The Art of Keeping Faith (The Uni Files #2) by Anna Bloom ~ Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway!

Hey guys! Welcome to my stop on the Art of Letting Go and Keeping Faith Blog Tour hosted by Xpresso Book Tours. Click here to follow along with the full tour schedule. Yesterday I reviewed Book One (click here to read my review of the first book), and today I have a review of Book Two for you! 

The Art of Keeping Faith

Uni Files #2

by Anna Bloom

Publication date: April 9th 2014

Genre: New Adult, Romance

Add: Goodreads 

Synopsis

Lilah and Ben. They are meant to be a thing. 

Well they were. The best thing ever. That was until Lilah decided to teach herself a lesson, and let go of Ben as she learnt The Art of Letting Go. 

Now it's a new academic year, and Lilah has it all to play for and it all too lose as she battles scary lecturers, evil PR girls and her own inability to make the right decision at the right time.

Life has moved on for Lilah and her friends, and life off campus is more complicated than any of them would have guessed. As the reality of being second year students sets in and the study starts to build up, cracks begin to appear in the very fabric of their friendships. There is a chance that none of them are going to complete Year Two in one piece. 

Facing down her worst enemy: herself. Lilah has to try and change her own past mistakes when she realises that the only way she is going to get the future she wants is if she manages to learn The Art of Keeping Faith in herself.

The Art of Keeping Faith is the second year in The Uni File Series and continues Lilah McCannon's diary as she searches for love, tries to find and earn trust, and ultimately discovers who she is really meant to be. 

Sometimes the only way to meet your future is to face your past.

I was so excited to begin The Art of Keeping Faith and spend more quality time with Lilah, Ben, and their friends. In her second year at the university now, Lilah is now living off campus, sharing an apartment with her twin, Tristan, and her best friend, Meredith. She's coping with Ben's absence as best she can while studying and working.

I don't know how Bloom does it - she can express an entire range of emotions in one moment that will have me laughing with happiness while wiping away tears of sadness. I felt every emotion of Lilah's so clearly it was like I was there with her. Lilah has been through so much, and I was proud of the growth of her character in the first book and even more so in this one. 

As much as I wanted Lilah and Ben to be together (and in the same place!), I understood Ben needed the freedom to pursue his dream with his band. Like the saying that begins with "if you truly love something, set it free," Lilah has given Ben her trust and understanding, setting him free. The awesome thing is, he wants to be with her. He loves her as much as she loves him. 

The ups and downs of their relationship felt so realistic to me. There were moments that Lilah had that I understood so perfectly. The Art of Keeping Faith ripped at my heart at times while filling it up at others. I must say, this series is a new favorite of mine. I truly feel changed for the better now that I know Lilah and Ben.  

     

My Rating:

Book One 

Click here to read my review 

of the first book! 

The Art of Letting Go

Uni Files #1

by Anna Bloom

Publication date: September 25th 2013

Genre: New Adult, Romance

Source: Review copy

Add: Goodreads | BookLikes

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis

For Lilah McCannon, life has taken a bit of a wrong turn. Engaged to a guy she is not in love with and stuck in a job with her tyrannical father as her boss, life has definitely not turned out the way she expected. 

At twenty-five years old, Lilah knows that she has a simple choice: live the life she has created or change it. 

Enrolling on a course at the local University, Lilah sets out with some clear rules to ensure her success at being a grown-up. No alcohol, no cigarettes, no boys, and no going home. But the last thing she anticipates is meeting Ben Chambers, the lead singer of a local band. With Ben, it's instant, it's hot, and it's deep, but when Ben is offered the opportunity of a lifetime and it looks like his future lies on a different path to hers, Lilah has some heart-rending decisions to make.

With the academic year slipping by too quickly, Lilah faces a barrage of new challenges. Will she ever make it up the library stairs without having a heart attack? Can she handle a day on campus without drinking vodka? Will she ever manage to read a history book without falling asleep? Most of all, will she be able to make the ultimate sacrifice and learn The Art of Letting Go?

 About the Author

Anna Bloom is a contemporary romance writer who writes about life as it happens. Combining a busy schedule of looking after two small children whilst working in a local school and completing The Uni Files series. 

Anna's main aim in life is to create the perfect book which makes a reader laugh and cry at the same time, hopefully causing a convulsive (impossible to ignore) donkey noise. It's a work in progress! Anna also spends a lot of time imagining kissing hot guys - all in the name of her art. 

Author Links

Website | Goodreads | Twitter  

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Blog Tour organized by:

The Art of Letting Go (The Uni Files #1) by Anna Bloom ~ Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway!

Hey guys! Welcome to my stop on the Art of Letting Go and Keeping Faith Blog Tour hosted by Xpresso Book Tours. Click here to follow along with the full tour schedule. Today I have a review of Book One for you, and tomorrow I'll have my review of Book Two for you! 

