Transcend Time Blitz Book Tour with Xpresso Book Tours

I'm extremely excited that my first time participating in an Xpresso Book Tour is for an author I've actually met!  As I mentioned when I reviewed the first two books in the series, Remembrance, and Vengeance, I stood in line at the BEA 2012 Bloggers Day.  Unfortunately I didn't get my picture with her, or an autograph, but I'll have to do that next time I get to see her!
This post is to celebrate both the final book in the series, Timeless, as well as a new bonus pack available for fans called the Transcendence packet.  Also available to download.  Below are the covers of the three books in the series, with links if you click on them to go purchase them, and the first book in the series is only 99 cents right now to download as an e-book!!



One thing that immediately fascinated me about the series before I read it, is how it was a video that inspired the story for the author.  Here is that story from the author herself:

HOW TAYLOR SWIFT’S “LOVE STORY” MUSIC VIDEO INSPIRED REMEMBRANCE

The “Love Story” music video premiered in the fall of 2008. The first time I watched it, I was entranced. Taylor sees a guy while walking through campus, and the moment their eyes connect, the scene flashes to the two of them dancing at a beautiful ball dressed in clothes that appear to be from around the year 1815. It’s magical to watch, and the video is so amazing that it gave me chills. I watched it over and over again, and a story started to piece together in my mind. A story about a girl reincarnated from Regency Era, England, who doesn’t realize it until her soul mate transfers into her school and triggers her memories to gradually return to her.

In that semester at school, I was taking a class called Intro to Creative Writing. One of our first big assignments in class was to write anything we wanted and bring it in to share with everyone. Since the characters and scenes that came to me while watching “Love Story” refused to leave my mind, I decided that for the project, I would write the first chapter of what I then called “The Story Inspired by ‘Love Story.’”

After completing the chapter, I stared at it for about an hour, worrying about what my classmates would think after reading it. I assumed everyone else would write about “normal” topics—not reincarnation and seeing your soulmate from the past for the first time! What if they thought what I wrote was weird? I nearly erased it in favor of turning something else in, but then I remembered something Taylor had said:

"If you’re lucky enough to be different from everyone else, don't change."

I listened to her advice. Yes, what I wrote was going to be way different from what everyone else in class wrote, but I was okay with that. And after I read the chapter aloud to the class, I was amazed to find out that everyone in my class, including my teacher, loved it. Actually, they more than loved it—they wanted to read more!

But I had never written a novel before, and the idea of making the plunge and going for it intimidated me. What if I failed and couldn’t finish it? That worried me, but again, I remembered something Taylor had said:

"To me, fearless isn't not having fears; it's not that you're not afraid of anything. I think that being fearless is having a lot of fears, but you jump anyway."

So I jumped.

And now, three years after I saw the “Love Story” music video for the first time, my debut novel Remembrance is finally available for everyone to read. I’m so happy to be able to share it with you. I can only hope that if you choose to read it, you end up enjoying it as much as I loved writing it!

Thank you for taking the time to read my story about how “Love Story” and Taylor Swift helped me get to where I am today!

For more great stories like the author's reason for writing the story above, you can download the Transcendence Time Bonus Packet HERE.

I hope you'll give this series a chance if you haven't already.  It is such a great story!

Remembrance by Michelle Madow

During my BEA 2012 experience, I did get to meet the author of this book.  I'd heard of her books on several blogs, and knew what she looked like from following her on Twitter and such.  And then the first day, for the Blogger's Day of the convention, she was standing in line behind me waiting to get it!!  I turned around and asked her if she was who I thought she was, and I was right.  She was really nice, and even talked to me for a little bit, and let me join into the conversation with her and  her friend.  I only wish I'd asked to have my picture taken with her at the time so that I could share that in this post, as well as adding it to my Hall of Fame photo album on Facebook, and I think I may even start scrapbooking all my author meetings and pictures, and I'm not really into scrapbooking. 

But anyway, on with my review of the book.  After my yearly review at the bookstore where I work part time, the manager who reviewed me said that my knowledge of YA and teen books was really good, and that I should always order in books I thought would be good sellers.  Well, since I'd never seen Michelle's books in the store, I looked in our computer at work, and found I could order both the first and second book in the Transcend Time Saga.  So I ordered them in.  And then of course I purchased one of each for myself.  While I had some e-galleys I needed to get read on my Nook, one day I decided it would be easier to carry a physical book around with me on my errands instead of worrying about leaving my Nook in my car.  So I took Remembrance with me.  It had a good start, and hooked me right away!  When I got home that evening, I intended to move back to reading the e-galley I'd started, but unfortunately Adobe Digital Editions had decided to no longer authorize my Nook.  So I didn't have the time to mess around with that, so I just continued reading Remembrance.  

I love the idea that the author was inspired from seeing a video.  In this case it was from the Taylor Swift music video:  Love Story.  Which, by the way, I love that song anyway!  I've  never seen the video, but intend to go watch it after I finish my review!  The main character is Lizzie.  She seems to have an almost perfect life.  A great best friend, and one of the most popular boys in school as her boyfriend, a soccer star, and they've been dating for a long time.  But this year, with his being a co-captain of the soccer team, he seems to have changed, so there is trouble in that paradise.  A new guy, Drew, transfers to their school, and from the moment he walks in the door, Lizzie feels a strange connection.  Now, I'm not a fan of the whole "insta-love" thing, but this isn't necessarily done like that.  He's a cute guy, so I'm okay with instant physical attraction, that's just real.  But the connection she feels is just at first that she knows him, and she doesn't of course, at least not in this lifetime.  Soon Lizzie begins having memories or images popping into her head from a time period similar to the book she's reading for her class, Pride and Prejudice.  And Drew seems to feel the connection too.  Or something.  But, Lizzie is dating Jeremy, problems or not.  And her best friend Chelsea has her eye on Drew from the first day.  And Lizzie can't hurt her best friend.  But things keep happening, and it seems more and more that Lizzie and Drew were meant to be together.  Despite Drew trying to keep them apart for some reason, and the fact that there are other people involved.  

The story is really good.  I like the way it works.  That Lizzie and Drew don't really ever cheat on their significant others until they are officially broken up, and even then, it doesn't really go far because they want to be honest with Chelsea before they go public.  Really the story seemed realistic, I can see people acting the way the characters did. My only complaint, and I only mention it because it stuck out several times, is the use of one word.  Smirk.  Nothing wrong with the word.  It is a very good choice for figurative language.  A "showing" word as we might say in my Communication Arts class that I teach.  BUT, I feel as if it is used a lot in this book.  And once or twice, it is used in a situation that I don't think it fits that well.  But hey, what do I know?  I can't even finish any of the stories I've started!  

If you haven't read it, read it soon!  The 2nd book was really short, I was kind of worried it was maybe just a sampler, but from what I read in the back  of this book, it was just a short story.  So now I'll also be needing to get the 3rd book, although I don't know that I can order it in to my bookstore.  So may have to order it online.