Waiting on Wednesday: Damage Done

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine and is a fun way to see what books other bloggers just can't wait to get their hands on!

DAMAGE DONE

Amanda Panitch

Young Adult/Mystery

Releases July 21st from Random House BFYR

From Goodreads:

22 minutes separate Julia Vann’s before and after.

Before: Julia had a twin brother, a boyfriend, and a best friend.

After: She has a new identity, a new hometown, and memories of those twenty-two minutes that refuse to come into focus. At least, that’s what she tells the police.

Now that she’s Lucy Black, she's able to begin again. She's even getting used to the empty bedroom where her brother should be. And her fresh start has attracted the attention of one of the hottest guys in school, a boy who will do anything to protect her. But when someone much more dangerous also takes notice, Lucy's forced to confront the dark secrets she thought were safely left behind.

One thing is clear: The damage done can never be erased. It’s only just beginning. . . .

This year has been the year of the mystery/thriller for me. I typically lean more toward the supernatural (obviously) and away from anything contemporary, but a good mystery, like fantasy, has quickly become one of my very favorite go-to reads. The synopsis for Damage Done more than piques my curiosity, and I simply must know what happened in those 22 minutes to completely alter the course of Julia's life. Also, I'm a sucker for the "hottest boy in school" type. Or the bad boy type. Or the sweet geeky type. So really, anything other than the douchebag type works pretty well for me ;-)

Amazon • Goodreads

Review: The Boy Next Door

THE BOY NEXT DOOR
Katie Van Ark
Contemporary Young Adult
368 pages
Swoon Reads
Available January 6th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Maddy Spier has been in love with the boy next door forever. As his figure skating partner she spends time in his arms every day. But she’s also seen his arms around other girls—lots of other girls.

Gabe can't imagine skating with anyone but Maddy, and together they have a real chance at winning some serious gold medals. So, he’s determined to keep thinking of her like a sister. After all, he’s never had a romantic relationship that lasted for more than two weeks.

But when their coach assigns a new romantic skating program, everything changes. Will this be the big break that Maddy’s been hoping for or the big breakup that Gabe has always feared?

MY THOUGHTS

The Boy Next Door is the type of story that has us periodically peering out our windows in the hope that a moving truck will magically appear across the street, bringing with it a cute boy our age whom we can admire from afar until we work up the courage to actually speak to him. Maddy and Gabe have it a little easier (relatively speaking) in that they’ve lived next door to one another their entire lives, but their longtime familiarity causes its own set of problems, the stakes if things don't work out quite a bit higher than awkward conversation or possible mortification.

Maddy has loved Gabe for as long as she can remember, but their skating partnership sees her firmly relegated to the friend category, forced to watch as Gabe tires of one girl after another in rapid succession without ever looking in her direction. Based on the synopsis, we can’t help but expect a rather slow build-up of tension, Maddy’s feelings gradually escaping the death grip she’s had on them for years and changing the nature of her relationship with Gabe both on and off the ice. Instead what we find is Maddy, thanks to a change in the program they skate, readily admitting her feelings early on and trying a variety of methods to encourage Gabe to take a chance on them, an action that results in an unexpected push and pull for nearly all of the first half.

Much of the push and pull is thanks to Gabe’s–not unfounded–fear that he’ll hurt Maddy if they try and make things work, his experience in communicating physically rather than verbally with most of his girlfriends coming back to bite him at the worst possible time. He wants to keep things with Maddy secret, something she understandably agrees to given the depth of her feelings, and we find ourselves both frustrated and hopeful in turn as the two of them struggle to deal with the emotional Pandora’s box they’ve opened. Gabe makes it difficult for us to really support his secretive bid to win Maddy over in the first half, his interest seemingly more physical than anything else despite his reassurances that he wants things with Maddy to be different, but in the second half he thankfully brings word and action into alignment and finally makes us believe in him.

Overall, The Boy Next Door is a bit of a messy read, things with Gabe and Maddy all over the place for majority of the book and their skating careers perhaps more on the periphery than we might like, but at the same time the messiness of their friendship and budding romance feels a whole lot like real life, and we can’t help but be drawn in by their many triumphs and failures.

