Tuesday, September 30, 2014

RELEASE DAY LAUNCH - EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY: The Fine Art of Pretending by Rachel Harris

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We are so excited to bring you the Release Day Launch of Rachel Harris' THE FINE ART OF PRETENDING! THE FINE ART OF PRETENDING is the first book in Rachel's The Fine Art of Pretending Series published by Spencer Hill Contemporary.

The Fine Art of Pretending

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THE FINE ART OF PRETENDING Synopsis: 
According to the guys at Fairfield Academy, there are two types of girls: the kind you hook up with, and the kind you're friends with. Seventeen-year-old Alyssa Reed is the second type. And she hates it. With just one year left to change her rank, she devises a plan to become the first type by homecoming, and she sets her sights on the perfect date—Justin Carter, Fairfield Academy’s biggest hottie and most notorious player. 

With 57 days until the dance, Aly launches Operation Sex Appeal and sheds her tomboy image. The only thing left is for Justin actually to notice her. Enter best friend Brandon Taylor, the school’s second biggest hottie, and now Aly’s pretend boyfriend. With his help, elevating from “funny friend” to “tempting vixen” is only a matter of time. 

But when everything goes according to plan, the inevitable “break up” leaves their friendship in shambles, and Aly and Brandon with feelings they can’t explain. And the fake couple discovers pretending can sometimes cost you the one thing you never expected to want. 

  EXCERPT: 
An exhale of breath leaves Brandon’s lips, almost like a laugh, and he scoots closer to me on the blanket. I twist my legs under myself, sitting tall as I face him. He cups my chin and tilts it toward him, drowning me in the now dark-green depths of his eyes, the cologne I gave him for his birthday filling my head. It’s woodsy and yummy and I always loved how it smelled on the store testers, but on Brandon, it’s even sexier. My eyes flutter closed, and I inhale again, this time slowly. Goose bumps prickle my arms, and my head gets fuzzy.

Brandon slides his hand down the column of my neck and brings the other up, threading his fingers through the hair at my nape. His breath fans across my cheek, and everything south of my bellybutton squeezes tight.

When his mouth first meets mine, it’s hesitant, questioning. But as I move my lips with his, he quickly grows bolder, coaxing them apart.

Desire, pure and raw, electrifies my veins as his tongue sweeps my mouth. A whimpering sound springs from my chest, and instinctively, I wrap my arms around his neck, tugging him closer. Needing more. My teeth graze his full bottom lip, and I pull it, sucking on it gently.

He moans and knots his fingers in my hair, and a thrill dances down my back.

Brandon is an amazing kisser, just as I knew he would be. I have no control over my body’s reactions. I lose myself in his lips, his tongue, and his strong arms, forgetting time and space and even my surroundings—until Gabi’s snicker brings reality crashing around us, reminding me we have an audience.

 And that I’m kissing Brandon.

 We break apart, out of breath, and stare into each other’s eyes.

 That was unexpected.

Author PhotoAbout Rachel Harris: Award-winning and Bestselling author Rachel Harris writes humorous love stories about sassy girls next door and the hot guys that make them swoon. Emotion, vibrant settings, and strong relationships are a staple in each of her books...and kissing. Lots of kissing. An admitted Diet Mountain Dew addict and homeschool mom, she gets through each day by laughing at herself, hugging her kids, and watching way too much Food Network with her husband. She writes young adult, new adult, and adult romance, and LOVES talking with readers.    

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Wednesday, September 24, 2014

REVIEW: Falling into Place by Amy Zhang

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road. 

Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang’s haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher.





My Thoughts:

Liz Emerson had dished out a lot of sadness in her short and catastrophic life, and no one had ever done anything about it.

Oh boy!! I'm so completely torn about different aspects of this book. There were things that I absolutely loved, and then there were other parts that I completely struggled with. I'm going to try to coherently put my thoughts into some sort of order without rambling on too much.

Firstly, let me say that this author knows how to write. I absolutely adored her words. Despite the story dealing with some pretty tough and horrible subjects, such as Suicide, depression and bullying, Amy Zhang's writing is beyond wonderful. There is a real and honest beauty in the way that she writes. I really found myself unable to put this book down and I actually read it in one day, which is a real achievement for me at the moment, given the crazy, hectic life I'm living.

Out of the seven billion people sharing the planet with her, not one of them knew what was going through her head. Not one of them knew that she was lost. Not one of them asked.

