The Academy Saga by CJ Daly

Release: July 1, 2019
Format: Paperback
Publisher: BrandlyLight Ink
Source: Suzyapproved Book Tours
Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, TBD

Kate Connelly should be careful what she wishes for.

Just seventeen, she already feels like she’s suffocating. Since her mother’s death, her father’s basically checked out, so she’s stuck raising her brothers by herself out in the New Mexico scrub. All Kate wants is a little distraction from the same-ole, same-ole that is her life.

When two mysterious guys show up at the diner where she works, she thinks her wish has come true, until they start giving her a hard time. Like her life isn’t hard enough. Something about them niggles her, but she brushes it off. She’s never going to see them again anyway… right?

Then they appear in an alley one night to either rescue or kidnap her (she’s still not sure which) before disappearing like figments of her imagination.

Kate decides to put the bizarre encounters out of her mind. She has bigger problems to worry about: like that elite military academy that’s been pursuing her gifted little brother. When one of their cadets shows up at the high school, he creates instant pandemonium. And just happens to be one of those mysterious guys. Coincidence? Mama said there’s no such thing. And to always trust her instinct. But that might be kind of hard, because every time she’s around Cadet Peter Davenport, her gut starts flip-flopping on her. And her heart.

About the Author:

CJ Daly grew up on the scrabbly plains of Eastern New Mexico. When she was to help her six siblings with chores on the family ranch, she was really sneaking behind dusty haystacks to read. And dreaming about becoming a writer.

After graduating high school, CJ moved to Big D, where she quickly put herself through college while trying to rid herself of her country accent. She had better luck with college, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in English literature. After teaching for a few years, and pausing to have back-to-back boys, she began writing in earnest.

A few years later, The Academy Saga was born. Upon its debut, it became an instant Amazon Bestseller and earned a Readers’ Favorite seal of approval. When she isn’t writing, you can usually find CJ running from one athletic field to another or feeding the array of wild animals that show up at her back door. On the weekends she likes to kick back with her gal pals and sip Texas-sized margaritas while gabbing about their favorite books and TV series.

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The Academy Saga Review:

“The Academy” is the first book to “The Academy Saga” series and perfect for Twilight fans.

The standpoint is the characters, and the author depicted them wonderfully. I loved Kate as a character and her relationship with her brothers. Moreover, Kate and Pete have fantastic chemistry. The author writes angst and romance so well. The two of them have a love-hate relationship, but you can still see the sparks between them even when they fight. I loved Kate’s family too, especially Mikey, who is adorable. Then, there are characters like Kate’s father, who I was not fond of at all. I also liked Ashley-Leigh as Kate’s frenemy. Miguel was also an interesting character, and I wished he was prominent in the storyline.

I loved loved the history of the Academy and was intrigued by Cadet Davenport’s mission. The story also ends in a cliffhanger, making you want to pick up the next book to see what happens to Kate. There is also the mystery of what happened to Kate’s mother, which I look forward to.

However, my only criticism of the story is that the pacing is slow. At times, the story revolved around Pete and Kate’s romance too much, and I wanted to know more about the Academy and perhaps get a backstory on how Andrew feels. We get a lot of the answers only towards the end, where the story speeds up. Don’t get me wrong, and the story was still fun. The book is around 500 pages, and the author could have easily trimmed it to balance the plot and character development equally.

But, apart from that, “The Academy” is an exciting start to the “The Academy Saga” series, and I would want to pick up the second book to see how it continues!