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Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday #9

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Accidental Reader and it features upcoming book releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

We cant wait to put our hands on:
Addicted After All by Krista and Becca Ritchie
expected publication: October 31st 2014
series: Addicted #3

The final book in Lily & Lo's storyline.
-----
Due to the 2-year gap between Addicted for Now (Addicted #2) and Addicted After All (Addicted #3):
Thrive(Addicted #2.5) must be read before reading Addicted After All, if you have not read the Calloway Sisters spin-off series.

Teaser Tuesday #9


Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Accidental Reader. Anyone can play along just do the following:
  • Grab your current read.
  • Open at a random page.
  • Share 2 teaser sentences from the page.
  • MAKE SURE THAT YOU DO NOT INCLUDE ANY SPOILERS ON YOUR TEASER.
  • Share the title, page and author too so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

My Teaser:
   ''We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.” 
           -page 100 from Divergent by Veronica Roth

Please leave a comment with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesday post, or share your teasers in a comment here ,if you dont have a blog. 
Thanx.

Book Spotlight: All I Want For Christmas Is You by Jessica Scott



Title: All I Want For Christmas Is You

Author: Jessica Scott
Release Date: October 24, 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Novella (108 pages)

Since winter is coming and all we thought we should keep you warm with this upcoming Novella about a veteran woman who had been through hell and back and the man who loves her. 



Rafflecopter Giveaway

GIVEAWAY yup, another giveaway. Feel free to participate. 


Summary






All Major Patrick MacLean wanted was Christmas with the woman and child who were his family in everything but name. But Captain Samantha Egan has come back from the war a different woman than the one who left - and she doesn't know if she can love him anymore.

But neither of them counted on the determination of a little girl they both call daughter and if Natalie has her wish, her parents may have no idea what's coming for them. It's going to take Christmas miracle to bring these two wounded warriors back from the edge of a broken heart. 

Excerpt

It was not a gentle kiss. It was not tame or timid or questioning.

It burned her down to the root of Sam's soul. It touched something deep and dark and hidden.

Something she'd thought was long since dead and buried and gone.

Patrick’s tongue slid against hers, stroking to life the very sensations she thought she'd never feel again.

It was electric, the feel of his mouth against hers. The scrape of stubble against her chin, the taste of him. The smell of his skin.

He nipped her. Pinched her bottom lip between his teeth and sucked it. And she sighed at the pleasure, at the raw ache his taste and touch aroused in her, pushing aside the darkness that haunted her.

Sam felt him. Felt everything. The heat of his skin. The warmth that drew her closer. That made her want to crawl into his lap and unzip his pants and push up that damned flannel shirt until they were skin to skin and there was nothing between them but sweat and heat.

One hand slid down her side. Tugged at her fleece and...

"Dear lord how many layers of clothing do you have on under this thing," he muttered against her lips.

She smiled. "You weren't wondering why I wasn't cold?"

"Well you'd be a champ at strip poker right about now," he murmured.

Then his fingers found her skin and she was no longer thinking.

Goodreads Link


Buy Links 

Barnes and Noble - http://bit.ly/aiwbn
Google Play - http://bit.ly/aiwgplay

Biography

Jessica Scott is a career army officer, mother of two daughters, three cats and three dogs, wife to a career NCO and wrangler of all things stuffed and fluffy. She is a terrible cook and even worse housekeeper, but she's a pretty good shot with her assigned weapon and someone liked some of the stuff she wrote. Somehow, her children are pretty well adjusted and her husband still loves her, despite burned water and a messy house.

She's written for the New York Times At War Blog, PBS Point of View Regarding War, and IAVA. She deployed to Iraq in 2009 as part of OIF/New Dawn and has served as a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas.

She's pursuing a PhD in Sociology in her spare time  and most recently, she's been featured as one of Esquire Magazine's Americans of the Year for 2012.

Social Networking Links


***

The novella ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU is also included in November 11th release HOME FOR CHRISTMAS with Joann Ross.

Buy Links

Amazon.com:  amzn.to/1D7xcZO
Google Play: http://bit.ly/hfcplay

Monday, October 27, 2014

Book Talk: When My Currently Reading Shelf Is Out Of Control

In the last few months something scary happened. More than that I returned to old habits. Bad habits I tried to leave behind me a few years ago.
If I may add I think I did a pretty decent job until recently.
So what exactly is that horrible thing? Well.
Do you know those people who read a couple of books at the same time? For the longest time I used to be one of them. With the ability to read more than five books at the same time without getting confused between them. 

