Crush (Crave)

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wrong with me, considering when I got to Katmere Academy, all I wanted was to be on my own, and now I feel like I’m about to jump out of my skin. Finally, I decide to take a shower so I can go to bed, but I’m halfway to the bathroom, pajamas in my hand, when I realize I can’t do that. Last night when I showered, Hudson was asleep. Tonight, he isn’t. He’s being unnaturally quiet and hasn’t said a word to me since Jaxon’s outburst in the library, but he’s sprawled out on Macy’s bed reading—I stretch a little bit to get a look at the front of his book—Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky, and I wonder idly if he relates to Rodion, who ends up killing people for his own selfish needs. I hesitate. I want to wash my hair, but there’s no way I’m going to strip naked and take a shower with him watching me, whether he seems like he’s reading or not. How could he not see me naked if I can see myself naked? I mean, he’s in my head. “I wouldn’t do that.” I nearly jump when Hudson finally speaks to me out of the blue. He’s still on Macy’s bed, with his ankles crossed and his arms folded beneath his head, but now his book is lying across his chest. There are a million other questions I want to ask him— namely what made him so upset that he shut down to begin with—but I settle for asking about his immediate statement first. “What do you mean?” “I wouldn’t watch you take a shower or get undressed. You don’t have to worry about that.” “Yeah, but how could you not watch? You’re literally in The film adaptation of Crave will be oversee by Universal Pictures’ Senior VP production Jeyun Munford and creative executive Christine Sun. The second installment to the novel titled Crush is also expected to launch next year. In true Crave series fashion, Crush is full of delicious twists and turns that will leave you yearning for more, especially when it comes to the ending. I only just finished Crush and am already dying to sink my teeth into the next installment. (It’s a good thing Covet, the third book, is supposedly only six months away!)

Crush by Tracy Wolff | Waterstones

Brutal fights among supernatural creatures where one high school student dies from a crushed skull and others are gravely injured and given magical boosts to heal. Students are stabbed, beaten, nearly strangled, drained of blood, burned, buried alive, and put through trials that include terrible pain. The main character wakes up covered in blood that isn't hers after being possessed. Two brothers recall being separated and physically and emotionally abused by their parents. Talk of many deaths at school a year before. Mentions of loss of main character's parents. Where you come from, what you endure, are only a fraction of who you are and what you can become. The true test is what’s inside you…and what you do with it.” different. “Oh, he’ll definitely try something,” Uncle Finn tells me. “The only question is when.” I don’t know what to say to that, don’t even know what I’m supposed to feel. Except tired. So tired. I barely made it through the last homicidal maniac who was gunning for me, and now, here comes another. I mean, yeah, I obviously did something to provoke this one, but that doesn’t make any sense to me, either. Why would my gargoyle try to murder Cole when I have no reason to do so? I mean, I’ve let what happened last semester go. Or at least I thought I had. This whole thing is scary as hell. When is this new life of mine going to feel normal? When is it going to feel less like the Hunger Games and more like high school? My wrist starts hurting, and I reach down to rub it, only to realize I’m rubbing the scars from Lia’s bindings. And that Jaxon, Macy, and my uncle can see exactly what I’m doing. I drop my hand, but it’s too late. Jaxon wraps his arms around me from behind and rests his hands on mine, his thumb gently stroking my wrist. “He’s already proven he’s willing to kill to get his way,” Macy says after an awkward pause that makes me feel even worse. “And that was before his reputation was on the line. Now that he stands to lose the only thing that matters to him? Yeah, he’ll try something. We just have to be ready for it.” “We will be ready for it,” Jaxon tells me, his midnight-sky eyes never leaving mine. “If he actually comes after you, I’ll —” Enough,” I manage to wheeze out between coughs. “Is it enough?” the Bloodletter asks in a voice as cold as the Alaskan wilderness she has made her home. “Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?” No, I don’t. Not even a little bit. But I’m afraid if I tell her that, I’m going to end up buried under a thousand pounds of sand, so I just nod. But I do try to focus, not just on what she’s saying but on the deeper meaning of what she wants me to understand. Her gaze holds mine, her green eyes urging me to think beyond my simple understanding of the world. To recognize that some things have to be believed to be understood instead of the other way around. It’s a leap of faith, one I’m not sure I’m comfortable making after everything that’s already happened. But what other choice do I have? I can believe or I can get swept away —not just by the sand she is continuing to blow my way but by Hudson’s dark and overwhelming will. I swallow, knowing there really is no other option for me. And so I close my eyes, lower my defenses just a little, and let her words swirl in my mind, settle in my bones, become my reality. The moment I do, the illusion of this world fades into something that feels even more right. Something that feels like coming home. Suddenly, there’s another voice in my head, and it’s not the one I’m used to, the one that warns me of bad things to come. No, this voice is low and sardonic. It’s also familiar—really familiar.

