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Wednesday, 31 July 2013
Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton Blog Tour {Giveaway}
I'm very excited to be part of Kelsey Sutton's Some Quiet Place blog tour hosted by Mod Podge Blog Tours. From the very first time I seen this amazing cover I fell in love and I knew I had to read this. I was lucky to have been presented with a digital copy courtesy of Netgalley, please stay tuned for my upcoming review, and even luckier to have been chosen for this tour!
Please follow the remaining stops of this tour, schedule can be found by clicking on the event banner above. Without further ado, please welcome...
Regret
A Typical Summons
“I’m writing a poem about … hiding,” I say, weighing my answer. “As a person. I suppose pretending is the same thing as hiding, isn’t it?”
“You’re asking my opinion?” Disbelief colors her voice.
She wipes a plate clean, clearing her throat. She takes her time to answer, mulling over it as I had. Then, “Yes, I guess pretending can be similar to hiding. Hiding doesn’t seem like the right word to use, though. I would say that when someone is pretending to be something, or hiding who they are or what they believe, they’re really more … protecting themselves.” My mother—no, I shouldn’t say that anymore, for really, she won’t ever accept it—sighs. Regret fills the empty space beside her.
Physical Traits
Regret is a rather plain Emotion and she pays me no mind, intent on her summons. Her eyes are wide and muddy, her hair mousy.
About The Book
Some Quiet Place
by Kelsey Sutton
Publication Date: July 8, 2013
Publisher: Flux
I can’t weep. I can’t fear. I’ve grown talented at pretending.Elizabeth Caldwell doesn’t feel emotions . . . she sees them. Longing, Shame, and Courage materialize around her classmates. Fury and Resentment appear in her dysfunctional home. They’ve all given up on Elizabeth because she doesn’t succumb to their touch. All, that is, save one—Fear. He’s intrigued by her, as desperate to understand the accident that changed Elizabeth’s life as she is herself.Elizabeth and Fear both sense that the key to her past is hidden in the dream paintings she hides in the family barn. But a shadowy menace has begun to stalk her, and try as she might, Elizabeth can barely avoid the brutality of her life long enough to uncover the truth about herself. When it matters most, will she be able to rely on Fear to save her?
About The Author
Kelsey Sutton
Kelsey Sutton has done everything from training dogs, making cheeseburgers, selling yellow page ads, and cleaning hotel rooms. Now she divides her time between her college classes and her writing, though she can also sometimes be found pounding out horrible renditions of Beethoven on the piano and trying bizarre drinks at her local coffee shop. Kelsey lives in northern Minnesota with her dog and cat, Lewis and Clark.
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Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Morai by Ruth Silver Cover Reveal
I'm so excited to be participating in the Cover Reveal for Moirai, book 2 in the Aberrant Series by Ruth Silver. I loved Aberrant, please click here for my review. Without further ado...
Cover Reveal
Morai
by Ruth Silver
Series: Aberrant #2
Release Date: September 2013
Olivia has been on the run from the government of Cabal since the marriage ceremony. Finally settling in and finding herself a place to call home, in Shadow, Olivia and Joshua are preparing for the uprising that they and the rebel alliance have been planning for months.
With new abilities and special talents, from Mindonsiphan, Olivia learns that she can do more than most ordinary eighteen year olds. Learning both to hide and perfect her skills will be one of the biggest challenges she'll be forced to face.
A constant rollercoaster of emotion and adventure await Olivia and Joshua, as they embark on a journey to the rebel city of Torv, and what was once home, Genesis.
About The Author
Ruth Silver
Ruth Silver first began writing poetry as a teenager and reading heaps of fan fiction in her free time. She has written under three unique pseudo names and penned well over a hundred stories.
She attended Northern Illinois University in 2001 and graduated with a Bachelor's in Communication. While in college she spent much of her free time writing with friends she met online and penning her first novel, "Deuces are Wild", which she self-published in 2004. Her favorite class was Creative Writing senior year where she often handed in assignments longer than the professor required because she loved to write and always wanted to finish her stories.
