Elite (Eagle Elite #1)
Elect (Eagle Elite #2)
Elite (Eagle Elite #1)
For Tracey Rooks, life with her grandparents on a Wyoming
farm has always been simple. But after her grandmother's death, Tracey is all
her grandfather has. So when Eagle Elite University announces its annual
scholarship lottery, Tracey jumps at the opportunity to secure their future and
enters. She isn't expecting much-but then she wins. And life as she knows it
will never be same . . .
The students at Eagle Elite are unlike any she's ever met . . . and they refuse to make things easy for her. There's Nixon, gorgeous, irresistible, and leader of a group that everyone fears: The Elect. Their rules are simple. 1. Do not touch The Elect. 2. Do not look at The Elect. 3. Do not speak to The Elect. No matter how hard she tries to stay away, The Elect are always around her and it isn't long until she finds out the reason why they keep their friends close and their enemies even closer. She just didn't realize she was the enemy -- until it was too late.
The students at Eagle Elite are unlike any she's ever met . . . and they refuse to make things easy for her. There's Nixon, gorgeous, irresistible, and leader of a group that everyone fears: The Elect. Their rules are simple. 1. Do not touch The Elect. 2. Do not look at The Elect. 3. Do not speak to The Elect. No matter how hard she tries to stay away, The Elect are always around her and it isn't long until she finds out the reason why they keep their friends close and their enemies even closer. She just didn't realize she was the enemy -- until it was too late.
Elect (Eagle Elite #2)
Would you die for the one you love?
Nixon Abandonato made his choice. And now he has to pay the price. Tracey is the love of his life, but being with him has made her a target of his family's enemies. The only way to keep Trace alive is convince the world she means nothing to him.
Trace Rooks has fallen irrevocably in love with the son of her family's sworn rival, and she knows in her bones nothing can tear them apart. Until Nix suddenly pushes her away and into the arms of his best friend... But Trace isn't ready to give up on a future with Nix--and if he won't fight for them, she will.
In the end, a sacrifice must be made. A life for a life. For what better way to cover a multitude of sins than with the blood of a sinner . . .
Nixon Abandonato made his choice. And now he has to pay the price. Tracey is the love of his life, but being with him has made her a target of his family's enemies. The only way to keep Trace alive is convince the world she means nothing to him.
Trace Rooks has fallen irrevocably in love with the son of her family's sworn rival, and she knows in her bones nothing can tear them apart. Until Nix suddenly pushes her away and into the arms of his best friend... But Trace isn't ready to give up on a future with Nix--and if he won't fight for them, she will.
In the end, a sacrifice must be made. A life for a life. For what better way to cover a multitude of sins than with the blood of a sinner . . .
**The first half of this review is a spoiler-free
review of for Elite (Eagle Elect #1).
The second half is a spoiler free review of Elect
(Eagle Elect #2), but it contains spoilers for Elite**
Rachel Van Dyken is my newest favorite author. I
was already a fan from Ruin, but now
I’m completely in love with her. I had to wait until I got ahold of Elite before I could read Elect because I heard there was a
cliffhanger at the end of Book One. It actually wasn’t that bad of a
cliffhanger, which means something from someone who can’t handle cliffhangers
at all. I was just salivating for Book Two after finishing Elite, that’s all. This series is addicting. I had no idea what I
was getting into with this book. I didn’t expect to fall madly in love with
this world and to be completely addicted. I’ve reread both of them three times
now, and I just read them for the first time two days ago. It. Never. Gets.
Old. The story was unexpected. It distinctly reminded me of Tijan’s Fallen Crest series (which I’m also
obsessed with), but it was amazing all on its own level. The plot is fresh and
complicated, the characters are deep and complex, and the emotions are real and
intense.
“You have no idea what I know, and believe
me when I say, your life is worth a hell of a lot more than mine. And yes,
after tonight, you better believe I know you better than anyone, even better
than you know yourself, and I hope to God it stays that way, Trace.”
Elite is
told from Trace’s POV. She’s a farm girl from Wyoming who was raised by her
grandparents after her parents were killed. Now she only has her grandfather.
But, soon she has to fend for herself when she lands herself a place at the
exclusive Eagle Elect college. Everything about the school put me on edge. It
was eerie, everyone and everything was so secretive. She meets Nixon and Chase
as soon as she gets there. She learns that their little posse called the Elect
run the school as a very tight ship. It confused the hell out of me in the
beginning. But, we quickly learn that the school is run like that for a reason.
There were so many plot twists and OMG moments. My head was spinning, and I
loved every second of it. Vague right? Everything I could say would be a major
spoiler. Just know that I recommended it to my bestie right after I finished
and she said it was one of the best books I have ever recommended to her. No
biggie…
“I need you like I need my heart to pump
blood through my body, like I need air to breathe, like we need gravity. Hell,
Trace, you are my gravity. Being with you makes me feel centered and whole, and
I’m too screwed up to convince you to want any different. I’m too selfish to
push you into someone else’s arms when I know mine may be the worst ones for
you to be in.”