Rating: 3.5/5 

Find Katie:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: The Darkest Part of the Forest

THE DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST
Holly Black
Paranormal Young Adult
336 pages
Little, Brown
Available January 13th
Source: BEA

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

MY THOUGHTS
The Darkest Part of the Forest is an odd sort of tale, one of those stories with a combination of elements that leaves us not entirely certain of how we feel when we reach the last page. There’s a lot to like about the world and characters Ms. Black has created, but there’s a certain unusualness–an otherness, for lack of a better word–that is both a highlight and a drawback as events unfold. There are layers upon layers to both Hazel and Ben, their relationship with one another, as well as with their parents and their respective love interests, dotted with sore spots we can’t help but want to–a little sadistically–poke to see if the resulting pain produces answers to questions we didn’t even realize we’d asked.

Hazel and her brother Ben are intriguingly protective of one another, but at the same time highly competitive in a quiet, passive way, often hiding selfish motivations inside words or actions that otherwise appear supportive. It’s not as though they’re unlikable or vindictive however, it’s more that they have a gritty and darkly beautiful relationship with more facets to it than we have time to admire in three hundred pages. While a connection to either of them isn’t overly strong, there’s still something captivating about each of them individually as well as a brother/sister pair, and even long after we’ve finished reading we’re not entirely sure how to put our feelings for them into words.

The two separate romances for Hazel and Ben aren’t quite as fully developed as lovers of romance like myself might wish, but as with Hazel and Ben themselves, there are layers to their loves we know are there but can’t quite see. Overall, The Darkest Part of the Forest is captivating in that it takes us to a place we’re not all that sure we’re comfortable being but don’t necessarily want to escape before doing a little digging to see what we can find. This is the first story I’ve read by Ms. Black, and I look forward to reading much, much more.

Rating: 3.5/5

Find Holly:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon 

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Warmest wishes to all of you, I hope you have fun, book-filled days ahead. This has been a wonderful year for me with the start of a new cover design business, and though 2014 has come to a very bittersweet close with the loss of my Gatsby, I look forward to all that 2015 will bring.

The blog will be quiet the next couple days as my husband and I spend time with family and cling to poor Griffin like the grief-stricken parents we are (I think he's starting to get irritated with us ;-), but I'll have new posts ready to go up on Monday.

I'm going to leave you with Griffin, whose general ridiculousness has made me smile through my tears these past couple days. May all of your holidays be merry and bright:)

Much Love,

Jenny

Review: Say Yes to the Marquess

SAY YES TO THE MARQUESS
Castles Ever After #2
Tessa Dare
Historical Romance
384 pages
Avon
Available December 30th
Source: eARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
After eight years of waiting for Piers Brandon, the wandering Marquess of Granville, to set a wedding date, Clio Whitmore has had enough. She's inherited a castle, scraped together some pride, and made plans to break her engagement.

Not if Rafe Brandon can help it. A ruthless prizefighter and notorious rake, Rafe is determined that Clio will marry his brother—even if he has to plan the dratted wedding himself.

So how does a hardened fighter cure a reluctant bride's cold feet?

● He starts with flowers. A wedding can't have too many flowers. Or harps. Or cakes.

● He lets her know she'll make a beautiful, desirable bride—and tries not to picture her as his.

● He doesn't kiss her.

● If he kisses her, he definitely doesn't kiss her again.

● When all else fails, he puts her in a stunning gown. And vows not to be nearby when the gown comes off.

● And no matter what—he doesn't fall in disastrous, hopeless love with the one woman he can never call his own.

MY THOUGHTS
Say Yes to the Marquess is yet another winner from Ms. Dare, her sense of humor one of the main reasons we rush to crack the spine, knowing we’ll find ourselves laughing at the antics and banter between perfectly imperfect individuals. While Ms. Dare’s romances are undoubtedly full of substance–richly nuanced characters giving the explorer in us plenty to sift through–they’re also light and fluffy (in the best possible way), leaving us free of worry that we’re going to reach a point where one or two of the characters make the mistake that’s going to bring their world crashing down around them. Instead, we read cocooned in the warmth of a safety blanket known as communication, reveling in our lead couple's ability to talk things out with one another rather than keep everything bottled up.