Her love of writing, led her on an adventure in 2007 to Melbourne, Australia. Silver enjoys reading YA novels and sharing her favorite books with other readers. She runs her own book blog and also enjoys photography and traveling.
Her favorite YA genre is a mix of Dystopian & Fantasy which is evident in the upcoming release of her latest book, Aberrant. Slated for release April 2013 by Lazy Day Publishing, it is the first in a trilogy.
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Monday, 29 July 2013
You Are Mine by Janeal Falor Book Blitz {Giveaway}
About The Book
You Are Mine
by Janeal Falor
Series: Mine #1
Release Date: May 6, 2013
Serena knows a few simple things. She will always be owned by a warlock. She will never have freedom. She will always do what her warlock wishes, regardless of how inane, frivolous, or cruel it is. And if she doesn’t follow the rules, she will be tarnished. Spelled to be bald, inked, and barren for the rest of her life—worth less than the shadow she casts.
Then her ownership is won by a barbarian from another country. With the uncertainty that comes from belonging to a new warlock, Serena questions if being tarnished is really worse than being owned by a barbarian, and tempts fate by breaking the rules. When he looks the other way instead of punishing her, she discovers a new world. The more she ventures into the forbidden, the more she learns of love and a freedom just out of reach. Serena longs for both. But in a society where women are only ever property, hoping for more could be deadly.
Reviews
I was blown away by the beautiful writing, haunting themes, and chilling visuals. ~ Becca at Nawanda Files
There were times when I had to fight back my tears and the emotion that this book drew from me made me feel so connected to what was going on as if I was actually there. You Are Mine should be on everyones to-read list and I cannot wait to see what Janeal Falor comes up with next. ~ Danielle at Coffee and Characters
Buy It Now for only 99c
Excerpt
“May I kiss you now?”
No. Kisses leave me feeling sick. “I suppose it would be for the best.”
He leans closer. I want to pull away. Thomas's kisses were callous. Painful even. The thought of more of that makes me feel queasy. But giving my permission somehow makes it harder to pull away.
His hand reaches up and brushes my face. Flecks of gold are mixed with the green of his eyes. Suddenly, he scoops me into his arms and plops me on his lap. I yelp. “Sorry, I guess I should have warned you first.”
After straightening my skirt with quivering fingers, I hold myself stiff. His nose nuzzles against the side of my neck. Warm lips brush my jaw and sweep along my cheek until they reach the corner of my mouth. My breath comes in shallow gasps. He smells lightly of citrus.
I don't move. His fingers tangle in my hair. His lips hover over mine. A nervous flutter grows in my chest. The creak of the door opening spurs him into action.
His lips touch mine. Flowing and sunny. They grow firmer. It feels so much better than I thought it could. His fingers run through my hair, the tendrils falling out of their confinement. Heat grows between us. He pulls me closer to him. Not only do I manage to refrain from fighting him, but I want to draw even closer.
About The Author
Janeal Falor
Janeal Falor lives in Utah where she’s finally managed to live in the same house for more than five years without moving. In her spare time she reads books like they’re nuts covered in caramel and chocolate, cooks whatever strikes her fancy, and enjoys the outdoors. Her husband and three children try to keep up with her overactive imagination. Usually they settle for having dinner on the table, even if she’s still going on about the voices in her head.
~ Giveaway ~
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Beat The Heat Read-a-thon
Most of y'all know I love Read-a-thons it really gets my butt kicked into gear and read more and I love the whole socialisation and community of Read-a-thons, maybe that's why I love it so much. Anyhow, a new Read-a-thon is taking place, a Beat The Heat Read-a-thon co-hosted by a blog I follow; Phantasmic Reads. To join and for all the official stuff click on the banner above. This page will be updated when the Read-a-thon begins with the books I hope to read during the two week period along with my updates and goals, so stay tuned...
Sunday, 28 July 2013
ARC August
ARC August is a month long challenge hosted by Octavia and Read, Sleep, Repeat. It's main purpose is to challenge us bloggers to read as many of our ARC books in the month of August. To sign up and for all the other official stuff, click on the link or banner above.
