Blog Tour - As Dust Dances By Samantha Young {Review & Giveaway!}

Hello guys and welcome to the official Blog Tour for Samantha Young's new novel, As Dust Dances! I cannot tell you how excited I am to be participating in this promotional event, since Samantha is one of my favorite authors and I cannot get enough of her novels! So, make sure to read my thoughts on the book itself and don't forget to enter the Giveaway at the end of this post!
Title: As Dust Dances

{Play On #2}

Author: Samantha Young

Publication Date: August 7th, 2018

Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Once upon a time Skylar Finch was the lead singer of a hugely successful American pop-rock band. But fame made her miserable. When years of living a lie suddenly ended in tragedy, Skylar fell off the map.
Eighteen months later she’s sleeping in a tent in a cemetery in Glasgow, making just enough money to eat by busking on the streets. She manages to avoid recognition, but not the attention of one of Glasgow’s ambitious A&R executives.
Killian O’Dea works at Skyscraper Records, Scotland’s most successful record label. Raised by his uncle and owner of the label, Killian’s upbringing would have been devoid of affection entirely if it wasn’t for his loving sister. Killian is unflinchingly determined to bring the label more success than ever, and the young homeless woman who busks on Buchanan Street is going to help him do that. Her music speaks to him in a way he refuses to over-analyze. All he knows is that if it can touch his dark soul, it’ll set everyone else’s alight.
Skylar makes it clear that she doesn’t want to sign with him. But when she experiences the dangerous reality of a woman sleeping rough, Skylar has no one else but Killian to turn to. An undeniable connection forms between them. But Skylar doesn’t want the career Killian is trying to forge for her, and when her past comes back to haunt her Killian will be faced with a decision that could ruin him. He must either free Skylar from his selfish machinations and destroy everything he’s ever worked for, or lose a woman who has come to mean more to him than he ever thought possible...
*I received this book for free, in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own! *

I'm getting quite repetitive when it comes to Samantha Young's novels but, whatever she writes, I'll gladly read without second thought! I jumped at the chance to read and review As Dust Dances, even though I haven't read Play On yet! I absolutely loved it, let's start with that!

I'm not going to talk about the plot in depth because I feel like this is one of those books you have to read in order to actually get the meaning of but, we're obviously going to discuss everything else! First of all, the premise was quite intriguing and authentic, which you don't usually expect from New Adult/Romance novels! Not saying that to sound negative but, I personally haven't come across such a unique Romance novel in a while and it wa such a breath of fresh air that I felt my faith in the world restored after finishing it. Yes, that might sound a bit dramatic but, you can either take it or leave it! The main character has a very well thought out background that is revealed through flashbacks, which has become one of my favorite techniques when it comes to novels in general, especially Contemporary of any sort! They just become so much more relatable that way and they're proof that the characters had a past, which makes their stories even more reliable and easier to connect to. Skylar's past ewas mainly what the book itself was base doff of but, it wasn't brushed aside nor ignored in favour of other, more mainstream topics that readers would swoon over. It was addressed in the best way possible and handled in a way that shows the author's ability to write fiction while describing reality, something that's evident in every single one of her novels that I've read this far! She has the impressive ability of making you experience every single thing the characters she so masterfully creates are experiencing and that's not something a lot of authors can easily achieve nowadays! I've also come to realise that Scotland is a recurring setting and I'm actually desperate to visit every single place she vividly describes, novel after novel! I should've probably made a list because that would've definitely made things easier for me!

Back to Skylar, whose story was written in the most powerful way possible! It was raw, poignant and absolutely heartbreaking! A story worth writing, reading, feeling with every fiber of your being and going back to when you need something that feels true to ground you, while giving you hope.
Skylar was such a tortured soul and while reading about everything she went through, you become a bit more humble and realize that fame is not what's cracked up to be! I really admire the way it was put in perspective in the novel and how she managed to distance herself from it in the end, while finding true happiness. That's the most important thing any of us can do, right?

Moving on to the love interest, Killian. He was such a forced to be reckoned with and I lost count of how many times I swooned throughout the novel. He came off as being so cold and controlling but, the moment that control of his broke was probably one of my favorites. It was so vividly raw that it felt real, let me tell you. I loved how their relationship started out as business and even though the sexual tension between them was more than obvious, I didn't feel like it overshadowed the importance of everything else that was going on. I do think that things worked out for Skylar, better than they would've worked  out for someone else in the sense that, there are so many people who don't have the opportunity to help themselves out there or be discovered and saved from a life in the streets like she was but, the author did a great job of bringing more awareness to that fact since I'm here, writing about it! Their relationship was such a roller coaster of emotions and I loved being part of it. Skylar's development as a character and a human being was quite amazing and even though the healing process drained the life out of her, it was worth it in the end. Seeing her make peace with her past and come to terms with what happened was more than I could've asked for and yes, Samantha Young delivered!

Moreover, I immensely enjoyed reading about the secondary characters in the novel! Autumn was a breath of something new and I cannot wait for her story! Skylar's former bandmates were also quite supportive of her and her decisions. They were there for her and truly cared, even when she didn't want them to. That is the meaning of friendship after all!

The writing was, once again, phenomenal and I'll probably never stop admiring the author's ability to make me feel things like I'm experiencing them myself! She's one of the only authors that has manage to do that  for me, both as a reader and as a person, throughout the years!

Overall, As Dust Dances was a masterpiece and I fell in love with it as soon as I started reading it! I cannot recommend it enough guys! It was real, heartbreaking and I devoured it in a matter of hours!
Samantha Young is the New York Times,  USA Today  and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of adult contemporary romances, including the On Dublin Street series and Hero, as well as the New Adult duology Into the Deep and Out of the Shallows.  Every Little Thing, the second book in her new Hart’s Boardwalk series, will be published by Berkley in March 2017. Before turning to contemporary fiction, she wrote several young adult paranormal and fantasy series, including the amazon bestselling Tale of Lunarmorte trilogy. Samantha’s debut YA contemporary novel The Impossible Vastness of Us will be published by Harlequin TEEN in ebook& hardback June 2017

Samantha has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award 2012 for Best Author and Best Romance for On Dublin Street, Best Romance 2014 for Before Jamaica Lane, and Best Romance 2015 for HeroOn Dublin Street, a #1 bestseller in Germany, was the Bronze Award Winner in the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2013, Before Jamaica Lane the Gold Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2014 and Echoes of Scotland Street the Bronze Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2015.
Samantha is currently published in 30 countries and is a #1 international bestselling author.

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