Sunday 25 May 2014

What Happens Tomorrow by Elle Michaels

This is a story of heartache, and not necessarily the kind that can be erased with a carton of ice-cream, a chick-flick, and your best-friend. Brooke is broken, and it seems that Tyler is just the person to bring her back and slowly help her mend her heart and soul.

This was a very sweet story with a lot of pain, but the one ray of sunshine was Jenna. She had me in stitches. In a story about overcoming insurmountable grief, it was a nice surprise to get a dose of humour. All the key secondary characters were doing everything in their power to help Brooke move on with her life - it really showed dedication to all the different kinds of love. I wish that there had been more about Tyler and Brooke's earlier friendship. By about 75%, I felt that the story was finally setting a good pace, but then I realized that it would be over very soon.

I think anyone who adores all-consuming romance (with very little drama) will like this one. 

Wednesday 14 May 2014

COVER REVEAL: Flat-Out Celeste by Jessica Park

We were introduced to Celeste in Flat-Out Love and readers wanted more! Well, more they shall have! Look at this amazing cover and take a peek inside FLAT-OUT CELESTE!

COMING SOON!


BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Whether you were charmed by Celeste in Flat-Out Love or are meeting her for the first time, this book is a joyous celebration of differences, about battling private wars that rage in our heads and in our hearts, and—very much so— this is a story about first love.. 

For high-school senior Celeste Watkins, every day is a brutal test of bravery. And Celeste is scared. Alienated because she’s too smart, her speech too affected, her social skills too far outside the norm, she seems to have no choice but to retreat into isolation. 

But college could set her free, right? If she can make it through this grueling senior year, then maybe. If she can just find that one person to throw her a lifeline, then maybe, just maybe.
Justin Milano, a college sophomore with his own set of quirks, could be that person to pull her from a world of solitude. To rescue her—that is, if she’ll let him. 

Together, they may work. Together, they may save each other. And together they may also save another couple—two people Celeste knows are absolutely, positively flat-out in love.


Excerpt
There was a knock at the door and Matt leaned in, swinging a brown paper bag in her direction. “I heard Mom made stuffed peppers tonight. Last time she made those, I nearly died from flatulence. I assume she stuffed them with her usual repulsive ground chicken, quinoa, Brussels sprouts, and pomegranate seed mix?”

Just the sound of Matt’s voice made Celeste relax. She smiled at him. “Based on the smell, I believe you’re right.”

“So you didn’t eat then? I was right!” Matt flopped onto her bed and lay down, his long body scrunching up the neat white comforter that she spent ten minutes arranging before she’d gone to school this morning. “I thought I’d take a break from studying and bring you something edible.”

“It smells like a burger from Mr. Bartley’s,” she said as she got up and took a seat next to Matt. “Hand it over, thoughtful brother.”

He tightened a hand around the top of the bag. “You have to guess which kind I brought you first.”

“How am I supposed to know?”

“Close your eyes.”

She did as instructed and felt him move the bag under her nose. Sweet, spicy... a bit garlicky. “Aha! Boursin cheese and bacon! The Mark Zuckerberg burger!”

“And sweet potato fries and a bottle of iced tea, but you win. A burger named after ‘the richest geek in America,’ as the restaurant calls him.”

“You will be the richest geek in America after you finish your Ph.D. Program,” Celeste said through a mouthful of fries.

“If M.I.T. doesn’t land me in a psych unit first.”

“You only have this year left to endure. And you will hardly find yourself in need of psychiatric care, Matthew. You are doing stupendously.”

“I’m scraping by.” Matt reached into the bag and grabbed a handful of fries and opened her iced tea.

“You are not ‘scraping by.’ You are assistant teaching classes, excelling in your own, and in all ways performing to standards that exceed even the high ones our mother set for you.” She frowned as he chewed on the fries. “Did you not eat?”

“I did. A Big Papi burger and a Fiscal Cliff. But you can never have enough sweet potato fries.”

“I have a finite amount of my own from which you are stealing. But I shall not complain because this was very kind of you.”

Matt chewed and studied her. “Are you okay?”

“Why do you ask?”

“No contractions. When you’re stressed out, they disappear.”

“I know. But most days I do not care to use them. If it is an effort, then I do not push.”

“Okay. I get it.” He chewed for a minute. “I heard your presentation went well. Did your friends like it?”

“It went marvelously. My friend Dallas took me aside to share quite the flow of compliments.”

“That’s great, Celeste.” He was downing half her iced tea.

“And then I bitch slapped her.”

Matt choked on the drink and desperately tried to clear his airway. “I’m sorry. You did what?”

She cocked her head. “I bitch slapped her.”

“That... that can’t be right,” he sputtered. “I mean, I hope it’s not.”

“I slapped my hand against her hand. Up in the air.” She looked at Matt blankly. “Is that not the right term?”

“Thank God, no, it’s not. I think you mean a high-five.”

“If you say so. Well, either way, it happened. You know I have trouble with colloquialisms, so I resent your shocked reaction.”

“I do know that about you, and I apologize.”

“Since we are on the subject, there is something else I would like for you to clarify.”

“Shoot.”

“What is meant by ‘nut bag’? Is that a testicular reference or merely the identification of a satchel of cashews or pecans?”

Matt groaned. “This conversation has gotten really weird. Could we just talk about— Wait a minute. Why are you asking me this? Did someone say that to you?” He looked angry.

Celeste picked at her fry. “No. Certainly not. I heard the term and had a natural curiosity.”