Goals
These are books from Netgalley/Edelweiss. Only the latter three are for blog tours in August.
As I finish reading each one I'll remove the picture and link my review to my weekly updates. So the less book covers that are on here the better! I don't think I'll finish all these, but I'd like to at least get through half of it.
AND I may even have books that I do read that ARE ARC's but aren't on this list, I'll just update those with my review links on my weekly updates.
Week 1 (August 1-7)
Banish by Nicola Marsh
Pretty When She Dies by Rhiannon Frater
Tragic by JA Huss
Week 2 (August 8-14)
Date with the Dead by Chris Myers
Letters to Nowhere by Julie Cross
As I finish reading each one I'll remove the picture and link my review to my weekly updates. So the less book covers that are on here the better! I don't think I'll finish all these, but I'd like to at least get through half of it.
AND I may even have books that I do read that ARE ARC's but aren't on this list, I'll just update those with my review links on my weekly updates.
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Week 1 (August 1-7)
Banish by Nicola Marsh
Pretty When She Dies by Rhiannon Frater
Tragic by JA Huss
Week 2 (August 8-14)
Date with the Dead by Chris Myers
Letters to Nowhere by Julie Cross
Banish by Nicola Marsh
Pretty When She Dies by Rhiannon Frater
Tragic by JA Huss
Week 2 (August 8-14)
Date with the Dead by Chris Myers
Letters to Nowhere by Julie Cross
Friday Hop ~ Feature & Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop
Book Blogger Hop hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer
How do you organise your books to be read?
This is a fantastic topic and I can't wait to read everyone's replies. I'm looking for an organising app of some sort to help me catalogue all my books, as I've bought several duplicates, so I'd love a system that will let me know what books I already own.
So far my only organisation tool is Goodreads and I organise books to be read by looking at my calendar, seeing what books I've got up for review, reading those first, along with other special events like Read-along and Bookclub reads and then after all that then my personal TBR pile.
Looking forward to everyone's response!
The Rules:-
- You MUST follow BOTH hosts Rachel @ Parajunkee and Alison @ Alison Can Read
- You MUST follow BOTH Featured Blogs of the week (linked below)
- Do your own Feature & Follow Friday post answering the question of the week and link to it at the bottom of this post
- Follow and comment on other participants Feature & Follow Friday posts!
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Day 15 Book Blogger Challenge ~ Book Blogging Mentors
The 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge is created by April at Good Books and Good Wine. Daily for the duration of 15 days each blogger participating will post their reply to the corresponding topic above. April will post up her daily response along with a linky so that participating bloggers can leave their own link to their daily post. Click on the event banner or link above for more information or to sign-up.
Here's my Book Blogger Challenge Responses:
Day 3 & 4 - Blogging BFF's and Books flung across the room
Day 5 - Tear Jerkers
Day 6 - Shopping for Books
Day 7 - Blogging Quirks
Day 8 - Blog Appeal
Day 9 - Why do I blog about books?
Day 10 - How do I choose what book to read?
Day 11 & 12 - 5 Best blog posts and Combat Book Blogger Fatigue
Day 13 - Under Appreciated Book that EVERYONE should read
Day 14 - Book Deal Breakers
I haven't been a part of the book blogging community for long, so unfortunately I do not know that many bloggers personally, nor have I been blessed with a mentor. However, the following bloggers are those that I consider to be my mentor, whether they know it or not.
Day 6 - Shopping for Books
Day 7 - Blogging Quirks
Day 8 - Blog Appeal
Day 9 - Why do I blog about books?
Day 10 - How do I choose what book to read?
Day 11 & 12 - 5 Best blog posts and Combat Book Blogger Fatigue
Day 13 - Under Appreciated Book that EVERYONE should read
Day 14 - Book Deal Breakers
I cannot believe it's the last day of The Book Blogger Challenge. I'm quite sad that this 15 days come to an end so quickly! I hope that April hosts a similar challenge in the near future. I really enjoyed doing these posts, along with visiting other bloggers and getting to know them so much better than just reading their normal posts. Thanks so much April for hosting this fantastic challenge and I'm definitely in when you do it again! Please check my responses for the earlier days, all linked above, and finally the last day of the Book Blogger Challenge...