Though light and fluffy is an accurate description of the overall tone of this romance, it’s not without tension, things between Rafe and Clio ripe with that very thing given her engagement to his older brother. Majority of this tale is build-up, the beautiful dance between them moving a few steps forward before the swell of the music turns, shifting them with it and forcing them several steps back. Both are battling severe self-esteem issues thanks to the fact that they’ve only ever seen themselves through the lens of their families’ distorted perception, but we as readers have the pleasure of seeing each of them through the eyes of the other, and we can’t help but smile at what we find there. So very slowly over the course of the book the weight of expectation on each of them drops away, removed as a result of fierce determination and a desire to see the other person find the happiness they so rightly deserve.

Overall, Say Yes to the Marquess is everything there is to love about the romance genre, darker moments tempered by humor to ensure we have a giddy smile on our faces the entire way through. Ms. Dare is a go-to author for me, someone who never fails to delight and entertain, and who writes stories that end up on the shelf of favorites waiting to be read again and again.

Rating: 4/5

Find Tessa:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

 

Review: We Should Hang Out Sometime

WE SHOULD HANG OUT SOMETIME
Josh Sundquist
Non-Fiction/Humor
336 pages
Little, Brown BFYR
Available Now
Source: BEA

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Josh Sundquist only ever had one girlfriend.
For twenty-three hours.
In eighth grade.

Why was Josh still single? To find out, he tracked down the girls he had tried to date and asked them straight up: What went wrong?

The results of Josh's semiscientific, wholly hilarious investigation are captured here. From a disastrous Putt-Putt date involving a backward prosthetic foot, to his introduction to CFD (Close Fast Dancing), to a misguided "grand gesture" at a Miss America pageant, this story is about looking for love--or at least a girlfriend--in all the wrong places.

MY THOUGHTS
We Should Hang Out Sometime is a fun foray into the dating history of Josh Sundquist, a man who lost his leg to cancer at the age of nine and has since gone on to be a paralympic ski racer, motivational speaker and more. The setup of this book is analytical in nature, an experiment Josh sets up wherein he methodically reviews his encounters with girls from his young teens through early twenties in order to better understand why he's never had a girlfriend. His recounting of these interactions is charmingly self-deprecating, and his writing style is so beautifully smooth and flowing that we suddenly find ourselves two hundred pages in before we even realize we’ve read a chapter.

In addition to the endearing conversational-style quality to his writing, Mr. Sundquist excels at bringing choice moments to vivid life, perfectly capturing they type of social ineptitude we’ve all experienced time and again as we’ve attempted to navigate the emotionally treacherous labyrinth that is interacting with the object of our affection. His younger self obsesses over every small gesture or word spoken by the girl he’s interested in, constantly questioning the meaning behind them and then running through every possible response to those various meanings in his head before deciding to move forward with one. His fear of rejection with the young women detailed in the book is palpable and more than understandable, memories of our own experiences causing us to stress on his behalf and then smile in knowing sympathy when his courage fails him and he puts self-preservation ahead of open communication.

We Should Hang Out Sometime is perfect for those looking for a little something different, something that will make them laugh and relate completely to a young man in search of acceptance from others when the acceptance he really needs is from himself. Josh’s story imparts a beautiful message when our time wandering through his embarrassingly cute and sometimes-sour experiences comes to an end, leaving us with a strong desire to see where his motivational speaking career will take him next so we can enjoy what he has to say in person.

Rating: 4/5

Find Josh:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was given to me by the publisher at BEA free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Goodbye, Gatsby

I don't do many personal posts on this blog, but today my husband and I lost our eldest boxer to cancer and I felt compelled to go through every single picture we've ever taken of him so I could share a few. We brought Gatsby home this time of year eight years ago and he has been the love of our lives (as well as his brother, Griffin) ever since. Kevin and I don't have any kids, so Gatsby and Griffin are our babies, and the loss of Gatsby so suddenly is nothing short of devastating.

We had eight wonderful years with him though, and I know he understood that he was loved every minute of that time. You will be sorely missed, Gatsby.

Fairytales + Happily Never After: Guest Post from Jack Heckel

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming author Jack Heckel to the blog to talk to us a little bit about the changing nature of fairytale heroines and Prince Charming in his newest release, Happily Never After. As I'm a HUGE fan of anything relating to fairytales, I immediately added this book to my list. I hope you enjoy Jack's thoughts as much as I did!

