Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Holding Court by K.C. Held




Book Title: Holding Court
Author: K.C. Held
Release Date: March. 1, 2016
Genre: YA Mystery


Sixteen-year-old Jules Verity knows exactly what's in store at her new job at castle-turned-dinner-theater Tudor Times. Some extra cash, wearing a fancy-pants dress, and plenty of time to secretly drool over the ever-so-tasty--and completely unavailable--Grayson Chandler. Except that it's not quite what she imagined.

For one, the costume Jules has to wear is awful. Then there's the dead body she finds that just kind of...well, disappears. Oh, and there's the small issue of Jules and her episodes of what her best friend calls "Psychic Tourette's Syndrome"--spontaneous and uncontrollable outbursts of seemingly absurd prophecies.

The only bright side? This whole dead body thing seems to have gotten Grayson's attention. Except that the more Jules investigates, the more she discovers that Grayson's interest might not be as courtly as she thought. In fact, it's starting to look suspicious...















Even though this YA book was a murder mystery, it was a lot of fun! It was cute, charming, and quite funny. There were certain things that I didn't like about this book, but I definitely enjoyed it as a whole.


I felt like the first chapter of this book was a little jarring. The book jumped right into talking about Juliet's premonitions that she blurts out, and it made me very confused. It took me a little while to understanding what was happening. Once I understood Juliet's situation, the book was a lot more enjoyable. 

Juliet was a fun main character. I thought she was really witty and adorable. However, she was a bit oblivious at times, and I wanted to shake some sense into her! Other than that, I thought Juliet was a great main character. I really liked her relationship with her family and her best friend, Cami. Her grandmother was hilarious! Cami was a sweet girl, but her obsession with getting Juliet and Grayson together was a little tiresome.

Speaking of Grayson, I thought he was so swoon worthy.  Just look at him... *swoons again* 


His relationship with Juliet was really cute. It seemed a little cliche and I think it could have done with more development, but it was still adorable. They had some really sweet moments together, and I would love to read about them more. I can tell that with more development, they would be such a great couple. 




I thought the plot of this book was really interesting! The author did a great job at creating a mystery that wasn't boring or extremely predictable. I had a fun time trying to figure out the mystery right along side Juliet. One thing I thought was missing from the book was more explanation on Juliet's powers. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if I had a better understanding of her abilities, why she has them, the history of her powers, etc. 

One of my favorite things about this book was that it had so many references to The Princess Bride . I love that movie, and I thought all the references to it in this book were fantastic! It was even better when Grayson and Juliet flirted by using quotes from the movie.



Overall, this was a quick and entertaining read. I would definitely read a sequel to this book if the author wrote one!

4 / 5 Fangs

*This ebook was given to me in exchange for a honest review. * 




One (1) winner will receive Holding Court swag pack containing a magnetic prophecy kit, signed bookplate, coloring postcard with stacked coloring pencil, and a bookmark.




http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/c08c9e8e508/?









K.C. HELD was born and raised in California with stopovers in Honduras, Mexico, and France. Married to her high school sweetheart, and mom to two avid bookworms, she holds an MFA in costume design and is an accomplished seamstress with a background in opera, theater, film, and television. Although she once spent a summer working in a castle, there were no dead bodies involved.





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