Day 15 ~ Book Blogging Mentors
I haven't been a part of the book blogging community for long, so unfortunately I do not know that many bloggers personally, nor have I been blessed with a mentor. However, the following bloggers are those that I consider to be my mentor, whether they know it or not.
Diagnose Your Dystopia ~ Guest Post by JL Bryan Author of Nomad
About The Author
JL Bryan
J.L. Bryan studied English literature at the University of Georgia and at Oxford, with a focus on English Renaissance and Romantic literature. He also studied screenwriting at UCLA. He lives in the metro Atlanta sprawl with his wife Christina, where he spends most of his day serving the toddler and animal community inside his house. He is the author of the Paranormals series and the Songs of Magic series.
Diagnose Your Dystopia
Something’s not right with the world. You know it, you can feel it, and you’re probably going to die because of it. Congratulations, you’ve just discovered that you live in a nightmarish dystopian future!
The next question: what kind of dystopia? If you’re going to live, you’ll need to know this stuff. Fortunately, we’ve assembled a handy checklist to help you diagnose your dystopia.
Total Surveillance State: If they’re watching your every move, including your facial expressions and body language so they can read your thoughts, and eavesdropping on all your conversations...hey, you’re not paranoid, you just live in an Orwellian total surveillance state! Odds are, they’re trying to control all media and information, including changing past records to suit their ever-changing lies. There may be no escape, so your best bet is try and hook up with that hottie from work before the oppressors destroy your mind and soul. Good luck!
Game Show-ocracy: If you find yourself cast into a game-show-to-the-death with a name like “The Running Man” or “The Hunger Games,” then you’ve entered a world where game shows keep the public complacent. If you play the game right, you might just topple the evil rulers of your society, but you’ll have to break a few rules to succeed. If you’re trapped in a game show-ocracy, my best advice is to contact Alex Trebek from Jeopardy! That guy has all the answers.
Happy Dystopia: Hey, maybe things aren’t so bad. Maybe in this Brave New World society, the rulers encourage sex, drugs, and other completely harmless entertainments to keep the population busy and content. You can try to whip up a rebellion if you want, right after you take your happy pills, eat your chocolate, get a pedicure and a massage...maybe have a nap...is this really a dystopia?
The State of Weird Ideas: Is everyone forced to wear pink bunny hats at all times? Or perhaps the letter “Q” is forbidden by law? Sounds like you live in a world where a completely loopy-fruits dictator has come to power! Your best bet is to play along while it lasts, but if you really want to shake things up, try being even weirder than the law requires.
We hope that this short pamphlet has somewhat enhanced your chances of surviving through this unfortunate dystopian period, and living onto into the even more miserable dark age to come!
In the comments below, you could tell us what kind of dystopia you would prefer, or which kind you would most want to avoid.
About The Book
Nomad
by JL Bryan
Release Date: July 26, 2013
Publisher: JL Bryan Books
A new dystopian novel from the author of Jenny Pox - coming July 26.They took everything: her family, her home, her childhood.By the age of nineteen, Raven has spent most of her life in the sprawling slums of America, fighting as a rebel against the dictatorship. When the rebellion steals an experimental time-travel device, she travels back five decades to the year 2013. Her plan: assassinate the future dictator when he is still young and vulnerable, long before he comes to power. She must move fast to reshape history, because agents from her own time are on her trail, ready to execute her on sight.
Excerpt
Her hands were red with blood, but the cold rain washed it away. Whose blood? She couldn’t remember.
She became aware of pain throughout her body. Freezing water and tiny hailstones lashed her face as she stumbled through a storm. Dying thunder echoed in her ears, and crackles of lightning faded in the night around her.
A pair of lights rushed toward her through the darkness, but her brain couldn’t interpret what her eyes saw. A long screech ripped through her ears, followed by shrill bleats.
Car horns, she realized as the lights loomed closer. Through her thick, fuzzy brain, it dawned on her that she was staggering along a multi-lane road, seconds away from getting splattered across the oncoming grill of an eighteen-wheeled truck.
