Blog Tour: Next Door to a Star by @KrystenLindsay

Next Door to a Star

by Krysten Lindsay Hager
Release Date: September 1st 2015
Limitless Publishing

Summary from Goodreads:

Hadley Daniels is tired of feeling invisible.

After Hadley’s best friend moves away and she gets on the bad side of some girls at school, she goes to spend the summer with her grandparents in the Lake Michigan resort town of Grand Haven. Her next door neighbor is none other than teen TV star Simone Hendrickson, who is everything Hadley longs to be—pretty, popular, and famous—and she’s thrilled when Simone treats her like a friend.

Being popular is a lot harder than it looks.

It’s fun and flattering when Simone includes her in her circle, though Hadley is puzzled about why her new friend refuses to discuss her former Hollywood life. Caught up with Simone, Hadley finds herself ignoring her quiet, steadfast friend, Charlotte.

To make things even more complicated, along comes Nick Jenkins…

He’s sweet, good-looking, and Hadley can be herself around him without all the fake drama. However, the mean girls have other ideas and they fill Nick’s head with lies about Hadley, sending him running back to his ex-girlfriend and leaving Hadley heartbroken.

So when her parents decide to relocate to Grand Haven, Hadley hopes things will change when school starts…only to be disappointed once again.

Cliques.

Back-stabbing.

Love gone bad.

Is this really what it’s like to live…

Next Door To A Star? 

Add to Goodreads

Excerpt:

The school year should end right after spring break, because all anyone can focus on is summer vacation. You can’t learn anything new, because all you can think about is all the fun stuff you’re going to do once you don’t have to get up at the butt crack of dawn. Summer always seems full of possibilities.

Nothing exciting ever happens during the school year, but maybe, during summer vacation, you could run into a hot celebrity and he’d decide to put you in his next music video. Okay, it wasn’t like I knew anybody that happened to, but my grandparents did live next door to a former TV star, Simone Hendrickson, and Simone was discovered in an ice cream parlor one summer. Of course, she lived in L.A. at the time and was already doing plays and commercials, so the guy who discovered her had already seen her perform. But hey, it was summer, she got discovered, and that was all that mattered.

Amazing stuff didn’t happen to me. You know what happened to me last summer? I stepped on a bee and had to go to the emergency room. They’re not going to make an E! True Hollywood Story out of my life. I didn’t go on exotic vacations—like today, I was being dragged along with my parents to my cousin’s graduation party. Most people waited until at least the end of May before having a grad party, but Charisma was having hers early because she was leaving on a trip to Spain. I was dreading this party because I didn’t want to listen to everybody talk about how smart and talented Charisma was—making me feel like a blob in comparison—but my mom RSVP’d even though I said I’d rather die than go. My death threats meant nothing. But still, for some strange reason, I had a feeling this summer was going to be different.

Sequel out in March! Competition with the Star. (Star Series: Book 2)

Buy Links:

Amazon│Amazon International│Barnes & Noble│Books a Million│iBooks│Kobo

About the Author

Krysten Lindsay Hager is an obsessive reader and has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and humor essayist, and writes for teens, tweens, and adults. She is also the author of the Landry’s True Colors Series (True Colors, Best Friends…Forever?, and the soon to be released, Landry in Like) and her work has been featured in USA Today and named as Amazon’s #1 Hot New Releases in Teen & Young Adult Values and Virtues Fiction and Amazon’s #1 Hot New Releases in Children’s Books on Values. She’s originally from Michigan and has lived in South Dakota, Portugal, and southwestern Ohio. She received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

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YA Bound Book Tours

Blitz: FIVE: Out of the Ashes (Five #3) by Holli Anderson

FIVE: Out of the Ashes
Holli Anderson
(Five, #3)
Published by: Curiosity Quills Press
Publication date: November 30th 2015
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Their last battle ended with death and despair, but they have no time to mourn. One of their own has been taken and the Quinae Praesidia set out to find and rescue her. In this third and last installment of the FIVE series, the FIVE discover new powers, make a desperate run through the Netherworld, land on an island paradise . . . and find that Brone, always a step ahead of them, is becoming more powerful than ever.

