Monday, February 8, 2016

Promo Post: Scarred by Joanne Macgregor

Blurb / Synopsis:

"Life leaves you scarred. Love can make you beautiful." 

Seventeen year-old Sloane Munster is trying to reboot her life after a serious car accident left her badly scarred and emotionally traumatized. 

Starting her senior year at a new school, she’s delighted to see Luke Naughton, a swimmer whom she once had a crush on, in the class in front of her. But when he glares back at her with disgust and revulsion, she’s shocked and hurt, and assumes it’s because of her appearance. Despite misunderstandings, the chemistry between them sparks and love grows against a background of guilt, secrets, and mounting tensions at a school where bullying is rife and Sloane is not the most deeply scarred person. 

Sharp with bittersweet humor, Scarred is an intense, beautiful, compelling story of life, death and fighting for love against all the odds. 

Scarred is a great read for fans of Sarah Dessen, Stephanie Perkins and Abbi Glines.

Origin of the story:
 
Scarred is a young adult contemporary romance that seems to be finding significant crossover appeal.

Scars - internal and external, literal and figurative - often find their way into my books. Perhaps because I'm also a psychologist, I'm fascinated by how we are all scarred by our lives. There is simply no way to go through life without being physically and emotionally scarred. But these wounds are not only the trace evidence and reminders of what we have already endured, they also too often influence how we think, feel and behave, and therefore determine who we become.

The protagonist of this story, Sloane Munster, endures a terrible ordeal and is left horribly scarred. It changes the way she sees herself and she is too ready to believe the worst of the world. Preoccupied by the striking scar on her face, she perhaps doesn't see how we are all scarred, and she needs to learn that sometimes the most deeply scarred people carry no external marks.

The idea for this book came to me one night when I was jetlagged and sleepless. What if, I thought, a scarred teen assumes the boy who looks at her with loathing does so because he's repulsed by her appearance. But what if there's a whole other reason for his disgust and dislike? What if these two characters, each scarred in their own way, are uniquely able to heal each other?

That's the crux of this novel. Life leaves you scarred. Love can make you beautiful.





Buy Links:

Author Bio:
When not writing books, Joanne Macgregor is a Counselling Psychologist in private practice and deals mainly with victims of crime and trauma. It’s tough work and to combat creeping burnout, she started writing fiction several years ago. Now she consults and writes on alternate days, and in completely different head-spaces and physical environments. Although she lives in the frenetic adrenaline-rush of the big city, Joanne has always been in love with nature, and escapes into the wilds whenever she can. She’s a a Harry Potter fanatic, bakes the best choc-chip cookies on the planet, and is addicted to chilies and bulletproof coffee. She is the author of two other books for Young Adults - Turtle Walk (2011) and Rock Steady (2013), and loves writing about, and for, teens.

My social media links:

GoodReads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26844752-scarred?from_search=true&search_version=service

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Sunday, February 7, 2016

Review: Banished (Forbidden #2) by Kimberley Griffiths Little

First thanks to Harper Collins and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this title.  I loved the first book, Forbidden, so much, that as soon as I saw this was available, I downloaded it to read.  Once again I'm participating in a tour with Dena from Batch of Books for this series.  If you haven't read the first book,  you need to go click on my link above to read that review, because there is a very good chance that this review of the 2nd book will have spoilers for the first book.  I am glad to say that other than one or two tiny details, I was able to dive right back into the story without forgetting what had happened before. And honestly, those details were very vague already in my head, and I soon remembered them as soon as there was a mention of those things in this story.

We join in with Jayden alone in the desert.  She has escaped Horeb and knows that she must look for Kadesh, even though as far as she knows, Horeb killed him.  But it's obvious that since the story goes on, she will find him.  But he's really injured, Horeb has done so much to him in that fight where he said he'd killed him.  But Jayden doesn't care, she loves Kadesh, and she tells him so.  The tribe that has rescued him accepts Jayden as his future wife, and promise to protect her as well.  However there is at least one man in the tribe that Jayden remembers from when her family's tribe had been attacked in the last story.  But supposedly he has sworn to help with the rest of his tribe.  And the prince of this new tribe, not only does Jayden see him meet with this tribe member, but he seems to be developing a romantic interest in Jayden as well. 

