Monday, June 30, 2014

Cover Reveal: Descend by Skye Malone


Title: Descend
Series: Awakened Fate (Book Two)
Author: SkyeMalone
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Wildflower Isle
Publication Date: August 4, 2014
Cover Designer: Karri Klawiter (www.artbykarri.com)


Chloe always dreamed of visiting the ocean, and now the ocean is the only place she has left to go. Trapped in the form of a mermaid and on the run from the Sylphaen, her best chance for safety lies in traveling with Zeke to his underwater home and staying under his protection there.

Leaving isn’t easy, however. Her best friend doesn’t know where she’s gone, and her family doesn’t either. She’s been forced to abandon Noah, the boy she’s liked for years and who she’s just discovered likes her too. She only hopes Zeke’s people will help her so she can return soon.

But when conspiracies follow her and people start to die, safety becomes harder to find than ever. The Sylphaen are coming. They’re more powerful than she could have imagined.

And they’re not through with Chloe yet.


Awaken by Skye Malone
Book #1 in The Awakened Fate Series


99¢ for a limited time!

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About Skye Malone


Skye Malone is a fantasy and paranormal romance author, which means she spends most of her time not-quite-convinced that the things she imagines couldn't actually exist.

Born and raised in central Illinois, she hopes someday to travel the world – though in the meantime she’ll take any story that whisks her off to a place where the fantastic lives inside the everyday. She loves strong and passionate characters, complex villains, and satisfying endings that stay with you long after the book is done. An inveterate writer, she can’t go a day without getting her hands on a keyboard, and can usually be found typing away while she listens to all the adventures unfolding in her head.


Skye also writes YA urban fantasy as Megan Joel Peterson and is the author of The Children and the Blood trilogy.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Pinterest | Tumblr

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Friday, June 27, 2014

Cover Reveal: Gone by Anna Bloom


Title: Gone
Author: Anna Bloom
Genre: Mature YA (intended for readers ages 16-19)
Publication: July 28th, 2014

Rebecca Walters harbours a dark secret, and as the fifty-three bangles she wears on her wrists as a self-imposed sentence of guilt remind her, she can’t even begin to consider moving on. Not after what happened on that night six months ago... a night which she can’t remember and yet managed to change her life forever.

When Rebecca comes across Joshua Adams, man equally haunted by past tragedies, on a moonlit beach, both of their lives are destined to change forever, and when the girl made out of the sun meets the boy made out of the moon and sea, anything can happen... but will the knowledge of their murky pasts bring them together or drive them apart?

Will Rebecca finally be able to claim her freedom? Will she stay and fight to be the girl she found on the sandy beaches of Cornwall or is she destined to keep running and hiding from a past that won’t stay Gone? One thing’s for certain: either way, nothing will ever be the same again.






Anna Bloom is a contemporary romance writer who writes about life as it happens. Combining a busy schedule of looking after two small children whilst working in a local school and completing The Uni Files series she also spends a lot of time imagining kissing hot guys – all in the name of her art.


                  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads



         


Thursday, June 19, 2014

Book Blast: Fan Art by Sarah Tregay


Fan Art
Release Date: 06/17/ 14
Harper Teen

Summary from Goodreads:
When the picture tells the story...

Senior year is almost over, and Jamie Peterson has a big problem. Not college—that’s all set. Not prom—he’ll find a date somehow. No, it’s the worst problem of all: he’s fallen for his best friend.

As much as Jamie tries to keep it under wraps, everyone seems to know where his affections lie, and the giggling girls in art class are determined to help Jamie get together with Mason. But Jamie isn’t sure if that’s what he wants—because as much as Jamie would like to come clean to Mason, what if the truth ruins everything? What if there are no more road trips, taco dinners, or movie nights? Does he dare risk a childhood friendship for romance?

