The Secret of Ella and Micha (The Secret #1) by Jessica Sorensen Blog Tour & Giveaway

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Ella and Micha have been best friends since they were kids. But one tragic night shatters their friendship and their lives forever.

Ella used to be a rule-breaker with fiery attitude who wore her heart on her sleeve. But she left everything behind when she went to college and transformed into someone that follows the rules, keeps everything together, and hides all her problems. But now it's summer break and she has nowhere else to go but home.

Ella fears everything she worked so hard to bury might resurface, especially with Micha living right next door. If Micha tries to tempt the old her back, she knows that it will be hard to resist.

Micha is sexy, smart, confident, and can get under Ella’s skin like no one else can. He knows everything about her, including her darkest secrets. And he’s determined to bring his best friend, and the girl he loves back, no matter what it takes.

I'll sum up my reaction after reading this in just one day: WOW! I first read this as an e-book a couple months ago and am so thrilled that it's now in paperback. Sorensen has written two very intriguing characters that I could not get enough of. I was instantly interested in what made Ella and Micha best friends and what eventually derailed that friendship.

Ella turned her back on her past but she can’t run too far from it especially when she has to return home for the summer from college. When she left, she did so without saying goodbye to anyone or where she was going. That included Micha. As soon as she gets home, she’s confronted by what she did and who she left behind. Micha represents so much that is at once so beautiful and painful about a moment in her life she wants desperately to erase. For his part, Micha is angry, confused and yet so relieved to see her again. He has spent the past few months worried out of his mind for her hoping that she was okay. Seeing her again releases a tidal wave of emotions that he wants to share with her but she keeps him at a distance.

It’s clear from the get go that both Ella and Micha are messed up from whatever it is they have experienced. Aware that any sudden move might scare her off again, Micha reaches out to her by reminding her of her connections at home and most importantly to him. In different hands, he would be an arrogant stalker unable to take a hint. But these people are so well written that he comes off as charismatic and irresistible even with his arrogance. He bares all his feelings to her never once hiding that he wants to take their friendship further. Ella on the other hand is plain scared and unable to bring herself to confront her fears or the truth that she feels the same way about him.

Many things make The Secret of Ella and Micha work. Both are complicated people with  issues that they have to work through mostly regarding their parents. They are so guarded about themselves yet there’d be no hesitation to help the other one out. There's this struggle to find a balance between the need to change but not give up your identity completely in the process. Both have friends who are surprisingly insightful despite the lack of information they’re privy to. Ella’s college roommate Lilah, seems like a privileged kid but she’s quite astute about Ella’s problems as they slowly come to light. Ethan, Micha’s best friend knows him better than anyone and has no problem calling him out when needed.

Perhaps the best part of the book is the mind-blowing chemistry between the two. Holy cow do the pages sizzle with sexual tension! There are as many steamy moments as there are tender ones. I could not break away from it. I loved Micha’s point of view - the way he looked at Ella, adored her, needed her. Seriously, there was a lot of swooning and knuckle-biting happening on my part! 

The Secret of Ella and Micha makes for fantastic reading. Sorensen did such a bang up job here and after reading a couple of teasers for the next book, I am not exaggerating when I say that I CANNOT wait to get my hands on The Forever of Ella and Micha.

~ Bel

Jessica Sorensen Interview & Giveaway 

Readers, I'm so very thrilled for BiblioJunkies to be a part of The Secret of Ella and Micha Blog Tour. As you can tell from my review, this is one of my favorite reads so far this year. And I'm very excited to have Jessica join us today for a quick Q and A.

You write the story from both Ella’s and Micha’s point of view. With either having their own baggage I was struck by how well you’d given them their own distinct voice. How conscientious were you about that when you were writing as each of them?
I was a little skeptical when I first decided to write from dual POV’s because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to give them a distinct voice, but I was surprised by how naturally it came out.

So spill – I had a lot of fun reading them but how much fun did you have writing those steamy scenes (which was pretty much every time they looked at each other)?

There was so much sexual tension between Ella and Micha and I loved every second of it.  In fact, the steamy scenes between them were some of my favorite scenes I’ve ever written.

Music plays a huge part in your books. What song do you feel describes Ella and Micha’s relationship best?

I have two actually, that remind me of their relationship. “The Story” by Brandi Carlile and “All the Same” by SickPuppies.

Time for silly questions. The BiblioJunkies motto is “boys, books and pie”. What’s your favorite sweet treat?

Hmmm… I think I have to go with cheesecake.

Who should play Ella and Micha if it were to be a movie?

Off the top of my head, I’d say Chace Crawford for Micha and Emma Stone for Ella.

Finally, can I have a sneak peek of The Forever of Ella and Micha? Pretty please? I’ll get you Chevelle tickets :-) (I have to try!)

Lol, okay!

I shuck off my shirt, climb onto the bed, and cover my body over her. Her fingers trace my stomach muscles and the black cursive font of my tattoo on my ribs.

“I’ll always be with you, inside and out,” she reads it. “Through hard times and helpless ones, through love, through doubt.”

I lean back a little, bring her hand to my mouth, and gently kiss her palm. “You know I wrote that for you.”

“No you didn’t.” Her eyelids flutter as I breathe on the sensitive spot of her wrist. “You wrote that when you were like sixteen.”

“Actually fifteen.” I release her hand and lie down on top of her, supporting my weight up with my arms.  “I remember sitting down to write it and the only inspiration I had was your sad eyes—I couldn’t get them out of my head.”

She pouts out her lip. “I don’t have sad eyes, do I?”

I brush my finger along her cheekbone and underneath one of her green eyes. “You did. All the time. And sometimes you still do.”

“You look sad sometimes too,” she tells me with her auburn hair spread out across the pillow. “But right now you look happy.”

“That’s because I am happy.” I start singing her the lyrics and it makes her grin broaden.

“There we go,” I say and kiss her deeply, nipping at her lip and tracing my tongue along the inside of her mouth.

She encloses her long legs around me and things turn heated. Threading my fingers through her hair, I caress her neck with my tongue until I know she’s going to have a hickey.  Her shoulder shudders upward from the touch of my breath and she giggles.

I put a small gap between us and look her in the eyes. “Does that tickle?”

She shakes her head with a solemn expression on her face. “No, not at all.”

I pinch her side playfully and she jerks sideways, attempting to roll out from under me.

“Please don’t.” She laughs, struggling for air. “Pretty please.”

I listen to her, because there’s something else I’m dying to do.  I begin to undress her, deliberately at first, but then my movements turn desperate and I end up ripping some of the buttons off her shirt.

Minutes later, our clothes are in a pile on the floor. As I stare into her eyes, I consider begging her to come with me on the road, but the moment is fleeting and I realize I just can’t do that to her.

Oh. My. God!!! Now I'm even more anxious for this book to come out! 

Thank you Jessica for stopping by! You can learn more about Jessica and her many books, music loves and even incredible sneak peeks of upcoming books by visiting her blog or by following her on Twitter @jessFallenStar.

I'd like to thank Forever Romance for inviting us to be a part of this blog tour, arranging the interview and also for supplying us with a copy of The Secret of Ella and Micha to giveaway to one of you lucky ones out there. Click here to enter: The Secret of Ella & Micha Giveaway.

~ Bel