Previous books in the series:

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

Mid-leap I shot an anger-fueled blue streak of lightning straight at the stunned nymph’s chest. She flew backward into a pine tree, her arms and legs tangled with the limbs. I had to shake my head as a flashback of my time under the influence of Brone’s drug tried to force its way into my thoughts— tree limbs, alive, ripping at my arms and legs. I shuddered. Alec beat me to the tree, with Seth and Johnathan right behind us. I raised my hand, ready to fire another round if she so much as twitched.
She took an uneven breath.
I stepped closer and Alec’s hand closed over my arm. “Wait.”
I nodded curtly but didn’t lower my hand.
Na’aiha’s eyes fluttered open and rolled toward me. “What… are… you?”
“Quinae Praesidia,” I answered.
Her eyes widened. “Brone… lied.” The light in her eyes dimmed as she stared up into the treetop, sightless and dead.

Author Bio:
Holli Anderson has a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing--which has nothing to do with writing, except maybe by adding some pretty descriptive injury and vomit scenes to her books. She discovered her joy of writing during a very trying period in her life when escaping into make-believe saved her. She enjoys reading any book she gets her hands on, but has a particular love for anything fantasy.
Along with her husband, Steve, and their four sons, she lives in Grantsville, Utah--the same small town in which she grew up.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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Review: Souls Estranged by Ann B. Cole

From Amazon:
SOULS ESTRANGED: Book Two of The Souls Trilogy 

Back from their adventures in Souls Entwined, Sam Daggett begins a new relationship with Gretta Dobbs, whose memories of their time traveling experience have been erased. Determined to never leave her again, Sam vows to help Gretta, despite the bad luck curse on her heirloom ring. Within hours of their return, tragedy strikes. 

As Sam becomes the third victim of the bad luck curse, Gretta’s memories of her time spent in the past begin to return. Unable to remember more than snippets, she realizes that anyone close to her is in grave danger. In order to keep Sam and her family safe, she flees in the middle of the night. 

Finding the perfect summer job in the back hills of Virginia, Gretta unknowingly crosses paths with a serial killer. With guidance from their ancestral spirits, Roxana and Katarina, Sam desperately attempts to find Gretta before the curse strikes again. 

My Thoughts:
Earlier this year I read book #1, Souls Entwined, so when I found out Souls Estranged was due for a release, I was over the moon to continue and get to know Sam and Gretta outside of Lorenzo and Anya.
Souls Entwined has quite a different feel to it that book #1, mostly because Sam and Gretta don't time travel. But we do see Roxana and Katarina doing some soul entwining.
The suspense really gets moving when Gretta remembers the curse on her ring and runs away. I do love Sam the most of all the characters, he's fiercely loyal and fights with all his might to be with Gretta, which is something he had in common with Lorenzo that really shines in this book.
I think the only thing that really jarred me was when Roxana and Katarina entwined with random people. It made sense why they did, but I really just wanted Sam and Gretta, especially with how things were left with Gretta.
I thoroughly enjoyed continuing this series, and eagerly await the next book. It's a clean read, and well plotted out. 

Son of a Pitch Publisher: Anaiah Press

We have a huge line up of publishers and editors who have jumped on board for Son of a Pitch, and today you get to meet Anaiah Press.

ABOUT ANAIAH:

Anaiah Press is a Christian digital-first publishing house dedicated to presenting quality faith-based fiction and nonfiction books to the public.

Statement of Faith: At Anaiah Press, we believe in the one living and true God. We believe in God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory; that God created all, upholds all and governs all. He hears and answers prayer; and all who come to Him through Jesus Christ are saved from sin and death. Our Christian beliefs are reflected in the way we conduct business and in our relationships with our employees and authors. All books published by Anaiah Press are faith-based. We strive to publish books that convey a Christian message, explicit or implied, through our various genres.

www.anaiahpress.com 

ABOUT KARA LEIGH MILLER:

Kara combines her knowledge and prior editing experience with a passion for the written word and a love of YA. She is a multi-genre published author, and an avid reader with eclectic tastes that range from the tame to the taboo. She loves to help her fellow authors recognize their dreams of publication and is very excited about working toward that goal with Anaiah Press.

