"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's selection is:
BOUNDLESS
By: Cynthia Hand
Published By: Harper Teen
Release Date: Jan. 22, 2013
Preorder the Book: Amazon
Note: Boundless is the third book in the Unearthly trilogy, and the summary below may contain spoilers.
Goodreads Summary: The past few years have held more surprises than part-angel Clara Gardner could ever have anticipated. Yet from the dizzying highs of first love, to the agonizing low of losing someone close to her, the one thing she can no longer deny is that she was never meant to live a normal life.
Since discovering the special role she plays among the other angel-bloods, Clara has been determined to protect Tucker Avery from the evil that follows her . . . even if it means breaking both their hearts. Leaving town seems like the best option, so she’s headed back to California - and so is Christian Prescott, the irresistible boy from the vision that started her on this journey in the first place.
As Clara makes her way in a world that is frighteningly new, she discovers that the fallen angel who attacked her is watching her every move. And he’s not the only one. . . . With the battle against the Black Wings looming, Clara knows she must finally fulfil her destiny. But it won’t come without sacrifices and betrayal.
In the riveting finale of the Unearthly series, Clara must decide her fate once and for all.
Why it's wanted:
Unearthly and Hallowed are some of my favorite angel books, and I can't wait to see how the trilogy ends.
I'm very excited to be one of the many blogs participating in Teaser Tuesdays! TT is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To participate:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
(Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"The warm, glowing center of him - the live thing - w as no doubt buried somewhere deep underground by now.
Liza knew she had no choice. She, too, must go below."
SHADOWS
By: Ilsa J. Bick
Published By: Egmont USA
Release Date: Sept. 25, 2012
Series: Ashes (#2)
Pages: 528
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic
Reading Level: Young Adult
Source: TLA
Buy the Book: Amazon
Note: Shadows is the second book in the Ashes trilogy, and the summary below may contain spoilers.
Goodreads Summary: The Apocalypse does not end. The Changed will grow in numbers. The Spared may not survive.
Even before the EMPs brought down the world, Alex was on the run from the demons of her past and the monster living in her head. After the world was gone, she believed Rule could be a sanctuary for her and those she’d come to love.
But she was wrong.
Now Alex is in the fight of her life against the adults, who would use her, the survivors, who don’t trust her, and the Changed, who would eat her alive.
Welcome to Shadows, the second book in the haunting apocalyptic Ashes Trilogy: where no one is safe and humans may be the worst of the monsters.
Ashes was one of the first post-apocalyptic books that I read, and it set a very high standard. So much happened, and yet there were still so many questions that left me eager for Shadows. Shadows was darker and more intense than Ashes, and even though it is long the book was impossible to put down.
Before starting Shadows, I read this recap of Ashes Ilsa wrote for anyone who had forgotten all of the details. Having read Ashes a year ago, I found that this helped me jump right into Shadows. A new world order is settling in after an EMP ended the world as everyone knew it. But that doesn't mean that anyone is safe from the Changed or from the other Spared, least of all Alex. She knows that there will be a hard road ahead of her, especially if she wants to keep the promises she made. But keeping those promises will bring her face to face with danger as well as some startling truths...
It's hard to say much about Shadows without spoiling Ashes or Shadows itself, but there are no shortage of things that happen throughout the book. Shadows traces parallels journeys of several different characters, and the point of view switches with every chapter. I enjoyed getting to know more about some of the characters from Ashes as well as the new ones introduced here. And because each chapter ends with a cliffhanger and every situation the characters face is fraught with instability, suspense and tensions are always high, and it's impossible to stop reading. Each of the narratives was equally compelling, and I want to know how everything comes together in the final book. Shadows certainly proves that it is a small world, and it was interesting to see how everything intersected.
As I said before, Shadows is darker than Ashes, with some vivid descriptions of unpleasant things. Even though the descriptions are never gratuitous, it is something to know before reading. Also, throughout Shadows, it seems like things are always just out of reach - be it knowledge for the reader or opportunities or people sought after by the characters. I can't wait to see how everything plays out at the end of the trilogy.
Shadows is an incredibly complex book and a great sequel to Ashes. I'm looking forward to the final installment of the trilogy!
~GIVEAWAY~
Thanks to the publisher, I have one finished copy of Shadows to give away! To enter, please fill out the form below.