Hi, this is Jack Heckel, author of Once Upon a Rhyme and Happily Never After. Before we get too far along, I’m incredibly excited to have this opportunity to do a guest blog for Supernatural Snark. In my series, The Charming Tales, I’ve taken fairytales and asked the question, “What if Prince Charming didn’t save the day?” That simple question has led to some interesting answers, especially involving the female characters in my books.
 
Although the books are called The Charming Tales, one of the main protagonists is Liz Pickett. She’s the older sister of Will Pickett, who becomes known as the Dragonslayer, when the Dragon in question accidentally impales itself on Will’s pitchfork. Although she’s very practical, she has a romantic heart and hopes that maybe she can find her own fairytale. In most fairytale stories, she would be set up to be the damsel in distress in need of rescue.
 
However, I believe that the role of the helpless princess or maiden doesn’t work in our culture. One of the things that I enjoyed the most in the movie, Frozen, was that neither Ana or Elsa needed someone to save them. They had their own strengths, from when Elsa decided to accept her abilities to when Ana was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to save her sister. The global success of the movie speaks to the sort of heroines we expect in our stories.
 
For Liz’s part, she has a point where she is imprisoned and feels helpless, but it’s Elle, our version of Rapunzel, who helps talk her into not accepting her fate and doing something to stop the schemes of our lead villain. Once Liz gets her mind set, she starts on a path where she isn’t waiting for her fairytale ending, but where she’s determined to find it on her own. When she does find love, she has to take action to keep it. No spoilers, but the end of her story might not be how she would have written, but it’s one that she gets to choose.
 
As far as villains go, the primary antagonist of the books is the Princess Gwendolyn. She was the helpless prisoner trapped in the Dragon’s Tower, waiting for her Prince Charming to come save her. Unfortunately, he never came. Will Pickett, the accidental hero, saves her, and she later learns that he didn’t even kill the Dragon. She decides to seek her own justice by plotting to remove King Rupert and Prince Charming for never bothering to try and save her. While she does go a bit mad in the process, her desire to have a wedding and become the princess of legends may not seem too unreasonable considering what she went through. After all, isn’t that how fairytales are supposed to end?
 
Characters in fairytales tend to be flat and two-dimensional. They react in ways that we expect as they head off to their own ‘happily ever afters.’ It’s been a fun and fascinating journey to take those characters and add depth to them, placing them in positions that they wouldn’t encounter in the original tales and seeing what happens. One of the great things about these stories is that they are retold and changed by each generation. We live in an age where fairytales and myths are changing to reflect our world, from Maleficent even to the new Star Wars movies. I hope that everyone enjoys the journey and shares their own thoughts.

Thank you for stopping by Jack!

• • • • • • • • • • • •

HAPPILY NEVER AFTER

The Charming Tales #2

Once upon, once again …

The dragon has been slain, but the problems have just begun for Prince Charming.

Disowned by his father, the King, and abandoned by his only friend, William Pickett, Charming must find a new path in life—but he's going to need a lot of help. His love, Liz, barely survived an assassination attempt; his former fling, Rapunzel, is in danger; and William is under an evil spell cast by Princess Gwendolyn.

The fate of Castle White hangs in the balance as Charming tries to find himself, while finding new allies along the way—including an odd number of dwarfs (or is it dwarves?) and a reformed beast. But he's running out of time to stop royally ruinous wedding bells from ringing …

Amazon • B&N

• • • • • • • • • • • •

ONCE UPON A RHYME
The Charming Tales #1

  

The dragon is dead. The princess has been saved. There is but one problem: Prince Charming had nothing to do with it.

In order to save his royal reputation, Prince Charming must begrudgingly enlist the help of accidental hero William Pickett. The two set out on an adventure that has them fighting trolls, outwitting a scoundrel, and drinking the foulest ale ever, collecting bruises to both body and pride along the way. Meanwhile, the rescued princess, Gwendolyn, turns out to be one dangerously distressed damsel, and an evil presence takes over Castle White in Charming's absence …

Enter this rollicking world and discover just what happens when a fairytale leaves the well-trodden path of "once upon a time."