Then I decided to control the reading habit. I started limiting myself to 1-2 books each time. 
However, the last couple of months had been rough, So rough I found it hard to concentrate and immerse myself in one book. Which led to me reading many books at the same time. My "currently reading" shelf stands on about 13-16 books right now. It's scary as hell. Most I begin than pt asice and pick up again a few weeks after. 

However, I can't stop picking up new books. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to read finish one of those books in a normal amount of time (between a day or a couple of weeks). But there are book I've been reading for MONTHS. 

What about you? 




Saturday, October 25, 2014

List Land #5: 10 Authors We Want to Read Part 1

Books are being release every day, new authors come to light and old ones dust off their series, some are good writers some are not. Regardless, there are some authors out there with really interesting books that we want to read badly, so here they are:

1. Victoria Aveyard
    Her upcoming 2015 book the Red Queen has received really good reviews from ARC readers and the entire plot seems so interesting. Also, J.R.R Tolkien is one of Victoria's influences, so I really can't wait to read her book.

2. Kristin Hannah
   Although, her book's rating fall around 3-4 stars , her stories seem promising and heart-warming. Ever since I started working at B&N I have been shelving her books constantly. I heard really good things from customers, so I plan to read some of them soon.

3. Elin Hilderbrand
   Elin is one of those authors you hear about constantly, especially when you work at a bookstore, but never read. One of her books is in my Xmas list for 2015 (its a secret), so I am more than excited to finally read one of her amazing books.

4. Veronica Roth
    Yes, I know. I don;t like reading trilogies until they are completed and also I don;t like reading books that draw so much attention and everyone loses their minds about. BUT, I watched the movie of Divergent and that made me want to read the book (that's weird I know) therefore Veronica Roth wins a place on this list. And I plan to marathon the shit out of Divergent.

5. Marie Lu
   I think here applies the same as on Veronica Roth's summary minus the movie. Soon....




Friday, October 24, 2014

ARC Book Review: How We Deal With Gravity by Ginger Scott

Author: Ginger Scott
Release Date: July 6th 2014
Publisher: self published
Pages: 244
Buy on Amazon
Add to Goodreads and Leafmarks

Rating 4 stars

When her son Max was diagnosed with autism, Avery Abbot’s life changed forever. Her husband left, and her own dreams became a distant fantasy—always second to fighting never-ending battles to make sure Max was given opportunity, love and respect. Finding someone to fight along her side wasn’t even on her list, and she’d come to terms with the fact that she could never be her own priority again. 

But a familiar face walking into her life in the form of 25-year-old Mason Street had Avery’s heart waging a war within. Mason was a failure. When he left his hometown five years ago, he was never coming back—it was only a matter of time before his records hit the billboard charts. Women, booze and rock-n-roll—that was it for him. But it seemed fate had a different plan in mind, and with a dropped record contract, little money and nowhere to go, Mason turned to the only family that ever made him feel home—the Abbots. 

Avery loved Mason silently for years—until he broke her heart…completely. But time and life have a funny way of changing people, and sometimes second chances are there for a reason. Could this one save them both?



My Thoughts:

This ARC was kindly provided from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This is a heart breaking story of Avery, a single mother who struggles everyday to raise her autistic son Max. Her entire life is layed out in a checklist that she has to follow to the T for her son to be comfortable and not act out as she described. The opening scene of the so soft spoken and heartbreaking that it had me absorbed into the book immediately.

Meet Mason street, a rock band singer whose dream ended stortly after it began. In an attempt to piece his broken pieces and lick his wounds, Mason returns back home, at the house he spent most of his childhood. Ray Abbot's home, Avery's father. Everyone is pretty happy to see him there except Avery who still remembers the time he broke her heart.

As the story progresses the characters change a lot and develop into something beautiful and real, I liked that they achieved what they wanted from all along and that they did not lose their track with the pages. I came to love Mason, because he became a sweet man, that actually cared about the people around him and he is not scared to show it. As for Avery, she learned how to live her life and little more and started believing in second chances, and that the world doesnt always circle a checklist.What I appreciated about Avery even more was the fact that although she crazy in love with Mason, she did not lose focus on Max and his constant needs.

