Review: Destiny Awaits (Juniper Grove Chronicles #1) by Jaidis Shaw @JaidisShaw

Title: Destiny Awaits

Series: Juniper Grove Chronicles

Author: Jaidis Shaw

Published: July 19th, 2014

Publisher: Crushing Hearts & Black Butterfly Publishing

Word Count: approx. 50,000

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Recommended Age: 14+

She wants a normal life. They want her dead. Destiny has other plans.

Twenty-year-old Alayna Scott receives visions around water, but even her foresight couldn’t prepare her for the tragic accident that claimed the lives of her parents. With everything she loves gone, Alayna packs up and moves to the small town of Juniper Grove in hopes of starting over.

Jayden McKnight can’t explain the attraction that he feels whenever Alayna is near, but he does know that he will do whatever it takes to win her heart. When a vampire selects Alayna as his next victim, Jayden will stop at nothing to ensure her safety – even if that means bringing Alayna into a world that she never knew existed.

Love blossoms, challenges are made, and Alayna will find herself fighting not only to survive, but to understand what she has become.

Add Destiny Awaits on GoodReads or grab your copy on Amazon!

Awards for Destiny Awaits:

Readers’ Favorite Book Award Finalist

“Solo Medalist” for Young Adult Romance in the 2016 New Apple Summer E-Book Awards

“Official Selection” for Young Adult Romance in the 2016 New Apple Annual Book Awards for Excellence in Independent Publishing (Award icon coming soon!)

Prologue from Destiny Awaits:

Sunlight caught the crystal that hung from the rear view mirror, and rainbow bursts of color radiated throughout the car. My parents and I had gotten up early so that we could make the three-hour drive to my uncle’s house, but from the line of backed up traffic in front of us, it seemed that it would take us longer. I leaned back in my seat and let the music blaring in my earbuds help pass the time. My mother turned in her seat in the front, and I glanced at her. Seeing her mouth my name, I pulled one side of the earbuds out of my ear.

“What did you say?” I asked.

“I asked if you were hungry,” she replied. “Your father thinks that we should get off the interstate at the next exit and grab something to eat while the traffic clears up.”

“Sure, that’s fine with me. It’s a good idea, anyway, since Uncle John turned vegetarian. There’s no telling what he’s going to try to get us to eat.”

My father’s hearty laugh rumbled through the car. “Do you remember that rolled up spinach thing he tried to feed us last time?”

“How could I forget?” I said.

Mom sprung to her brother’s defense. “It wasn’t so bad.”

“Then how come you didn’t eat it? I saw you slip it to the dog when you thought nobody was watching.” My father glanced at my mother while she tried to come up with a retort.

“If you saw that, then it’s obvious that I wasn’t sneaky enough.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the window.

My dad laughed as he flipped on the turn signal and merged into the right lane, coming to a stop behind a logging truck. I looked at the long logs protruding from the flatbed. “It always makes me nervous when they hang off like that,” I said. A shiver raced over my body.

“It’s okay. They make sure to load them on so that they won’t come off,” my dad reassured me.

I opened my mouth to reply but stopped when I heard a screech of tires behind us. Turning my head, I locked eyes with the man in the driver’s seat of the truck that was hurtling toward us. The truck slammed into the back of our car, and my mother’s scream echoed in the tight space around me. A shower of white stars filled my vision as pain ripped through my shoulder and cut off my own scream. As the darkness closed in around me, I heard the faint shrill of sirens in the distance.

My Review:

Alayna Scott and her parents are going on a little trip when they are involved in an accident one of which Alayna survives but her parents do not. While grieving for her parents Alayna can’t stay in their home any longer so decides to find a new place to live. She just wants to get as far away as possible ASAP. She finds a new home in the small town of Juniper Grove.

This is where she meets this hottie/shifter Jayden McKnight and finds herself instantly attractive to him. Jayden has been the caretaker for the house just bought for a while with the attraction between the two he decides to stay on and Alayna agrees.

With being new in town Alayna doesn’t have any knowledge of the curfew that has been placed on Juniper Grove and goes for a walk on evening and just as she returns to her home she runs into a vampire who has decided that Alayna will be his next victim as he is in need of some fresh meat. But unbeknownst to him Alayna has other ideas so when he attacks she fights back and hard. She is saved by the hottie Jayden who then takes Alayna under his wing and tries to explain to her what she is to endure in the future.