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Described as a paranormal fantasy with a feminist perspective, Crave follows a human girl follows a human girl who finds herself in the midst of a conflict between warring factions when she falls for a vampire prince, Jaxon Vega. According to Entangled Publishing’s Liz Pelletier, the new supernatural novel is pitched as “vampires for a new generation.” What are you going to do?” “Besides cry and eat a boatload of Cherry Garcia ice cream?” I offer flippantly. “I’m thinking two boatloads, but yeah. Besides that?” I tell her about the spell and the five things we have to get to turn Hudson human again. “So that’s why Hudson made you take the athame?” she asks, astonished. “He wants out, too?” “That’s what he says. Although he was only going for the four items. He has no interest in being turned human.” She looks alarmed. “We can’t let him out if he still has his powers. You know that, right?” “Believe me, I know. I’m just not sure how long I can handle having him in my head.” “I can only imagine.” She moves to my bed and sits down next to me so she can wrap an arm around my shoulders. “But don’t worry. We’ll get started tomorrow on figuring out how to get the last three things. And we should probably rope Flint in. I bet he’ll have some ideas about how to get the dragon bone.” “I don’t— You don’t—” I break off, not sure how to say all the things I’m feeling right now. “I don’t what?” she asks. “You don’t have to do this with me. I mean, it sounds like at least two of the tasks are going to be really dangerous, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.” “Are you kidding me right now?” Macy demands, and she looks outraged in a way I’ve never seen from her before. “You

Crush by Tracy Wolff - Ebook | Scribd Crush by Tracy Wolff - Ebook | Scribd

Will you read the next in this series? Why or why not? What do you think about the last line of the book? What does this mean for Grace in Book 3? What? Me?” I ask, my eyes going huge. “I mean…I don’t think… Can gargoyles really compete?” I know Amka said I could, but I thought she was just teasing me. And, by the way, please let the answer be no. Please let the answer be no. I’m not fabulous at sports to begin with, let alone paranormal sports where the goal is not to die, but there is no guarantee. Not to mention the fact that I have no idea what my powers are yet… I mean, besides turning to stone, which doesn’t seem very helpful in a game anyway. “Ludares is open to every junior and senior in the school,” Flint tells me. “So, hell yeah, you can compete. Plus, I’m totally down with having a gargoyle on my team. Who knows what you can do?” “Nothing,” I answer. “I can do nothing. That’s the problem.” “That’s not true,” Hudson tells me from where he’s still leaning against the wall. “You can do things. You just don’t know what they are yet.” “How do you know?” Equal parts terror and excitement thrum through me as I lean forward. “Did you see me do something when we were together?” The whole table is staring at me again. I ignore them because apparently this is my life for now. I hadn’t meant to That completely changes in this novel. Grace is constantly asserting her independence and strength throughout Crush, prompting discussions of agency at almost every turn and with every new plotline. Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide. Get started Close Everything feels off—especially me. I’ve returned to Katmere Academy, but I’m haunted by fragments of days I have no recollection of living and struggling to understand who, or what, I really am.Not when the last time he was happy, he was plotting a hostile takeover of half the paranormal world.” There are plenty of bloody action scenes here as well as stories of child abuse. Do you feel for a character more when they get clawed at by dragons or when they tell haunting stories of their past? Why?