This book is about what happens when a picture reveals what we can’t say, when art is truer than life, and how falling in love is easy, except when it’s not. Fan Art explores the joys and pains of friendship, of pressing boundaries, and how facing our worst fears can sometimes lead us to what we want most.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17924987-fan-art?ac=1

An Excerpt from Fan Art, by Sarah Tregay:
Chapter Six

-
In art, Ms. Maude has the lights off and the projector on, and we’re flying through art history at breakneck speed. We started the semester with the cave paintings in Lascaux and, with three weeks of classes to go, we are up to Marcel Duchamp and his urinal. Ms. Maude is certain we’ll get up to present-day art by the end of the term, but the class has a bet going—most of the girls say she will and the guys say she won’t.
I write $1 in my notebook and slide it across the table to Eden.
In my pocket, she writes back.
I’m about to write No way when Ms. Maude leaps ahead half a decade and sums up Dadaism in one sentence. No fair. She segues to the Bauhaus, and I know I should be listening. Those Bauhaus dudes are the founding fathers of graphic design.
But I’m not listening. You going to prom? I write. Again I slide my notebook to Eden.
She looks at me, an are-you-crazy? expression on her face.
I gesture at the note.
She writes something. Slides the notebook back. No.
Why not? I scribble.
She doesn’t wait for me to pass the notebook; she just reaches over and writes. No date.
Be mine.
She looks at me again then writes: I thought you were gay.
I freeze. How the hell does she know?
Eden takes the paper back before I write anything. And you want to go to prom with me?
Yes.
Not possible,
she scribbles.
Why not?
Ms. Maude glances our way, and Eden pretends she’s taking notes on the lecture. When she slides my notebook back, it reads: You’re out of my league. Not to mention the wrong gender.
The wrong gender? I try not to look surprised and I ignore that part. What league?
The popular one.
I’m not popular. I’m in band.

Eden sighs as if I’m clueless, and she pushes my notebook back at me without an answer.
Please, I write. I didn’t know dating involved so much persuasion.
Why?
Because you’re cool.
I offer her the notebook.
She reads my note and shakes her head.
I try again. Because I want to get to know you better.
She fake gags on her finger.
Because I’ll have a good time if you’re there.
Eden smiles.
And I have a prom date.

Available from:
Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo * Book Depository



Raised without television, Sarah Tregay started writing her own middle grade novels after she had read all of the ones in the library. She later discovered YA books, but never did make it to the adult section. When she's not jotting down poems at stoplights, she can be found hanging out with her "little sister" from Big Brothers Big Sisters. Sarah lives in Eagle, Idaho with her husband, two Boston Terriers, and an appaloosa named Mr. Pots. Her next book, Fan Art, will be released in June.
Author Links:
   


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Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Review: The Vixen and the Vet by Katy Regnery



SYNOPSIS:
Burned by an unreliable source, Savannah Carmichael, returns to her hometown of Danvers, Virginia with her once-promising journalism career in ruins. Given the opportunity to get her skin back in the game by writing a patriotic human interest piece, Savannah turns her attention to the town hermit, Asher Lee, a wounded veteran who returned to Danvers eight years ago, and hasn’t been seen since.

After an IED explosion in Afghanistan took Asher’s hand and disfigured half of his face, he's lived a quiet life on the outskirts of Danvers where the locals respect his privacy…that is, until Savannah Carmichael comes calling in a borrowed sundress and a plate of homemade brownies. When Asher agrees to be interviewed by Savannah, he starts feeling things for the beautiful reporter that he hasn’t felt in years.

Misfits in small-town Danvers, Savannah and Asher create a bond right away, touching each other’s hearts in ways neither thought possible. When a terrible mistake threatens to drive them apart, they’ll have to decide if the love they found in one another’s arms is strong enough to fight for their hard-won happily ever after.


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22029145-the-vixen-the-vet

MY THOUGHTS:

3 out of 5 stars

This book was probably one of my toughest reviews.  While I still dream of the day that I can give half-star ratings on Goodreads, I now wish I could give multiple ratings for different aspects.  

There were so many things I really really liked about this book. I'll even go as far as to say there were some things I even loved. I LOVED the concept. I'm a sucker for anything Beauty and the Beast-esque, which this story is. Cute girl, scarred boy (both physically and emotionally in this case) who doesn't let anybody in until they are thrown together. Walls come down, emotions take over...yeah. Like I said, SO many good things about this book. I loved Savannah and Asher together. Sure there were times when I wanted to tell her she was stupid and tell him to get over himself, but you can say that about any couple in any book.

Now, here is what brings down my rating. To be quite honest, I wish there was a way I could rate this book twice. For the characters and the story itself, I'd give it a solid 4-4.5 stars.