Max, was always in the background BUT the author did a great job of somehow centering him. Everything involved around him no matter he wasnt talking a lot, or was just playing on his ipad, I got to give her credit for this. It was just amazing, and something not all author can actually work around.

The writing was brilliant, with a double POV, I felt like I knew everything that was going inside Avery's and Mason's head, the feelings where strong and the ride was hard. The plot is really down to earth, dealing with real life issues, autism, acceptance and second chances.


I gave How We Deal With Gravity four stars because I would like to read a little bit more of Max since he was the center of attention of everyone.


Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Waiting On Wednesday #8

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Accidental Reader and it features upcoming book releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

We can't wait to put our hands on:
Creed by Trisha Leaver and Lindsay Currie
expected publication: November 8th 2014
publisher: Flux pages: 256
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17720829-creed?ac=1
Three went in. Three came out. None even a shadow of who they once were.

When their car breaks down, Dee, her boyfriend Luke, and his brother Mike walk through a winter storm to take refuge in a nearby town called Purity Springs. When they arrive, the emergency sirens are blaring and the small farming town seems abandoned. With no other shelter, they spend the night in an empty house.

But they soon discover that not everything in Purity Springs is as it seems. When the town's inhabitants suddenly appear the next morning, Dee, Luke, and Mike find themselves at the mercy of the charismatic leader, Elijah Hawkins, who plans to make Dee his new wife. Elijah's son, Joseph, offers to help them escape . . . but the price of his help may be more than Dee and her friends can bear.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Teaser Tuesday #8

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Accidental Reader. Anyone can play along just do the following:
  • Grab your current read.
  • Open at a random page.
  • Share 2 teaser sentences from the page.
  • MAKE SURE THAT YOU DO NOT INCLUDE ANY SPOILERS ON YOUR TEASER.
  • Share the title, page and author too so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

My Teaser:
   ''There was no way I could stay at the bar knowing what Avery was going through at home. I stayed at the kitchen and watched Claire work with Max, walking him through his folder from school, and explaining what homework is. ''
           page 240 from How We Deal With Gravity by Ginger Scott
Please leave a comment with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesday post, or share your teasers in a comment here ,if you dont have a blog. 
Thanx.

Book Spotlight: Writing Great Book for Young Adults by Regina L. Brooks



Writing Great Books For Young Adults
October 7, 2014
By Regina L. Brooks
ISBN: 9781402293528 ● Trade Paperback/$14.99
Praise for Writing Great Books for Young Adults

“Written from the perspective of an industry insider, the book shows budding authors hot to edit their work with fresh eyes.” –Kirkus Reviews

“Brooks offers writers who are serious about attracting teen readers solid guidance through the creation process of writing YA fiction.”- Library Journal

“Brooks fills her book with clear examples that illustrate her points… If you’re looking for an A to Z guide on writing and publishing YA fiction, Regina Brooks’ how-to is the place to go.” – Writer Magazine
Break into the Young Adult market with this indispensable guide!

With an 87 percent increase in the number of young adult titles published in the last two years, the young adult market is one of the healthiest segments in the industry. Surprisingly, despite this, little has been written to help authors hone their craft, and truly connect with the young adult audience.

Writing Great Books for Young Adults gives writers all the advice they need to tap this this incredible and innovative market. Literary agent Regina L. Brooks shows writers how to listen to young adults so that they can create characters their audience can identify with.
Topics covered include meeting your young protagonistdeveloping a writing style , trying on points of view, and many more.

About the Author:  Regina L. Brooks (New York) is the founder of Serendipity Literary and has been developing award winning authors and books for over a decade. She has been highlighted in several national and international magazines and periodicals, including Writers and Poets, Essence Magazine,Writer’s Digest Magazine, and Sister2Sister. She lives in New York City.