Crush read online free by Tracy Wolff - Novel12 Crush read online free by Tracy Wolff - Novel12

Keep Your Enemies Close, Unless They Bleed a Lot Jaxon turns to me and frowns. “What are you doing here, Grace? I told you where I was so you wouldn’t worry. I’ve got this.” “No, you don’t.” I shake my head and try to figure out how to explain how I woke up this morning. “Sure I do.” For the first time, he looks uncertain. “I didn’t have anything to do with Cole, and Foster knows it.” “I know you didn’t hurt Cole.” I take a deep breath. “I know you didn’t, because I’m pretty sure I did.” For long seconds, neither Jaxon nor my uncle says anything. They just kind of stare at me like they’re replaying my words in their heads over and over again, trying to make sense of them. But the longer they’re silent, the more confused they look—and the tenser I get. Which is why, in the end, I don’t wait for them to say anything. Instead I pour out the whole story, starting with the trip to the art cottage and ending with my blood-soaked clothes, which I pull out of my bag and hand to Uncle Finn. He doesn’t look excited about taking them, but then, who would? Especially when I just dumped a problem of massive proportions right onto his sturdy wooden desk. “Are you okay?” Jaxon asks the second I finally stop Don’t do it, Grace,” Hudson tells me. “You can’t trust her.” Maybe not, but I can’t trust you, either, so I’m going to go with the person who can help me the most. “This is not how things were supposed to happen.” He shakes his head. “Why won’t you trust me?” Maybe because you’re a raging psychopath, and I am tired of doing your bidding. I turn to the Bloodletter. “I’m ready. Show me how to build the wall.” it.” “Byron’s parents have decided to donate…” He does a little drumroll on the dining table. “A bloodstone! And not just any bloodstone. It’s one of the queen’s favorites, from the royal collection, that she gifted his parents on the eve of his mate’s death.” Everything inside me stills as I remember the Bloodletter telling us that she would take care of getting the bloodstone to us. This must be what she meant. A glance at Jaxon’s face tells me he thinks so, too—and that he isn’t the least bit surprised by this bit of news, either. He obviously had a good idea what the Bloodletter would do. Which also makes his interest in playing Ludares right now —in the middle of everything we have going on—make so much more sense. If the only way to get the bloodstone is to win the tournament, then it looks like hell really has frozen over. I just need to figure out how not to be a total burden—and, oh yeah, how not to be the first death—on the Ludares field in the history of Katmere.Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide. Get started Close comment only annoys me more. “Is there a point to this conversation?” “Grace,” he says softly. “Open your eyes.” I don’t want to do it. I don’t even know why, except that I really, really don’t want to. But at the same time, it’s sort of a compulsion. The kind that I know is going to hurt later—like when I chipped my tooth in seventh grade and couldn’t resist touching it with my tongue, even though I knew it was so sharp, it would cut me. That’s what it feels like listening to Hudson tell me to open my eyes. “Wow, so I’m a toothache now?” He sounds insulted. “Thaaaaanks.” “If you were a toothache, I’d go to the dentist and let her drill you out of my head,” I tell him, my voice filled with the frustration I can’t get away from. “Without novocaine.” “You’ve got quite the mean streak in you, Grace. Does it make me a masochist if I admit that I like it?” Ugh. Seriously? I can stand the voice in my head. I can maybe even put up with the fact that that voice belongs to Hudson. But the sexual innuendo is going to make me vomit. I finally stop fighting myself and decide to open my eyes if it means it will shut him up, even for a second. Then really wish I hadn’t because— Holy hell. He’s right there, one wide shoulder resting against the icy wall near a lamp, long legs crossed at the ankle, obnoxious smirk on his ridiculously pretty face. He’s got the signature Vega high cheekbones and strong jawline, but that’s Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide. Get started Close

Review: Crush by Tracy Wolff | The Nerd Daily Review: Crush by Tracy Wolff | The Nerd Daily