The Art of Letting Go

Uni Files #1

by Anna Bloom

Publication date: September 25th 2013

Genre: New Adult, Romance

Source: Review copy

Add: Goodreads | BookLikes

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis

For Lilah McCannon, life has taken a bit of a wrong turn. Engaged to a guy she is not in love with and stuck in a job with her tyrannical father as her boss, life has definitely not turned out the way she expected. 

At twenty-five years old, Lilah knows that she has a simple choice: live the life she has created or change it. 

Enrolling on a course at the local University, Lilah sets out with some clear rules to ensure her success at being a grown-up. No alcohol, no cigarettes, no boys, and no going home. But the last thing she anticipates is meeting Ben Chambers, the lead singer of a local band. With Ben, it's instant, it's hot, and it's deep, but when Ben is offered the opportunity of a lifetime and it looks like his future lies on a different path to hers, Lilah has some heart-rending decisions to make.

With the academic year slipping by too quickly, Lilah faces a barrage of new challenges. Will she ever make it up the library stairs without having a heart attack? Can she handle a day on campus without drinking vodka? Will she ever manage to read a history book without falling asleep? Most of all, will she be able to make the ultimate sacrifice and learn The Art of Letting Go? 

There's something about Lilah! She's hilarious, full of life, and also adorably clueless as hell. In The Art of Letting Go, Lilah finds herself heading towards thirty years old stuck in a job she hates, engaged to a man she doesn't want to marry, and living under her father's thumb. And then along comes Ben. 

Lilah has made drastic changes by the time she meets Ben - she's walked away from her job, is enrolled in college as a history major, and is living in a tiny dorm room. Meeting him changes everything, especially when he's revealed to be her roommate. She's swept off her feet, and I was, too! Ben is charming, authentic, musically talented, and a great cook. Tall dark and handsome is exactly how I like them.

They face several obstacles they must overcome in order to be together, and one of the biggest is when Ben's band is given the opportunity to go to the U.S. to record an album, Lilah finds out he won't be coming back to the university next year. The question she wrestles with is if she should continue seeing Ben and be happy in the moment while knowing their paths are heading in different directions or does she try to protect herself and end things now? 

I loved how the characters reacted in surprising and unexpected ways. This made the book all the more special to me. The title, The Art of Letting Go, could not be more perfect for the story being told. I felt Lilah's emotions so strongly that I laughed and cried along with her. I wanted nothing more than to have a drink with her and give her a hug on her bad days and celebrate with her on her good days. 

My only issue with the book, which is a completely minor one, is that many times contractions weren't used. It disrupted the flow of the dialogue for me at times but didn't disrupt the story itself. I just felt it's more realistic for a character to say "it's" rather than "it is" for example. 

The Art of Letting Go is the first book in a series that you'd be crazy to miss! I have a strong feeling you're going to love Lilah and Ben as much as I do, not to mention their friends.  

My Fave Quotes 

"There are three words to describe me: Frumpy, dumpy, and old. The Student Union should give me a special badge: 'Old Person. Approach with Caution.'" ~Lilah

"She laughs and makes herself at home squeezing into a tiny gap between boxes on the bed. There is no chance I could have maneuvered one butt cheek in a space that small." ~Lilah

My Rating:

Book Two

The Art of Keeping Faith

Uni Files #2

by Anna Bloom

Publication date: April 9th 2014

Genre: New Adult, Romance

Add: Goodreads 

Synopsis

Lilah and Ben. They are meant to be a thing. 

Well they were. The best thing ever. That was until Lilah decided to teach herself a lesson, and let go of Ben as she learnt The Art of Letting Go. 

Now it's a new academic year, and Lilah has it all to play for and it all too lose as she battles scary lecturers, evil PR girls and her own inability to make the right decision at the right time.

Life has moved on for Lilah and her friends, and life off campus is more complicated than any of them would have guessed. As the reality of being second year students sets in and the study starts to build up, cracks begin to appear in the very fabric of their friendships. There is a chance that none of them are going to complete Year Two in one piece. 

Facing down her worst enemy: herself. Lilah has to try and change her own past mistakes when she realises that the only way she is going to get the future she wants is if she manages to learn The Art of Keeping Faith in herself.

The Art of Keeping Faith is the second year in The Uni File Series and continues Lilah McCannon's diary as she searches for love, tries to find and earn trust, and ultimately discovers who she is really meant to be. 

Sometimes the only way to meet your future is to face your past.

About the Author

Anna Bloom is a contemporary romance writer who writes about life as it happens. Combining a busy schedule of looking after two small children whilst working in a local school and completing The Uni Files series. 

