Tag Archives: Electric

Review: Combust (Electric #4) by E.L. Todd

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Title: Combust
Author:  E.L. Todd
Publisher/Year:  CreateSpace Publishing 10/11/16
Length:  280 Pages
Series:  Electric #4

Overview

Now that Volt and I are together, my life is complete. When I first met him, he wasn’t what I was looking for.

Harsh. Argumentative. And unavailable.

But now, he’s everything I ever could have dreamed of. 

My parents have met him, and of course they love him. But now my best friend since childhood needs to meet the man I’m going to marry.

I just hope she loves him as much as I do.

My Thoughts

This has been an interesting ride watching everyone self destruct but i’m glad that we’ve finally made it to the end of the journey. There are so many ways that this story could have gone, and every day we saw another angle of each and while i enjoyed it, i still have whiplash.

We are still trying to sort out how Volt and Taylor can make things work. They clearly have so much against them, allowing themselves to be their worst enemies, letting other things come in the way of what they want, but they some how manage to make it work, until they don’t. We’re spending a lot of time in this story watching them finally find their happy place. They have a routine and a rhythm that works and a path that looks at the future in a way that they could only hope. Work is better for Taylor and Volt is content in what he’s chosen as his path.

We see Taylor get closer with Volt’s parents, we see Volt really grow this impressive strong relationship with Clay – the teen that he’s tutoring, but we know that the other shoe is going to drop and when it does, it’ll be bad.

Right around Christmas, Clay comes to stay at Volt’s house since his place isn’t safe and that triggers so many things. it shows us that Clay isn’t. safe where he is and that we know that while a promise was made to keep Clay out of the orphanage, it’s likely not going to happen now. The bond that was developed throughout the last 2 books will be lost since we know that Clay will never forgive Volt.

While that’s happening, Taylor finally manages to arrange for Volt and Sara to meet and when they realize who the other is, well, that sends us into the most dramatic tailspin yet. Volt had just bought a ring for. Taylor and then gets the shock of his life when Sara tells Taylor that she has to choose between love and friendship and makes it impossible to choose Volt. She lies to Taylor to make sure she gets her way and that destroys everything good between Volt and Taylor.

Every time i think that there’s going to be a happy ending, i quickly realize that maybe not all stories are supposed to end up like that. Clay is miserable in an orphanage, with no hope of freedom or college. Volt and Taylor are torn apart again with Sara getting her way and lies are all that seem to matter now. The only good thing that’s happening these days is the relationship between Natalie and Jared. They seem pretty content with no drama (at least for now). So, that leave Derek, the friend who wants a girl but can’t seem to find the right one. I hope he gets his own spin off since he’s such a great guy. On that note – off to the next book to read. Enjoy!

Review: Burn (Electric #3) by E. L. Todd

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Title: Burn
Author:  E.L. Todd
Publisher/Year:  CreateSpace Publishing 10/11/16
Length:  280 Pages
Series:  Electric #3

Overview

Volt is my best friend.

And nothing but my best friend.

Natalie and Sara keep telling me there’s something more going on beneath the surface, but that’s not true.

Volt is a manwhore.

A player.

And a heartbreaker.

We’re better off as friends.

At least that’s what I keep telling myself…

My Thoughts

We are on yet another roller coaster that i wish that i could get off. While i’m all for a dynamic ‘should we or shouldn’t we situation, this one is getting to be a bit much with the amount of whip lash. The challenge with Volt and Taylor is that they don’t admit to themselves what they want until it’s too late and they both don’t acknowledge their faults.

Volt is too quick to judge and cut people off, which is what he did to Sara and what he does here to Taylor. Taylor on the other hand doesn’t let things just lay where they should. She allows moments of reprieve from time to time and in moments after that, she allows the smallest things to ruin what could be great.

The bulk of this story though is still watching them deny what they are to each other. Taylor is in a relationship with someone else, and seems to be happy until she always chooses to be with Volt and manage him instead of her boyfriend. I can only imagine how that feels to Sage, the bf, and i’m not surprised when he makes his point and feelings clear.

Volt realizes FINALLY That he wants to be what Taylor needs but his problem is that he’s already established that he’s not that kind of guy, and we also know that he’s hiding quite a few things from her which will of course blow up in their faces. The biggest perhaps is that his father is her boss….no way that’s going to end well since his father doesn’t rate Taylor.

So we watch this relationship implode before it even starts and then we watch far too many false starts. I think they are both masochists to an extent to keep allowing this to happen to each other, but it’s also like a car wreck where i have no choice but to continue to read.

On the other hand, at least we have some happy thoughts happening with Natalie and Jared. They didn’t see what was in front of them until someone else came in the way, and they finally figure out how to make it work. We don’t get to dive too deeply into it, but i think that’s the moment of happiness and bliss that this series deserves.

Where we are left off in this one is yet another fight, another bunch of lies and well, it’s no shocker that Taylor and Volt can’t find a way to be together. Honestly, i think it’s for the best at this point, and i can’t wait to see how the Volt (Muriel)/Sara thing explodes since that HAS to happen soon. Enjoy!

Review: Spark (Electric #2) by E.L.Todd

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Title: Spark
Author:  E.L. Todd
Publisher/Year:  CreateSpace Publishing 10/11/16
Length:  280 Pages
Series:  Electric #2

Overview

I’ve fallen for Taylor.

When we first met, I was an idiot and didn’t realize she was a bombshell. But when I kissed her, sparks flew.

Not sparks. Fireworks.