Five Rules for Engaging Readers of Young Adult Fiction

YA Fiction Rule #1: The life of the story depends on the writer’s ability to convince READERS that the protagonist is one of them.
YA Fiction Rule #2: Don’t be condescending to your readers.
YA Fiction Rule #3: Read, read, read today’s YA fiction.
YA Fiction Rule #4: Silence your worries about commercial considerations.
YA Rule #5: In your new world of YA fiction, erect no concrete barriers, wire fences, or one--way signs. Instead, forge new paths.
Chapter 2 is about generating an idea, your story. It will talk about different ways to uncover stories that YA readers will want to read about. It will also help you discover new possibilities for stories within yourself that you may not have known you had.
Chapter 3 will discuss characters—-the heart of any manuscript. How to breathe life into interesting characters your reader will connect with is the main lesson of this chapter, but we’ll also discuss how to find the best characters for the story you want to tell.
Chapter 4 is all about plot, story, and how to tell the difference. Plot is like a machine that propels your manuscript forward, while story is the overall impression you want the plot to create in the reader’s mind.
Chapter 5 is about how to put together a believable plot. It’s all about action—-establishing the main conflict of your manuscript and putting it in motion. Of special concern will be integrating the events of the manuscript with the characters’ personalities, making sure that the characters react to events in believable ways.
Chapter 6 is about setting and timeline. Setting is the background of your story—-the when and where. This chapter is about understanding the atmosphere of your story and effectively manipulating the details of that atmosphere to influence your manuscript’s tone.
Chapter 7 is about point of view—-the perspective from which you tell your story. Point of view can be an extremely effective tool for connecting with character and clarifying or confusing the reader about events—-provided you use it correctly.
Chapter 8 is about the meat of your manuscript—-dialogue. Dialogue provides an opportunity for your characters to interact and opens up another way to build your characters.
Chapter 9 is about the theme of your manuscript. Theme is the overall impression you want your readers to take away. It’s a subtle but effective way for the author to express himself through the story.
Chapter 10 is about wrapping it all up, bringing your plot to a successful resolution. Endings can be very tricky, so there will be detailed discussion about what sorts of conclusions to avoid.
Chapter 11 is about how to find constructive feedback and incorporate it into your revisions. All authors need to edit and revise their manuscript, and this chapter will explain why the editing process is so necessary.
Chapter 12 is about getting published—what agents and editors do and how to get your work into their hands. This is the business chapter-—the one that details exactly how the publishing industry works.
Chapter 13 is about YA nonfiction and the emerging genre of New Adult. The YA market is constantly in flux, and this chapter will expose you to two recent developments in the market.
I hope all of these tools will be helpful to you as you begin the process of writing the next YA bestseller. Let’s begin exploring that magical new world.



So, as you can see if you really want to know how to apply those rules and if you really want to know how to creat the next bestseller in the YA genre you need to read this book. 

I have to admit I'm still reading this book for a non-fiction guide it surely made me think and feel a lot. All of that you can read in my review that will be published by the end of the month [hopefully :D]




Monday, October 20, 2014

Book Talk: Desperation In The Time Of Fan Fiction

There was a time, that when I heard the phrase fan fiction in my mind I used to picture those weird doujinshi* mangas. In the coming years after Twilight (2005 and on), what came to my mind was, of course, the word Twilight, sparkly vampires, the idea of the most perfectly mysterious boyfriend out there and of course honey dripping romance. And I am wondering what the hell happened to modern literature.

We all know Twilight! Most of us read the books in a few hours since we opened them, most of us read them more times than we want to admit and of course, hated/loved equally as much. Let's face it then, I was a teenager when Twilight came out and everyone went crazy about it. It was one of the reasons I started reading Paranormal books and at the time I was mesmerized because I had never ever read something as awesome as Twilight (back then at least). It was the beginning of my reading journey and exploration of different genres, until I noticed it: (drumroll please) 70% of the books I was reading or wanted to read felt and read like Twilight.

Emotions, scenes, plot direction, everything felt like the monster Stephanie Meyer created. Initially, I was excited, I mean the series where my personal fave and I loved what I was reading, but after a while it got boring and stupid. I felt like I was being cheated, especially when more books came out (Hush,Hush , Vampire Academy, The Mortal Instruments) although, each of these series where different than Twilight (characters, plot etc) it felt to me that all of them circled the same notion: Forbidden Love, The Art Of Meeting Someone Completely Different Than You and (yes!) How To Conquer Him, Danger?Who Cares I;m All For It. And my personal favorite: Depressed Boyfriends. Emo suddenly became sexy as hell but without the piercings and black eyes. And then it happened!

Fifty Shades Of Grey released and everyone lost their minds. And I had it. It was Twilight itself without the sparkly vamps but with a whole lot more sex. I love reading books. Its one thing I always did and will probably continue to do, but lately I feel like I have been reading the same stories over and over again but the writing is kind of different. Feels like the rivers of Fantasyland have gone dry and authors from all walks of life try to just copy paste each other. It is unnerving. Okay, I am not saying that there are not people out there that write original plots and stories, I am speaking generally. Because, it is not only about Twilight, the same applies to The Hunger Games which got its inspiration from Battle Royale and then from those two hybrids like Divergent and Legend came out, adapted (naturally) into movies and everyone is going berzeck for them without actually seeing the similarities. I pretty much think it may be copyright infringement as well.

