Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Rites of Spring (Break) by Diana Peterfreund


Rites of Spring (Break)
Ivy League, Book 3
Diana Peterfreund
Delta
June 24, 2008
ISBN# 978-0-385-34193-6

From the back cover:
From “witty and endearing” to “impossible to put down,” the critics have given elite marks to Diana Peterfreund’s Secret Society Girl and Under the Rose. Now, in a wildly captivating new novel, Amy “Bugaboo” Haskel and her fellow Rose & Grave knights are trading cold, gray, hyperintellectual New Haven for an annual rite of spring (well, early March) in Florida.
-
For Amy, a week of R&R on her secret society’s private island should be all fun in the sun—and an escape from an on-campus feud with a rival society that’s turned disturbingly personal. But along with her SPF 30 and a bikini, Amy is bringing a suitcase full of issues to remote Cavador Key. Graduation from Eli University looms, not to mention buckets of unfinished business with a former flame and—most pressing of all—the sudden, startling transformation of a mysterious Rose & Grave patriarch from sheerly evil to utterly…appealing?
-
Just when Amy thinks Spring Break can’t get any less relaxing, a wacky “accident” puts everyone on edge. And that’s only the beginning, as Amy starts to suspect that someone has infiltrated the island. With some major Rose & Grave secrets to be exposed, and the potential fallout enough to take down one of America’s most loathsome figureheads, what she can’t know is that the party crasher is deadly serious about making sure “Bugaboo” doesn’t get back to Eli alive….
-
My thoughts:
When the members of Dragon’s Head identify Amy “Bugaboo” Haskel for some retaliation that she and her fellow members of Rose & Grave carried out, she alone becomes the target of their vicious pranks. Graduation is just around the corner, and Amy’s tired of living in constant worry of what the rival group may do next. She’s counting down the days until she accompanies Rose & Grave to their private island, Cavador Key, in Florida’s warmer climate.

With a near-death experience along the way, the group arrives to what should be their tropical paradise. While the current Rose & Grave have learned to accept the co-ed group that had once been only men, its alumni isn’t nearly as ready to acknowledge that the change is for the good. When things begin going wrong it’s easy to blame it on the women they feel are so untrustworthy, but when the women become the target even the hardcore alumni will have to step back and take another look.

As things heat up and turn dangerous, Amy finds herself in the arms of someone she never expected. What starts as a swimming lesson might turn into something more if they can all just manage to survive their island vacation.

In this third installment of the Ivy League series, a week of fun in the sun quickly turns threatening. As graduation looms in the near future, Amy and her friends think to their futures and try to survive their time on Cavador Key. Ms. Peterfreund offers fans a well-detailed world, and packs her latest book with non-stop danger and mystery. There’s a delicious bit of romance added to the mix that will both surprise and delight. Rites of Spring (Break) is a dose of campus life with secret societies that readers won’t soon forget.

Kimberly Swan, Darque Reviews

2 comments:

Angiegirl said...

Ohmygoodness, I just finished this one and loved it. So very happy with how the, uh, swimming lessons turned out.

Kimberly Swan said...

Hi Angie! Yep...those lessons turned out very well. *grin*