
No I don’t believe in aliens, though I have read books involving them. I haven’t found a cause to truly believe in them. (Kind of feels that humanity, and life on Earth in general, was an accident.)
I guess with evolution, we could have been anything—-or nothing? Good luck Ayush.
Yes, I do believe in aliens. I think there could easily be life beyond humans in this huge universe. 🙂
my email is amccalli(at)gmail(dot)(com)
I am kind of wishy wash about it, but are we too arrogant in believing we could be the only life form in the universe? Why wouldn’t there be something somewhere else? Thanks for commenting Amber and good luck.
I am a firm believer of Aliens. I think its kinda pretentious to think that in the whole universe we are the only living beings. I don’t know maybe its all the movies I watched as a kid or because of very convincing episodes of Ancient Aliens, it just seems obvious that aliens exist.
PS: Survival, a YA paranormal romance (Book 1 of The Guardians of Vesturon Series) is not free. In Amazon it shows its free but when you click on it, it shows $0.84 or Rs. 55. I don’t know if its temporary or there is some other problem, I thought I should notify you.
Have a great week
Cheers!
I think along the same lines as you,Arushi. I have read a lot of books and watched a lot of TV. Why would we be the only ones?
I will let Annie Hargrove know about Survival. I had checked earlier, but maybe there has been a change? Will let you know.
Hi Arushi. I talked with Annie and she checked all formats at amazon, smashwords…..and they show free. Maybe it was just a glitch. When you try again, please let me know how it works out for you. ^_^
While I do not believe in aliens in the sense that they are made out to be in the movies, I do sometimes ask myself that if God made us for this planet why wouldn’t he do the same elsewhere. I’m kind of conflicted on the topic but I can promise you this I’m definitely not conflicted when it comes to reading about them 🙂 I would love to win a copy of your books. Thank you for this opportunity!
I feel the same way about aliens and reading about them. Good luck and happy reading.
I believe since God made the vast universe and galaxies and us, who are we to say what is out there that we don’t know about. I have always enjoyed space movies and books because of the what if factor. Thanks for the opportunity for a chance to win your books.
Good luck Ellen and I always wonder what if too.
Hey Sherry! Fantastic post! I love Ms. Hargrove’s books! I think after what happened with my computer this afternoon, I definitely believe in aliens…besides there is no way we are it in all of, everywhere! Then again, maybe we’re the aliens and they are the non-aliens…too much thinking here…:)
Thanks Dianne. LOL. I kind of wondered the same thing before. Maybe we are just their toys being moved around the board game.
I loved this series to bits! REEMERGENT was the first book I read on my new Kindle and I have my fingers twisted in knots with the hope of another YA spinoff.
I believe she is doing a spinoff with the Praestani’s. It will be fun to see where she takes the stories.
There’s times where I believe that I have been born in a different planet. I can’t really understand what happened in minds of some people, so yes I believe in Aliens.
Seriously, I don’t believe in green people but the universe is huge and I want to believe there is something else out there.
Thank you for the giveaway!
Yeah, I don’t believe in little green people, but why wouldn’t there be something else out there besides us? Good luck Artemis.
To somebody else, on a far distant planet, we’re aliens … so why not? The universe is vast and a long way from being fully understood, and we haven’t even begun to explore it yet. As an avid reader and writer, my imagination runs wild, and is full of stranger things than mere aliens 🙂
I agree with you and am curious about where your imagination takes you. I friended you on goodreads and looked into your books. They both sound fantastic. I love thrillers and a magic world under the North Sea and energy companies really has me intrigued. Thanks for stopping in and good luck in the giveaway.
Yes, I believe. The universe is too big to be empty.
So true. Thanks for commenting and good luck in the giveaway.
Thanks for the great review. sounds like an interesting read.
You are very welcome Georgiann. I am really into this series.