Amazon • B&N

This Shattered World Blog Tour: Interview + Giveaway

I'm thrilled today to be a part of the promotional tour for This Shattered World, the second book in the Starbound Trilogy by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. I fell madly in love with These Broken Stars last year and could barely summon up the patience to wait until This Shattered World released, but somehow I pulled from patience reserves I never knew I had and endured until I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy. So good.

Now I have the pleasure of welcoming Amie and Meagan back to the blog to answer a few questions, so I hope you all enjoy the interview! Be sure and check out the bottom of the post for all the details on a giveaway as well as the full list of participating blogs.

Given Lee and Flynn are on opposite sides of Avon's rebellion, there's a forbidden aspect to their romance. What are your top three fictional forbidden or starcrossed romances?

Oh, soooooo many to choose from! Given the influence their story had on this book (it’s set on planet Avon, after all), we have to choose Romeo and Juliet. We love a story about secret allies from two warring factions, and the agony of conflicting loyalties that comes with it. (We’re basically awful people. We just like agony.)

We also love the movie 10 Things I Hate About You—also, interestingly enough, a Shakespearean play in film form. There’s just something about their banter that stuck with us, and it’s that back and forth that we always try to give to each of our couples in each book. Especially with Flynn and Jubilee, who get along like matches and gasoline. (Explosively. Also: hot.)

And finally, what better starcrossed romance is there than Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy? No one would’ve ever picked those two for a couple, and yet they just end up working. Unlikely couples are our favorites.

If you were to find yourself under Lee's military command, what are a few of the words she might use to describe your physical abilities in her initial evaluation of your combat readiness?

Oh man, you had to ask. Let’s just say we’re both significantly better at writing about great feats of physical prowess than we are at performing them. A few phrases on our personal reports would include ‘noodly-armed’, ‘a danger to themselves and others’, ‘constantly daydreaming’ and ‘too busy talking to take orders’. We would also suck at getting up in time for the morning parade.

If you lived in the world of the Starbound Trilogy–where interstellar travel is commonplace and numerous planets are inhabitable–and found yourself on a previously unknown planet with your dream environment, what would that environment consist of and what would you name your new world?

Oooh, good question! The two things we love to do most together are write stories and go out on road trips, so those would shape our dream planet. We’d find ourselves surrounded by breathtaking scenery—some of our favourite places to explore were the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park—though we have to be honest, our dream environment would also involve a comfy house to kick back after our days of exploring.

When we need to work on a story, we love to head somewhere beautiful to walk and brainstorm, whether that’s the luxurious hot springs just outside Melbourne, or the amazing Biltmore Estate outside Asheville. So, sounds like our dream planet would be magnificent in its natural beauty, with just a touch of luxury. And hopefully some very easily harvested food. We’re not survivors like our characters!

What would we call our planet? Home.

Let's say that tomorrow you board a ship for an entirely new planet, with little to no knowledge of what awaits you in terms of food, living conditions, amenities, etc. What one aspect of this world or the comforts of your current life would you miss most?

As outlined above, we really do like our creature comforts! The truth is, though, that we’re both okay roughing it when we need to. As long as we could take our families (and our pets) with us, then the one thing we’d miss most would be our bookshelves! With comfy beds a close second ;)

If Lee and Flynn were told their lives were the subject matter for a piece of fiction, what would their first immediate reactions be? Would they want to read their story?

Flynn would absolutely love it! He comes from a long tradition of Irish storytelling, and one of the things we get to see in This Shattered World is his cousin Sean re-telling an old Irish legend about a couple called Niamh and Oisín, complete with modern touches like space shuttles. Flynn would probably prefer to hear the story told with all the embellishments you could manage, but he’d definitely want to read it too.

Jubilee’s a little more no-nonsense than Flynn (A little? A lot…) and would probably just say that she’s already lived it, she knows how it ends, and she’d rather focus on the future than spend time rehashing the past. That said, she’d probably end up reading it to humor Flynn, and we bet she’d enjoy it, even if she did critique everyone’s tactics.

A huge thank you to Amie and Meagan for taking the time to answer my questions!

• • • • • • • • • • • 

THIS SHATTERED WORLD

Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.

Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.

Rebellion is in Flynn's blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.

Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.

Goodreads • Amazon

 

• • • • • • • • • • •

AMIE KAUFMAN + MEAGAN SPOONER

Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner are longtime friends and sometime flatmates who have traveled the world (but not yet the galaxy), covering every continent between them. They are sure outer space is only a matter of time. Meagan, who is also the author of the Skylark trilogy, currently lives in Asheville, NC, while Amie lives in Melbourne, Australia. Although they currently live apart, they are united by their love of space opera, road trips, and second breakfasts.

Visit the These Broken Stars website for the latest news on the series and follow the authors on Twitter at @AmieKaufman and @MeaganSpooner. This Shattered World is available for pre-order (with fun swag!) and will be released in North America on December 23, 2014.

Find Amie:

Website • Twitter • Facebook

Find Meagan:

Website • Twitter • Facebook

• • • • • • • • • • • 

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, Dec.8 - The Midnight Garden - Secrets of Starbound: Characters           
Tuesday, Dec. - The Book Smugglers - Making an Audiobook
Wednesday, Dec. 10 - Ivy Book Bindings - Secrets of Starbound: Science and Settings
Thursday, Dec. 11 - Cuddlebuggery - How Amie & Meagan Met
Friday, Dec. 12 - Little Book Owl - Video Interview
 
Monday, Dec. 15 - Mundie Moms - Shooting the Cover
Tuesday, Dec. 16 - Xpresso Reads - Starbound Inspirations
Wednesday, Dec. 17 - A Book Utopia - Video: Your New Book Boyfriend
Thursday, Dec. 18 - Supernatural Snark - Q & A
Friday, Dec. 19 - Love is Not a Triangle - Gender in Science Fiction

Waiting on Wednesday: Asa

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine and is a fun way to see what books other bloggers just can't wait to get their hands on!

ASA

Jay Crownover

Contemporary New Adult

Releases from William Morrow/ HarperCollins on April 21st, 2015

Starting over in Denver with a whole new circle of friends and family, Asa Cross struggles with being the man he knows everyone wants him to be and the man he knows he really is. A leopard doesn’t it change its spots and Asa has always been a predator. He doesn’t want to hurt those who love and rely on him, especially one stunning arresting cop who suddenly seems to be interested in him for far more than his penchant for breaking the law. But letting go of old habits is hard, and it’s easy to hit bottom when it’s the place you know best.

Royal Hastings is quickly learning what the bottom looks like after a tragic situation at work threatens not only her career but her partner’s life. As a woman who has only ever had a few real friends she’s trying to muddle through her confusion and devastation all alone. Except she can’t stop thinking about the sexy southern bartender she locked up. Crushing on Asa is the last thing she needs but his allure is too strong to resist. His long criminal record can only hurt her already shaky career and chasing after a guy who has no respect for the law or himself can only end in heartbreak.

A longtime criminal and a cop together just seems so wrong . . . but for Asa and Royal, being wrong together is the only right choice to make.

Amazon US • iBooks • Barnes & Noble • Kobo

Whew. Asa is looking GOOD! I think this is my favorite cover yet:) I absolutely adore this series, Jay Crownover writes such great characters and her romances have just the right amount of tension and drama to keep me on the edge of my seat without making me want to tear my hair out in frustration. I've been waiting for Asa's story for a long time, so April can't come fast enough!

• • • • • • • • • • •

JAY CROWNOVER

Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men series. She also introduced the dark and sexy world of The Point that started with BETTER WHEN HE's BAD and is currently working on her newest series The Saint of Denver. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she'll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her three dogs.

Website • Blog • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads

Falling Kingdoms Interview & Giveaway

I'm super excited today to be a part of a fun promotion for Gathering Darkness, the third installment of the Falling Kingdoms series by Morgan Rhodes. Since fantasy has recently become one of my favorite genres, this series is definitely on my list to read and I can't wait to dive in and binge read all three over the holidays. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to ask Morgan a few questions about this series as a whole, so I hope this interview gives those of you new to the series (and of course those of you who are avid fans) a little something to get excited about!

For those who have yet to dive into these books, how, using a single word, might each of the four main characters describe what unfolds for them throughout the series?