It is such shame that we live in a world where pretty much everything from the last 40 years are being mixed and re-consumed over and over again and right now Im not only speaking about books but also about music. If the present shows signs of decadence and lack of fantasy, I wonder what the future will bring.



*A Japanese word meaning a work published by a specific interest group for other members of that interest group. Doujinshi usually refers to fan made mangaor soft. Because of the copyright laws in Japan fans can get away with making and selling doujinshi featuring their favorite characters from animeand video games although doujinshi also often times feature original characters and stories. A common misunderstanding is that all doujinshi are x-rated fan works but this is not always the case.

You can comment freely below with your opinion on this matter or just vent or anything.
Thanx


Blog Spotlight: Slow Hand by Victoria Vane




Slow Hand
By Victoria Vane
Sourcebooks Casablanca
November 4, 2014
$7.99/£5.99

Summary:
In rural Montana…
Wade Knowlton is a hardworking lawyer who’s torn between his small-town Montana law practice and a struggling family ranch. He’s on the brink of exhaustion from trying to save everybody and everything, when gorgeous Nicole Powell walks into his office. She’s a damsel in distress and the breath of fresh air he needs.

Even the lawyers wear boots…
Nicole Powell is a sassy Southern girl who has officially sworn off cowboys after a spate of bad seeds—until her father’s death sends her to Montana and into the arms of a man who seems too good to be true. Her instincts tell her to high tail it out of Montana, but she can't resist a cowboy with a slow hand…

About the Author:
Victoria Vane is a multiple award-winning romance novelist and history junkie whose collective works of fiction range from wildly comedic romps to emotionally compelling erotic romance. Victoria also writes historical fiction as Emery Lee and is the founder of Goodreads Romantic Historical Fiction Lovers and the Romantic Historical Lovers book review blog.
Social Media:
Website | Facebook | @AuthorVictoriaV | Goodreads | Pinterest

Buy Links:
Amazon | Apple | B&N | BAM | !ndigo | IndieBound


Giveaway 1 – Two copies of Slow Hand (two winners, ends 11/7)

Giveaway 2 – Victoria Vane’s Cowboy Seduction Kit

PRESS THE LINKS AND ENTER. 

Yep yep yep! Two giveaways, and you are welcome to participate. However, The Accidental Reader is not responsible for the winning or the giveaway. We are just hosting the links.

Excerpt:
He went to work on his shirt buttons. His collar was soon wide open revealing a generous show of muscular chest that make her hands itch to rip it off him. She diverted her gaze and curled her itchy hands by her sides.
“Have no fear, cowboy,” Nikki replied in a tone meant to disguise the warm flush that had come over her. “I corralled all my wild impulses long ago.”
“Did you, now?” He still stood in doorway, head cocked. “Somehow, I think you may have missed a few strays.”
“Maybe I need to make myself clearer. I have an aversion to cocky cowboys.”
Just keep telling yourself that, Nikki. Maybe if you repeat it often enough it’ll become true.
“Is that so?” His brows flew upward. “I can’t say I ever met a woman with an actual aversion to me.”
“Don’t take it personally. It’s nothing against you in particular, but to your type.”
“And what do you think you know about my type?”
“Since I don’t have a pole handy, enough to keep you at arms-length. Besides that, this whole line of conversation is entirely inappropriate in light of professional ethics, don’t you think? You are my attorney, after all.”
“Well, darlin’,” he scratched his unshaven jaw, “there’s a little hitch to that.”
“What do you mean? You said you’d help me.”
“And I will, but you can’t engage my professional services until I know who you are.”
“I’ve told you who I am!” she insisted.
“Sweetheart, I’m a lawyer, and according to the law, your claim don’t weigh without authentication.”
“Authentication?”
“Proof.”
“So what are you saying? That you don’t believe me?”
“I’m not saying that at all. Only that our professional relationship will commence once you get your I.D. In the interim,” His gaze slid over her in a way that threatened to melt her insides, “you’d best find yourself a nice, long, sturdy pole.”

Was that a suggestion? I think my insides just melted... X_X

if you require a bit more convincing you are always welcome to watch this trailer-