This contest is open to US residents only. Must be 13 to enter. Please see my Contest Policy for more information.
This contest will close on Friday, Nov. 2 at 12:01am CST.
"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's selection is:
JUST ONE DAY
By: Gayle Forman
Published By: Dutton Juvenile
Release Date: Jan. 8, 2013
Preorder the Book: Amazon
Goodreads Summary: A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay
When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.
Just One Day is the first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels. Willem’s story—Just One Year—is coming soon!
Why it's wanted:
I loved Gayle Forman's first two books, If I Stay and Where She Went. Her books are always emotional and beautiful, and I can't wait to read this one!
I'm very excited to be one of the many blogs participating in Teaser Tuesdays! TT is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To participate:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
(Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"She wasn't supposed to live past yesterday. Ever since her dreamwalk, she had been the girl with no future. Others, like Ger and Esti, had made plans. Others looked ahead. She never had. She'd known her fate. Bow now...her future was as empty and terrifying as the desert that stretched around her in all directions."
DEAR TEEN ME edited by E. Kristin Anderson and Miranda Kenneally
Dear Teen Me includes advice from over 70 YA authors (including Lauren Oliver, Ellen Hopkins, and Nancy Holder, to name a few) to their teenage selves. The letters cover a wide range of topics, including physical abuse, body issues, bullying, friendship, love, and enough insecurities to fill an auditorium. So pick a page, and find out which of your favorite authors had a really bad first kiss? Who found true love at 18? Who wishes he’d had more fun in high school instead of studying so hard? Some authors write diary entries, some write letters, and a few graphic novelists turn their stories into visual art. And whether you hang out with the theater kids, the band geeks, the bad boys, the loners, the class presidents, the delinquents, the jocks, or the nerds, you’ll find friends--and a lot of familiar faces--in the course of Dear Teen Me. (From Goodreads)
I'm very excited to be one of the stops on the blog tour for Dear Teen Me! Even though I'm no longer a teen, I have enjoyed reading the letters from all of these different authors. There were funny stories, moving stories, shocking stories, and through them all there were good messages for teens and adults alike.
~INTERVIEW~
I'm very excited to have Miranda Kenneally, one of the editors of Dear Teen Me, here today. She was kind enough to answer questions about Dear Teen Me and things about her life as a teen. Please take a few minutes to learn more about this author!
Dear Teen Me started as a blog and evolved into the book it is now. What was this process like?
When the co-creator (Emily Kristin Anderson) and I first started reaching out to potential contributors, the feedback was insane. We had over 70 people sign up within days. We had a six-month waiting list for the blog within a month. In the first month, we had hits on the blog from all fifty states and over 150 countries. The concept pretty much drove itself! When Emily met Hallie Warshaw, the owner of Zest Books, Hallie was very enthusiastic about the project. And within a few days, Hallie and my agent, Sara Megibow of Nelson Literary Agency, were on the phone trying to figure out if it could become a book.
So, to sum it all up, the idea of Dear Teen Me made the blog to book deal process nearly effortless, but actually putting the book together was INSANELY HARD.
What was it like to work as the editor rather than the author?
The best part of being an author is that I am in control of my work. With Dear Teen Me, I had to place my trust in other authors to complete their work. Luckily, all of the Dear Teen Me authors were fantastic to work with, and they made it easy. However, the amount of submissions and the paperwork made me pretty stressed out! I had to get up at like 4am every day to work in order to make my deadline on this book.
What surprised you the most while working on this project?
Joseph Bruchac, an American Indian YA author, sent us a teen picture of himself in a tight swimsuit looking all buff. My reaction was O_O
The picture made it onto the cover of the book!
What was the most rewarding thing about working on this project?
I get ideas everywhere. Nature, news, and life are full of intriguing things. In fact, it’s hard to go a day and not get some sort of a plot idea.
Believe it or not, it was actually working with my husband and my sister. My husband formatted all the pictures and autographs (each author's photo and signature is in the book) before we sent them to the publisher, and my sister helped us keep the paperwork straight. It was nice to have my family's support. I needed it!
What advice did your family give you then that you didn’t understand until you were an adult?
I can't answer this question. My family didn't give me advice. Gar.
Is there anything about your adult self that would shock your teen self?
