#Review / #Blog Tour - You Won’t See Me Coming - Kristen Orlando #YALit #Thriller

You Won’t See Me Coming
Kristen Orlando
(The Black Angel Chronicles #3)
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: January 8th 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Thriller, Young Adult

After finally taking down Torres, her mother’s merciless killer, Reagan and Luke have two targets on their backs and are forced into hiding. With new names, looks, and cover stories, they’re living quiet, “safe” lives, but revenge comes at a steep price. Reagan’s actions continue to haunt the pair and put the people they love in danger.

When Reagan discovers her best friend Harper is on the verge of being kidnapped, she and Luke defy Black Angel orders and risk blowing their cover to save their friend. After the rescue attempt goes wrong, the three friends must go on the run with an army of assassins hot on their trail and the list of trust-worthy Black Angels getting smaller and smaller. Will they make it out alive? And at what cost?

Fast-paced and suspenseful, this is the explosive finale of Kristen Orlando’s Black Angel Chronicles series.

 

You Won't See Me Coming is the third and final installment in author Kristen Orlando's The Black Angel Chronicles. This story picks up shortly after the events of You Won't Know I'm Gone. I urge readers to please read these books as they were released. I do so because every thing is absolutely connected. What happened in You Don't Know My Name carries over into the second book, and of course, the fall out from what happened in the second book, weighs heavily on protagonist Reagan Hollis's shoulders and the events of this book. 

This is be a huge attempt at not spoiling anything. Reagan is in a sort of witness protection program in Manchester, Vermont as the story opens. She has a new name, and a new look to hide who she really is. She was supposed to be a Black Angel rescuing hostages, taking down terrorists, among other things that the Black Angels were created to do. However, Reagan has a bit of a rogue attitude ever since the events of the first book, which, again, I am not going to spoil.

Because of her actions in the second book, Reagan and Luke are now hiding from those who want her and Luke dead. This weighs heavily on their relationship. That is until Reagan's best friend Harper, ends up in trouble. Acting on pure instincts to protect her friend at any cost while ignoring the orders of her supposed superiors, Reagan and Luke begin operation rescue Harper. With minor help from others (Cameron), Reagan must deal with a humiliated and extremely dangerous foe.

I will say that there's plenty of action to keep even the most fussy reader happy. Right out of the gate, Reagan and Luke and Harper race through the streets of NYC, and across country to keep away from the assassins looking to capture Reagan and Luke. Even when she is beaten, and taken down, she doesn't give up hope of finding a way out of her predicament. Reagan has been trained all of her life as a future operative of the Black Angels. Her training and her courage more than anything else, makes her a heroine worth paying attention to. No, she is not perfect. She has made some huge mistakes over the course of this series. But, when it comes to friendship, and loyalty, she's not going to let any one get in the way.

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Author Bio:

Writing is one of the great loves of Kristen Orlando’s life and she has been lucky enough to make it her living, first as a television producer, then as a marketer and now as a novelist. Kristen graduated with a B.A. in English literature from Kenyon College. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with the other great love of her life, Michael. You Don’t Know My Name is her debut novel.

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#Blog Tour/Review - You Won't Know I'm Gone by Kristen Orlando #YALit #Thriller

 

You Won’t Know I’m Gone
Kristen Orlando
(The Black Angel Chronicles #2)
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: January 16th 2018
Genres: Contemporary, Thriller, Young Adult

Reagan has to prove herself to an elite group of special agents—and avenge her mother’s death—in the second book in the Black Angel Chronicles from the author of You Don’t Know My Name.

Going rogue in an effort to rescue her kidnapped parents has cost Reagan Hillis her automatic ticket to the Training Academy. But becoming a Black Angel is the only way Reagan will be able to exact revenge on her mother’s merciless killer, Santino Torres.

When Reagan is given a chance to prove that she’s worthy of training to be a Black Angel, she also gets the first chance she’s ever had to be her true self. No aliases. No disguises.

But when her friend Luke joins her at the Black Angels training compound, Reagan finds herself once again torn between the person she was and the person she wants to be. Reagan has to prove that she’s as good as her parents trained her to be, because she’ll never find Torres without the Black Angels’ help.

You Won't Know My Name is the second installment in author Kristen Orlando's The Black Angel Chronicles. 6 months ago, Reagan Hillis made a choice that has ultimately cost her everything that she may have earned as well as her automatic entry into the elite Black Angel Training Academy. 6 months ago, Reagan was ready to turn her back on the Black Angels and escape back a normal life. Reagan has managed to become the girl who broke every rule. She is considered defiant, rebellious, and as well as a rule breaker. 

As the story opens, Reagan is broken. She is out of shape. She continues to wonder if her own actions caused a shocking death, and she wants revenge against a certain Torres Santino for what he did that led Reagan to Columbia. But, before Reagan can put her past exploits behind, and move forward with hopes of regaining her reputation, she has to face inquiries into her actions, face the reality that others now see her in a different light, and finally prove that she has earned her a right to fight for a coveted spot in the Black Angel's next training class.