She discerned a dark space off to her left and moved into it, stepping from hard pavement into squishy wet earth. The truck that had nearly killed her squealed past as the driver braked, dousing her with a wave of cold mud. Horns blew at the stopped truck blocking up the left lane.
She rubbed her eyes and tried to grasp her surroundings—a grass median dividing an interstate highway, up to her ankles in frigid mud.
She couldn’t remember where she was, or how she’d come to be there. After a moment’s reflection, she realized she wasn’t entirely sure who she was, either.
Raven, she remembered. She clung to that word like a lifeline. My name is Raven. It is now, anyway. She’d once had a different name, but that original, scribbled-on-the-birth-certificate name no longer mattered.
She wore black boots and a long black jacket. A backpack weighed down her shoulders, but she didn’t know what it contained. She trudged on weak, trembling legs toward an overpass bridge ahead. Once she was out of the downpour, she could gather her brains and figure things out. She didn’t seem to be bleeding, so the blood on her hands must not have been her own.
“Hey! Hey there, girl! You all right?” shouted the truck driver who had almost flattened her. More cars honked and swerved to avoid crashing into the back of his trailer, which was decorated with puffy pink sheep.
Raven squinted up at him. The man was in his forties, severely overweight, with a handlebar mustache and scratchy, graying beard stubble. His blue and white cap read: MoonPie: The Original Marshmallow Sandwich!
“I’m fine!” she shouted through the downpour. “Keep going!”
“You got a car?” he asked.
“No,” she told him. “I don’t think so.”
“Where you headed?”
“I don’t know.”
“The troopers gonna lock you up if they see you! You drunk or what?”
“I don’t think so.” She raised a hand to her mouth to check her breath. Not drunk.
The trucker eyed her up and down, a soaking wet girl stumbling along the interstate alone at night, and then he swung open the passenger door.
“Best climb on up in here with me,” he said. “Gonna freeze your pants off out there.”
Raven looked at the gruff, obese man and the warm, sheltered transport he was offering, and then at the overpass bridge in the distance. Her legs were rubbery. She might not make it to the overpass before she collapsed.
“Lady, I got to get moving,” he said. “You want a ride to the exit or what?”
“Yeah,” Raven said. She had no reason to trust him, but he seemed soft-bodied and slow. If he tried to get rough, she would break his wrists. Even in her current state, she knew she could take him if he pushed her to it.
Raven stumbled around to the passenger side and struggled to climb with her weakened limbs until he took her arms and pulled her up.
“Thanks,” she whispered, still shivering. She was almost too weak to pull the door closed.
“Just glad you ain’t tore in half.” He settled back into the driver’s seat, and it groaned under his weight. “You musta been one, two, three, four inches from me. Or less. Just popped up outta nowhere when that lightning hit.” He drove cautiously through the storm. “Didn’t seem like no normal lightning, you ask me. What was you doing out there? That big flash hit the road, then you come stumbling out....Did the lightning get you?”
“I don’t know,” she said. The interior of the cab smelled like cigarette smoke and old hamburgers. A collage of small objects was glued to the dashboard—action figures, an old watch face, postcards, salt and pepper shakers. Hail clattered on the cab’s roof.
“You don’t know?” he asked.
“Sorry.” Raven shrugged off her backpack and set it on the floor between her wet boots. She wanted to see what was inside it, but not while he was watching.
“It’s Jebbie, by the way.” He offered his calloused hand, and she hesitated a moment before taking it. “Jebbie Walters. From Yazoo City, Mississippi. You got a name, darling?”
“Angela. That’s my name,” Raven said. She knew not to trust a stranger with data about herself. He might be the enemy, and she felt informants and spies were everywhere, looking to report those who resisted.
“Huh. Where you from, Angela?”
She tried to remember, but finally shrugged.
“You ain’t gotta tell me,” he said. “You going north? Cause that’s where I’m going, way up north of here. You might want to hop out quick if that ain’t your plan.”
“I’m not sure.”
“You ain’t sure about much of nothing, are you?”