But OMG, the ridiculous over the top Southern stereotypes drove me up the wall. I live in the South and have for my entire life. My family lives all over the South. We DO know how to pronounce the 'g' sound in -ing words. Not every single active verb has to end in an '. Callin', comin', visitin', talkin',. Does it happen occasionally, absolutely. Does it happen every time we talk. Nope. And I have never ever heard anybody say "Oh my stars!" What's next? Smelling salts?

And the names. Katie Scarlett? Really? I was totally waiting for a character in the story to be named Rhett. Or Ashley.

I've made no secret of the fact that I am an emotional content reader. If the story captures my attention, I can overlook just about anything. But it was just too much this time. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't offended or feel like the author was making fun of those of us that speak with a bit of a drawl (again, OCCASIONALLY)...it was just WAY WAY WAY too much icing on the cupcake. The fluff distracted from the substance which really really makes me sad because there were so many things that I loved.

That being said, I do plan on searching out other works by this author. Maybe just not one set in the South.


**on an unrelated yet particularly awesome note, 50% of the June and July proceeds from this book will be donated to Operation Mend which helps wounded veterans. You can learn more about this program while reading Savannah and Asher's story :)

Monday, June 16, 2014

Book Highlight: Gone by Anna Bloom


Title: Gone
Author: Anna Bloom
Genre: Mature YA (intended for readers ages 16-19)
Publication: July 28th, 2014

Rebecca Walters harbours a dark secret, and as the fifty-three bangles she wears on her wrists as a self-imposed sentence of guilt remind her, she can’t even begin to consider moving on. Not after what happened on that night six months ago… a night which she can’t remember and yet managed to change her life forever.

When Rebecca comes across Joshua Adams, man equally haunted by past tragedies, on a moonlit beach, both of their lives are destined to change forever, and when the girl made out of the sun meets the boy made out of the moon and sea, anything can happen… but will the knowledge of their murky pasts bring them together or drive them apart?

Will Rebecca finally be able to claim her freedom? Will she stay and fight to be the girl she found on the sandy beaches of Cornwall or is she destined to keep running and hiding from a past that won’t stay Gone? One thing’s for certain: either way, nothing will ever be the same again.




Walking down the lane from the pub I decide to take a detour to the beach. The light is fading but the glimmer of light from the sun setting on the horizon is just enough that I can make my way down the path without landing on my face.
I spend a lot of time on the beach at night. This isn’t like the beach in Newquay which is filled with drunks attempting to get it on under the cover of darkness. Our quiet beach in St Agnes is perfect for a solitary ten minutes. If I go home now I know Aunt May will be twitching around me like she has the last half a year, ever since my life ended at the end of one drunken night. She doesn’t know what to say to help my get out of the ‘phase’ I’m going through. Six months in, I think we can rule out the chance of it being a phase. This is just me. I’m a guy without a plan. Aunt May tries, but having her wandering around wringing her hands, asking me every three minutes if I’m hungry and need some food is not a relaxing way to spend an evening.
I don’t know what people want. Do they expect that one day I will wake up and suddenly be over the fact that I carelessly lost my girlfriend one night?
As I walk down onto the beach I keep thinking of Faye’s words. “Bridge Cottage.” “Painting.” “Mum and Dad.” They hammer inside my head.
I know everyone is waiting for me, for some resolution. They want to know that I’ve let go of the past, and that if I can do it, they all can too. But I can’t. I want them to, but I can’t do it myself. I can’t even acknowledge to myself what happened. I can’t even think about it or let the thought enter my mind.
 Small steps, that’s what a counselor told me a few months ago. “Just take small steps, Josh, and everything will work out.” Today I have picked up a paint brush and drunk a pint of cider. That’s got to be two small steps in the right direction. I’m not sure what direction those things are taking me in, but it’s heading somewhere at least.
As I tread over the dark sand I can see someone sitting on my rock. That’s just plain rude. Everyone knows it’s mine.
Edging myself closer, I slip off my flip flops and sink my toes into the cool sand as I walk down the beach and try to get close enough to investigate without being seen.
It’s her.
My feet come to a grinding halt.
I want to move in the opposite direction but my damn legs won’t listen. Instead I stand there, looming behind her on the sand, like an axe murderer.
“I can see your silhouette in the sand.”
Busted.
“What are you doing?” On my rock?
“Thinking. What are you doing?”
“Thinking too.”
“That’s nice.
“Yes it is.”
I stand there like an idiot working out what to say next. “Nice bangles.”
Thanks. They make me walk like a percusssion instrument.
“Why so many?”
“None of your business, dreadlock boy.”
“Well you’re a charmer aren’t you?”
“I was sitting here first. You’re the one with the stalking, stealth-like sand walk.”
“It’s my rock.” It’s my rock? It’s my rock? Really. . .?
She does not say anything. Let’s be realistic there is not much to say to that comment. She just sits there looking out to the sea, and I stand there my feet sunk into the cool sand.
“I like your dreadlocks," she says after an age has passed.
“Thanks. They're a lifestyle choice.”
She turns to look at me and for a moment, just one brief moment my mind swirls with colours. The make-up is gone and the waning sun illuminates her skin. She look different. So different. A better different.
I should walk away. I don’t talk to holiday makers unless I’m taking their money in the shop.
I don’t.
Instead I fold my legs and sit on the sand, my fingers automatically picking up a splinter of driftwood as I cast my eyes up at the sun and then I start to draw.
“So do you have a name girl with the bangles?” I’m trying to remember what the young girl who was with her in the shop called her yesterday. Becca? Something like that?”
Turning to me with a frown on her face she bites her lower lip. Jeez, I only asked her name.
The frown and the angry glare instantly make me recall her name. “Bex.” I answer for her. The frown deepens.
“No one calls me that, only my sister.”
“Well I don’t know what else to call you?” I prompt. Her feistiness is rather amusing, it’s actually doing a good job of distracting me from the usual shit I try to keep out of my head.
Her top lip curls a little in distaste at my goading. She really doesn’t want to tell me her name. Who doesn’t want people to know their name? My eyes flick over her with a little more interest. She is rather pretty. Hot, Dan would call it. But I would go with pretty. Pretty is a more delicate sounding word, easy to pair with the freckles and flame hair.
Oh good god. I’ve realized what I am doing? I’m looking at another girl. I try and turn myself away from her a little. She must register the motion because she speaks, her voice low like she is sharing a secret.
“Rebecca.” She clears her throat. “My name is Rebecca.”
Something about her low tone makes me cast my eyes back over her. Well not exactly willingly, my eyes just won’t damn behave themselves and head straight back to the smooth sunlit skin.
She looks nervous, her fingers brushing over her overload of bangles.
“Does Rebecca have a second name?” My feet do this bizarre thing where they scoot over the sand towards her toes.
“No.”
“What no surname? So you are Rebecca No Name?”
She scowls further. “Yes. I am Rebecca No Name.”
Her tone and the death stare she lays on me make me do something I am not expecting in the least. I laugh. Fucking loud. I laugh like I never stopped.
“Well Rebecca No Name. I am Joshua Adams, it’s a pleasure to meet you and your bangles.”
I lean forward and shake her hand my fingers grazing against hers, sand rolls between our connected skin.
Rebecca No Name digs her toes into the sand, burying them deep. “Walters. It’s Rebecca Walters.”
“Bex Walters, now that has a nice ring to it.”
“It’s Rebecca Walters.” She spits her name out like it burns her lips to say it.
“Okay, okay.”
“So Rebecca Walters where are you on holiday from?”
“Nowhere.”
Seriously. It’s like talking to a wall. I don’t even know why I am still sitting here. This makes an evening with Aunt May look like a social highlight.
I get up and start to brush the sand from my legs.
The girl with attitude stares up at me from the ground and I hesitate. “London. I come from London, and I’m not on holiday. My family have moved into Bridge Cottage.”
Just like that the air gushes out of my lungs. The girl with the attitude and the wrong clothes and the frown lives in the house that I was fully expecting to move into one day. The cottage I expected to grow old in.
I sit back on the sand with a bump.
“I am leaving though, in two weeks.” Her gaze is on the sea as she speaks. “Two weeks. I’ve just got to get through two weeks.” She repeats almost to herself.
Two weeks of what?
“Who are you running from?”
Rebecca, Bex, the girl with the attitude turns to me, her eyes hidden in the shadows of the dipping sun. “Myself.”
       And that I just don’t know how to answer, so I don’t. I pick my stick back up and start to draw some more.





Anna Bloom is a contemporary romance writer who writes about life as it happens. Combining a busy schedule of looking after two small children whilst working in a local school and completing The Uni Files series she also spends a lot of time imagining kissing hot guys – all in the name of her art.


                  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads  



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Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Burn for Me by Lauren Blakely - Review and Giveaway


SYNOPSIS:
She’s the one fire he can’t put out...

Jamie Lansing has had it bad for firefighter Smith Grayson for as long as they’ve been friends. Yes, he’s ridiculously charming and she might stare a little too long at his abs, but his dirty-talking, rough-around-the-edges ways aren’t for her. Plus, she knows that as a serial dater, Smith isn’t the type to settle down. But then a terrible, fantastic, mind-blowing mistake leaves her body craving more than one night.

Smith Grayson has only ever had eyes for one woman in town—his best friend Jamie. But convincing her a relationship between them will work is next to impossible with her refusing to see beyond his past. But when she asks for a week of no-strings-attached sex to get him out of her system, Smith knows this is his one chance to prove he’s not just the man she needs in her bed, but the man she needs in her life.

Goodreads    Amazon    B&N    Kobo    Itunes    Entangled

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MY THOUGHTS:
 3 out of 5 stars

CFM -- this one is for you :)

Here is a little secret about me. If you write a book about a firefighter -- I'm gonna have to read it. And if it happens to be a novella that I can start and finish in one sitting, even better.

Burn for Me by Lauren Blakely takes the friends to more concept that I love so very much and turns it into a scorching (pardon the pun :) ) story that had me still thinking about it the next day.

The tension between Jamie and Smith is palpable from the very first scene. A bit of a ladies man, Smith knows how to push Jamie's buttons, no matter how fiercely she tries to resist. But dude, I don't blame her a bit for falling for his...charms. There were more than a few moments where I needed to fan myself. I found myself routing for him to win her over while at the same time wanting to smack her a bit when her overly-paranoid imagination tried to take over. I get the whole her hesitation, but there is a big difference between being cautious and being ridiculous. Thankfully Smith has a bit more patience than I obviously do :)

Since it IS a novella, I did find that there were times that I wish I had a bit more information/back story and that maybe scenes could have been a bit more detailed, but if you are looking for a quick read that will both entertain and scratch an itch, you can't go wrong with this one.


  ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lauren Blakely writes sexy contemporary romance novels with heat, heart, and humor, and her books have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks bestseller lists. Like the heroine in her novel, FAR TOO TEMPTING, she thinks life should be filled with family, laughter, and the kind of love that love songs promise. Lauren lives in California with her husband, children, and dogs.

She loves hearing from readers! Her novels include Caught Up In Us, Pretending He's Mine, Playing With Her Heart, Trophy Husband, Far Too Tempting, The Thrill of It, and Every Second With You, Night After Night and After This Night. She also writes for young adults under the name Daisy Whitney.

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Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Fall to You by Lexi Ryan - Review and Giveaway


SYNOPSIS:
Torn between two men…

When I woke up after the accident, I couldn’t remember anything from the last year—including my relationship with Max Hallowell or anything about Nate Crane. Now my memories are returning, but instead of answering my questions, they’re leaving me with more.

The man who broke my heart and wants to be my future…

Max is all I ever wanted, and now he wants to marry me. He’ll do everything he can to fill my life with love, family, and security. I need those things now more than ever. But can I trust him?

The man who stole my heart and wants to let me go…

Nate never made me promises, and I never asked him to. I’d been on the rebound, looking for a distraction, and he made me feel beautiful and wanted when I needed to feel those things most. He says he has to let me go, but what if I can’t let go of him?

With every revelation and every passing day, I feel more like Alice down the rabbit hole. I’m falling. Who will catch me?

Fall to You is the second book in the Here and Now series. It is not a stand-alone and is intended to be read following Lost in Me. Hanna’s story concludes in book three, All for This.

MY THOUGHTS:

4.5 out of 5 stars

(You can read my review of Lost in You, the first book in the Here and Now series, here.)

My love for Lexi Ryan and this series continues with this book.  Seriously.

If you read my review for Lost in You, the first book in the Here and Now series, you know I was all kinds of

  for the next book.  I wanted it bad.

So when I saw the sign ups for the tour for this book and when I got my ARC, it was all kinds of awesome.
This book was everything I wanted it to be and more.

Continuing with chapters that alternate not only between the past and the present, we also get POVs from Hanna, Nate and Max.  While that may seem like a lot of jumping around, it makes perfect sense in the book.  The relationship between these characters is complicated and you definitely need these different perspectives to see how they all fit together.

Especially since the different perspectives make you realize that maybe what you think you know isn't really as black and white as you think it may be.

I say this because I found myself feeling things I did NOT expect to feel.


I found myself thinking that maybe I had misjudged characters from the first book, that maybe I wasn't seeing them clearly through my Nate-inspired-swoons.  And dear LORD, there are swoons.  And blushes.  And even a little

 
Then something happened that really knocked me for a loop.  And while I hoped hoped HOPED that I knew how things would eventually turn out, I wasn't sure and didn't want to get my hopes up even though they were already.  (And no, I'm not going to tell you, so don't even ask.)
BUT, I like to believe that everything happens for a reason and during this part of the book, Hanna is allowed a chance to take control of her life.  All the confusion, all the conflicting emotions, all the (misplaced) loyalties...she finally gets the chance to start figuring out what SHE wants.
And as much as I didn't think I'd ever say this when I started reading this book, I was even a happy for where things were heading.  

Yeah, I said it.

But then it happened.  The ending.

 
The cliffie that I SHOULD have been expecting since it is quite obvious that Lexi Ryan likes to make me suffer.  I mean...I WANT TO KNOW NOW.

Why is it not August yet?!?!?!

And yet, in a sick sort of way, I kind of enjoy the not knowing -- not a lot, but it is almost like the week before Christmas when the anticipation starts building and you can see the presents but you can't open them.   But instead of secretly unwrapping them when nobody is looking (which I will neither confirm nor deny ever doing), I'm going to sit patiently and wait for the email to come that will let me sign up for the next tour.

I'm gonna be first on that list. 

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Once a college English professor, I now write full time. I live in rural Indiana, where, when I'm not writing, I get to hang out with my husband and two kids--a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old hellion, er, girl. Not surprisingly, reading and writing remain my favorite activities, though both come in bits and pieces these days, not the big hunks of time I enjoyed before I had children. When I'm feeling virtuous, I like to go running (I use that word liberally. I'm really, really slow) or do yoga. Don't worry, I'm always careful to balance out such activities with a hearty serving of ice cream or a chocolate martini.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

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Friday, June 6, 2014

Make it Count by Megan Erickson - Review and Giveaway


SYNOPSIS:
Kat Caruso wishes her brain had a return policy, or at least a complaint hot-line. The defective organ is constantly distracted, terrible at statistics, and absolutely flooded with inappropriate thoughts about her boyfriend’s gorgeous best friend, Alec…who just so happens to be her brand new math tutor. Who knew nerd was so hot?

Kat usually goes through tutors like she does boyfriends—both always seem to bail when they realize how hopeless she is. It’s safer for her heart to keep everyone at arm’s reach. But Alec is always stepping just a little too close.

Alec Stone should not be fantasizing about Kat. She’s adorable, unbelievably witty, and completely off limits. He’d never stab his best friend in the back…

But when secrets are revealed, the lines of loyalty are blurred. To make it count, Alec must learn messy human emotions can’t be solved like a trigonometry function. And Kat has to trust Alec may be the first guy to want her for who she is, and not in spite of it.


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20705734-make-it-count?ac=1

MY THOUGHTS:

5 out of 5 stars

This book is ridiculously cute.  I'm talking "couldn't wipe the smile off my face when I finished it" level cute.  It made me happy and who doesn't love it when a book does that?

Kat is everything.  Funny, sassy, witty, and though she has her insecurities, she is determined to graduate from college and make something of her life.  She refuses to settle for working in the front office of her family's business.  Nope.

And Cam.  Holy nerdy hotness, Batman.  I fully admit I'm a sucker for a ridiculously smart boy in glasses.  But beyond the flutters, Cam believes in Kat and knows that she isn't as "stupid" as she is convinced she is.  That she is more than just a pretty face and flirty girl that she projects when she gets defensive.

Which brings me to what I loved so much about this book.  So many books in the New Adult genre focus on traumatic relationships, previous abuse, even current abuse -- and don't get me wrong, those topics are SO very important -- but Make it Count focuses on an issue that I don't see get nearly the attention it deserves.  While my issues are not the same as Kat, I remember struggling a bit with my classes in college and thinking that maybe I wasn't cut out for it -- ok, and maybe part of that was the fact that 8:00 classes were so early and it was super easy to hit the snooze button.  But when I met the man that would eventually become my husband, for whatever reason, he took it upon himself to make me realize that I wasn't as academically hopeless as I was starting to think I was.  And to this day, that still means so much to me.

Cam truly cares about Kat.  Sure there is physical attraction, and swoons, and more than a few moments where I needed to stop and fan myself, but there was also genuine care between characters.  All the characters -- primary, secondary, even Kat's ex-boyfriend managed to redeem himself after a bit.  There wasn't one single character that I felt was superfluous or a bit ridiculous.  They all seemed real and I can't wait to see where Megan Erickson takes them in this series.

So...basically what I'm saying is that I loved every single thing about Make it Count.  Thank you so much to Edelweiss and the lovely ladies at Bookslapped for allowing me a chance to read and review this fun book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Megan worked as a journalist covering real-life dramas before she decided she liked writing her own endings better and switched to fiction. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids and two cats. When she's not tapping away on her laptop, she's probably listening to the characters in her head who won't stop talking.
Amazon buy linkhttp://amzn.to/1jxeZI8

GIVEAWAY:
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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Cover Reveal: MIRROR X by Karri Thompson

Today Karri Thompson and Entangled Teen are revealing the cover for MIRROR X, releasing in June 30,2014! Check out the gorgeous cover, exclusive excerpt, and enter to win an eARC!

On to the reveal!



Title: MIRROR X
Author: Karri Thompson
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Pub. Date: June 30, 2014

I was born more than a thousand years ago.

Put into a cryogenic tube at age seventeen, forgotten during a holocaust that decimated the world, I've finally been awakened to a more serene and peaceful future.

But things at the hospital are new and strange. And it’s starting to scare me.

Everyone is young. Everyone is banded and tracked. And everyone is keeping secrets. 

The cute geneticist Michael Bennett might be the only good thing in this crazy new world where “life is precious” but no one seems free to live it. The problem is, I don’t think he’s being totally honest with me, either.


When I’m told only I can save the human race from extinction, it’s clear my freeze didn’t avoid a dreadful fate. It only delayed the horror…



Exclusive Excerpt!
Michael took a seat on the edge of my bed, rocking me toward him. When the side of my thigh met his knee, my heart rate doubled, and I drew in a deep breath.
“Before you were awakened I spent hours at your bedside imaging what you were like, how your voice would sound, how you looked when you smiled. When your red lips pulsed, when your chest heaved, and you took your first breath, I kept my emotions in check. But now, now that you’ve ‘awakened,’ everything is different. I can’t sleep. I can’t stop thinking about you.”
I ignored the pain and tilted closer until the space between our faces was less than a foot. My heart, my mind, my soul— everything yearned for his affection at that moment. 
“I feel the same way, too.”
I closed my eyes, wanting this handsome, earnest guy to take me into his arms and tell me he’d make them let me go. My lungs expanded with his warm breath and spicy scent. When his lips met mine, every atom in my body danced, urging me to pull him closer and tighten my grip upon his back.
His kissing became more fiery and I reacted by kissing him harder. It wasn’t until his mouth moved to my neck, that I came to my senses and drew away.
“Not yet,” I said, scooting away.
“I know,” he said between breaths, rising from the bed. His wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his uniform and returned to the chair. “I can’t…we can’t. We can never…,” he said abruptly. “It’s against protocol. I-I should go.”


About Karri:
Karri’s debut YA novel, Amateur Angel, was released May 1, 2012. The next book in that series, Hollywood Angels, came out September 1, 2013. The first book in her upcoming dystopian trilogy, The Van Winkle Chronicles, will be released by Entangled Publishing Spring 2014.






Giveaway Details:



1 eGalley of MIRROR X International

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