The tribe must move on as they soon find out that Horeb is on their tail, he wants to take back his betrothed, Jayden, any way that he has to.  First Jayden will want to save her family.  Going back to her own tribe, Jayden finds them turned against her, thanks to Horeb's mother, and they threaten to stone her.  Only Jayden's grandmother is there, her father has gone back to the city to look for her sister.  Kadesh's friends in the tribe will do their best to help Jayden get as many of her family members back as she can, and then take them all to Kadesh's kingdom, Sariba.  But things won't be the perfect ending and happily ever after once they reach Sariba.  Kadesh hasn't told Jayden everything, and there will be obstacles to face in order for things to go the way they should. 

The end of the book leaves us wondering how Kadesh's tribes will fight off Horeb.  After having dealt with some betrayal, soon they will have to fight members of their own kingdom who have their own sights set on the kingdom.

Once again I fell back in love with Jayden and Kadesh, although the bit in the kingdom, when we learn of Kadesh's secrets, it was emotional.  I did cry.  Such great emotion in this story.  I love all the historical parts especially.  The stoning, the worship of different gods, and even the locations are so fascinating.  Once again I love how the author gives some insight into the history at the end of the book.  We just finally got our copy of the first book in the library for my students to read.  I can't wait to get this second book ordered and added to the shelves for my students when they finish the first book. 
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Friday, February 5, 2016

Promo Post with Giveaway: These Vicious Masks by Kelly Zekas and Tarun Shanker


Book Details:
These Vicious Masks by Kelly Zekas and Tarun Shanker
Published by: Swoon Romance
Publication date: February 9th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult

Synopsis:
Evelyn has no interest in marriage and even the dashing Mr. Kent can’t make her want to live up to society’s expectations. She’d much rather assist her beloved sister Rose in becoming the world’s first female doctor. But everything changes the night she meets Sebastian Braddock – not only is the reclusive lord both vexing and surprisingly attractive, he’s also quite possibly mad, and his interest in Rose is galling. So when Evelyn wakes up to discover that Rose has disappeared, she immediately suspects Sebastian.

But then she discovers that Sebastian’s strange tales of special powers are actually true, and that Rose’s kidnappers have worse in mind for her than simply ruining her reputation. Surrounded by secrets, lies, and unprecedented danger, Evelyn has no choice but to trust Sebastian, yet she can’t help but worry that Sebastian’s secrets are the most dangerous of all…


Purchase:
 Excerpt:
I have Powers Moment

Set up: Mr. Braddock has revealed that Evelyn’s missing sister has been seen in a dancing hall with a rather unsavory reputation. Evelyn insists on going to see for herself.

      “I have no care for your concerns,” I said. “This is the only way I will be convinced it’s her. I came to London against my parents’ wishes, and I am perfectly capable of doing this alone, as well.”

      He crumpled the paper in his hands, registering how futile it was to argue. He returned to pacing the length of the small garden, shaking his head, and fussing with the seams of his cuffs.

      “Very well,” he said. “Then I will be here this evening at seven.”

      “Unnecessary. I shall be fine myself.”

      “You will be eaten alive.” His voice rasped with scorn. “If you are going to be so foolhardy as to go through with this plan, then I will accompany you.”

      “I don’t need a chap—” I automatically snapped, but the memory of the drunken men in the alley was too fresh. I stood up, unable to resist the wine any longer. I poured it into a teacup and ignored the snort behind me.

      “Ah, so you know what to do when a man takes you for a doxy?”

      Mortified, I felt my face flush, but somehow kept myself from spitting out the wine. “When a man takes me for a . . . doxy? So you see it as an inevitability—why, thank you.”

      He prowled uneasily close to me, and I fumbled and dropped the cup. I only heard it shatter, unable to look away from the advancing oaf.

      “Forgive me for sullying your innocent ears, but if you go to a dancing room unaccompanied, you will hear much worse. And you will inevitably be taken for that kind of woman even if you’re wearing a nun’s habit.”

      “Ah, and you know this with all your infinite brothel experience.”

      “Yes,” he said firmly, not acknowledging the insult. “Now, seven o’clock—I will be here. It’s no longer a question. Be ready and wear a plain, unadorned mask—the sort you might wear to a masquerade ball.”

      Insufferable. I had nothing left to say to the obstinate man. “Fine,” I muttered. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have better places to search this morning.”

      “Very well. But let me help—” he said, leaning forward to assist with the cup’s sad remains.

      I blocked his way. “I will be quite fine.”