But I can’t just lie here all night letting the gargoyle thing, the memory thing, and the mating thing all run through my head on a continuous loop. I’d watch TV, but I don’t want to disturb Macy. It’s late, close to two in the morning, and she has a midterm tomorrow. Which means I need to get out of here. I roll off the bed, trying to make as little noise as possible, then grab a hoodie from my closet—the castle can be cold and drafty at night. Next, I slip on my favorite pair of daisypatterned Vans and tiptoe to the door as quietly as I possibly can. I have a moment’s hesitation when I go to pull open the door—the last time I wandered the castle alone in the middle of the night, I nearly got tossed outside in the snow. I definitely do not want that to happen again. Mate or no mate, I can’t go around expecting Jaxon to rescue me whenever I get into trouble. Not that I imagine he’ll be all that thrilled to rescue me anyway tonight. Especially since I canceled my plans to meet up with him, claiming exhaustion. But things are different now than they were four months ago. No one’s got any reason to try to kill me, for one. And for another, even if they wanted to, no one would ever deliberately go after Jaxon Vega’s mate. Especially not after Jaxon nearly drained Cole for trying to drop a chandelier on me. Plus, I’m a gargoyle now. If someone tries to hurt me, I can always just turn to stone. As exciting as that sounds. Of course, I have absolutely no idea how to do that. But that’s a problem for another day, already filed away. Why don’t gargoyles go out during the day?” “I don’t want to know.” I brace for his answer. “Because they’re too stoned.” she…lives…in an ice cave it doesn’t take that long to get to from here.” I turn his words over in my head, trying to find a deeper meaning to them. I know there is one—it’s obvious from the way looks are flying between my uncle and Amka. Macy seems oblivious, but that’s obviously because she’s as in the dark about this subject as I am. “She’s brutal,” Amka says after a second. “Completely terrifying. But if anyone knows how to help you, she will.” I’ve got to admit, “brutal” is not exactly a word that evokes confidence in me. Then again, neither is “terrifying.” And considering I’m standing in a room with one of the most powerful vampires in existence and no one here is the least bit afraid of him, I shudder to think of what this Bloodletter person might be like. Especially since even Jaxon seems nervous at the idea of taking me to her. “Do you know her?” I ask as apprehension fills me. “I mean, will she try to kill us on sight or will she at least listen to what we have to say?” “She’s brutal but not completely psychotic,” Jaxon tells me. “And I do know her, yes. She raised me.” He doesn’t say anything else, just kind of drops it out there, like being raised by the most terrifying vampire in existence is a totally normal thing. He might as well have pulled out a fullon South Park impression and said, Move along, people. Nothing to see here. Which only convinces me more that there’s a lot Jaxon’s leaving out. And more concerned that what he’s leaving out is Jaxon nods. “Pretty much—it takes at least two people to survive the Trial, or so they say.” He squeezes my hand, his gaze holding mine. “I keep thinking we should do it one day. The Circle needs someone to lead it who won’t let that happen.” “Us? Why? I thought you hated all the prince stuff?” I mean, being queen certainly isn’t on my agenda. I’m more interested in art school, even if I have to do a gap year because of the whole “trapped as a gargoyle for four months” mess that screwed up college apps and everything else in my life, apparently. “I do,” he assures me. “But there’s been a Third Great War brewing for a long time, and Hudson only exacerbated it with the shit he pulled before he died.” “Yes, let’s blame me for the fact that Dad and the wolves are teaming up with made vampires so they can wipe everyone else out of existence.” Hudson rolls his eyes. “What a wanker.” “What does that have to do with us being the head of the Circle?” I ask Jaxon, though I definitely want to follow up on Hudson’s comment later, because it sounded very different from anything else I’ve heard. “Gargoyles are peacekeepers,” Mekhi interjects. “If you and Jaxon take his parents’ place, you have a much better chance of keeping shit under control. Between Jaxon’s power and your ability to chill things out—” “I can do that?” I interrupt. “That’s what the old stories all say,” Rafael tells me. “Gargoyles were created to keep the balance among the However, this is not at all due to negligence as there are so many teases for answers to burning questions that get explicitly pushed away until later. So, going in to Crush, know that you’ll just have to accept the fact that you won’t receive the answers you’re after. You may receive more context to the questions themselves, but few resolutions.

Do. You. Trust. Me?” he asks again, and in the space between the words—the space between us—are all the things we’ve never said.