Once Upon a Twilight!: Book Review: Final Stand by Rose Garcia + Interview

Final Stand
Author: Rose Garcia
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Released: March 21, 2014
Review Source: Author

Dominique is still alive after killing Tavion, the Tainted who's hunted her for lifetimes. Yet her protectors still fear for her life. They force her to flee Houston and abandon the friends she loves. But they can't protect her from herself. When Dominique starts hearing Tavion's voice in her head, she realizes that her personal connection to the Tainted still exists. And when her car is ambushed, she discovers another frightening truth—someone close to her is a traitor. Desperate for answers, Dominique seeks the aid of first lifers Trent and Infiniti. With their help, she hopes to find her new enemy. But things get complicated with Trent when she finally accepts her eternal love for Farrell, and even more complicated when the whispers in her head threaten her loved ones. Determined to live, Dominique decides to make a final stand against the forces that want to end her. For good.

Not only did the covers of Rose Garcia’s novels grab my attention, the main character Dominique did as well. I immediately made a connection with her when I realized that she was a senior and was being asked to move away to whole other life of friends, people, places. Everything you don’t want to do when you are at that point in life, where you feel that you have just one more step to take before you reach that next level in life. I had a similar experience in life, where moving away and connecting with everything new was just an experience that I thought would be the end of the world. However, it wasn’t. Unfortunately, for Dominque, things didn’t really work out so grand for her. Life is truly changing. The world she use to know is no longer there. People are entering her life that aren’t always as they appear on the outer surface. In an effort to have some fun and forget about her current situation, one touch of cards changes things for Dominique forever. Dominique has a mystery to solve, many choices to make, while at the same time, vow to stay alive. Rose Garcia truly infuses a realistic plot with a full splash of fantasy that carries the reader through both novels quickly and in an entertaining fashion. The descriptions of the characters are vivid and the storyline isn’t one that is easily figured out. It is my suggestion that you must start with book one, in order to get the full effect that Ms. Garcia’s has crafted for her readers!

A Casual Conversation with Rose

The age of young adult writing has changed tremendously over the years. Teens are more captivated with deeper in depth story lines that go beyond the classics we once knew.

Is there a classic that you will never forget and why?

"I’ve read a ton of books, both classic and modern, YA and non YA, and the two YA books that I emotionally go back to time and time again are The Giver and Enders Game. These books are alike in so many ways—they both feature a male protagonist, a bleak future, life and death situations, and difficult decision making. Another word that I’ve used to describe these books is heavy, both in mood and in subject matter. There’s something about pushing someone to their limits that pulls me into a story because I have to know if they’ll make it through their circumstances. In my own writing, I tend to follow this same formula of stripping someone down to their weakest point and placing them in a no-win situation. That’s when you find out who a person really is."

What point in your life did you realize that you wanted to be a writer?

"Writing has always been one of my passions and something that I’ve been doing from the time I was able to put pen to paper. I remember scribbling ideas, poems, and short stories from a very young age. But I really didn’t know that Iwanted to be a writer until I was a lot older. Even then, it was a desire those slowly grew inside of me. Now, I can’t imagine doing anything else!"

What do you find as an inspiration for your writing?

"EVERYTHING! An awesome movie, a cool song, the quirky neighbor at the end of the block, the guy I dated in high school, my kids and their friends. You name it! My mind is constantly churning with ideas and story lines and settings. Sometimes I wonder how I sleep at night!"

What advice do you offer to young aspiring young writers?

"The most important thing you can do as an aspiring writer is to get connected with your local writing group. If there isn’t one near you, find an-online group. You’ll learn so much about the craft of writing, the industry, and your own writing. My second piece of advice is to sit down and write! I can’t tell you how many people tell me that they want to write a book, but they’ve never even started! Get connected, start writing, and the rest will fall into place. =)

Rose Garcia is a lawyer turned writer who's always been fascinated by science fiction and fantasy. From a very young age, she often had her nose buried in books about other-worlds, fantastical creatures, and life and death situations. More recently she's been intrigued by a blend of science fiction and reality, and the idea that some supernatural events are, indeed, very real. Fueled by her imagination, she created The Transhuman Chronicles--a series of books about people who have overcome human limitations. Rose lives in Houston with her husband and two kids. You can visit Rose at www.rosegarciabooks.com