KARA'S WISH LIST:

~ Contemporary YA, preferably with strong romantic elements. (Please remember to keep it clean!)

~ I would love to find a story set during summer bible camp or a family camping trip. 

~ YA / NA dystopian with an ultimate good vs. evil theme.

~ Adult romantic suspense centered around characters with unusual professions. 

~ Adult, YA or NA romance with thriller or mystery elements.

ABOUT LAURA MAISANO:

Laura is a language nerd, honestly an overall nerd, and loves to immerse herself in strange worlds through fiction. Her interests are geared toward YA/NA fantasy of all kinds and soft sci-fi.

Laura is looking for fantasy of any kind (urban, low, high, epic), sci-fi, or dystopia. Give her interesting settings, but more importantly, give her gripping characters and drama. Make her cry, laugh, and invest in well-rounded "real" people as they struggle through adversity, only to come out stronger on the other side. She'd love to see a strong sibling relationship and an emotional quest, or a clean dystopia where the heroes can keep their shirts on.

LAURA'S WISH LIST:

- A YA with a strong sibling relationship that pulls at the heartstrings, like Frozen or Fullmetal Alchemist.

- I'm still looking for that clean YA dystopia with inspirational themes or an undercurrent of Christian faith.

- I love geeky characters with heart.

- A sci-fi with Christian themes or an inspirational message. Can have dark moments, but come out stronger because of it.

Release! Sachael Desires by Melody Winter

Sachael Desires
Melody Winter
(The Mine #2)
Published by: REUTS Publications
Publication date: November 24th 2015
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Romance

During her ordeal with the Sect, Estelle Bailey dreamt of escaping back into the arms of the sea—and Azariah. But freedom came at a price, and though she’s back with the Sachael who’s stolen her heart, she’s also land-bound until the next full moon. And with the threat of Orontes looming ever larger behind them, Azariah, Estelle, and Michael—her once-captor turned rescuer and friend—are on the run.
Following Michael’s lead, they seek sanctuary amidst the natural beauty of the Orkney and Shetland Islands until Estelle can complete her next submergence ritual and Azariah can whisk her away to the safety of Saicean.

Secrets, betrayals, and old enemies await them, though, and as events spiral out of control, Azariah makes a decision that puts all their lives at risk, forcing Estelle to face a journey she never wanted to take. With time running out and tempers running high, her only hope to save the man she loves lies in a reconciliation between two kingdoms who despise each other.
Book Two in the Mine Series, Sachael Desires further expands on the intricate underwater world of the Sachaels, and the hostility and isolation of not belonging.

Goodreads / Amazon

Grab book 1 – Sachael Dreams – on Amazon today!

EXCERPT:

Orontes snarled, striding to the nearest tank and gently tapping his fingers on the glass. Nothing happened. The octopuses’ usual reaction was to scurry and hide between the rocks and sand at the bottom of the tank. They didn’t move. Shaking his head in disbelief, he systematically walked to each tank, repeating his action. He waited for a few seconds each time for any sign of movement, hoping at least one of them was alive.
He lingered over the last tank, sniffing the air above it. Moving his face closer to the water, he drew in a deep breath.
“Bleach,” he murmured, and then, as if to confirm it to himself and the men in the room who were ignoring him, he repeated the word louder. “Bleach! They were killed with bleach.” Spinning on the spot, he glared at the man who had attempted to answer him earlier. “Did you see Michael wandering around with the container in his hand? Did you see him pour it into the tanks?”
“No,” he answered, his voice shaking.
“And why wasn’t he stopped? He wasn’t allowed in here.” Orontes paced the laboratory, convinced this was Michael’s doing. “Is the venom contaminated?” he asked the man in the store room.
“No, the vials I’ve checked are clean.”
Orontes glanced at the tanks again before marching from the room. Long, heavy steps took him upstairs and to the left of the building—the rooms where the men he trusted would be. This whole tragedy wouldn’t have happened if he’d stayed. Michael wouldn’t have dared to take Estelle to the beach without him. He didn’t understand why nobody had stopped him. No one had questioned him. Not even Pactolus.
“Stupid half-bred idiot,” he growled.
Eight familiar faces turned to him as he opened the door to the game room. The television immediately switched off, and the two men playing pool stopped their game. These men were the ones who had returned this morning after the phone call from Lilith. They were Oceanids.
“Ten minutes, and we’re leaving,” he informed them.
“Leaving? Again?”
“Yes. We’ll be in the water.”
“But you’re not allowed in the water. Hebrus banned you.”
“And you think he will stop me?” Orontes snapped. “You can stay here if you want, but you’d better not be here when I return.”
What did it matter whether he was banned or not? Orontes didn’t care for Hebrus’s rule. He never followed it; although, this time, he would be in the water for considerably longer than the quick swims he occasionally went for. He smirked. Hebrus would never stop him. He’d never even know.
“Where are we going this time?” another man asked, already jumping to his feet, ready to leave.
Orontes fought a smile, confident with what would greet him when he arrived.
“The Orkneys,” he growled. “I need to visit Michael.”

Author Bio:
Growing up, Melody showed a natural ability in art, a head for maths, and a tendency to write too long English essays. Difficult to place in the world when she graduated, she pursued a career in teaching, but ended up working in finance. Melody is convinced the methodical times she spends working with numbers fuel her desire to drift into dream worlds and write about the illusory characters in her head.
Melody Winter lives in York, North Yorkshire, England with her husband and two sons. When not dealing with football, rugby, and a whole plethora of 'boy' activities, she will be found scribbling notes for her stories, or preparing for another trip to the nearby beaches at Scarborough and Whitby. With an obsession for anything mythical, Melody revels in reading and writing about such creatures.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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Divided by Sharon M Johnston

DIVIDED: AN OPEN HEART NOVEL 
Sharon M. Johnston 
Publication Date: November 24 2015 
New Adult Science Fiction Romance.
A new heart should mean new life, instead it’s a living nightmare. Mishca Richardson’s life is at an all-time high after her heart transplant. With new boyfriend, Ryder, she has the perfect summer romance. Even the nightmares plaguing her sleep since her operation can’t dull her new dream world. Yet, life starts to unravel when Mishca develops superhuman abilities. She does her best to hide them so as not to end up a science experiment in a lab, but she can’t ignore the strange instant attraction she experiences when she meets her university professor, Colin Reed. Torn between love and the obsession, Mishca must decide between the two men. But as the organization responsible for her weird powers moves in, she’ll have a lot more to worry about than romance.

FIND DIVIDED ON GOODREADS

BUY DIVIDED: AMAZON // BARNES & NOBLE // KOBO // iBOOKS // CITY OWL PRESS WEBSITE

EXCERPTS:

SOMEONE MUST DIE so I can live. I’ve come to terms with that. Before it turned my stomach, thinking about my donor’s death, but now I’m used to it. Most likely, it’ll be a car accident or a drunken fall. It won’t come from illness or any other natural causes that corrupt human organs and make the deceased ineligible to be a donor. A violent, painful death will be my savior. It’s the only way I’ll ever get my new heart. I open my eyes and stare upward, hoping the white fluffy clouds splotched against the blue sky will distract me from my imaginings of people dying. I guess I’m not as used to the idea of getting someone else’s heart as I thought. The harsh Australian sun makes me squint. I swing my legs around and hoist myself upright on the stadium bleacher, looking over the sports field. Readjusting my tank top strap that had slipped off my shoulder, I try to conjure up happier thoughts. At least I won’t be responsible for the person who dies, even if I get a new heart out of the mess. Yeah, happier thoughts.