“Not right now,” Raven said.
“I guess I ought to drop you up at the exit.”
“You can.” Raven shrugged. “I think I’m lost.”
He looked her over again. “Tell you what. About three, four, five miles from here’s a good spot, the Big Porcupine Travel Plaza. Got showers, motel rooms, an all-night-you-can-eat place. We could stop there, get you a place to sleep. Maybe in the morning you’ll start to remembering things. I figure you just need to sleep it off. You’re on drugs or something, ain’t you?”
“Maybe,” Raven said.
He laughed. “It’s okay by me. I don’t do drugs, myself. Just pills and booze. Well, you think about what you want to do.”
He turned up the radio, where a woman sang a slow, gentle song that Raven gradually recognized. Someone—her mother?—had once played it on the piano. It was an old song called “The Rose.”
“Uh, sorry.” Jebbie blushed pink and spun the radio knob. “I, uh, usually find a good honky-tonk or country gold station. Don’t know how my radio ended up on that soft-rock junk, or whatever that was. Yeah, here we go.” He found a song with a steel guitar and a man singing about his wife leaving him for his boss.
Raven looked at herself in the rain-streaked side mirror. She was about twenty years old, maybe nineteen. That felt right. Her black hair was pulled into a short ponytail with a rubber band. She wore all black: boots, fatigues, blouse, backpack, jacket. The knee-length jacket was made of a stretchy artificial material with a texture like a crocodile’s back. She felt a web of metallic fibers between the layers of leathery fabric. That’s armor, she realized, and she wondered why she might need armor. Her only jewelry was on her left wrist, a thin silver bracelet with a large moonstone.
She tried to reach back in time with her mind. She’d been stumbling along the highway. The moment before that: what? It was a solid blank slate, as though a giant magnet had wiped her brain clean. Perhaps the trucker was right, and she’d been struck by lightning.
Raven, she reminded herself. I know my name.
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Guest Post & Review ~ Losing Francesca by J.A. Huss {Giveaway}
Welcome to my tour stop for
Losing Francesca by J.A. Huss
Please follow the remaining stops, tour schedule can be found by clicking on the event banner above
I'm so excited to be part of a J.A. Huss tour! J.A. Huss grabbed my attention when Tragic, a Rook & Ronin novel was released, and yes I absolutely LOVED Tragic's cover. So I definitely wasn't going to pass this opportunity to sample this Authors work. I've heard so many fantastic things about Tragic. Anyway, without further ado, I'd like to welcome J.A. Huss today as she gives us an insight of a day in her life.
About The Author
J.A. Huss
J. A. Huss likes to write new adult books that make you think and keep you guessing. Her favorite genre to read is space opera, but since practically no one reads those books, she writes new adult science fiction, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and books about Junco (who refuses to be saddled with a label).
She has an undergraduate degree in horses, (yes, really–Thank you, Colorado State University) and a master’s degree in forensic toxicology from the University of Florida. She used to have a job driving around Colorado doing pretty much nothing but shooting the breeze with farmers, but now she just writes, runs the New Adult Addiction and Clean Teen Reads Book Blogs, and runs an online science classroom for homeschoolers.
A Day in the Life of J.A. Huss
Well, a day in the life of me is pretty boring. I am a full time writer, so much of my day is spent in front of a computer. I don’t really wake up at a certain time, so that’s kinda nice. But once I get up I check all my various emails. I have three – a personal one, a blog/author one, and another one that I use mainly for my editor. After that it’s off to social networking sites. I check in with my friends on Facebook, try and come up with something fun to post for one of my FB pages, and then head on over to Twitter. Most of my morning is just boring stuff like that. I might make some promo graphics and I always check sales to see how things are going. But mostly I just screw around and do a whole lot of procrastinating.
Then I hop on the treadmill for 30 minutes. Since I sit so much, I have to do this or I’d go crazy. Plus, almost all my plot ideas come to me when I’m on the treadmill, so it’s productive. After that I have to go out to the barn and feed my animals because I live on a small farm. I have donkeys, chickens, and ducks.