      He nodded and drew back gracefully. “Do try to stay out of trouble today.” I could hear the smirk in his voice. He buttoned up his coat and opened the door while I knelt to pick up the shards of porcelain with as much dignity as I could muster.

      “You too. Try not to pick a fight with Tuffins as he lets you ou—!” But the final word became a yelp as a sharp ceramic edge drew a ragged cut over my palm, blood pooling up over the torn flesh.

      Mr. Braddock was gone. I stared down at the glassy red coloring my hand, both nauseated and abstractly intrigued by the sight of my own blood. It welled into a small pool and dripped onto the wine-stained dirt below.

      I carefully wrapped a handkerchief around my palm and headed upstairs to wash the cut clean. But when I took it off mere minutes later, only smooth, unbroken skin stared back up at me. I began to wonder exactly how much wine I had drunk. It could not have been enough for me to hallucinate, could it?

      I hastened to my reticule, wildly grabbing a card—Mr. Kent’s, actually—and sliced at my finger, causing a stinging paper cut. Though the graze still smarted, I watched closely as my skin knit itself back together in a matter of seconds.

      The room spun. The blood on the handkerchief was all I could see, mocking me. I could no longer ignore the evidence.

      I truly had the ability to heal.

Author Details:

AUTHOR BIO:
Tarun and Kelly met in a freshman year writing class at NYU and started writing These Vicious Masks a few years later.

Tarun is a writer living in Los Angeles whose idea of paradise consists of kung-fu movies, David Bowie and chai tea. Since completing his first horrible screenplay in high school, he’s written everything from one-act plays and film criticism to humor pieces and strongly-worded emails. He’s also magnetized, crushed and burned the hard drive where that first screenplay can be found.

Kelly is a writer and actor living in NYC. YA is her absolute favorite thing on earth other than cupcakes and she has spent many hours crying over fictional deaths. She also started reading Harlequin romances at a possibly too early age (12?), and still loves a good paperback romance.


Links (Kelly):

Giveaway:
  • One (1) finished physical copy of These Vicious Masks. Open to US and Canada only.
   a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
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Thursday, February 4, 2016

Audiobook Review: November 9 by Colleen Hoover

This is going to be a hard review to write because of the amount of love I have for this book, not to mention just how much of a book hangover it gave me, one that I still get twinges from once in awhile.  This was the last audiobook I checked out from the library.  It was my first experience with this author.  I have never really thought that I wanted to read her books. They just didn't sound up my alley.  But for some reason, the synopsis on this one just totally caught my attention.  Here, let me share it:

Beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover returns with an unforgettable love story between a writer and his unexpected muse.

Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.

So, I think that it has to do with maybe the author and his muse bit.  Or the fact that it sounds a bit like the book/movie One Day.  Only, this book, THIS BOOK!  I don't know how I can express just how much I loved it.  I listen to audiobooks in my car, or when I'm on the treadmill.  That's it.  There have been times that I've sat in my car a few more minutes just to hear a little bit more of a book that was really good.  But this one, it sucked me so far into it, that I just couldn't stop listening.  The 2nd to last day I was listening to it, I was at the gym on the treadmill.  It was a bit awkward at first because I was listening to a part that made me want to cry.  

 

But then, as I kept walking, and the two girls on either side of me left and then two guys began using the treadmills on either side, the story changed from sad to sexy.  Yeah, that was a bit awkward!  


Then, the day I finished it, I had about 40% left in the book when I had to get out of my car and go into work that morning.  I couldn't even imagine picking up my e-reader to read the book I was in the middle of reading on it.  So I had to drive out and get lunch.  And not just go and get lunch and go back to work.  No, I went to Sonic, and that way I could sit in my car and eat and listen.  Still getting back to work after lunch was hard.  So on the way home, I went 15 minutes out of my way, just to keep listening.  And I still had to know how it all would end.  So I went into my house, I didn't turn the tv on like I normally do first thing.  I ate my dinner listening to the audibook. When I was done with that, I sat on my couch and listened for 40 minutes until I finished it. Can I just say that I love this book?  I don't think I can express how much, but I do. Sooooo, soooo much!


