Blog Tour: Midnight Hour

Novels and Necklaces is extremely excited to participate in the tour for Midnight Hour, the brand new book in the Shadow Falls series!  Today we have an excerpt and then also my review for this amazing book.  I'm so happy to be able to share this with you all today, and remember to enter the sweepstakes found through the link at the end of the post!

About the Book:

Title: Midnight Hour (Shadow Falls: After Dark #4)

Author: C.C. Hunter

Pub. Date: October 25, 2016

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Pages: 416 

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Synopsis:

After captivating millions across the globe, the Shadow Falls saga reaches its final—and most unforgettable—chapter yet! Prepare to fall in love all over again...

Being a dyslexic witch is a curse in itself, but Miranda Kane’s time at Shadow Falls has helped her harness her magical powers. Now, just as she’s finally mastered them and is preparing to graduate with her friends, a near-death experience threatens to ruin it all.

Miranda awakens in the hospital with a mysterious tattoo that no one can explain. As she struggles to make sense of it – and questions her feelings for a certain irresistible shape-shifter and a hot new guy – the strange markings begin to spread all over her body, leaving her desperate to find answers. But before she can solve that problem, a new one arises: her sister is missing.

Has her sister been kidnapped? Miranda will risk her life to find out. Will she live to share the day she’s worked so hard for with her friends? When the clock strikes midnight, will Miranda make it to her graduation at Shadow Falls?

C.C. Hunter brings The Shadow Falls saga to a spectacular conclusion in this thrilling finale: Midnight Hour!

Excerpt:

Just because you think you might be in love with someone doesn’t mean you can’t admire another’s derrière.
When you lose your sister, you lose a part of yourself.
Love can make you do crazy things—like go on the lam with a guy wanted by the FRU.
Sometimes doing the right thing can hurt, but it’s still right.
If you can be anything, sometimes the hardest thing to be—is yourself.
Who knew that becoming a pink polka dotted elephant could save people you love?
Crawling under a dark, damp house with spiders and rodents is unpleasant, even when you’re a snake.
Being stuck between two guys is like being the white filling of an Oreo. And when you pull it apart, you’ll stick to only one wafer.
Some families have the occasional skeleton in the closet, other families have a warehouse full.
Sometimes the truth is sharp and jagged and can cut you.
Belief in yourself not only changes how you see yourself, but also how others see you.
Change can be both exhilarating and scare the crap out of you—all at the same time.
Some of us are born fighters and others need a little training.
Breaking up is hard to do!
There is a girlfriend code of ethics that shouldn’t be broken.
Parents makes mistakes, some of them are forgivable.  Others should have never become parents to start with.
Sometimes when someone says they are there to help you, it’s hard to believe—especially if it’s an armadillo.
Becoming who you need to be is sometimes more about accepting who you are.
Our decisions, the paths we think we should take are often paths that our parents guided us to follow.  Sometimes we need to stop and listen to our own hearts to know which road to take.
Sometimes the irritating tension between two people can end up to be a different kind of tension--one that involves the heart.
Sometimes the hardest thing to forgive someone is when someone you love puts themselves in a dangerous situation.  But sometimes when we do put ourselves in danger, we’re doing to save the same person who will likely never forgive us.
Even in the supernatural world, men are from Mars and women are from Venus.  We will never quite see things the same way, but it’s a lot of fun trying.
No matter terrible or horrific things stem from family linage, you don’t have to follow that path.  The sins of our fathers are not our sins to bear.  Our destinies are our own.
 There is almost nothing that can’t be solved at a round-table-diet-coke discussion.
Graduation means saying goodbye.  Graduation means leaving pieces and parts of our past behind.  But it is a passage that we must take in one of the first steps into adulthood. 

Review:

I'm so sad to see this series finally come to an end, but what a way to go! Ms. Hunter delivered an amazing finale that will satisfy all fans of the series. This book is entirely from Miranda's perspective, and I loved every single second of it. Don't get me wrong, I loved Kylie's and Della's POV, but I've been waiting for Miranda to have a chance to shine and for us to get to know her better. Ms. Hunter balanced humor, romance, and suspense perfectly, and gave readers a fantastic story that you'll never want to stop reading. 

Ms. Hunter has such a wonderful way of writing that instantly sweeps you away and back into the Shadow Falls world...it's like being home, and that's an amazing feeling as a reader. I honestly would read as many books as Ms. Hunter is willing to write about the adventures of Kylie, Della, and Miranda. These characters have such a special place in my heart, and they're friendship reminds me of my friends and I. Kylie, Della, and Miranda are crazy, goofy, and care for each other so much. Even though this book primarily focuses on Miranda and the struggles she endures with her witchy powers, Kylie and Della (and all our favorite boys) are back too and help her through things. This book has a lot of action and suspense, and made for the perfect October read!

Miranda has always been a likable character for me...from the minute I met her I loved her and wanted to know more. She always had me cracking up in the other books, and I was praying she would get her own full length novel. Midnight Hour shows a different side to Miranda that we haven't gotten to see in other books--from the true struggles she faces with her powers, along with being dyslexic and trying to pass the SATs to get into college, to trying to figure out her heart and which boy she truly loves. I honestly just wanted to give her a gigantic hug and some ice cream so many times in this novel to help her through things. But Kylie and Della are there for her and help her find herself and realize her true potential. The friendship between these girls is one of the most enjoyable parts of this book (and there's so much to love). But they come together and are always there for each other when it's important. It's exactly what a friendship should be! The bond the girls have just makes your heart all warm and fuzzy, and puts a huge smile on your face. I'm the biggest Miranda and Perry shipper, and I loved every single scene with them together. They're just so perfect for each other and have an adorable banter that makes every scene their together that much more enjoyable. Yes, there is a love triangle between Perry, Shawn, and Miranda, but Ms. Hunter wrote it perfectly, and at the end of the day, Miranda ended up with the person she was meant to (and trust me...you'll be happy with who she ends up with!!).

I would love to see more from all of these characters, either Miranda, Kylie, and Della's crazy adventures (and you know they'll be crazy) in college, or even another spin-off series focusing on Burnett and Holiday (a girl can dream can't she?!). This is a bittersweet ending...one I'm happy that Ms. Hunter provided for fans. I highly recommend checking out this series if you're looking for a fun adventure with strong female friendships and a some sweet romance thrown in. And if your a long time fan, well what are you waiting for....go get this book now!

And last but not least, here's the link to the sweepstakes from St. Martin's Press!  

http://us.macmillan.com/smp/promo/midnighthoursweepstakes

Happy reading :)

~Cassie