Yes. In high school, I always felt down about myself and I let other people look down on me. Now, I'm very happy and successful, and if there's anything I would tell my teen self, it's Don't Let Other People Decide Who You Are. You Decide That. So what would shock my teen self is hearing from me that I was actually pretty cool.
Is there anything you would tell your teen self that isn’t in the letter?
Nope. Everything that happened when I was a teen made me who I am today, and I am very happy with how everything turned out.
Be sure to add Dear Teen Me to your reading lists - this is one unique book you will not want to miss!
To see more stops on the blog tour, with everything from interviews to videos to more Dear Teen Me letters, click here.
I'm very excited to be one of the many blogs participating in Teaser Tuesdays! TT is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To participate:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
(Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"But it was the fear that kept me back. I knew that the moment I called, the moment I said it out loud, it would be true. She would really be gone."
ERASING TIME
By: C.J. Hill
Published By: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: Aug. 28, 2012
Series: Erasing Time (#1)
Pages: 304
Genre: Science Fiction
Reading Level: Young Adult
Source: ALA
Buy the Book: Amazon
Goodreads Summary: In this high-action and romantic futuristic adventure, there is no escape from the future for two contemporary girls pulled out of their own time.
When twins Sheridan and Taylor wake up 400 years in the future, they find a changed world: domed cities, no animals, and a language that’s so different, it barely sounds like English. And the worst news: They can’t go back home.
The twenty-fifth-century government transported the girls to their city hoping to find a famous scientist to help perfect a devastating new weapon. The moblike Dakine fights against the government, and somehow Taylor and Sheridan find themselves in the middle. The only way to elude them all is to trust Echo, a guy with secrets of his own. The trio must put their faith in the unknown to make a harrowing escape into the wilds beyond the city.
Full of adrenaline-injected chases and heartbreaking confessions, Erasing Time explores the strength of the bonds between twins, the risks and rewards of trust, and the hard road to finding the courage to fight for what you believe in.
I've been making an effort to give more sci-fi books a try, and this synopsis sounded intriguing. With time travel, a post-apocalyptic setting, and of course some romance, Erasing Time was a quick, enjoyable read.
Sheridan and Taylor might be twins, but that doesn't mean they're exactly alike. Sheridan loves English and literature, while Taylor is into science. For the most part, they lead their own lives. But when they find themselves pulled 400 years into the future, Sheridan and Taylor have to band together to keep out of danger. Fortunately Echo, a wordsmith who specializes in the language of their time, is willing to help them. But the more Sheridan learns about Echo, the more she wonders if she can trust him. Does he really want to help them, or is he working for the Dakine who fight against the government? And can Sheridan and Taylor find a way out of the city before it's too late?
Erasing Time might seem to be a book about time travel, but it is much more than that. Time travel is only a small part of this book, and the way it is used is different than I've seen in other books. I appreciated that there was enough science to make the time travel believable, but not so much as to be needlessly confusing. Science continued to play a big role in navigating the future, and I have to say that I was jealous of Echo's computigating abilities. I also enjoyed seeing how C.J. Hill depicted the future, especially the language. Echo and those in the future speak a new English - which allows Sheridan and Taylor to create a "code" using twenty-first century slang. There are also religious and literary references throughout. Everything is so well integrated that the future seems real, and I had to keep reading to know what being in the future meant for Sheridan and Taylor.
However, even though this book always kept my interest and was a quick read, it was definitely a world-building book. At times things seemed stagnant or like only the bare minimum happened. Although there are great interactions between the sisters, I wish that there had been more between Sheridan and Echo as the story went along. I had expected more to happen in this book, but now I have things to anticipate.
If Erasing Time is any indication, this promises to be a good trilogy. I am looking forward to reading the next book!
BORN WICKED
By: Jessica Spotswood
Published By: Putnam Juvenile
Release Date: Feb. 7, 2012
Series: The Cahill Witch Chronicles (#1)
Pages: 330
Genre: Historical Fiction / Paranormal
Reading Level: Young Adult
Source: Bought
Buy the Book: Amazon
Goodreads Summary: Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship — or an early grave.
Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word... especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.
If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood — not even from each other.