Giveaway

I've got one BIG prize bundle as part of the celebrations! You could win:

• Heart Marcasite Earrings
• $10 Amazon Gift Voucher
• Owl Christmas Decorations
• Dinosaur Christmas Decorations
• Owl Pen
• Heart Pen

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About the author

  Author Bio: SHARON JOHNSTON is a New Adult author from sunny Queensland, Australia. She specializes in intriguing stories and soulful contemporaries across category boundaries. Working as a PR specialist by day, in her spare time she writes, blogs for YAtopia and Aussie Owned & Read, spends time with her fur babies, and plays computer games with her family. She’s also been trailed by women wanting to know where she buys her shoes.

Find Sharon on TWITTER and FACEBOOK and on her WEBSITE.

The Struggles of PPD and Maintaining a Writing Career

Having a baby can be hard. Maintaining a writing career is a delicate balance. Now, add onto that a willful 5 year old, an unemployed husband, thousands of dollars of medical expenses debt from having the baby, and finally hormones out of whack, and bam, you have the perfect recipe for postpartum depression.
So I really don't want this to come across as a woe is me post. No, not even close. I think it's something that needs to be addressed, as I doubt I'm not the only person out there with these struggles.
PPD is real, very real. Like any depression, it can't just be a choice to get over it. Every day I feel isolated and alone. Everyday, I struggle to wake up in the morning and do the things I need to do. Usually I'm a highly motivated person, I wake up before my kids to get things done, shower, write. But lately I struggle to get out of bed to feed my 5yo breakfast.
I struggled with all my might not to feel this way again. The problem is, it's hormonal, then and in the above complications and I am worse this time than what I was with my previous baby, even though this baby is much, much easier. It's almost as if I can feel people judging me, like why can't you handle two when other people have five, six...
I also feel bad for feeling this way because I struggled so hard with my fertility and health to get baby in the first place. It's like I shouldn't feel like this because I've been given a miracle.
But I do, and it sucks.
I want to give this last Saturday as an example. Usually on Saturdays I'm up at 7:30 to cram some writing in before the hubby and kiddos wake up. This Saturday, I dragged my butt out of bed at 10 because the baby wanted to be fed. I wake up every day with a headache, and it only gets worse with the baby crying and the other kid talking to me.
I wanted to get out of the house because I was feeling stressed and depressed, and as the hubby took his shower, and I nursed while trying to entertain kid 1 who refused to eat her breakfast, I started to tear up. Thoughts like "You aren't cut out for this. These kids are going to break you. They deserve so much better than you" fill my mind, like at that moment. I looked around at the living room at the laundry I hadn't put away, the dishes that hadn't been done, and the toys everywhere, right as the baby puked on my fresh, clean clothes and I'm nothing but discouraged. I seriously consider walking out the door and driving off without looking back. But I can't because we have no money, because I had a baby and now we're in thousands of dollars of debt which is starting to roll over into collections.
Everything is snowballing, and I want to break. But I can't, because I'm the one who is keeping things together somehow.
When the hubby comes out from the shower, he saw my distress and said, "Why don't we give the kids to the grandparents for a couple of hours and just hang out?"
I literally burst into tears. The thought alone soothed my pounding head. But they couldn't take the kids, and I had to cry again because I was stuck with them. Then I felt guilty about wanting to get away from my children.
Hubby did get me out, with the kids, yes, but at least I'm out of the house. But that night, he goes out with his friend for a game night. I barely keep it together as I dread the prospect of giving the kids dinner, baths, and putting them to bed--normal routine things. When I go into kid 1's bedroom, I find something that does make me lose it: she has deliberately broken one of the toys she got for her birthday a week earlier. I'm ashamed to say I made her cry as I took all her toys away from her, yelling at her, and telling her to get to bed because I don't want to see her again for the rest of the night. It was the best I could do considering the violent feelings that pushed to the surface. An hour later, I'm sobbing from guilt because I felt like that and I made her cry.
The point is, this isn't me. I'm pretty chilled out naturally. Yeah since having my strong willed child my patience is much shorter, but it still take a lot to make me feel anything more than mellow, to pretty happy. I like to make people laugh, see people smile, and lift people's spirits when they're down. PPD makes me a completely different person.
Because of this, my writing suffers. Instead of finding the positives, seeing the people who enjoy my work, I only see the trolls and the negative criticism. I take it to heart, and I hate every word I write, or have already written and released through a publisher--which means an editor liked it enough to believe it would sell. I become ashamed to promote my work, and I feel like pulling the plug on everything.
Luckily, I have enough of my own sense to fight on. I know I'll get over this in time, so despite my self-loathing, I don't let the depression beat me. I won't. It's crazy hard, and I have internal battles where I just have to physically keep away from my computer so I don't do something stupid, but I hold onto the fact that this will pass. Despite all the thoughts and doubts and feelings going through me, I cling tight to that tiny ball of hope, because it's the only thing I can do.