Okay, let me give you my summary of the book.  There are two main characters, Fallon and Ben.  Fallon is a girl who was burned in a fire when she was 16 so badly that she now has scars down one side of her body, including her face.  At the time she'd been a star in a tv series, which all changed once the fire happened.  She is meeting her dad for lunch, on the anniversary of the fire, November 9 if you couldn't guess.  The fire took place at his house.  And for some reason, he had forgotten she was there that night and so didn't go to save her.  No one knew to get her until they heard her screams from inside.  On this day she is going to tell her father that she is about to move to New York City.  Her father is kind of an ass though.  When she tells him that she wants to maybe try out for Broadway plays, he basically tells her that because of her looks now, she should know better.  There's this attractive boy, Ben, that Fallon had seen sitting at the booth behind their booth when she'd gone to the bathroom earlier.  It's after one of these things her father says that Ben slides into her side of the booth and puts his arm around Fallon, then acting as if her is her boyfriend.  He helps her kind of tell her father off, kind of puts him in his place.  Fallon goes along with it, wondering what in the world is going on.  Soon her father leaves, and Fallon and Ben decide to hang out for awhile before she has to get on her plane to go to NYC. There's something about Ben.  It's like he doesn't see her scars, or like he thinks she is beautiful, not in spite, but because of them.  He does a lot for her confidence, and they  have a lot of fun being pretend boyfriend-girlfriend for the day.  But Fallon doesn't want to get into a relationship now, in fact she doesn't want it until she is 23 because of what her mother has told her about being old enough to really know yourself and be ready.  So the two agree that they will only see each other on November 9th each year.  They won't talk to each other at all throughout the year.  No phone numbers, they block each other on social media.  They only know that they will meet the next year at the same restaurant at about the same time as this year.  And so goes the story.

We get parts of the book from both Fallon and Ben's viewpoints.  So it is great to kind of see what each of them is going through.  We get more from Fallon until the end.  Each November 9 is so different. Each one brings so many different feelings as I read.  The first one goes so well.  The 2nd one, wow, sadness, happiness, and then more strong feelings as decisions must be made.  But then the 3rd one comes and there's so much hope for it to go more like the 1st one, but it doesn't.  Again, as they say, this one has all the feels.   And the 4th one, looks like maybe it won't happen.  But what does happen, again, happiness, that sexy time I talked about above and then, a major cliffhanger on what will happen for the final November 9. And that my followers, that is the part that I couldn't stop listening to for the last 40 minutes of the book.  I can't tell you much more without giving things away.  Just that Ben is really the perfect guy.  The way he loves and treats Fallon.  But his secret, I thought maybe I might know what it was at the beginning, but when nothing happened to even point that way, I figured I must be wrong.  In the end, it was basically what I'd thought.  But the way it happened, and how Ben told about it, incredible, emotional.  And Fallon, even when she should have hated him, or totally given up on him, the reasons she didn't hate him, or didn't give up on him, so perfect, in my opinion, so right, so much the way I believe I would have chosen, or anyone should have chosen.

I wish so much that they would make a movie of this.  While I pictured Ben from the description, I need to SEE him.  I just do.  I need to own this as a movie.  A movie to watch to laugh, to cry, to feel the heat between them.  I have to stop now.  I could go on and on.  But hey, if this book sounds good to you, I do have a giveaway going on up until Valentine's Day that you can enter to win it, just go to the post HERE. 

One way to tell my  love is the fact that I had to use Supernatural gifs in my review.  So one more to leave you with for this review.

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Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Romance is the Air Giveaway Hop


Thanks to Book  Hounds for hosting this giveaway!  I decided to join in because I have read some books in the past 6 months that the romance has just blown me away!  My prize for this giveaway is any of the books pictured below, some have notes that I will order others in the series if you've already read the first one.  If the Book Depository ships to you, then you can enter!

 
1st or 2nd book in the series

 
Or any book in the Lux series

 
Any of 3 books in the series




 
1st or 2nd book

 
2nd one pre-order for March 1

So, those are your choices on this stop.  Be sure to enter the rafflecopter, and then hop to the other giveaways below that!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Waiting on Wednesday: The Awakening of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl #2) by Paige McKenzie

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  This week I chose a book that is a sequel to another book that I really enjoyed.  I received an ARC  of the first book, The Haunting of Sunshine Girl in the mail from the publisher last year.  I'm a little disappointed I didn't get an ARC of the sequel.  :-(  But that's  how the cookie crumbles.  Anyway, I saw this posted on another WOW in the last week or so, and I knew it had to be my next pick!  Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Having passed her test in Book One, Sunshine’s Luiseach powers are now fully awakened: for months now, Sunshine has felt spirits everywhere: heard voices, felt emotions – intense and sometimes overwhelming. She tries to ignore them, but it is impossible. Hoping to get her powers under control – and hoping for answers to her never-ending questions – she agrees to undergo training with her Luiseach mentor, even though she still hopes to give up her powers someday.