This vampire Gavin wants Alayna dead and will let nothing or no one stop him. Gavin is a very powerful vampire in his world and is very controlling and he will not let anyone get the best of him or let someone slip through his figures. He will have his revenge one way or another. Will Gavin get his hands on Alayna? What will he do with her if he catches her? What is Alayna going to do? What will happen to Alayna, a vampire living in a shifter world? Can Alayna and Jayden ever be a couple?

Well to find the answers come join Alayna and Jayden and ask them after all that is their story to tell. I have really loved following Alayna and Jayden on their little journeys living in Juniper Grove. I love the vampire/shifter world that author Jaidis Shaw has created for the Juniper Grove Chronicles. I have waited a long time to read Destiny Awaits with anticipation and am so glad I finally found the time. Destiny Awaits grabbed me right from the very beginning and is still hanging on and doesn’t want to let go even now. I can’t wait to read more about Alayna, Jayden and all the other characters in Juniper Grove. Hint, hint need next book now please. 

 Interview with Jaidis Shaw

What inspired you to write Destiny Awaits?

I turned to writing as a way to escape the harsh reality of high school. That was when the inspiration began for Destiny Awaits. I wanted to create a place of my own where I felt I could be myself and wouldn’t be judged. I ran into several hurdles while writing the book, like being diagnosed with epilepsy, and so I had to put the book on hold. When I got back into writing, the story just didn’t fit me anymore so I deleted what I had and started over after having a dream showing the book going a different way.

Can you tell us a little bit about the next books in the Juniper Grove Chronicles or what you have planned for the future?

I have book two already started. Each book in the series is standalone in that the main characters in Destiny Awaits will only be secondary characters in book two. Just as a secondary character, Violet, will be the main focus of book two.

I also have a book started titled The Stager. It is not YA as Destiny Awaits is and is a paranormal thriller. I’m really excited to get it finished and available to readers!

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Destiny Awaits?

Alayna was involved in a tragic car accident that claimed the lives of her parents. She no longer feels as though she can remain in the family home and so she sets off to try and move forward with her life. She purchases a house in Juniper Grove and little does she know that her life will be forever changed.

Jayden is Alayna’s new neighbor and has also been taking care of the landscaping to the house she just bought. He has suffered tragedy in his own life and is trying to build something new on his own. He is smitten with Alayna and will end up having to save her after she is attacked by a vampire.

Jayden and Alayna fall for each other hard and fast. They will face many struggles in order to be together. The vampire attack has changed Alayna and they are uncertain what the future holds for her. On Jayden’s side, he is next in line to take over his family’s pack, which he has no desire to do, and another female has placed her bid to become Jayden’s mate.

You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?

I honestly don’t think I can answer this. I have several favorite authors who are all great in their genres. I love the world that Jean M. Auel has created in the Earth’s Children series. I read her books growing up and the series will always be a favorite of mine.

Tonia Brown is great at horror. If you’re looking for something new and dark, she’s the one to go to.

Cameo Renae is another great. Her Hidden Wings series is amazing.

There are just too many to name!

If you could time-travel would you travel to the future or the past? Where would you like to go and why would you like to visit this particular time period?

I’ve always told myself that I wouldn’t want to visit the past. There are things that I’d be curious to see happen so I’d know exactly how they happened but if I were meant to be there I would have been.

The same goes about the future really. I’d rather just live in the now and experience life to the fullest and wish the best to those who will be in the future.

Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?

I currently have three dogs. One is a Shepard mix named Jasper, JuJu for short, that was left on the side of the road so we took him in. We have a Beagle that we took in from a neighbor that was moving. His name is Buddy. And last but not least is our newest addition who we also took in. She’s the smallest as she is a Beagle Chihuahua mix. Her name is Beatrice but we call her BeBe.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit with us today. 

Jaidis Shaw currently resides in South Carolina with her husband and two beautiful daughters (with another baby on the way). With a passion for reading, Jaidis can always be found surrounded by books and dreaming of new stories. She enjoys challenging herself by writing in different genres and currently has several projects in the works.

Jaidis also owns and operates Juniper Grove Book Solutions, voted #1 Best Promotional Firm, Site, or Resource in the 2015 Preditors & Editors Readers’ Poll.

One of her main goals in life is to encourage her children to let their imaginations run wild.

Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter

GoodReads | Blog | Newsletter | Instagram