By this time it’s afternoon and I tend to start feeling guilty about not doing any writing, so I’ll usually sit down and get in a few thousand words. If I’m on a deadline I will write well into the night. After writing it’s time for blogging stuff so I’ll read, write up reviews, and schedule posts for the book blogs.
If I’m nearing a publishing deadline I might make covers or a book trailer or edit the book that’s next up on the schedule. At the very, very end of writing, just before the book goes to the editor for the first time, I spend days just reading the book, over and over, trying to catch all the mistakes and polish it up. I think it’s my personal goal to one day send a book to my editor, RJ, and have her send it back saying – “It’s perfect!” That will probably never happen.
But that’s pretty much it for the daily grind stuff. I rarely watch TV, but I’m a Spotify addict and listen to my playlists on repeat pretty much 24/7. Most of my evenings I spend reading and on the weekends I like to hit the movies or shopping.
About The Book
Losing Francesca
by J.A. Huss
Published: July 1, 2013
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Synopsis
That’s not what happens.
Fresh off the plane and barely on American soil more than a handful of minutes, Francesca’s face is recognized by TSA scanners to be a match for a child who was kidnapped twelve years ago.
Brody Mason remembers the day Fiona Sullivan went missing during a family vacation in Italy and it’s haunted him his whole life. So when Francesca shows up at the Sullivan farm down the road, he’s compelled to figure out if this girl really is his long lost friend.
But Francesca knows she’s not Fiona Sullivan. She knows exactly who she is. At least she thinks she knows – until Brody Mason relentlessly pursues her and she begins to have feelings for him. Maybe being Fiona isn’t so bad?
Reality becomes blurred, secrets are revealed, and life will never be the same when the final questions are answered: Is she Francesca or Fiona? And where does she really belong?
Paperback Princess Review
~ Giveaway ~
This event is presented to you by
Disclaimer: This book was provided free by the Author's Agents in exchange for an honest review. Paperback Princess is affiliated with Amazon. Proceeds of any sales made through this site is used to fund future giveaways.
Day 14 ~ Book Deal Breakers
The 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge is created by April at Good Books and Good Wine. Daily for the duration of 15 days each blogger participating will post their reply to the corresponding topic above. April will post up her daily response along with a linky so that participating bloggers can leave their own link to their daily post. Click on the event banner or link above for more information or to sign-up.
Here's my Book Blogger Challenge Responses:
Day 3 & 4 - Blogging BFF's and Books flung across the room
Day 5 - Tear Jerkers
Day 6 - Shopping for Books
Day 7 - Blogging Quirks
Day 8 - Blog Appeal
Day 9 - Why do I blog about books?
Day 10 - How do I choose what book to read?
Day 11 & 12 - 5 Best blog posts and Combat Book Blogger Fatigue
Day 13 - Under Appreciated Book that EVERYONE should read
Day 6 - Shopping for Books
Day 7 - Blogging Quirks
Day 8 - Blog Appeal
Day 9 - Why do I blog about books?
Day 10 - How do I choose what book to read?
Day 11 & 12 - 5 Best blog posts and Combat Book Blogger Fatigue
Day 13 - Under Appreciated Book that EVERYONE should read
Day 14 ~ Book Deal Breakers
- Pop Culture Reference - This ages your book people! Whilst I may know what your talking about, my Mother or Grandmother or my Grandchildren won't, therefore, your book would pretty much be redundant after my generation, surely you want your books to sell AFTER my generation reads it, right?
- Fashion, Fashion, Fashion - Thanks April for referencing this because I would have forgotten. This is when the Author is so fashion conscious that she describes pages and pages of what characters are wearing and down to the brand, yes it goes back to the whole Pop Culture reference, and seriously do we really need to know the brand to get a good descriptive book?
- Instant Love - Need I say more?
- Lack or No Plot - Without one there's no point in writing this story y'all!
- Flat Characters - Awesome writers can make me like, understand and empathise with their bad characters.
- Terrible Endings - you can have a fantastic plot, an amazing cast of characters but if the ending is dreadful...that's how your book is going to be remembered by.