Blog Tour: Claire Daly, Reluctant Soul Saver by Michele Brouder

Claire Daly: Reluctant Soul Saver by Michele Brouder

Publication Date:  September 2015

Genre:  YA, Paranormal Romance

When seventeen year-old librarian wannabe Claire Daly is dragged kicking, screaming and cursing from everything she loves—her mam, her cozy Irish village and the dreamy boy next door—to take up arms in the battle of good versus evil, she learns the hard way that sometimes you don’t get to choose your own destiny, destiny chooses you.

Claire’s life plan is simple: head off to university to get her degree in library studies, summon up the courage to tell her best friend Chas that she loves him and live happily ever after. She never once entertained the idea that she might possess divine powers, that she might be predestined to battle Hell’s demons, or, to complicate matters further, that another love of many lives past might turn up on her doorstep. But life doesn’t always go as planned, and when a co-worker is viciously attacked by a demon and her own family threatened, Claire must face the truth: she is called to a higher purpose and has no choice but to answer. Claire sets aside her dreams and begins learning how to deal with the Unholy once and for all. Armed with only a crash course in soul saving and her wits, she gears up for the ultimate show down in Hell. But will it be enough?

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26063111-claire-daly

Purchase Links:

BAM | Amazon | B&N | TBD Amazon UK

Author's Favorite Scene:

“Any plans for the weekend?” he asked.

            “Working,” I said. “You?”

            “I’m going out with Ava McMahon,” he said.

            My heart sank.            

Chas watched me intently.

            “When did this start?” I asked, trying to keep the quiver out of my voice. What I really wanted to do was jump up and down in front of him, wave my hand and yell, “Pick me, pick me!”

            “Just recently. She’s been coming into the store for the past few weeks. We started talking about the benefits of spirulina and wheatgrass and I guess it just took off from there.”

            Ava was just the type, too. She taught fitness down at the leisure club.

            I had to admit, I had long been jealous of Ava because she had something that I didn’t have: boobs. Ava was top-heavy: she was in Limerick but her boobs were in Kerry. Self-consciously, I looked down at my own chest. Now it seemed she had something else I wanted: Chas.

***

This is one of many scenes that I love for a lot of reasons. Claire has had a crush on Chas for a long time. She uses humor as a weapon to protect herself from disappointment and from being crushed. We all remember the crushes we had on fellas when we were in high school. Perhaps we were too shy to let them know yet wishing upon wishing that they would notice us and if they happened to talk to us, well— that was practically seen as proposal! Also that sinking feeling when you heard that they were going out with someone else or they liked someone else. And the worst— being told that they just wanted to be friends.

I was born in western New York, the oldest of 5. I've loved reading since I was very little. From the age of 9, I've wanted to be a writer. In high school, I wrote a lot of angst-ridden civil war dramas ala Gone With The Wind, knowing more about the Battle of the Bull Run than a normal teenager should know. I dabbled in writing after that but didn't get serious about it until 2006, when I decided that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

I've had many interesting jobs but my passion has always been writing.

I lived in Ireland from 2006-2013 with my husband and 2 boys. We moved back to the US and settled in Florida briefly (2 years) before returning back to Ireland in August 2015.