Trace is one of my favorite heroines. She is
strong, stubborn, and feisty. Nixon and the rest of the Elect kept her in the
dark as much as they could, yet she took everything in stride. It was easy to
relate to her as a college student, as a girl trying to find her place in the
world, and a normal girl falling in love for the first time. She has this air
about her that makes you immediately love her and want to protect her. Nixon
confuses her at first with his hot and cold, but the whole Eagle Elect ordeal
confuses everyone anyway. Nixon is my latest book boyfriend. I am die-hard in
love with him. At the beginning of the book, he’s the biggest a**hole to Trace.
He was cruel and he bullied her. But, he does almost a complete 360 by the end
of the book once he realizes who she is and what she means to him. He’s a
control freak, possessive, very respected, mature, sexy, and a badass. Did I
mention he has a lipring? Yum. Nixon and Trace were off the charts with their
chemistry. I loved the journey we went on them as they discovered things about
their pasts, themselves, and each other. It was definitely new adult romance
with suspense. Deliciously intense in more ways than one.
**This is where it turns into a spoiler-free
review of Elect (Eagle Elect #2).
Contains spoilers for Elite (Eagle Elect
#1). Read at your own risk**
“It’s not about me, man. It’s about her. I’m
not going to put her between us. Hell, I’m not even going to let it get between
you and me. It’s her, it’s always
been her, it’s about her… It’s never been about my wants or my needs.
I can’t live if she’s unhappy. I can’t breathe if she’s upset. If being with
you brings her that peace, then I want you to have her… it’s about her.”
I thought it couldn’t get any better than Elite, but I was quickly proved wrong as
soon as I opened my ARC of Elect. Elect is told mostly from Nixon and
Chase’s POVs *commence screaming*. Getting to see inside their heads was
amazing. I didn’t know what to expect in this book after the bomb was dropped
at the end of Elite. I didn’t expect
this to be one of the most epic love triangles I have ever read. I love love
triangles, and the best ones are the ones where you can’t choose who you want
to end up together. This was one of those. They get so intense, angsty, dramatic,
and emotional. They tear me apart and make me want to die on the inside, but
it’s the best kind of torture. I think we all knew from Elite that Chase and Trace got very close. With the new threat,
Chase, Trace, and Nixon are placed in a heart-breaking situation. The Sicilians
are coming and they bring lots of pressure and the possibility of death. So all
of a sudden the biggest priority is to not get killed, to not get Trace killed.
Again, I can’t say much about the plot without spoiling anything, but hang on
for the ride of your lives. The plot gets more complicated, more suspenseful,
more angsty, and just MORE. I can’t get enough of this story.
“Choose me. Because my heart? My soul? My
damn existence? Has already spoken, and it wants you, and only you – forever.”
Nixon broke my heart and melted my heart more
times than I could count in this book. If I thought I was in love with him from
Elite. I was totally wrong compared
to how we get to see him in Elect. He’s
even more intense, if possible. Everything has always basically been life or
death with Nixon, and with the deadly promises of the Sicilians, Nixon has to
step up his game even more. My heart hurt for him when we learn more about his
past, when we find out why he has to be in control, why he had to grow up so
quickly, why he loves Trace so much, and mostly when he had to see Trace and
Chase pretend to be together so that the Sicilians didn’t kill them. And then
his actions and words fixed my heart. Slowly. Very slowly. It was a mangled
mess by the end of the book. Especially when you throw Chase into the equation.
He stole pieces of my heart. I loved them both equally after seeing inside his
head too. He has always been there for Trace, forced or not. He can’t betray
his best friend and cousin, not to mention that Trace is madly in love with
Nixon. Chase made my heart break more than he made me swoon. I didn’t know who
I wanted her to end up with anymore! It was insanity. They both love her so
much. I kinda missed Trace’s POV, but not getting to see what she was thinking
added to the suspense. Again, best kind of torture.
“If it’s any consolation, she clearly loves
you”
“How would you know?”
“The way she looks at you, It’s different
than how she looks at Chase”
“And how does she look at Chase?”
“Like he’s her savior.”
“And me?”
“Like you’re her oxygen.”
This is probably one of the hardest reviews I’ve
ever had to write. First off, the books were so amazing it’s hard to try to do
them justice. Second, I couldn’t talk about plot without spoiling anything! And
third, because there were so many good quotes to choose from to use in the
review. These two boys are just too imperfectly perfect for their own good. I’m
still in awe from these books, so many emotions. My poor heart. I want more. Of
everyone. Like yesterday. I squealed and died with the ending. I loved it. I
need more but at the same time I was satisfied with how it ended. I’m off to
beg Rachel for Book 3 now…
“I truly believed that the greatest
sacrifice someone could make in life was putting someone else’s needs before
your own wants and desires. Loving someone with such a passion that you’d
suffer the rest of your life just so you could see them smile. You’d go to hell
and back – if only it meant keeping them safe. She was my Juliet – and damn if
I didn’t want the story to end differently. I wanted her to have a life, even
if it was apart from me.”
Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal,
and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When
she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting
her next book while watching The Bachelor.
She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers!
She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers!
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