Witches are one of my favorite paranormal creatures. Maybe it's because witchcraft seems more possible than something like shapeshifting, or maybe it's because of Harry Potter, but regardless, I love witches. So when I learned that Born Wicked combined witchcraft with historical fiction and a little romance, I knew that I had to read it.
Cate Cahill has a good reason for keeping herself and her sisters out of society as much as possible. People might whisper that the Cahill sisters are eccentric, but Cate hopes to keep them from guessing a worse truth - that the Cahill sisters are witches. Since their mother's death, Cate has tried to keep her sisters and their magic under control as best as she could. However, once Cate finds her mother's diary, magic is all that is on her mind. Well, magic and a certain boy named Finn Belastra. As Cate begins to unravel the prophecy and secrets in her mother's diary, Cate realizes that she has to be more careful than ever, not only with her magic but also with her heart. But how long can the truth stay hidden...about anyone?
Born Wicked is a book that draws you in from the beginning and keeps you turning pages because you never know what will happen next. There is no shortage of intrigue, scandal, and secrets throughout the course of the book, and I stayed up most of the night reading it. Cate is a character who is frustrating at the beginning but soon becomes someone easy to sympathize with. She's taken on the responsibility for her family and is willing to sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of her sisters. Both Maura and Tess are developed with Cate, and their interactions all felt real. In addition, I loved watching her relationship with Finn develop - there was definitely chemistry between them - and I enjoyed seeing Cate come into her own and embrace her magic.
The one thing that did bother me about this book was the setting. It's set in an alternate 1890, and while I liked the idea, it never felt quite authentic to me. While some elements of the setting were definitely vivid, it was hard to be fully immersed in the world. Despite this, I enjoyed the other aspects this book. The last fifty pages were such a roller coaster, and the ending left me needing the next book already.
Born Wicked is a great debut novel from Jessica Spotswood, blending genres into a spellbinding story. I can't wait to see what happens next for Cate!
"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's selection is:
THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT
By: Veronica Rossi
Published By: HarperCollins
Release Date: Jan. 8, 2013
Preorder the Book: Amazon
Note: Through the Ever Night is the second book in a trilogy, and the following summary may contain spoilers.
Goodreads Summary: A world-defying love is put to the ultimate test in the heart-stopping sequel to Veronica Rossi's "masterpiece," Under the Never Sky. (Examiner.com)
It's been months since Aria last saw Perry. Months since Perry was named Blood Lord of the Tides, and Aria was charged with an impossible mission. Now, finally, they are about to be reunited. But their reunion is far from perfect. The Tides don't take kindly to Aria, a former Dweller. And with the worsening Aether storms threatening the tribe's precarious existence, Aria begins to fear that leaving Perry behind might be the only way to save them both.
Threatened by false friends, hidden enemies, and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, Can their love survive through the ever night?
In this second book in her spellbinding Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi combines fantasy and dystopian elements to create a captivating love story as perilous as it is unforgettable.
Why it's wanted:
I admit that it was hard for me to get through Under the Never Sky, but the concept of the story was intriguing enough that I want to know what happens next.
I'm very excited to be one of the many blogs participating in Teaser Tuesdays! TT is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To participate:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
(Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"'Nice job,' he said, giving me one of his rare smiles. I felt like I had won the lottery from that one smile.
I'm very excited to be one of the stops on the blog tour for Erasing Time! Combining science fiction, dystopian, and romance genres, Erasing Time is a book that is hard to put down and left me wanting to know what happens next.
In this high-action and romantic futuristic adventure, there is no escape from the future for two contemporary girls pulled out of their own time.
When twins Sheridan and Taylor wake up 400 years in the future, they find a changed world: domed cities, no animals, and a language that’s so different, it barely sounds like English. And the worst news: They can’t go back home.
The twenty-fifth-century government transported the girls to their city hoping to find a famous scientist to help perfect a devastating new weapon. The moblike Dakine fights against the government, and somehow Taylor and Sheridan find themselves in the middle. The only way to elude them all is to trust Echo, a guy with secrets of his own. The trio must put their faith in the unknown to make a harrowing escape into the wilds beyond the city.
Full of adrenaline-injected chases and heartbreaking confessions, Erasing Time explores the strength of the bonds between twins, the risks and rewards of trust, and the hard road to finding the courage to fight for what you believe in. (From Goodreads)
~INTERVIEW~
I'm very excited to have C.J. Hill here today. She was kind enough to answer questions about Erasing Time and some of her favorite things. Please take a few minutes to learn more about this author!