Connect with the Author:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest

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http://www.chapter-by-chapter.com/tour-schedule-claire-daly-reluctant-soul-saver-by-michele-brouder/ 

Son of a Pitch: List of Publishers

As well as our awesome Agents, we have a huge line up of publishers for you. I will be posting about these publishers and the requesting editors over the next few weeks. But for now, here they all are!

BookFish Books

REUTS

Tigearr

Bloomsbury Spark

Carina

City Owl

Dancing Lemur 

Elephantine

Future House

Loomis Park

Omnific

Blog Tour: Petty Little Lives by @Alice_Reeds @yaboundtourspr

Petty Little Lives

by Alice Reeds 

Release Date: 08/18/15

Limitless Publishing

316 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

The only thing cousins Sapphire Hope and Roxanna Revolution have in common is they don’t want to spend the summer at their aunt’s Iowa farm.

Sapphire is an entitled L.A. rich-girl…
Spoiled by her Oscar-winning mother and a CEO father, Sapphire thrives on the lifestyle of a jet-setting socialite and aspiring model. She has no interest in rural life, or the strange cousin who seems to want to be her friend. About the only thing even remotely interesting about the farm is the good-looking intern at her aunt’s veterinary clinic, Dawn Matthews. He might do as a summer distraction.

Roxanna is a sensitive loner…
She spends her time playing guitar and posting videos for her YouTube subscribers, but at least at her aunt’s, nobody knows what she’s hiding. Since her secret drove her boyfriend away, she could use a few friends, but Sapphire clearly isn't interested—and even less so when Dawn prefers Roxanna's company over hers.

When Roxanna's secret comes out, Sapphire, Roxanna, and their friends are forced to view their lives from a new perspective and face choices they never thought they’d have to make.

Can friendship and new love help them overcome physical and emotional challenges and learn what’s really important? Or will old habits and attitudes refuse to die?

Add to Goodreads

Buy Links:

Amazon: Kindle, Paperback
Barnes and Nobel: Paperback
Book Depository: Paperback

Excerpt:

Sapphire

“Welcome back, Miss Hope,” Albus says, in his old man voice.

He is one of the butlers my mother hired because she cannot be bothered to open doors on her own. Albus started working for our family when I was twelve years old. Back then I always called him Dumbledore because his name just calls for it.

“Your mother is in the living room.”

“I’m sure she is,” I say and cross the entrance hall. The ceiling, which is more than four stories above my head, is vaulted and an almost cliché looking chandelier hangs off of it. The floor is white marble and so clean you could eat off it.

“Sapphire!”

I hear my mother call out. I had hoped she wouldn’t notice I was home. Lord knows the house is big enough so that we would never have to see each other if we wanted. I look over my shoulder to Albus who just shrugs and then walks off somewhere.

“Hello, Mother,” I say upon entering the living room which is, to say the least, ginormous. Expensive furniture, high ceiling, and floor-to- ceiling windows as far as the eye can see. They allow you to look over the entirety of our garden.

Mother stands up from the sofa and walks over to me. Her hair has the same shade of blonde, but it’s an inch or two shorter than mine. Judging by her clothes, I’d say she spent her morning and early afternoon at a meeting of some sorts. Good for her. I don’t really care.

“You were shopping, again?” Her voice sounds dismissive, defensive almost.

“Yes.” I raise the bags I’m still carrying slightly and arch an eyebrow. Aren’t these proof of that? “Ashley and I went to Rodeo Drive. I left a note in the kitchen.”

“And where did you get the money from?” 

“Relax, Mother, I still have more than enough from what you and Dad gave me.” For my eighteenth birthday my parents gave me a decent amount of money, because I’m sure they either couldn’t be bothered to get me an actual present or they forgot about my birthday all together.

About the Author

Alice Reeds was born in a small town in Germany but spent her first eight years in Florida, USA. Later on, she moved back to Europe, where her family moved around a lot. Alice is a soon-to-be freshman at University where she studies Political Science. In her free time Alice mostly writes, reads, or watches countless Let's plays.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter

Book Tour Organized by:

YA Bound Book Tours

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Blog Tour: Inconceivable! by Tegan Wren

Inconceivable!  