Passing the Qualifiers is Reagan’s only chance to track down and kill Torres in order to gain her avenge for Columbia. It won't be easy. Especially when Logan suddenly shows up and joins Reagan in the Black Angel's Qualifier where only the best advance to the next step. Because Logan went along with Reagan to Columbia, his own life and his families are at risk from Torres. Because of Reagan's family history, Reagan is expected to be better than anyone else. She is challenged left and right. She faces severe and hard times trying to survive until the final cuts are made and the choices as to who goes forward are chosen. 

If Reagan can get past the fact that she is still suffering from a major loss, while also putting back together a relationship with her own father, she just might have a chance to become a Black Angel. I must say that I am glad that the author gave Reagan some friendly faces in Cam Conley, and Anuka Venkataraman. Each has their own strengths. Each brings a whole lot to help Reagan move forward in rediscovering who she really is and what she really wants. They also make a fine team along with Logan. Reagan's relationship with Logan is not what it was in the first book, and that's because Reagan no longer knows who she is.  

I do admit that Reagan's attitude chaffed me at times, but I will not sit here and say I wouldn't have had the same reactions to the circumstances she finds herself under. Especially with the heart breaking loss that shattered her. Reagan has chosen to walk a certain path, and the ending of this book has actually stunned me into silence. I can't bring myself to say anything but WHY ARE YOU NOT READING THIS SERIES!?!?!

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Author Bio:
Writing is one of the great loves of Kristen Orlando’s life and she has been lucky enough to make it her living, first as a television producer, then as a marketer and now as a novelist. Kristen graduated with a B.A. in English literature from Kenyon College. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with the other great love of her life, Michael. You Don’t Know My Name is her debut novel.

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#Wednesday Review - You Don't Know My Name by @KristenOrlando1 #YALIT #Thriller @SwoonReads

Series: The Black Angel Chronicles # 1
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Release Date: January 10th 2017
Publisher: Swoon Reads

Source: Publisher 
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Thriller

Fighter, Faker, Student, Spy.

Seventeen-year-old Reagan Elizabeth Hillis is used to changing identities overnight, lying to every friend she’s ever had, and pushing away anyone who gets too close. Trained in mortal combat and weaponry her entire life, Reagan is expected to follow in her parents’ footsteps and join the ranks of the most powerful top-secret agency in the world, the Black Angels. Falling in love with the boy next door was never part of the plan.

Now Reagan has to decide: Will she use her incredible talents and lead the dangerous life she was born into, or throw it all away to follow her heart and embrace the normal life she's always wanted? And does she even have a choice at all?Find out if you are ready to join the Black Angels in the captivating and emotional page-turner, You Don't Know My Name, from debut novelist Kristen Orlando!

You Don't Know My Name is the first installment in debut author Kristen Orlando's The Black Angel Chronicles. 17-year old Reagan Hillis is the protagonist of the story. She comes from a family of Black Angel Watchers. The Black Angels are a secretive organization that rescues hostages, stops terror plots, and takes down the bad guys. Reagan is a sort of prodigy and all around badass. She's gone through weapons training since an early age, she's been trained in a variety of martial arts, and she knows how to hack into computers. 

The down side is that she's moved more times than she likes, has been forced to change her name due to the secretive nature of her family's mission, and the fact that they under constantly under the threat of being discovered. Reagan and her family are forced to relocate yet again after an assassin gets too close to them. After packing up only what they need in their go-bags, Reagan and her family end up in New Albany, Ohio. After a year of living in Ohio, Reagan seems to be settling in. She now has some new friends, and has managed to snare the attention of her next door neighbor Luke Weixel, who is a West Point hopeful. 

But, after seeing a mysterious van, and her parents mission goes sideways, Reagan knows that her year of peace & quiet has come to an end. Reagan is forced to make her own choices, make her own path, and ignore those like her Aunt who may believe that they have her best interest at heart. She puts herself into a dangerous situation, and the outcome will have everlasting repercussions on what happens to Reagan over the course of this series. I have to admit falling in love with Reagan, as well as her parents who aren't necessarily perfect, but do the best they can. 

She has to make some serious choices over the course of this story that I don't believe a majority of those her age could have survived without panicking or running for the hills. She knows that her future is fluid. She knows that she will have to make a choice of whether to go to college as she plans, or follow in her parent's footsteps and become a Black Angel as she is expected to by the organization.

When things go horribly wrong, and the organization rushes to protect her, it is Reagan who steps up her A-game and delivers a knock-out performance of a lifetime. Reagan is a character who has all the facets of a major badass just waiting to jump out of the page and take on real life villains. I am encouraged by the start of this series. I loved the action scenes, the relationships between the characters, and the intensity of the final chapters of this book. Bring me the next book please? 

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