Oh, you’re going to make me really work, huh? ;) Okay… here it goes:

CLEO: Evolution
JONAS: Vengeance
LUCIA: Power
MAGNUS: Divergent

If you were sitting on the throne of one of the kingdoms in this world, what would be your single greatest fear?

Same as it would be in any other world: Spiders! (shudders)

*Jenny shudders too*

Let’s say that tomorrow our world suddenly becomes infused with magic and things we never thought possible before now are. Would you want to know everything there is to know, or would you leave the magic alone and stay far, far away?

I’m only a Muggle because I have to be. If I had a choice: Magic all the wayyy! Woo hoo!!!

I’m not sure what this says about me, but I love truly despicable villains, cruel characters like Gaius who make my hands curl into fists in anger while reading. Who is your all-time favorite love-to-hate-him (or her) bad guy?

I enjoy villains, too, and King Gaius is surprisingly fun to write consider that he’s such a sadistic beast. (I’m not sure what that says about me!) My all-time favorite love-to-hate villain (right now, anyway!!) is Crowley from Supernatural. I do enjoy a sarcastic demon. My all-time just-hate-her character is Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter. How could a cat-lover be so evil??

If you could fall through the pages and step foot into this world you’ve created, what aspect of it would you be most curious to see outside your own imagination?

I would love to take a tour through the City of Gold, the walled city that contains the Auranian palace. I describe it as such a golden, glittering jewel that it would be absolutely breathtaking to see in person.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions Morgan!

And just to pique everyone's curiosity further, how about a teaser quote from Gathering Darkness?

I feel like Magnus is talking directly to me here. Except for the princess part, obviously. He calls me Goddess instead. Wait. No. *attempts to return to reality* In all seriousness though, I'm a reader who ALWAYS falls for the broken, tortured, bordering-on-irredeemable anti-hero, naively hoping with each chapter that he'll do something to prove that my faith in him is not misplaced. I feel like Magnus and I might really have something special ;-)

If you want to meet Magnus as much as I do, I hope you'll pick up the Falling Kingdoms series! Be sure and check out the bottom of the post for your chance to win all sorts of Falling Kingdoms goodies:)

• • • • • • • • • •

GATHERING DARKNESS

The seeds of revolution have been sown…but in Mytica the lust for power reigns supreme.

THE REBELS forge ahead. Princess Cleo slays with sweetness—and a secret that might control Lucia’s magic—as she and vengeful Jonas lead the hunt for the all-powerful Kindred.

THE KRAESHIANS join the fray. Ashur and Amara, the royal siblings from the vast kingdom across the Silver Sea, prove to be just as ruthless as they are charming as they manipulate their way to victory.

THE WATCHERS follow Melenia out of the Sanctuary. They ally, in the flesh, with King Gaius, who vows to use Lucia’s powers to unveil the Kindred.

And which side will Prince Magnus choose, now that he’s been betrayed by everyone he’s ever loved?

Amazon • Goodreads • Facebook

*If you're a fan of this series already but haven't yet had a chance to get your hands on Gathering Darkness, then be sure and download this lengthy excerpt!*

• • • • • • • • • • • •

MORGAN RHODES

Photo: Shanon Fujioka

Morgan Rhodes is the New York Times bestselling author of the FALLING KINGDOMS series. As a child, she always wanted to be a princess—the kind that knows how to wield a sharp sword to help save both kingdoms and princes from fire-breathing dragons and dark wizards. Instead, she became a writer, which is just as good and much less dangerous. Along with writing, Morgan enjoys photography, travel, and reality TV, and is an extremely picky yet voracious reader of all kinds of books.

Twitter • Tumblr • Instagram

• • • • • • • • • • •

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the fabulous people at Penguin Young Readers, I have an epic prize pack to give away on the blog today! Up for grabs to one lucky winner:

• A Falling Kingdoms T-Shirt
• A Falling Kingdoms Postcard Set
• Copies of Falling Kingdoms, Rebel Spring, and Gathering Darkness

Giveaway is open to US addresses only, please enter via the Rafflecopter form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview + Giveaway: Alexandra Monir and Suspicion

I'm hugely pleased today to welcome author Alexandra Monir to the blog to answer a few questions about her newest paranormal young adult release, Suspicion. The minute I saw the gorgeous cover on this one I knew I had to have it in my hands, and once there, I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable. It was a one-sit kind of read for me – I don't think you can ever have enough of those! I hope you all enjoy the interview, and don't forget to check the bottom of the post for all the giveaway details :-)

Imogen, when on the grounds of Rockford Manor, has the ability to manipulate the elements, particularly plant life. If you had the same ability, what unusual colors might you make the various plants and flowers in the landscaping around your home?