By: Tegan Wren

Releasing November 16, 2015 

Curiosity Quills Press

Blurb

A popular, young royal couple can't produce an heir? INCONCEIVABLE!

When Ozarks native Hatty goes “whole hog” during karaoke, she catches the eye of Prince John. He isn’t what she expects the heir to a small European nation to be: he's affable, witty, and isn’t put off by her tell-it-like-it-is demeanor. Their flirtation should be short lived, but a force stronger than fate—Hatty’s newspaper editor—assigns her to cover the royals. After spending time together, she and John soon begin dating, and Hatty finds herself making headlines instead of writing them.

But challenges loom that are even more complicated than figuring out how to mesh Hatty's journalism career with life at Belvoir Palace. Hatty and John soon find themselves embroiled in an unusual sex scandal: they can't produce an heir. Tabloids dub Hatty a “Barren-ess,” and the royals become irate. Hatty politely tells them to shove it. But beneath her confident exterior, she struggles to cope with a heartbreak that invades her most intimate moments with John. Pressured to choose between invasive medical procedures and abandoning John’s claim to the throne, the couple feels trapped until a trip to Ethiopia shows them happy endings sometimes arrive long after saying “I do.”

Link to Follow Tour:  http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/09/inconceivable-by-tegan-wren.html

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24910975-inconceivable?from_search=true&search_version=service
Buy Links:  Amazon 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Inconceivable-Tegan-Wren-ebook/dp/B014U6D2SQ

Author's Favorite Scene:

Thank you for having me on your blog, Katie! My favorite scene is the last one (not the epilogue, though I really like it a lot). As many readers have noted, Hatty and John get a happy ending that’s not exactly what they expected nor what they had envisioned for themselves. I think these are the best happy endings. I’m not a big fan of predictable stories.

So, tying together all the loose ends, having a couple of callbacks to establish a bit of parallel structure with a scene earlier in the book, and sending my characters off into a brilliant sunset was delightful. I definitely shed a few tears as I saw how far Hatty and John had come and how perfectly at peace they were with the place their journey had led them. Because of my own experiences with infertility, I know it’s a medical challenge that changes you. It breeds compassion, patience, and resilience. I wanted to show growth in my characters, especially Hatty. I think we really see that in the final scene. Based on early reviews, I believe the ending is also striking a powerful chord with readers.

It’s not surprising that the last scene is my favorite. When I worked as a radio journalist, writing the end of my stories was always my favorite part. The opening of the story, the lede, always seemed to write itself. Creating the body of the story was as easy as logically fitting the pieces together so the listener can follow along. But the ending is where you as the producer/writer have the chance to bring it all together in a powerful way. That’s what I tried to do with the final scene of INCONCEIVABLE!

                                            

Author Info

The best compliment Tegan Wren ever received came from her sixth grade teacher: “You always have a book in your hand!”

Guided by her love of the creative process, Tegan grew up acting in theatre productions and writing poetry, short stories, and plays. She turned her eye to writing about real life when she worked as a journalist, producing reports for various radio and television stations in medium and large markets in the Midwest and also filing some stories for a major national news network. Wren has both a Bachelor’s of Journalism and a Master of Arts in Communications. After completing her graduate degree, Tegan had the opportunity to teach journalism courses at a major state university. She absolutely loved training the next generation of journalists.

Tegan’s thankful that she’s had the opportunity to travel overseas, and uses those adventures to inform her writing. She also draws inspiration from her own struggles, joys, and other life experiences. Tegan and her husband, Patrick, experienced infertility for five years before becoming parents through adoption. Because she understands the financial stress of the infertility journey, Tegan is donating half the royalties from her book to Baby Quest Foundation. This charity awards grants to people all over the U.S. for fertility treatments. Tegan is thrilled to use her story to help other people find their happily ever after.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

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