For me, I actually always tend to base my enjoyment of a book on how much I love the characters. Do I feel a connection to them, or am I able to relate to them in any way. But I can't do that with this book, so throw that idea completely out the window. You see, that's where my main struggle is with Falling into Place. The characters. I didn't like almost all of them. There were almost no redeeming qualities that I could grab a hold of. The main character Liz Emerson is completely horrid. She is a horrible bully. I did not like her at all. She destroys people with the help of her two best friends Julia and Kennie. She plots and executes the humiliation and downfall of her schoolmates for the most ludicrous excuses imaginable. And I think what made it worse was that before she set a plan into motion, she stopped and thought about what she was about to do and how wrong it was, but then she went ahead and did it anyway. 

The only character that I completely adored was Liam. He was sweet and kind and caring and considerate. He's had a crush on Liz for the longest time. A crush that has never been acknowledged or returned. But even though I loved Liam, I didn't understand him. Why did he feel the way he did about Liz? After the things she does to him, how does he get past that and still care for her? Is it just that he's a good and decent person? I just don't know.

Falling into Place as a story, jumps around quite a bit. We go from present day, to months ago and then we go to an hour before Liz tries to kill herself with the countdown to the actual moment. Even with all this jumping back and forth and getting the perspective of different people, the story flowed incredibly smoothly. It was never choppy or disjointed.

Realistic fiction is one of my favourite Young Adult reads. I love it. It's probably kind of creepy to admit how much I love reading about mental issues and tough situations. But there it is. On that level, the author did an amazing job. Even while I was disliking Liz so much, there was a part of me that really felt for her over the depression that she found herself dealing with. It takes a very good author to make me sympathise with a character that I feel no empathy for. But there were definitely times that I felt my heart hurting for Liz. But unfortunately in the next breath, she would do something so terrible that my heart was hardened to her again. 

Told from a really original point of view, Amy Zhang's Falling into Place is a story that I find I've been thinking about long after finishing it. Even though I had issues with the characters, it was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed, and would have no hesitation in recommending.

She needed someone, anyone, to touch her and remind her that she wasn't the last person in the world.

4/5 Wonderfully Written Stars.

Received from the publisher via Edelweiss for my honest review.

Monday, September 22, 2014

BOOK BLITZ - EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY: Rush (The Game #1) by Eve Silver


Release Date: June 11, 2013
Publisher: Harper Teen

Summary from Goodreads:
So what’s the game now? This, or the life I used to know?

When Miki Jones is pulled from her life, pulled through time and space into some kind of game—her carefully controlled life spirals into chaos. In the game, she and a team of other teens are sent on missions to eliminate the Drau, terrifying and beautiful alien creatures. 

There are no practice runs, no training, and no way out. Miki has only the guidance of secretive but maddeningly attractive team leader Jackson Tate, who says the game isn’t really a game, that what Miki and her new teammates do now determines their survival, and the survival of every other person on this planet. She laughs. He doesn’t. And then the game takes a deadly and terrifying turn.


(UK and Australian cover)

Available from (US links):
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On sale for only $1.99 at the following links only:

Excerpt:

“You can lean on me,” Jackson says.
“I—”
“Lean on me.” Not an offer this time, an order.
I scoot over and lean my weight against his arm.
“Not like that.” He shifts both of us around until my back’s against one side of his chest, my head lolling sideways onto his shoulder, our legs stretched out in front of us, side by side. Not perfect on the comfort score, but better than it was a minute ago. He rests his chin lightly on the top of my head and tells me, “Sleep.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll keep watch. I’ve been doing this long enough that I don’t need rest while we’re on a mission.”
“What about Luka and Tyrone?”
“They won’t need to rest, either. You’re still getting used to the jumps. By the next mission or the one after that, you’ll be like us. A robo-soldier.” And there it is again, that thread of humor, like he’s laughing at himself.
“Is that supposed to reassure me? ’Cause I gotta tell ya, thinking about upcoming missions doesn’t exactly thrill me.”

I jump when his hands settle on my shoulders. Then I sigh as he kneads my muscles. Long fingers. Strong hands. Some of my tension slips away.

Books in this series:
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About the Author:
Eve Silver lives with her gamer husband and sons, sometimes in Canada, but often in worlds she dreams up. She loves kayaking and sunshine, dogs and desserts, and books, lots and lots of books. Watch for the first book in Eve’s new teen series, THE GAME: RUSH, coming from Katherine Tegen Books, June 2013. She also writes books for adults.