I’ve tried to deny my feelings for weeks, but I can’t keep doing it. Relationships aren’t for me, not after the way I got my heart crushed.

But I can’t help wondering if a relationship would be different with Taylor.

Maybe it would.

But then an unnecessary obstacle comes my way.

My Thoughts

We continue on this roller coaster of a journey, this time truly focusing on what’s going on with Taylor and Volt. There’s so much with these two that you want to spend one chapter smacking your forehead and another chapter wondering what you ever worried about

Throughout this second installment, we see Taylor trying to find her footing even more so in NYC – teaching which is a mess, her friendship with Volt which is great some moments but a mess at other times, and then trying to find romance which keeps biting her in the butt. She’s friend zoned Volt, although there are so many moments when even she wonders if that’s what she’s done. She tries to date other guys and even seems happy with them but some how Volt always comesback into the mix, either needing her, protecting her or just being there in general.

At the same time, in this book we see Volt really get a bit more depth. We know that he’s a bit walled off because of his past break up but in this book we see him become the kind of guy that you want to see as a father – he find a kid who really needs his help in school through tutoring in the hopes of getting out of his low income, bad family situation. The kid, Clay is a teen who’s father is an addict and who hits him, and Clay’s only hope at success is to go to a college and get away. Volt finds a way to become a mentor and a friend to this kid and while he does that, he realizes that there’s more to him than meets the eye.

Every time it seems like Volt and Taylor take steps in the direction of ‘more than friends’, we see steps back. Relationships get in the way, drunk moments get in the way – mishearing information also gets ijn the way.

So…on top of this duo, we also get to see a tease at what’s going on with Jared and Natalie. Natalie finally sees that she’s never going to get what she wants from jared and starts to move on, but of course once he realizes that maybe she’s off the menu, he’s interested. We don’t see truly how that plays out but i’m sure there’s a story there.

So, we’re left in a moment of pain and weakness with our characters, a trip home opens eyes for people, a fear of losing a job forces us to reevaluate and the revelation of identities that will likely come out in the next book are just on the tip of what’s happening. We know that Volt’s dad, the principal is going to come out and hurt his chances with Taylor once she realizes who he is, and we know that once Sara discovers that Volt. is her ex and Volt realizes that his crush is best friends with the girl who crushed his soul, the crap will hit the fan. I can’t wait to see how this plays out. Enjoy!

Review: Charge (Electric #1) by E. L. Todd

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Title: Charge
Author:  E.L. Todd
Publisher/Year:  CreateSpace Publishing 10/11/16
Length:  150 Pages
Series:  Electric #1

Overview

White-hot, blinding, and dangerous. That’s exactly what Volt is. He’s electric. The first time I met him, my body reacted. It coiled, sizzled, and sparked. I knew I wanted him because he was the first man to make me feel dead and alive at the exact same time. But within a short conversation, I knew he was unattainable. Unavailable. Now we’re just friends. But will we stay friends?

My Thoughts

The summary here doesn’t do the story justice but that’s ok. I got this first installment as an aedd on to the last EL Todd that i read so that was a nice treat. I think that’s how i got into the last series as well? Anyway, we have an ‘electric’ story here about another group of friends that has a semblance of romance mixed into their crew.

We start this story in the past – with Volt our leading guy who’s on the verge of proposing to the love of his life only to walk into a bar to meet his buddies to find her kissing her ex boyfriend. that changes his entire trajectory, and instead of being an open and friendly guy, he’s turned into a manwhore who wants nothing to do with love and romance at all.

We then meet Taylor – new to NYC as she’s taken a teaching job in a new city – we know that she’s from Washington and at times makes it sound like she wants to go back but can’t for some reason (i’d love to find out why to be honest) and the only person she knows is Sara – her best friend from growing up, who’s nursing a broken heart because she’s the girl that Volt was going to propose to and things got messed up. Clearly there’s more to that story since she doesn’t know why he broke up with her which means that whatever it was that Volt saw, wasn’t the truth. The interesting thing here is that we know that Volt is his middle name, and that Sara’s boyfriend was Muriel, but clearly they are one and the same. I can’t wait to see what happens when these girls realize that this guy is the same.

Anyway – throughout this introduction to the series, we watch Taylor try to get her footing in the NYC dating landscape only to get her heartbroken quickly by one guy, slip into another relationship with another guy who seems to be great, and have this amazing best friend friendship with Volt – after meeting him, being attracted buy realizing that they are not right for each other in theory.

Volt on the other hand, we watch him evolve a bit in this story. He’s still closed off to love and romance, but we also get to see how he opens to Taylor until she pushes too hard and the walls go up again. He realizes too late that he’s got feelings for her and that’s where the rollercoaster really resides.

On top of these two, we have Natalie, a girl who’s also a teacher with Taylor who introduces her to a gang of friends. Natalie has this crush on Jared, a boy in their circle and he doesn’t see her like that so we get to watch her pine for him for the bulk of this story. It’s only after Taylor gets her to go out and she meets a guy that she’s into that we see Jared start to feel different about things.

Then there’s Derek, Volts best friend and while he seems like he’s just coasting along but i’m sure that we’ll get to see his story deepen soon.

We are left in this story with Taylor on the verge of losing her job because she’s not finding her footing as a new teacher, Volt has encountered a troubled child that makes him worry and the chemistry between Taylor and Volt changes their dynamic on every page. Add to that the insanity of Natalie and Jared and Derek and well, it all makes for a great story. I’m getting ready to dive into the next book now and can’t wait to see what’s next. Enjoy!