Monday, 22 July 2013
Review Tour ~ Speak Easy by Melanie Harlow {Giveaway}
Welcome to my tour stop for
Speak Easy by Melanie Harlow
Please follow the remaining stops of this tour, schedule can be found by clicking the event banner above
About The Book
Speak Easy
by Melanie Harlow
Series: Speak Easy #1
Release Date: July 22, 2013
Genre: New Adult Historical
July, 1923. The ‘20s are roaring, and twenty-year-old Tiny O’Mara is desperate for a little anything-goes excitement. But when her father is kidnapped by a mobster in Detroit's exploding organized crime scene, she’s shocked to find herself caught up in the bootlegging wars of Prohibition—and torn between two gorgeous gangsters on opposite sides.
To save her father’s life, she’ll have to choose between them. But deciding whom to trust isn’t easy in a world where everyone wants something—be it booze, money, power, or sex—and no one cares what it takes to get it.
Temptation is everywhere.
Paperback Princess Review
Speak Easy by Melanie Harlow is the first in a series. This New Adult Historical Fiction did not disappoint with lots of heart pumping action, hate to love characters, sweet AND reckless love, and with the backdrop of the Roaring 20s, there's not much to not love.
Tiny O'Mara is a hard working daughter and sister. She currently mothers her two younger sisters, and she also works in her Father's store and runs deliveries for his boot legging (alcohol) business. Tiny's main concern is saving for college and finally moving out of home and living her own life, but when her Father is kidnapped by local gangsters, she now must be the head of the family as she tries to make the ransom money to save her Father's life, keep her Sisters oblivious to the fact their Father is missing whilst keeping them safe, and trying to not fall in love with the very gangster that turned her family's life inside out!
Speak Easy was such a heart pumping, action-filled novel that had me turning the pages quite rapidly. It was nail biting to read how Tiny had to get such a large sum of money in such a short space of time, and whilst doing so the road got rockier with all the other challenges that came her way. What made Speak Easy more fun to read is the fact that such event could have happened in that time.
Tiny is a fantastic protagonist, she's strong and extremely brave, but at the same time she's not perfect, her physical attraction to Enzo, the kidnapper's son, had me gritting my teeth as I knew this could not end well. However, I was actually quite surprised with Enzo, he's far from being a gentleman, but I had thought he'd be worse than what he came through to be.
As if Tiny's life wasn't difficult enough with a kidnapped Father, falling for the kidnapper's son, enters Joey, a family friend of the O'Mara's, who's also contending for Tiny's heart. Whilst Joey was a better candidate for Tiny (in my point of view) and I enjoyed Joey's character more, I did understand the attractiveness to Enzo, he was rich, a ladies man and one that isn't easily obtained, so I truly understand the thought process going through Tiny's mind. I wouldn't necessarily describe this as a love triangle as there was no true winner, and the ending really portrayed that for it's readers, hence my need to get the next book in the series.
Melanie Harlow truly excelled in transporting me back to the 1920s and the eye for all the little details of that time was fantastic. Harlow had me gripped from the very few pages as there was no unnecessary introduction and I was put straight into the lives of the O'Mara family, right in the heart of their boot legging business, which from the start was apparent that this was where the drama would begin. I truly enjoyed Tiny, she was strong, but was imperfect, and temptation was a plenty. I loved that she was a main character that wasn't portrayed to be an angel, I enjoy realistic characters more. I also enjoyed Harlow's character creation, I mean I didn't even hate Enzo and his Father, her characters were very three dimensional, and this is what most people are, so her writing is very realistic in all aspects of the novel.
I am eagerly awaiting the rest of the Speak Easy series as I want to know what happens with the characters. The conclusion of this story was nicely wrapped up, no cliffhangers but Melanie had me invested in her characters and her world setting that I'm definitely picking up the following books in this series.
About The Author
Melanie Harlow
Melanie Harlow likes her martinis dry, her lipstick red, and her history with the naughty bits left in. SPEAK EASY was inspired by her cocktail culture obsession, her affection for good gin, and the view from the end of her street. She lifts her glass to NA readers and writers from her home near Detroit, MI.
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