Ooh, that’s a fun question! I’m a big candy and chocolate fanatic, so I’d probably make all the plants and flowers edible treats- like something out of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory!

What’s one room a sprawling estate like Rockford Manor has that you wish could be found in your own house?

Without a doubt, the library! I’ve envied those kind of palatial libraries since I saw Beauty and the Beast as a six year old.

If allowed, I could spend hours (or likely days) exploring the stunning manor homes and castles that can be found all over England. If you were given free rein to wander through one particular real or fictional castle/manor/estate, which would you choose and what would you most hope to find there?

I’ve actually been dying to tour Buckingham Palace, but both times I went to London recently, they were closed for tours since the Queen was in residence. Sigh! I did visit Windsor Castle though, which was amazing, and the incredible Blenheim Palace, which I actually based Rockford Manor on.

Let’s say you wake up tomorrow in the middle of the Shadow Maze on Rockford Manor’s grounds. What fictional character would you try hardest to wish into being beside you in order to help you find your way out?

Definitely Sebastian! ;)

If, like Imogen, you suddenly found yourself living a life in the public eye, having to make numerous social appearances and play host to the wealthy and privileged, what would you miss most about the life you have now?

Hmm, I think probably the hardest part would be not having much time for yourself, and sitting through endless dinners with aristocrats could potentially get old!

Thanks so much for stopping by Alexandra!

• • • • • • • • • • • 

SUSPICION

Haunted by her parents' deaths, Imogen moves to New York City with her new guardians. But when a letter arrives with the news of her cousin's untimely death, revealing that Imogen is now the only heir left to run the estate, she returns to England and warily accepts her role as duchess.

All is not as it seems at Rockford, and Imogen quickly learns that dark secrets lurk behind the mansion's aristocratic exterior, hinting that the spate of deaths in her family were no accident. And at the center of the mystery is Imogen herself--and Sebastian, the childhood friend she has secretly loved for years. Just what has Imogen walked into?

Combining a fresh twist on the classic REBECCA with a spine-tingling mystery and powerful romance, SUSPICION is an action-packed thrill ride.

Goodreads • Amazon

• • • • • • • • • • • 

ALEXANDRA MONIR

 Photo courtesy of Neal Preston

Author and recording artist Alexandra Monir broke onto the scene in her early twenties with the release of her popular debut YA novel, the paranormal romance Timeless (Delacorte Press/Random House). The book caught on quickly, landing on the Barnes & Noble Bestsellers chart and being named one of Amazon's "Best Books of the Month." The sequel, Timekeeper, was published in 2013. Both books in the series have been featured in a variety of media, from USA Today to teen magazines and websites such as J-14, JustJaredJr, Teen.com and Justine Magazine. Suspicion (Random House; December 9, 2014) marks Alexandra's first novel outside of the Timeless series, as well as her first foray into the mystery genre. Her fourth YA novel for Random House will be published in April 2016.

Alexandra is also a singer/songwriter, known for integrating music into her books' pages. She wrote and recorded three original songs to accompany Timeless and Timekeeper, which were released as the album The Timeless EP and distributed by Jimmy Buffett's record label, Mailboat Records. She additionally recorded a new song to be released along with Suspicion, and is composing a stage musical geared toward Broadway. Alexandra is the granddaughter of the late Monir Vakili, the foremost Persian opera singer.

Alexandra currently resides in Los Angeles, California. She has been invited to speak at middle schools and high schools across the country, and at major events including Comic-Con, Bouchercon, the Iranian-American Women's Leadership Conference, and New York Public Library's annual Teen Author Festival, among others.

Website • Facebook • Twitter

• • • • • • • • • • • •

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the amazingly generous people at Penguin Random House, I have one finished copy of Suspicion to give away on the blog today! To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway is open to US addresses only. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway