Holly's Reading Hollow: RDL: Greed by Fisher Amelie + Review + Excerpt + Giveaway (CLOSED)

The newest novel by Fisher Amelie, Greed, was supposed to release today but instead...it released early yesterday! Thanks for stopping by my hollow of the book blogging world to join me in celebration of Fisher's new release with a Release Day Launch! Greed is a mature young adult/new adult contemporary novel and is the second book in The Seven Deadly Series by Fisher Amelie. Continue reading for more on Greed including my review, an excerpt, and a giveaway! You could win a signed copy of Vain, Book 1 in the series, or a Kindle Fire!

ABOUT GREED:

Gather ‘round, love, because I want you. I want what you have, I want what you don’t have, I want more of what I already have. I want. But if you so much as ask for something in return, go ahead and walk away. Know if you want to play in my world, it’s every man for themselves and the weak become mine. Leeches will be obliterated because I make it my job to destroy them. I protect what’s mine and I take what’s yours...because that’s what I do. I want.

My story will not endear me to you and, frankly, I could care less if it does because I’m in this for the money and nothing else. There’s nothing redeeming about me. I’m a corrupt, money hungry, immoral asshole from Los Angeles. I’m every man’s worst nightmare and every girl’s fantasy.

I’m Spencer Blackwell...And this is the story about how I went from the world’s most coveted guy to the guy no one wanted around and why I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

~~Add Greed to: GOODREADS~~

My Review

First off, I'd like to thank Kelly Simmon for providing me a copy of Greed in exchange for an honest review on today's post! I was not compensated in any other way and the following words are my own thoughts.

If I were to pick only one thing about this series that I love (which, mind you, is hard to do) it would be the theme. For those who don't know, each book in The Seven Deadly series focuses in on one of the Seven Deadly Sins (see picture on the right). The way Fisher Amelie centers a story around such a crucial thing is impeccable. The sins are not "small" sins. They're sin at its worst as the characters are at the lowest, darkest part of theirs lives. In Greed, Fisher Amelie doesn't just show that Spencer is a money lover--she shows that he will go to no limit to get the money he wants and thinks he needs. The situations of this series are amazingly intense!

I LOVED how greed and Spencer's inner demons were portrayed throughout the entire book! The symbolism and parallel to the Bible had me flailing my limbs at the pure brilliance of the idea. No joke. But it also gave me the chills, seeing how deep the devil can root itself in someone and how rough it is to attempt breaking Satan's hold... As I read, I kept thinking about one of my favorite songs of 2013, Demons by Imagine Dragons.

"With the beast inside
there's nowhere we can hide.

No matter what we breed

we still are made of GREED."

Spencer's story begins with us seeing just how greedy he is as he takes part in an illegal and harmful activity. I was so shocked by it that I just kept wishing for something inside Spencer to click and slowly change his greedy nature.

"This was who I was. Hopeless personified."

The click didn't end up coming from inside him but from something unexpected; it sent him and his sister Bridge fleeing to a down-to-earth place where joyous and humble people lived on hard work and the money they stretched to the last penny. The sense of family and the emphasis on lending a helping hand to your neighbor touched my heart as much as it shook up Spencer. The impact the Hunt family made on Spencer was gradual but the life transformation Spencer made was wonderful to see. Redemption is a huge part of this series and seeing Spencer's redemption was too sweet to not love.

Which brings me to the love story.

Click.

At times, the romance was a bit cheesy. Spencer glorified Cricket and I didn't really fall for it. I wish Spencer and Cricket had shared more scenes together, or had given us more conversations so I could tell that Spencer's feelings weren't just based off of what he observed of Cricket and that Cricket truly reciprocated Spencer's feelings. For instance, Sophie and Ian spent more time together in Vain, allowing me to see that their feelings for each other were completely in sync and understand why they had feelings for the other. I didn't always get that with Spencer and Cricket. In the end, Spencer and Cricket were cute together. Without intentionally doing anything, Cricket changed Spencer and that was beautiful to see.

"I studied the girl before me. She was beautiful beyond belief, but she wasn't some object to conquer, she was someone to be cherished, someone to be loved, someone to be revered."