Author Links:
     



GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz Organized by:

Sunday, September 21, 2014

STACKING THE SHELVES #20


Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. It is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

*****

I haven't done a stacking the shelves post for so long, and there are way too many books added to my collection over that time to try to catch up. My apologies for being so inactive lately. Life has been hectic and incredibly full on. My goal from this week on is to try to be more active.

Purchased
These are the books that I had the pleasure of adding to my shelves this week. Im excited to read them all.


Won
I have to make mention of this awesome prize that I won a few weeks back from Gina at Behind the Pages. I love it!!

For more photos like this, you can follow me on Instagram

Reviews I've posted over the last few weeks

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have an awesome week.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

COVER REVEAL: The Reaper's Daughter by KM Randall

The Reaper's Daughter by KM Randall
Publisher: Booktrope
Expected Publication: February 15, 2015
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

The Reaper's Daughter

I’ve always felt like an average girl . . . except for my strange relationship with death. You could say I like to court it. Whether I’m soaring through the air as a flyer for Specter University’s cheer squad, or speeding down the steepest mountain with only grace and balance keeping me from an icy end, I’ve always needed to feel a rush. But now Death is courting me―in more ways than one. First, there’s Rishi, a rogue death deity who has a penchant for annoying me nearly to my grave and whose intense gaze has the power to see right through me. Then there’s Hades, who I’d rather had stayed just a myth. Now that he knows I exist, he’s never going to leave me alone until he can do the same to me as he’s done to my mother.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention her? I spent my whole life thinking she had died when I was a baby, but now I’ve found out she’s much more than dead. Fifty years ago, Hades banished my mother from the underworld and along with the Council of Death Deities, took away her ability to cross over souls―souls that have wandered lost through the world ever since. Now she wants me to clean up the mess. You may have heard of her before: they call her the Grim Reaper.

You know what that makes me? The Reaper’s Daughter.

KM Randall
About the Author:
As a girl, K.M. always wished she’d suddenly come into magical powers or cross over into a Faerie circle. Although that has yet to happen, she instead lives vicariously through the characters she creates in writing fantasy and delving into the paranormal. When K.M. is not busy writing her next novel, she is the editor-in-chief of a blog covering the media industry, as well as an editor with Booktrope Publishing. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Syracuse University and a bachelor’s degree in English-Lit from Nazareth College of Rochester. K.M. lives in Upstate New York’s Finger Lakes region with her husband and her extremely energetic little boy.

Friday, September 19, 2014

COVER REVEAL: Raine by M.M. Roethig

Cover reveal for M.M. Roethig's debut novel, Raine, due to be released November 10, 2014 from Creative Prose Publishing! Without further ado, here it is:


Senior Raine Patterson is content with being invisible. That is, until the mysteriously handsome Kaden transfers to her high school, turning her world upside down. Drawn to him in ways she can’t understand, Raine finds herself falling for him, regardless of his harsh stares and mixed signals. When she discovers her hidden ability to control the elements, she finds herself the target of a madman, and Kaden is the only one who can help her. Can she trust him?
Kaden Williams has hated Elementals since losing his father to them as a young boy. Despite being Chosen to protect Elementals, Kaden’s turned his back on his duty, swearing to rid the world of them instead. Meeting Raine was no accident. His feelings for her throw him into turmoil and threaten his beliefs about Elementals. When Raine becomes the target of an unknown aggressor, Kaden is forced to decide which path he will follow.
As the struggle for knowledge unfolds and the beginning of a pending war looms closer, Raine and Kaden must lean on each other to discover the truth and survive.

Available November 10!



 About the Author:
Author M.M. Roethig is a ‘happily-ever-after’ author whose guilty pleasure is a swoon worthy romance. Growing up, she spent her youth on various Air Force bases in many different states, which encouraged her imagination and love of make believe stories with each new city, scenery, and situation.

Finally settling in Idaho, M.M. Roethig finished her schooling years and eventually met and married her very own Prince Charming. A recent move took her to Northern Colorado, a place she has instantly fallen in love with and embraced as her home. 

When she is not swooning over romance stories or writing, M.M. Roethig enjoys spending time with her husband and son who also call Colorado home. With two grown daughters and one son-in-law living in Idaho, she finds every excuse to travel back as much as possible.  

Other hobbies M.M. Roethig enjoys is running, photography, baking, watching her son swim, and cheering on the Denver Broncos.

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