Winterhaven Books is very happy to share with you our review and interview with C.J. Omololu! Thank you to Bloomsbury for allowing us to participate in this blog tour!
Welcome C.J.!
Favorite book when you were a child:
I had two favorites – The All of a Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor and a kid’s science fiction book that I got from the Scholastic book fair called Dar Tellum: Stranger from a Distant Planet by James R. Berry. I loved that book and recently found a copy on Ebay that I snatched up.
Book you’ve bought for the cover:
I buy a lot of books through word of mouth so the covers aren’t as important. One though is Adaptation by Malindo Lo – that’s a striking cover.
Favorite line from a book:
“Three things I know this second: I have morning breath, I’m naked, and I’m waking up next to a boy I don’t know.” That’s the opening line from Daisy Whitney’s The Mockingbirds and it’s what made me want to be friends with her.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Best example of an unreliable narrator I can think of.
Do you believe in reincarnation:
I’m not sure. That’s a cop-out, I know. I think that there are so many things that can’t be explained otherwise – déjà vu, strange feelings you get when you visit a place for the first time. I more believe in it than I don’t if that makes sense.
If you could be anyone from the past, who would you be and why:
I would like to have been a woman in Paris in the 1920s. It just seems so exciting – a time when big changes were happening both socially and with technology. Of course, World War II put a bit of a damper on that later on, but that one moment in time would have been amazing.
What was your favorite scene in Intuition and why:
That’s a really tough question. There’s a scene with her and another character on a yacht that I like because she’s starting to realize that she has to be true to herself, regardless of what others expect from her. I think my favorite would be a fight scene that takes place in the ‘safe room’ of a Victorian mansion in San Francisco where she learns to use her skills to solve a big problem. It’s the first time that both Cole and the reader realize that she can be pretty badass. Can I say that?
What can we expect from you in the future:
I’m working on a contemporary thriller that I love and hope to have news about soon. I’m also deep into a new ‘issue’ book that is more along the lines of my first book Dirty Little Secrets – I can’t say too much about that one at the moment. There are so many more stories to tell – I hope I get to share some of them with my readers.
Intuition (Transcendence, #2) by C.J. Omololu
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Publication Date: June 18, 2013
Amazon / Barns & Noble
As Cole begins to accept her new life as Akhet, someone who can remember flashes of her past lives, every new vision from her past lives helps explain who she is in this life. As her passion for Griffon grows, she learns to identify other Akhet around her, including Drew, the young self-made millionaire who reveals his startling connection to Cole-he was her husband in Elizabethan England and gave her the ankh necklace that has been returned to her after centuries in hiding. Drew's attentions are overwhelming as he insists that their connection in the past signals their future destiny together, but before she can decide who she truly loves, Cole must learn to harness her unique Akhet abilities if she is to ever understand her role in this strange new world.My Thoughts:
Cole is having a difficult time processing the fact that her injury inflicted by Veronique, hasn't allowed her to play the cello as she once had. So she gives lessons to others in the meantime.
"You can't let your circumstances dictate your life. Only you can decide. Success is twenty percent ability and eighty percent desire. You can do anything you want. As long as you want it badly enough." (I loved this quote.)
Cole and Griffon are closer than ever and she is wanting to connect with him on a deeper level, but when memories from a former life in the Sixteenth Century England occurs, and a gorgeous Drew enters the picture, her life takes a turn she hadn't expected. He happened to be at a party Cole went to and from there, the memories kept developing and so did her attraction.
"I will always love you, Allison. Never forget. No matter what happens, I will love you."
Drew stole my heart right away, and the efforts he made to rehash that old flame with Cole was sweet and amazing. But Cole was at a pivotal point with Griffon. Once he realized who Drew was, Griffon made a difficult sacrifice, one that would have torn my heart apart had I been in her shoes.
Veronique is back on the scene and of course she has an agenda and no one knows what she's up to. Rayne, Cole's best friend, was being convinced by Veronique that she was Allesandra in her past life, however, Rayne is not Akhet like Cole, Griffon, and Drew are. This girl is relentless!
Very unexpected twist occur and Rayne is in the middle of a huge discovery. Not only that, but Cole's abilities increase and it's something that is immensely valuable to the Sekhem. The action picks up and the twist get even crazier.
I really enjoyed Intuition. I am always so enamored with the Akhet and what their past lives we like and if they were linked to another person in the present life. When Drew finally had a chance with Cole, I was swept up in his charm, and the sweetness he showed to her. But there was a specific scene that it came to a point where he came on too strong and it was evident that Cole felt that as well. Sometimes what we think we want isn't what we need. And Cole realized that what she truly needed was Griffon. I am not going to lie, I was pretty pissed when Griffon stepped back and gave Cole time to figure out what she wanted. In the earlier stages of the book, he says how much he loves her and he would do anything for her. Yes, I was not a happy camper, but after finishing the last chapter, I give him credit for doing something so difficult. Because it wasn't just difficult for her, it was for him as well.
Scattered throughout the story, Cole develops new memories from two previous past lives. And I wonder if maybe they are branches for a possible new story. But, I guess we will have to wait and see. I hope it isn't the end for Drew's character, because I really did like him. The ending couldn't have been any better in my mind.
Overall, I really enjoyed this story. And I am looking forward to the next. I applaud C.J. for kicking out an awesome second book.