She and her mentor clash left and right; he doesn’t understand or approve of her attachment to the humans in her life; and she can’t understand how he could give her up so many years ago, only to endanger her mother’s life as part of a test.

Sunshine’s training is every bit as terrifying and creepy as her test was, and along the way she meets and befriends another young Luiseach, forcing her to confront her feelings for Nolan. Though her mentor is reluctant to answer her many questions, she finally learns more about her lineage, as well as the rift that threatens the future of Luiseach and the human race... and the crucial part she has to play in repairing it.

I'm very excited to see where this book goes next.  Did you know that the books were based on a YouTube channel?  You can go see it HERE.  

So that's my big want for the week?  How about you? What are you eagerly awaiting?  And hey, check back later tonight, I'll have a post for the Romance is in the Air Giveaway Hop up! 
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Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Cover Characteristic: Skylines

The Cover Characteristic meme is hosted at  Sugar and Snark.   Here are the guidelines:

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite covers with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL in Linky (so we can visit).
You don’t even need to participate, just stopping by and saying hi would be great! Don’t forget to stop by the other participants!

This is another one that there were a lot of covers.  So I tried to narrow it down to the ones that were not necessarily exact pictures of skylines, but more of a shadow or outline.  Even with that, I still ended up with 10.  Here they are:


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  And  my favorite skyline cover:




So, what do you think of my cover choices?  Can you think of any other books with skylines on their covers?

And if you think you'd have as much fun as I do with this meme, next week's topic is statues, you can start working on your post now!
 
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Monday, February 1, 2016

Book Blitz and Giveaway: Marked by Amy Saunders

 
 

Book info:
Marked
by Amy Saunders
(The Birthright, #2)
Publication date: January 31st 2016
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Starting over for Rosamund Brandt is more complicated than it sounds. Especially when the past keeps coming back to haunt her. As she and her mom and brother try to pick up the pieces in a new home, the universe seems determined to tear them apart even more as secrets multiply, and distrust grows.
While new threats and unknowns emerge, Rosamund struggles with her own inner battle. Her new powers are growing whether she wants them or not, and their origins and nature are sketchy at best. The more that’s revealed to her, the more uncertain she feels.
Choosing allies and facing new and old enemies alike may not be their biggest problems. Not if Rosamund’s worst fears come true. Could she be the one they should fear the most?

Sequel to:
 
25799251
—

EXCERPT:

Xavier turned his back to me, disappearing among the students walking in all directions. I gulped down the lump in my throat, and headed toward my locker on autopilot. I walked straight down the middle of the hallway, students veering around me one way or the other. Each step was like the last, until gravel crunched beneath my boot.
I stopped walking and glanced down. Instead of tile, I saw charred black gravel. When I looked back up, I was standing in a virtual field of the stuff. There was nothing else around me except some hills the same color. The sky was gray and wind blew strands of my hair across my face. When I brushed the hair away, I saw something glint among the rocks near my feet.
I bent down, brushing the blackened dirt away, revealing something silver. I grazed the edge of it with my fingertips, then plunged my fingers into the gravel, pulling out the object. I stood again, my hand wrapped around it. When I glanced up, I was back in the hallway, students parting around me.
Another memory. Each one seemed to get more vivid and real.
But then I felt something cold in my hand.
I slowly unwrapped my fingers, and charcoaled dirt sifted between them onto the floor, leaving behind a 3-D silver serpentine object the size of my palm. My hand shook. That wasn’t just a memory. I’d physically done something. Or, more to the point, I’d gone somewhere. And I was pretty sure it wasn’t on Earth.
I covered the object in my hand again. I took a step forward, totally ready to skip class to go have a meltdown in the bathroom, when someone grabbed my arm, dragging me across the hall into an empty classroom. I wrenched away, facing the guy from detention–who didn’t exist in school records.
“What are you doing?” he hissed. “Didn’t you grow up like this? I thought you’d know better.”



Author Bio:
Amy is a sci-fi/mystery addict with a soft spot for humor and romance. She lives in Massachusetts, and loves to bake and watch movies. Learn more about Amy and her books at http://amysaundersauthor.com.







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