If this were Twitter, how would you pitch Erasing Time in 140 characters or less?
Erasing Time is a time travel, dystopian romance with twists, turns, and a fun take on the English language. There are no vampires anywhere to be found.
Erasing Time involves time travel, futuristic machines, and enough science to be believable without being confusing. What kind of research did you have to do while writing this book?
One of the twins in the book, Taylor, is a physics genius who not only explains some of the physics behind the time machine, but also comments on some of the difficulties in building one. I’m not a physics genius, so this took some research on my part. Luckily while I was writing the book, Discover Magazine did an issue devoted to physics mysteries. It came in handy. Also, I’m married to a rocket scientist. He came in handy too.
In your book, the language has evolved in the future. How did you develop this new English?
I’ve always found the progression of the English language interesting. Take the word ‘sincere’. It literally means without wax. Back several centuries ago when artisans were paid to sculpt statues, they sometimes made mistakes and filled them in with wax. The mistakes were indistinguishable from the marble for a long time, but eventually became apparent. By then though, the money paid to the artisans was long gone.
So the word sincere—without wax—came to mean something that was genuine.
See what a word geek I am?
English keeps on progressing, changing, and taking words from other cultures. Shakespeare is hard for us to understand right now. If we go back much further in the timeline the spoken English is completely un-understandable. (Okay, I know un-understandable isn’t a real word, but Shakespeare made up 1,700 words, so I figure I can make up one up every once in awhile too.)
When I first wrote scenes from Echo’s point of view, I threw in lots of phrases and words to make the future dialogue sound different from 21st English. Most of those got taken out. My editor thought they would make the reader stop too many times to figure out what Echo meant. She’s probably right. Now there are just a few words and phrases to give the dialogue a futuristic feel.
One of the hardest things about the novel was keeping 21st century slang and words out of the 25th century characters’ dialogue and thoughts. At first I never had them say the word ‘well’. I figured it would be gone after 400 years. The absence of ‘well’ made the characters’ dialogue seem stilted though, so I had to put ‘well’ back in. Sometimes you’ve got to sacrifice accuracy for readability.
From where do you draw your inspiration as a writer? Who are some of your favorite authors?
I get ideas everywhere. Nature, news, and life are full of intriguing things. In fact, it’s hard to go a day and not get some sort of a plot idea.
Growing up, my favorite author was Ellen Conford. Her writing wasn’t full of poetry, descriptive passages, theme or symbolism. It was light, funny, and easy to read. I think she really affected my writing style because I write a lot like she did.
If time travel were possible, when/where would you want to go?
I’d go back and tell teenage me to wear the sunscreen like my parents kept telling me to put on. I’d also insist that teenage me always wore my seatbelt. In fact, I’d pretty much take White-out to my teenage years.
What was your favorite book as a child?
The Phantom Tollbooth. It was perhaps the only book I read more than once when I was a child. I loved it so much that I’ve written a Phantom Tollbooth-ish (Another made up word. Maybe one day I’ll catch up to Shakespeare) novel of my own. I’m waiting for a revision letter for it right now. It was a fun book to write because I got to do a lot of word play things.
What is your favorite quote?
My children would probably say it’s: “Are your jobs done?” because I say it so frequently. I also say the phrase, “I’ll only have one more piece of chocolate, and then I’m done,” quite a bit. However, I’m a big fan of: “It’s not whether you win or lose that counts, but how you play the game.”
That’s how I try to live life.
That’s also why I don’t watch a lot of sports on TV. I don’t care who wins.
What can you tell us about your next project?
The sequel to Erasing Time, Echo in Time has gone to the copy editor, so it’s about done. I still have revisions to do on the Slayers sequel and my middle grade fantasy (the Phantom Tollbooth-ish book.) I’m also plotting out my next fairy godmother book. Lots is going on.
~GIVEAWAY~
I am very excited to offer one copy of Erasing Time for a giveaway, courtesy of the author and Harper Teen. To enter, please fill out the form below.
This contest is open to US residents only. Must be 13 to enter. Please see my Contest Policy for more information.
This contest will close on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 12:01am CST.