And oh my goodness the ending was so sweet! The surgery, both reunions, the newcomer, the big day...(I'm trying to be discrete, can you tell?)... Incredible! Loved! Also, I'm just kind of throwing this out there, but I didn't catch the clue in Vain that suggested Spencer's story...

"We were all in the same boat, prisoners to greed."

-Sophie Price, VAIN

until it was shoved under my nose in Greed so I was on the look out for the clue for the next book in this series, Fury. When I spotted it...oh boy oh boy and I excited for this next book! Fisher always comes up with the best scenarios for this series and I know this upcoming novel is going to be mind-blowing!

There were so many aspects of Greed that I loved, from Bridge's vulnerable yet extremely likable nature and the Hunt family to Spencer's redemption and the HEA. But my favorite thing about Fisher Amelie's books are the wonderful themes, motifs, and morals that are weaved into the text.

"There's always something to do here.

Proof that life does not wait, so why not

carve yourself our a little bit of happiness."

My Rating for GREED:

Although Greed can technically be read as a standalone, I HIGHLY recommend reading it after Vain. Vain is now my favorite book in the entire world. That's not even an exaggeration. I could go on talking about it until the day I die because I love it THAT much. It makes me so emotional; I'm almost in tears right now as I think about how much it has changed my life. You only stumble across those kind of books once in a life time, people. So go buy Vain and Greed, read Sophie's story, and then go enjoy Spencer's story! Thank you for reading my review! I hope you enjoy the sneak peak of Greed below!

Sneak Peak of Greed:

Prologue

Greed is a strange, strange sin.

All you want to do is acquire. Acquire money, acquire material, acquire time, acquire energy, acquire attention. The running mantra is “I want, I want, I want” but that quickly turns to “I need, I need, I need.”

Suddenly there just isn’t enough time for friends, for family, for anyone. Your goal is to acquire and to make sure what you acquire stays acquired. Your life depends on it. You don’t see truth because the truth is shadowed by enormous homes, incredibly fast cars, in lavish spending. Your life no longer belongs to you, but you are blind to it all because those around you are seeking the same.

So you shuffle along at an impossible rate, and you pass the real world around you.

But what you’ll come to realize, altogether too late, is that it’s never enough. It’s simply never enough.

Chapter One

“It’s confirmed. Peter Knight of Evergreen won’t approve the acquisition. You know what to do,” my snake of a father told me, not two steps into his front door.

“I just got off a seven-hour flight. You can’t let me settle in? Possibly say hello?”

He stood, watching me, a slight tick in his square jaw. He tucked his hands into his Italian silk pants. His six-foot frame followed the steps up to the foyer and stopped a few inches away from my own. We were face to face. Although I fell an inch shorter, he no longer intimidated me. I knew if I had to, I could kick his ass.

“Hello, Spencer,” he said, a serpent’s smile spread wide across his mouth before falling flat. “Get to work. I don’t pay you to sit around. I don’t care if it is your Christmas break.”

We stayed where we were, each waiting on the other to back down. The tension was palpable. In the end, his face relaxed and he began to chuckle, stepping aside and making way for me. I picked up my bags and headed for my room, giving myself plenty of space to pass him without touching him.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I changed my mind and threw my bags on the second to last step, intending to pick them up later. I stretched my muscles, loving the feel of my back popping, and started for the kitchen.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he asked, still standing in the foyer, watching my every move.

“If I don’t say hi to Mom and Bridge, they’ll think something’s up,” I told him and continued on.

He didn’t respond, but I felt his stare burning into the back of my head.

About the author:

Fisher Amelie is the author of The Leaving Series, Callum & Harper Thomas & January, and The Seven Deadly Series. She began her writing career as a copywriter for an internet marketing company wherein one of their client's said, 'Hey! You're funny. You should write books'. Which in turn she said, 'Hey, get out of here! This is the lady's restroom.' While washing her hands and the embarrassment from her face, she thought they may have had a valid point. So, she took the thousands of hours of writing stories growing up, tucked them into her pocket and began writing and writing and writing.