Blog Tour: Hope is Lost (Ocean Beach #2) by Emma James - Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

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Synopsis:

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

-Jimi Hendrix

Keanu Lee, the funny man, finds himself on the sticky end of a night out with his best friend Levi. Keanu's life is about to take another unexpected, sharp turn. New friends will be found under the most unique circumstances.

Hope Walker is a lost soul, and Ajax, the street performer, is her unspoken protector. Together, they survive the streets of Ocean Beach.

Life has a way of righting wrongs when you least expect it.

Come join this sexy crew as they show you that, even though life may take from you, it can also give back when you least anticipate it.

The Ocean Beach series continues with the brotherhood, passion, and laughter you have grown to love, and through the eyes of these survivors, you will realize love can truly heal.

The past will never be forgotten, but there is hope if you just allow yourself to have a little faith.

Review:

I have been waiting what feels like forever for Hope is Lost to come out and it is finally here! Please note Hope is Lost is the second book in a series. These are not stand alone books. You need to read A Little Faith before you start this book or you will be lost. Besides A Little Faith was a great read so why would you want to skip that? Alright, now that that is out of the way on to my review.

Hope is Lost was such a great read. I loved it from beginning to end. The author does a really great job of writing a story with so many main characters, so many chapters from different people, but making it work. I love how the book is about everyone with one of the characters maybe a little more of a main focus, but not solely about them by any means. It is really about everyone. Sure Keanu is more of a focus in this book, his story is told more than others, but you still get a bit of everyone in there. It works really well and I really enjoy that aspect of the story. Most authors have one book about one character with little in the way of the background characters, but this one mixes it up and it really works. It is truly the story of the guys who are like brothers, Faith, and the other important people in their lives. I loved it. 

The first book ended with Emma seeing Levi and freaking out a bit, but you don't know why. This book picks up right there where that left off. You get to know Levi and Slade more, though Levi is still a bit elusive for me. Like I know more about him and what happened to him on the island, but I still don't have a good read on him. Tricky tricky Levi. What about the other characters? Well let's catch up on them since I don't want to reveal to much shall we?

Harley - He is not in this book as much as the first one and I found I liked him more than I originally did. He is not as overprotective big brother, but we will see some changes come in the future for him. By the end he is finally realizing and accepting what's going on with some of the other characters and he will have to learn to adapt. 

Retro and Birdie - they are in here and doing well. They are so cute together and it is nice to see them happy as a couple. And Retro is turning into the love guru now that he is in love which was fun. 

Slade - You get to know him a lot more in this story. He was kind of just the bartender in the fist book and I didn't really know much about him other than that, but you see a lot of him in here. I loved him by the end. He is so great. The more I got to know of him the more I liked him. This big strong teddy bear of a guy. So sweet and cute and tough and patient and just amazing. I can't wait to see how he gets his happily ever after!

Text/Jase - Swoon. He is still my favorite. I love him so much. I would read book after book of just him. Not that I don't love the other guys, but there is just something about him that draws me to him. He probably has the most issues of any of the guys seeing as how he won't/can't even talk after and about what happened. I cannot wait to hear his story and watch him heal and move on as he is just amazing. He is here and trying to deal with his feelings and things changing and he just has a lot to work through, but I am sure he will get there. I cannot wait to see him happy. 

Keanu - As I said above this book has a greater focus on Keanu. He has some rough times that really challenge him and everyone else, but he is still that positive funny guy. I know he hides behind his humor, but he really has a good heart in there. His whole everything happens for a reason, pay it forward, give as much as you get thing is really amazing in this book. The things he does for some of the new people you meet just blows my mind. Things that most people would never even consider doing. He is truly an amazing person. He is so caring and giving and just unbelievable. Even the other guys are not as accepting of some of the generous things he does, some of the decisions he makes, at least not at first. I cannot say enough good things about him. His version of pay it forward is so far beyond what most people would do. With everything that happens he still has such a great attitude which is really inspiring. He is a great character. 

Faith - She is still in this story, but not as big of a part as the first book. She is still there for the guys and trying to figure everything out and help them deal with Chance not being there anymore. 

Oh and we have the new additions, though they were in the first book briefly, of Hope and Ajax. Hope is like Keanu in a lot of ways. Even though she has had a rough life she is still incredibly sweet and will do whatever to help someone in need. She would give everything she has to someone else if they needed it even though she doesn't have much herself. She is so incredibly kind and it breaks your heart a bit to learn about her life. At least she has Ajax to help keep an eye out. 

Overall this was a great read. You get to know more about all of the characters, see how they are doing and how they are really dealing with everything that happens. You get to see all the characters really start to move on and find their happiness. How positive some of the characters are in the face of such adversity is amazing. All of the characters in the book are so great and kind and just willing to do whatever for someone they don't even know. Really a great read and now for the wait until the next book comes out! I cannot wait!

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★1/2

Excerpt:

Faith Pov

I change the subject quickly. “Thank you for doing this with me. I appreciate the company"

“I’m at your beck and call. Where are we off to?”

“Can we please go down to the Municipal Pier first and see if we can find my friend?”

“You do know, I’m gonna go all Jackie Chan on anybody who steps out of line, right? By the way, you still haven’t told me what we’re doing with a cooler bag of food and whatever you’ve got in that bag of yours I noticed in the backseat.”

“Promise me you’ll accept what I want to do, just like Retro did.”

“Okay. I promise to hear you out, and then I will be prepared for my Jackie Chan moment because I know, if you’re keeping it from Harley and so is Retro by getting me involved, then you shouldn’t be doing this by yourself.”

About the Author:

Emma James lives in Queensland, Australia with her smexy husband, three children and a big black Labrador. Life is busy and most entertaining in the James household.

Writing has been a part of her life for many years. Life was getting on and it was time to put her fears aside and do what she does best. It was time to show readers what she was made of, take that leap off the diving board and see where it takes her.

Emma is a creative person at heart. She loves to read as much as write, devouring books into the wee hours of the morning.

Who needs sleep, right?

Photography is another great passion of hers.

A Little Faith is the first book released in the Ocean Beach series and proved to be quite the surprise read of 2014 for contemporary romance lovers with Hope Is Lost following closely on.

Emma James is one determined snowflake who is here to make her imprint in the writing world.

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