The Lakeview Series
By Stacey R. Campbell
~My Review~
4 stars
This is an old story with a new twist, Blakely is a princess, heir to the throne for a country that during her senior year looses all other heirs. Of course she was adopted as a baby, with her records sealed so she has no idea of heritage nor that she is in fact a real life princess. Max a budding writer stumbles upon the story of a lifetime-that there is an unknown heir to the throne of a country currently without leadership, a secret his aunt-nanny for the royal children carried with her to her grave. So Max travel's to Blakely's school as a foreign exchange to find concrete prove of Blakely's relation to the royal family.
Hush is a cute story, with a fun mystery around it. I wanted to love this story, but I did feel a distinct disconnect while reading it. The story was choppy and did not flow as well as I would have liked, but has an awesome story line, with the addition of the mystery and the chemistry between Max and Blakely, it was still a good story and fun to read.
ABOUT HUSH (LAKEVIEW #1)
For small-town girl Blakely Henry, any
hope of finding her biological parents died when she stopped believing in fairy
tales and Disney princesses. That is, until she spots her boarding school’s new
British exchange student, Max Ryder, staring at her. Why would a boy who looks
like he stepped out of the pages of a magazine be looking at her? Because Max
knows something Blakely doesn’t.
Following the tragic demise of one of
Europe’s most beloved royal families, Max has stumbled upon information he
thinks may lead to a lost royal heir, and now he is on a quest halfway around
the world to see if he’s right.
Sworn to secrecy by his university
professor and the headmaster of Lakeview Academy, Max is admitted into an
exchange program with the sole purpose of finding out the truth. But will his
personal feelings for Blakely get in the way?
When a stolen email surfaces, Blakely and
her friends’ lives are threatened, and Max starts to question what he is really
after.
From the exclusive rolling lawns of
Canada’s most prestigious boarding school to the University of Saint Andrews’
hallowed grounds, Blakely’s quiet, unassuming life is turned upside down. Is
she really who she thinks she is? Can she survive long enough to help Max
unearth the truth?
~My Review~
4 stars
Whisper is book two in the Lakeview story and picks up with Blakely's little sister Halle during her first year at the Lakeview Academy. Halle and Leigh stumble upon a mystery of the death of the first headmaster's daughter, a mystery which just might lead them into a whole lot of trouble. Leigh's biggest complaint is having to accept the help of Calum Stewart-her worst nightmare.
Halle plays a secondary role in this book and Leigh the main character, Whisper is a fun twist to the creation of this series and can be read either way as part of the series or as a stand alone.
ABOUT WHISPER (LAKEVIEW #2)
It’s Halle Henry’s first year at Lakeview Academy . . .
On a snowy January night, just days after a fire that nearly
destroyed the school’s library, Elsie Stewart, daughter of the headmaster and
founder of Lakeview Academy, dies slipping beneath the ice of frozen Clearwater
Lake. Unable to right the wrongs she committed before her tragic death, Elsie’s
spirit walks the halls of her father’s school, waiting for someone who can.
One hundred years later, while joining her sister’s friend Leigh to help clean
out the school’s administration building before the big remodel, Halle stumbles
upon Elsie’s hidden journal.
Obsessed with what she finds, Halle searches the school for clues that may lead
to solving a century-old mystery. The only problem is that Halle also talks
Calum Stewart, Leigh’s worst nightmare, into helping them.
Once Leigh and Calum are forced work together, sparks fly and no one around
them, alive or dead, is left unaffected.
~My Review~
4 stars
Silence is a Novella, (listed as 2.5-which is a between the series story and always has awesome backstory to go along with a series...I love these additions to series!) and is the story of Blakely's search for her birth father. The book picks up after the end of book 1-so I will write the review sparing you any spoilers. But you will recall in book 1, Hush, Blakely's birth father was sent away before he was even told her birth mother Oliva was pregnant.
This is a fantastic extra to give you more insight into Blakely's hidden past and the family she was denied at birth.
ABOUT SILENCE (LAKEVIEW #2.5)
Searching for the answers about the father she never knew,
Blakely Henry, now Queen of Tamura, takes her family on a cross-country
adventure through the hill towns of Southern France.
~My Review~
4 Stars
Scream is the 3rd book in the Lakeview series and takes place during Halle's final year of school. But trouble is on the rise and it begin's with her boyfriend being expelled from school. The title of the book gives you a feel that this one will be scary, and it should be noted this is not. It is however a great mystery!
This book also reads well as a stand alone, or in line with the series. Again a fantastic way to write a series for readers! I seen the books compared to a modern day Nancy Drew and loved that comparison. I do feel that the books tend to the choppy side and if they flowed better I would have definitely rated the whole series a bit higher. The character's are great and are well developed and the series would be a great read for young adults, high school and even higher level Middle school students.
ABOUT SCREAM (LAKEVIEW #3)
It’s Halle Henry’s final year at Lakeview Academy, and she is determined to make it her best year yet. But when drugs are discovered in her boyfriend Alex’s backpack and he is expelled, Halle’s life spins out of control.
Refusing to believe the accusations against him, Halle vows to get to the bottom of what really happened and bring Alex back to campus so they can graduate together.
Now, all Halle has to do is save her boyfriend, solve a murder, graduate from high school, and keep from getting killed in the process.
Stacey R. Campbell lives in the San
Juan Islands with her husband and three daughters. She is a graduate of the
University of Washington and a dyslexic writer that believes there is no such
thing as a bad reader. She is the author of the young adult novels Hush, Whisper,
Silence & Scream and the highly acclaimed middle grade
swashbuckling Pirate book ARRGH!
When not at her desk writing she can
be found hiking, sailing, or skiing. She enjoys chocolate in any shape or size,
too many cups of coffee and laughing (often too loudly as her daughters say)
with her friends and family.
Stacey is available for classroom
visits via Skype and loves working with writers and readers of any age;
especially those with learning disabilities like her own.
GIVEAWAY
$20 Amazon Gift Card (INT), set of ebooks of the Lakeview series (INT) and set of paperbacks of the Lakeview series (US)
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