STEALING PARKER
By: Miranda Kenneally
Published By: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: Oct. 1, 2012
Series: None
Pages: 245
Genre: Contemporary
Reading Level: Young Adult
Source: ALA
Buy the Book: Amazon
Goodreads Summary: Red-hot author Miranda Kenneally hits one out of the park in this return to Catching Jordan's Hundred Oaks High.
After a scandal rocks their conservative small town, 17-year-old Parker Shelton goes overboard trying to prove that she won't turn out like her mother: a lesbian. The all-star third-baseman quits the softball team, drops 20 pounds and starts making out with guys--a lot. But hitting on the hot new assistant baseball coach might be taking it a step too far...especially when he starts flirting back.
I loved Miranda Kenneally's first book, Catching Jordan, so I was very excited to read Stealing Parker. The book turned out to be different than I expected, but it still had so many of the characteristics that I loved from Catching Jordan.
Parker Shelton's life used to revolve around softball...until her mother left her family to be with another woman. Suddenly the subject of all the town gossip, Parker was desperate to prove that she wasn't like her mother. She quit softball, lost weight, and started kissing a lot of guys. And yet she can't give up the sport entirely. She becomes the manager of the boy's baseball team, which lets her spent time with her best friend Drew but also puts her right in the path of the new assistant coach, Brian. Even though he's a teacher, there is an undeniable spark between Parker and Brian. But there just might be someone else who is intent on stealing Parker's heart...
Only Miranda Kenneally could turn a book about sports into a wonderful romance story that even someone who is anti-sports would want to read. Once again, the playing field is just a backdrop for the story, and so much of the action happens outside of that setting. Stealing Parker explores the difference between love and lust, hookups and relationships. Even though Parker's flirtation-and-maybe-more with Brian should theoretically be doomed from the start, it's impossible to not root for them. After all, he's just the guy Parker needs...at least in the beginning. But Parker has other things going on in her life at home and even at school. I loved that nobody in this book was one-dimensional; they all had their own stories. Because they were all so dynamic, I felt like a student at Hundred Oaks High along with them. And for fans of Catching Jordan, we do see Jordan and Henry again.
I have to say that religion plays an important part in this book. Parker was raised in church, and she has a habit of writing down her prayers and burning them. I liked reading her prayers, as they gave more insight into her thoughts. However, I couldn't help but be bothered by the conservative nature of the church she attended. It was necessary for the tension, and it makes the small-town setting come to life, and yet I still wished it could have been different.
Stealing Parker is a great coming-of-age story about a girl choosing who she wants to be and what will rule her. With romance, great friendships, and more, this is a book you will want to add to fall reading lists. I can't wait to read the next book by Miranda Kenneally!
I'm so excited to be one of the blogs participating in this reveal! I know that I've already added this book to my must-read list for 2013. And now, without further ado, I present THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED by Page Morgan!
Fans of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series and Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy will devour The Beautiful and the Cursed, a wholly original interpretation of gargoyle lore.
It was bizarre and inexplicable, but after it happened no one spoke of it and Ingrid Waverly was forced to leave her life in London behind. She had to trade a world full of fancy dresses and society events for Paris with her mother and younger sister, Gabby.
In Paris there are no grand balls or glittering parties, and, disturbingly, the house her twin brother Grayson found for them isn't a house at all. It's an abbey. A creepy, old abbey with a roof lined in stone gargoyles that one could almost mistake for living, breathing creatures.
And Grayson is missing.
Yet no one seems to be concerned about Grayson's whereabouts save for Luc, a devastatingly handsome servant who has some secrets of his own.
There's one secret about the city that he can't keep hidden, though. There's a murderer on the loose. And every day Grayson is missing means that there's less of a chance he's alive.
Ingrid is sure her twin isn't dead--she can feel it deep in her soul--but she knows he's in grave danger, and that it's up to her and Gabby to find him before all hope is lost.
Only the path to him is twisted—and more deadly than she could ever imagine.
About the Author: Page Morgan has been intrigued by les grotesques ever since she came across an old, black-and-white photograph of a Notre Dame gargoyle keeping watch over the city of Paris. The gargoyle mythologies she went on to research fed her imagination, and she became inspired to piece together her own story and mythology for these complex stone figures. Page lives in New England with her husband and their three children.
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