“Okay then...” Her brother crumpled up the paper bag and then smoothed it out in his hands. Then crumpled it again. “It’s the same as ‘nuts.’ You know, crazy.”

“Thank you for the definition.” She took the last bite of her burger and wiped her hands on one of the paper napkins. It shouldn’t matter what her classmates thought of her. Celeste would just be strong about this. She would move on.

PURCHASE LINKS

FLAT-OUT LOVE and FLAT-OUT MATT on Amazon
FLAT-OUT LOVE at B&N.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica is the author of LEFT DROWNING, the New York Times bestselling FLAT-OUT LOVE (and the companion piece FLAT-OUT MATT), and RELATIVELY FAMOUS. She lives in New Hampshire where she spends an obscene amount time thinking about rocker boys and their guitars, complex caffeinated beverages, and tropical vacations. On the rare occasions that she is able to focus on other things, she writes.


Please visit her at jessicapark.me and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/authorjessicapark and Twitter @JessicaPark24


Friday 9 May 2014

RELEASE DAY: Happenstance by Jamie McGuire

HAPPENSTANCE is finally here! Help us celebrate and spread the word! Be sure to check out the giveaway!


TitleHappenstance
Author: Jamie McGuire
Publisher: Jamie McGuire LLC (May 9, 2014)
Print Length: 100 pages
ASIN: B00JOPR0ZK

PURCHASE LINKS:



#1 New York Times Bestseller Jamie McGuire returns to self-publishing with this page-turning YA account of Erin Easter, one of three Erins in the small senior class of rural Blackwell High School who not only share a first name, but also their birthday. Easter, raised by a neglectful single mom, keeps to herself and admires Weston Gates from afar. The other Erins, Erin "Alder" Alderman and Erin "Sonny" Masterson are the darlings of the community: daughters of the two wealthiest families in town, best friends, cheerleaders, and everything Easter isn't--and they never let her forget it. Alder has even claimed Weston since the 8th grade.

Weston is a well-liked star athlete, and the son of two prominent attorneys. He struggles daily with the pressures of living up to his family name and secretly empathizes with Easter's feeling that she belongs somewhere else; in a different life. Not until he begins sneaking nights out with Easter does he gain the courage to buck expectations and acknowledge his feelings ... both for his future, and for her.

A shocking tragedy rocks the tiny town, and Easter's life is turned upside down in the best way possible. But when the truth is revealed and everything she thinks she wanted falls into her lap, life only becomes more complicated.











.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times best selling author Jamie McGuire has penned the Providence series and contemporary romance Beautiful Disaster. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband and three children. She is an RT(R), a graduate of Autry and Oklahoma Northern College, and a full time writer.


Monday 5 May 2014

Rush Too Far by Abbi Glines

I'll be honest here. My reasons for wanting to read this book didn't have anything to do with the good looking guy on the cover. Hell, he could have been wearing a paper bag, and I still would have trampled over the elderly and taken candy from children if it meant that I got to read what THE Rush Finlay was thinking when he met Blaire Wynn.

But those cute little grandmothers and those precious babies were all safe from me, because by some sort of literary miracle, someone thought I was worthy of an ARC. And while this review might not be the most informative...uh - where was I? Crap. I was thinking about how I'm so incredibly jealous of Blair and she's a fictional character. Can you say squirrel?

I'm not going to get into the writing style. I'm not going to dissect the structure. Because I don't care about any of that. I would have gladly read this on 8.5 x 11 in size 6 font. Heck, I could have even taken random words if they meant that I would get insight to Rush. I NEEDED to read this book because from the moment that Fallen Too Far landed on my doorstep, I've been obsessed. Hell - I wanted to read Rush Too Far because Rush is HOT. Because the way Abbi Glines writes Rush is HOT. Because the way that Rush and Blaire are together is HOT.

Seriously, you immerse yourself in all-things-Rush to forget the fact that it's late-April and still feels like winter. You read all-things-Rush because you NEED to remember why you wanted a Range Rover about a year ago. You buy the biggest container of peanut butter known to man so you can somehow feel closer to him.

Abbi Glines writes really great escapism.

NOTE: There are people who will vouch for my addiction to this series, but it still needs to be said that even though I received an ARC from the publisher, it in no way influenced my 'review'.





Saturday 3 May 2014

Mud Vein by Tarryn Fisher

You don't pick up a +Tarryn Fisher book and expect rainbows, unicorns, and rose petals scattered on a bed in the shape of a heart. If you do, you're in for an extremely rude awakening. Because instead of sugar and spice, and everything nice, you're going to get flawed characters who manage to make the most cynical of us running to believe in fairy tales to escape the brutal honesty in which Ms. Fisher's books are written.

Mud Vein.

I hated it because I felt like I was in the bottom of the deepest well, with no way out. Every word that I read was a bucket of water being dumped into this dark pit. By the time I was at about 80%, I felt like I was drowning. Tarryn Fisher was killing me.

I hated the way the writing made me think of unimaginable things just to escape the pain that was coming through the most expertly chosen words. I despised that I couldn't see the joy in anything in the real world.That this story had managed to overtake every aspect of my life. I hated that when I heard on the news that areas north of me were going to get snow, fear consumed me and I almost ceased to function.

I hated the way my heart broke. I hated the way that those broken pieces where further annihilated when Ms. Fisher's words slaughtered the remnants with what felt like dull box-cutters. The pain was excruciating. What little was left of my organ was scarped into a Vitamix and set on high on 15 minutes. Even the little bit of hope that was given to the reader did nothing to make me whole.

And yet, I'll do it all again.