BOOK BLITZ: LOVE BITES BY RACHEL K. BURKE

Hey All!!!

In this weeks book nugget of awesome, we have Love Bites by Rachel K. Burke. See all the book deets below:

Love Bites

by Rachel K. Burke 

Release Date: 12/29/15

Harper Impulse

New Adult

225 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

What do you do when you fall in love with your best friend’s boyfriend?

That is the question that twenty-six year-old Justine Sterling has been asking herself ever since the day she met David Whitman, her best friend Renee’s boyfriend. Justine is determined to ignore her growing feelings for the irresistibly charming David, until one night, when she finds herself in the bed of the one person she should stay away from.

When Justine and David’s affair ends in heartbreak, Justine is forced to repair the damaged friendship with her best friend. In doing so, she learns that right and wrong decisions aren’t always black and white, and sometimes you have to follow your heart to see where it leads.

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Wow. Wow. Wow! Now, I'm a big follower of the "girl code" mantra, but this sort of topic has been handled very well in the past (think Something Borrowed). I think this is a very real issue that many can or have dealt with, so bravo on the author for tackling it. More author intel is below:

About the Author

Rachel discovered she wanted to be a writer at the age of ten, when her love of R.L. Stine murder mystery novels inspired her to start writing her own.

In 2008, Rachel combined her love of writing and music and began freelancing for a music column in Worcester Magazine. She also worked as a music journalist for Starpulse News Entertainment and Jamsbio Magazine, as well as a fitness journalist for Prevention Magazine.

Rachel graduated from Bridgewater University in 2011 with a B.A. in Communications and Media Studies.

She currently resides in Santa Monica, CA.

Author Links:

    

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BOOK BLITZ: EYES UNVEILED BY CRYSTAL WALTON

Hey All!!!

Coming to the stage today we have a sweet and contemporary new adult romance! All deets are below:

Eyes Unveiled (Unveiled Series, Book 1)

by Crystal Walton 

Release Date: 02/01/15

259 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

Twenty-one-year-old Emma Matthews lost the song in her heart the same night she lost her dad. With an unfulfilled promise and an ultimatum shadowing her junior year of college, maybe it’s better that way. You can’t hurt if you can’t feel.

But when the reflection she sees in musician Riley Preston’s eyes borders dangerously close to the one she’s spent the last five years searching for, Emma discovers her walls can’t guard her heart from its fiercest desire. Terrified of what she’s experiencing, and even more afraid of what she might lose, Emma grapples for the courage to hold on to one dream without abandoning the promise of another.

Contemporary New Adult Romance novel Eyes Unveiled lets you relive those heartfelt moments when you don’t know how you’d survive a day without your best friend, when you’re trying to figure out who you are and what you’re supposed to do with your life, and when falling in love changes everything.

Music. Friendship. Self-discovery. Hope. Purpose. Identity. Within this inspirational love story, you'll find you have a song of your own to share.

Buy Links:
Amazon

Now say it with me...awwweeeee!!! I love how beautiful and blissful this story sounds, even in the blurb. We have more on the author below:

About the Author

Amidst multiple moves up and down the east coast, Crystal received her bachelor of arts from Messiah College in PA, married her exact opposite in upstate NY, and earned her master of arts from Regent University in VA, where she currently resides with her husband. Crystal writes contemporary new adult fiction fueled by venti green teas from Starbucks. 

When not working her accounting day job, she's delving into the wonder of words, supporting her Starbucks habit, or laughing over movie quotes & singing eighties songs with her husband.

Author Links:

   

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IS KARMA REALLY A B*#CH?

Hey All!!!
I was discussing the craziness of The Apprentice with my mom (who religiously watches said show), and we got to talking about Kenya Moore and how she's been acting on the show. Supposedly she's up to her normal tricks and mess, which hasn't gotten her any friends (her and Vivica Fox butted heads quite a bit), but she continues to get work. And that got me thinking...does karma really come back on folks?





I think in a lot of books and shows the folks who are awful, horrible people often get what's coming to them, but in the real world that's not often the case. So why do we often like to see the villain meet his (or in this case her) end? Because it personally vindicates us. 

That's why the mean girl in a lot of YA novels gets put in her place - even though that hardily ever happens in real life. It's because we are able to live vicariously through these stories and are able to see these representations of the folks who hurt us get their due. It's not perfect. Hell, it may not even be right. But I'll continue to gain a gleeful sense of satisfaction from seeing these folks bite the dust!



Happy reading and writing!

BOOK BLITZ: MY SOON TO BE SEX LIFE BY JUDITH TEWES

Hey All!!!

Today we have an awesome looking reading nugget from Bloomsbury Spark titled My Soon-To-Be Sex Life by Judith Tewes! Even the title sounds super fun! You'll find more deets below:

My Soon-To-Be Sex Life

by Judith Tewes 

Release Date: 06/24/14

Bloomsbury Spark

Summary from Goodreads:
Charlie is down to her absolute. Total. Last. Resort.

Despite a thoroughly comprehensive list of potential cherry poppers, er…suitors, and careful plotting, Charlie is three weeks into her devirginization campaign, still untouched, and getting desperate. In the movie of her life, this aspiring screenwriter is giving herself a PG, for please, get some.

Her project goes into freeze frame when her mom checks herself into rehab and packs Charlie off to live with her estranged, or just plain strange, grandfather, Monty. How is she supposed to get a date when she has to go pick up his Depends?

Enter Eric, a hot rehab grad on the road to redemption, and the only one who can make Charlie rethink her strategy. The more she gets to know him, the more convinced she becomes that is the one, and not just another to add to the list of people who will abandon her.

In this hilarious and heartbreaking story of one girl’s detoured road to womanhood, Charlie’s list develops a life of its own – right when she realizes there’s so much more to lose.

Buy Links:

Amazon│B&N│Kobo

Nice! This seems like such a fun read! Now, my own devirginization experience was nowhere near this fun (that's putting it lightly people), but I wish it could have been. I can completely see how at that age one could put so much pressure on this pivotal experience. Such a cool idea! Author intel is below:

About the Author

Judith Tewes - author and screenwriter - resides in small town northern Alberta, where she: writes, sings, plays bass guitar in an all-woman band, walks her three crazy labs, and suspects she's living the life of a superhero's alias. Her edgy, contemporary young adult fiction is full of heart with a side of snark. 

She also writes paranormal YA under the pen name, Judith Graves.

Author Links:

   

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THE BOOKS OF MY CHILDHOOD

Hey All!!!
Recently, I read The Haunting Season by Michelle Muto, and I was disappointed by how little the book actually scared me. It also got me thinking on how much I used to love Fear Street novels when I was in high school.

I used to love how creepy and scary each one was, and how they often connected to one another. And that got me to thinking about re-reading a few of them.

So, I'm off to find some Fear Street books. Wish me luck!

Happy Reading and Writing!

BOOK BLITZ: BRICKS BY JOHN DAVIDSON

Hey All!!!

Coming to the stage we have a new book that's just been released by author John Davidson. See all the deets below:

Bricks

by John Davidson 

Release Date: 02/03/15

Anaiah Press

Summary from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year old Cori Reigns learns that not all tornadoes take you to magical places. Some take your house, your school, and life as you knew it. Struggling to put the pieces of her life back together, Cori learns to rebuild what the storm destroyed by trusting family she didn't know she had and helping friends she never appreciated.

Buy Links:

Amazon│Barnes & Noble

Nice!!! And if that description hasn't tantalized your reading taste buds, I've attached a blurb below:

In the eerie glow from the lantern, I sat in a ball with Slim’s long arms wrapped around me. Only our synchronized breathing and the drum of my heartbeat disturbed the silence.

The pizza boy screamed as the TV flew upward. We ducked, and it slammed into the locked steel door. A roar like a jet-powered locomotive swept over us. Wind raged through a crack in the rattling door like the screech and cackle of a tempest-tossed witch, fluttering the lantern’s light. Slim caught the set as it dropped. The cord flopped at my feet, severed like it’d been bitten by a wild animal.

Mr. Hawkins mumbled. Mrs. Lassiter spoke to Jesus. The Mangino’s driver sat near me, his rocking horse motion powered by gentle sobs. I forced my hand to stop shaking long enough to reach around Slim and squeeze the boy’s hand in mine. Mrs. Lassiter always said there are no atheists in foxholes. There are no strangers either.

My heart passed the next few minutes of external silence by banging like a sledgehammer against my ribcage. Finally, Mrs. Lassiter slid past us. “Would you mind giving me a hand, young man?”

She had to be talking to Slim. The Mangino’s guy was still a sobbing mess.

“You okay?” he asked me.

I think I nodded.

At the top of the steps, the metal latch clanged. Then a grunt and a shard of light.

The sounds repeated.

“I can’t get it open,” Slim said. “It must be jammed.”

My sledgehammer heart banged louder.

“Not jammed,” Mrs. Lassiter told him. “Blocked.”

And louder.

Crazy thoughts and images raced through my mind. The tiny enclosure seemed to have suddenly shrunk by half. I couldn’t take it any longer. Being trapped in a tiny underground bunker that smelled of perspiration and pepperoni made me want to puke. I squeezed the pizza guy’s hand a final time and pushed to the top of the steps to wedge myself between Slim and Mrs. Lassiter. No one objected. It wouldn’t have mattered.

I didn’t wait for three. I threw my shoulder into the metal door, and it slowly creaked upward—six inches, a foot. With both feet on the steps and our shoulders against the door, we pressed upward to provide more leverage.

“A little more,” Mrs. Lassiter said. “There.” She extended the metal bar to hold the door open. My shoulders relaxed as the brace clicked into place. I rubbed my arm and stepped into the eerie gray light.

About the Author

Married to my bride for twenty-four years, I have an amazing son and a wonderful daughter.

Born and raised in central Oklahoma, I work in education, first as a teacher now in technology curriculum. I write. I read. And in the summer I make snow cones.

Author Links:

  

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BULLYING STOPS HERE: GETTING MY NIECE TO SEE THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BULLYING COIN

Hey All!!!
Late last week I found out some really horrifying news from my sister. She told me my niece - my sweet, always helpful, ever loving niece - has been hanging around with the wrong crowd in her after-school program and they've been mean to other kids. When I found this out, it broke my heart (almost as much as her telling me that she wasn't the biggest fan of reading, but I digress).

As someone who's vertically challenged, I spent a large part of my middle school, and some part of my high school, years being picked on. It was a difficult time, and one I would never want to inflict on anyone else. I was so upset when I first heard this news that I didn't know what to do.

After throwing out all of my ideas on strict punishments ("No birthday party for you!"), I decided that maybe the best way to handle this is to build a bit more empathy in my niece. So I'm on the lookout for ways to show her what it's like to be on the other side of bullying, and to encourage her to use her size (she's bigger than most of the kids her age) to protect others and not the other way around. I remember that there's a documentary on bullying in America, so I'm going to pull that out, and try to find a few children's books on the subject. Any suggestion y'all might have are more than welcomed.

I just want to show her that J.K. Rowling really did have it right in Harry Potter, when Dumbledore stated that, "...sometimes you have to choose between what is right, and what is easy."

Happy reading and writing!!!