Anna's main aim in life is to create the perfect book which makes a reader laugh and cry at the same time, hopefully causing a convulsive (impossible to ignore) donkey noise. It's a work in progress! Anna also spends a lot of time imagining kissing hot guys - all in the name of her art. 

Author Links

Website | Goodreads | Twitter  

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Blog Tour organized by:

Release Day Promo & Cover Reveal ~ The Saving of Benjamin Chambers by Anna Bloom

We're excited to announce the release of The Saving of Benjamin Chambers, a Uni Files novella by Anna Bloom.  This tells the story of Ben and when he meets Lilah. You can read it before or after reading The Art of Letting Go.

The Uni-Files novels are NA/Adult British romantic comedies that will make you swoon, laugh and sigh.  The first book, The Art of Letting Go is now available.  The Saving of Benjamin Chambers releases December 4th.

The Art of Letting Go is FREE for December 4th only! 

Excerpt:

Delilah, Lilah or whatever she is called is, standing over on the far side of the room, her back against the wall wearing a figure-hugging red, floor-length dress. Her dark hair and eyes stand out in contrast. She looks like a Forties movie star, all curves and perfect poise, watching everyone with a critical eye. She hates this place and she hates the people that are here, that is clear to me straight away.

I want to jump off the stage to get to her. I can’t tear my eyes away, even though Dave has picked up my guitar and shoved it back into my hands, hissing, “play, you idiot.”

I am walking to the front of the stage still staring when I notice that I am being watched but not by her.

Some guy who looks like a pretentious arsehole is watching me watch her and then he starts to move across the floor to get to her before I can leave the stage. I am stuck like a rabbit in headlights, rooted to the spot as I watch him clearly move towards her like he is proving he has ownership.

When he gets to her he pulls her in close and winds his hands around her waist. I have to physically restrain myself from leaping off the stage and punching him. That’s what I want to do, a deep urge burning inside me. Jump from the stage, bop him on the nose, hopefully causing significant blood loss, and then throw her over my shoulder and march her off with her someplace. Someplace where I can kiss her and talk to her, in no particular order. Then I may well ask her to marry me because I am pretty sure that I want to.

I don’t though, I don’t move from my spot on the edge of the stage. I start to play my guitar instead but not the song the rest of the band are expecting. Luckily it has a long intro so they are able to catch up.

As I start to sing ‘Wonderwall’ I watch as the banker wanker twirls her onto the dance floor.

It’s not a song for twirling, what is he doing the bloody arse?

She has her hands on his shoulders and her back to me but I can clearly see an enormous diamond ring sitting on her left hand from my spot quite a distance away on stage.

Damn it to hell.

I nearly stop singing, but I hold it together and as I head into the second verse my choice of song becomes even more appropriate.

The banker wanker pulls her in even tighter and I get a nasty taste in the back of my mouth. I am just in the middle of the chorus when they take a turn and I catch a glimpse of her face.

That’s what does it. That very moment gives me something completely different to live for.

Her.

She is biting her lower lip and the beautiful eyes are staring far away in the distance, framed by a frown. She looks like she would rather be anywhere then where she is right now. She looks lost, but on top of that she looks lonely and I feel a bubble of something well up inside me, something like joy. Joy at the fact that this guy holding her, who’s obviously bought her the ring, has no idea what she is feeling. I don’t think he has looked at her face once, not to read it the way that I am. This is good. It means that if I can get to talk to her again then I can make sure my words are the right ones, the ones to make her notice me, the ones to make her want to at least talk to me. And, well, if that fails then I will just crinkle my freckles at her, pick her up and throw her over my shoulder and march off with her hoping for the best.

I know that I will do anything to save her from whatever is causing her sadness and by doing that I have a feeling she will save me.

 

About the Book:

Benjamin Chambers needs saving, he just does not know it yet. Bored of his life of repetitive gigs with a band going nowhere fast and one night stands with girls who are only interested in his role as a lead singer, something has got to change. It’s just what do you do when the only life you know involves messing around with guitars and attempting to run away from any female attention that comes your way.

Ben has a New Year’s resolution and one that he is determined to keep, quit the band and get a life of his own. Little does Ben realise that on his last night with his band Sound Box he is going to meet a girl who will turn everything he knows upside down.
As Ben sets himself the challenge to find ‘The Girl’ again, he may be about to learn that in an effort to rescue her, he himself will be the one to be saved.

Find the book: Goodreads 

Find The Art of Letting Go: Goodreads | Amazon US |  Amazon UK

About the Author:

Anna Bloom is a contemporary romance writer who writes about life as it happens.

Combining a busy schedule of looking after two small children whilst working in a local school and completing The Uni Files series she also spends a lot of time imagining kissing hot guys – all in the name of her art.

Find the author: 
Website/Blog | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Promo/Cover Reveal organized by: