Gone by Anna Bloom - Review and Giveaway

SYNOPSIS:

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.

Amazon                  Barnes and Noble

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MY THOUGHTS:

5 out of 5 stars

Gah.  This summer has been a bit different for me in that I've been on a bit of a rereading kick and have sort of put the blog on "vacation mode" to let my batteries recharge and maybe figure out a few things.  I definitely cut back on the number of book tours on my schedule.  

But this book - it has called to me from the very first time I saw it mentioned in a book blast sign up.  I love good angst and there was something about it that called to me and even though I really did intend to stay away from scheduled reviews, I knew I had to read it.

Y'all, when the book heart knows, the book heart knows.

Gone absolutely owns me right now.  I want to gush about it and quote pretty words and talk about how the angst was just the perfect amount without being over the top and how much I enjoyed the characters and how I wanted to make everything better and how Joshua is now my new book boyfriend.

Joshua.

Dreadlocked surfer painter boy with a heart and a car named Daisy.  For real.  My inner 20 year old is in love (and maybe my 39 year old self is a little bit as well).

He makes me grinny.

There was so much emotion in this story...I felt a little bit of everything, but not too much of anything if that makes sense.  The darkness felt by Rebecca and by Joshua was balanced with hope and swoons, the anger and sadness with happiness.  The angst...it was so so so good.

I'm sitting here writing my thoughts and wishing that I could just gush endlessly about Gone.  I want to reread it already.  I want to read it for the first time all over again.  I want to gather all my bookish friends and watch them read it and then talk about all our favorite parts.  As an emotional reader, I connected with this book in a way that doesn't always happen and I can't recommend this book enough.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

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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Review: One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

One single mom. One chaotic family. One quirky stranger. One irresistible love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You 

Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight-in-shining-armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages . . . maybe ever.

One Plus One is Jojo Moyes at her astounding best. You’ll laugh, you’ll weep, and when you flip the last page, you’ll want to start all over again.

Annnnnd she does it again.

I've made no secret of my love of all things written by Jojo Moyes.  She is at the very top of my must-read-author list and I recommend her books every chance I get.  Her stories are well-written, her characters are magnetic, but I think one of my favorite things about Jojo Moyes is that all of her books are different.  Me Before You is nothing like The Girl You Left Behind which is different from The Last Letter From Your Lover which is different from One Plus One.

I had the opportunity to hear her speak at an author event back in September where she read from what was then her latest project, One Plus One.  Now, keep in mind that I had recently finished reading Me Before You and still reeling from that incredibly emotional ride, so I wasn't sure how I felt when she said that her newest title was going to be different.  Why mess with a good thing, right?  I think she had managed to read three or four paragraphs before I fell in love.  BOOM.  That fast.

Three or four paragraphs.  That was all it took for me to connect with Jess.  Now, Jess and I have very very few things in common.  I'm a happily married, college-educated, Volvo-driving SAHM living in NC.  Jess barely finished high school, has a deadbeat  absentee husband, works 2 low-paying jobs, and lives in a tiny coastal village in England.  But Jojo Moyes knew what she was doing when she was standing behind that podium reading...the passage she read took those differences and obliterated them and all I knew was that Jess and I were both mothers who would do anything for our children.  Even if the choice before us is a bit sketchy.

 I absolutely loved this book.  Loved it.  This book has everything I look for in a good read.  I laughed.  I got angry.  I sympathized.  I smiled.  I wanted go junk-punch Jess's husband and I wanted to hug Ed.  I wanted to take care of her two kids like they belonged to me.  I wanted to tell Jess that everything was going to be okay.  I wanted these characters to be real and when I turned the last page, I wanted more.  Not because I felt like the ending was missing something, but because I was just THAT connected.

Definitely add One Plus One to your to-read list if you haven't already.  You won't be disappointed.   

**Many many thanks to Pamela Dorman Books and NetGalley for providing the arc of One Plus One in exchange for an honest review**

 
  

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)

>>Add to Goodreads<<

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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Giveaway

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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.

Add to Goodreads

Pre-Order on Barnes & Noble!

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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Book Blast: Fan Art by Sarah Tregay

Fan Art

by Sarah Tregay

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.

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

   

***GIVEAWAY***

2 signed ARC’s of Fan Art (US/CAN only)

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