Blog Tour: Mia's Heart (Paradise Diaries #2) by Courtney Cole

 

I am pleased to share with you today, my review of Mia’s Heart by Courtney Cole which is the second book in her Paradise Diaries series plus a fabulous giveaway.

Tour host: Kismet Book Tours

Check out Dante's Girl - the first book in the Paradise Diaries Series - Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Author: Courtney Cole

Series: Paradise Diaries

Publisher: Lakehouse Press

Genre: Young Adult

Amazon: Mia’s Heart

About Mia’s Heart

goodreads | amazon | B&N

My name is Mia Giannis.
I am seventeen years old.
I live in Valese, Caberra.
This has become my mantra and my lifeline, having recently lost my memory due to a scary natural disaster.
Yeah.  I have amnesia.  Messed up, right?
You don't know the half of it.
Not remembering anything has turned my world upside down. My parents try their hardest to “remind” me of who I was, but it doesn't feel right. Or, if what they're saying is true and that really was me, I'm not sure I like that person very much.
And then there’s my love life.  Apparently, Gavin Ariastasis is my oldest and best friend in the world. Also, apparently, we’ve never dated.  But now, noticing him for what feels like the first time, he’s making my heart do somersaults.  He knows me inside and out—the real me.  Plus, he’s sexy and charming as hell.  Sounds perfect, right?
But then... there’s the new guy. Quinn McKeyen – tall, gorgeous and deliciously American.  His mischievous grin and slow Midwestern drawl turn my insides to mush in two seconds flat making me question who I really am and what I really want.
Seriously. What am I supposed to do with all that?!  I feel torn between them, but I barely even know who I am, let alone what I want.
I just hope my indecisive heart will clue me in.  And sooner rather than later…before I lose what little of my mind that I have left.

About Courtney Cole

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Courtney Cole is a novelist who would eat mythology for breakfast if she could.
 
She has a degree in Business, but has since discovered that corporate America is not nearly as fun to live in as fictional worlds.
 
Every Last Kiss is her debut novel and she followed it with the rest of The Bloodstone Saga (Every Last Kiss, Fated, With My Last Breath and My Tattered Bonds).
 
Courtney lives in quiet suburbia, close to Lake Michigan, with her real-life Prince Charming, her ornery kids (there is a small chance that they get their orneriness from their mother) and a small domestic zoo.
 
Learn more about Courtney and her books at www.courtneycolewrites.com

Review: 4 out of 5 stars

Mia’s Heart is the second book in the Paradise Diaries series by Courtney Cole and follows the story of Seventeen year-old Mia Giannis, the daughter of the Ministry of Defense.

When we first start reading about Mia, she is rebelling against her parents who think she should act and look a certain way and feeling alone since her best friend Reece has returned to her home in the USA with her boyfriend Dante (from book one, Dante’s Girl). I loved Mia’s spit fire, feisty attitude; she was the known party girl but there was also loneliness about her that you can’t help but sympathize with.

When a freak natural disaster hits the Island of Caberra, Mia is left with Amnesia – remembering nothing at all, including her close friend Gavin Ariastasis who has known her since she was in nappies as well as Quinn McKeyen who is on the island as part of the student exchange program; her feelings to say the least are a tad mixed up, not only in her family life but also in her feelings towards both Quinn and Gavin.

I am not a love triangle fan at all – I despise them and when it is written in a way where the guys are both utterly charming it makes me squirm even more; I like to have a clear choice upfront but in this case I really liked them both and couldn’t decide who I wanted Mia to be with. Ms. Cole wrote the relationships in a way that made it feel natural, with Mia having amnesia she had no idea how things were with Gavin, there had never been anything of the romantic nature prior so you couldn’t help but wonder if he was taking advantage of the situation, they shared more of a brother/sister bond and I thought Quinn being the newcomer and more sympathetic towards Mia & her situation felt more genuine because they were more or less starting from scratch anyway. Seeing it play out made things interesting & I was relieved in the end with who she chose.

Each of the secondary characters are written well and I loved reading more about Reece and Dante and how they are now doing in their own relationship, it’s a nice follow-up.

I really enjoy a light-hearted, fun and romantic read and although some parts of Mia’s Heart were predictable and the romance clichéd it was enjoyable none the less. Ms.Coles writing was entertaining and kept me engrossed throughout and I really love the wonderful setting of fictional Caberra, a small island off Greece.

I can’t wait to read Gavin’s story which is up next, this charming, smexy guy is full of fun and wit so I look forward to seeing who and what Courtney Cole has in store for him; I have my fingers crossed he doesn’t end up with Elena.

Giveaway

During the tour Courtney offers one signed copy of Mia's Heart to one lucky winner! US/Can only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway