Month: July 2013

RUSH (The Game Series #1) Book Blitz and Giveaway!

Rush (The Game #1)
by Eve Silver
Release Date: June 11, 2013
Publisher: Harper Teen
Summary
from Goodreads:
So what’s the game now? This, or the life I used to know?

When Miki Jones is pulled from her life, pulled through time and space into some kind of game—her carefully controlled life spirals into chaos. In the game, she and a team of other teens are sent on missions to eliminate the Drau, terrifying and beautiful alien creatures. There are no practice runs, no training, and no way out. Miki has only the guidance of secretive but maddeningly attractive team leader Jackson Tate, who says the game isn’t really a game, that what Miki and her new teammates do now determines their survival, and the survival of every other person on this planet. She laughs. He doesn’t.
And then the game takes a deadly and terrifying turn.
Available from:
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***Excerpt***
There’s a flash of light, blindingly bright. Colored haloes obscure my vision. They dance and flicker and then disappear, leaving only a rectangle of light boxed in by the dark doorframe.
I see then that the door’s gone and in front of me are people. No…they aren’t people. They have limbs, hair, faces, but they aren’t human. After the first glance, they don’t look even remotely human. They’re pure, painful white, so bright they throw off a glare. They look like they’ve been dipped in glass, smooth and polished, but fluid. And their eyes…they’re a silvery color, like the mercury in the antique thermometer that my mom used to have at the side of the front porch.
When I was ten, I knocked that thermometer off with my wooden kendo sword, shattering the glass. The little blobs of mercury went all over the porch. I was a kid. I didn’t know better. I touched them, prodding the little balls until they joined the bigger blob. My mom swooped down on me and snatched me away, telling me it was poison. It could kill me.
I stare at the things in front of me: the Drau. I can’t look away.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remember Jackson talking about Medusa.
Don’t look at their eyes.
Their mercury eyes.
They’re poison.

They will kill me.
Copyright © 2013. Eve Silver. All Rights Reserved.





About the Author
Eve Silver lives with her gamer husband and sons, sometimes in Canada, but often in worlds she dreams up. She loves kayaking and sunshine, dogs and desserts, and books, lots and lots of books. Watch for the first book in Eve’s new teen series, THE GAME: RUSH, coming from Katherine Tegen Books, June 2013. She also writes books for adults.


Author Links:
     

***GIVEAWAY***
Signed copy of Rush, US and Canada only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Hosted by:

Wild about WILD CARDS

Wild Cards (Wild Cards, #1)Oh, for the love of football…and hot football playas!

What can I say about Simone Elkeles? She is a master of the dual viewpoint. Ever since I read LEAVING PARADISE I knew her books would fill my TBR shelves. And yes, I’ve read every single title she’s published.

Because, as I have previously mentioned, I’m a sucker for series books.

I had the great pleasure to meet Simone at ALA last week and only needed to find a free day to inhale my advanced reader copy of her latest YA offering.

WILD CARDS begins a new series for Elkeles, one that centers on a high school football team struggling to reach the ‘next level’ and is sure to delight her legion of fans. As with the PERFECT CHEMISTRY series, the love story here is gritty and complicated, yet compelling enough to make the pages fly by.

Derek ‘The Fitz’ Fitzpatrick is a phenom quarterback with Division I scholarships whose military father is in a nuclear sub on the bottom of the ocean. His mother died of cancer two years prior–alone, because Derek didn’t leave practice to be at her side when she breathed her last; his guilt drove him to quit football forever. He’s just been expelled from prep school in California and his pregnant stepmother is moving him to suburban Chicago so she can be closer to her estranged family while Derek’s dad is deployed.

Arriving in Fremont, Derek meets Ashtyn, his stepmother’s younger sister–she’s a senior in high school, too. Oh, and captain of the Fremont football team.

You read that right. Ashtyn’s been the kicker on Varsity since her freshman year and just got voted captain–ahead of her star-quarterback boyfriend, Landon.

Derek and Ashtyn have both suffered abandonment, and neither is eager to experience it again. Derek’s ‘love-’em-and-leave-em’ attitude doesn’t mesh with Ashtyn’s need to be loved, so immediately they are at odds despite an overwhelming attraction. The stakes raise when Landon leaves both Ashtyn and Fremont High to transfer to their rival school, crushing Ashtyn’s dreams of a state championship.

Determined to carry the team forward, Ashtyn begs Derek to drive her to Texas for the Elite football camp she has been invited to attend. He reluctantly agrees, mostly because he can’t imagine keeping his hands off of her on the trip–and he knows he’ll only end up breaking her heart like everyone else in her life.

Excerpt from the book: “I wake up with a hard-on. And my arm around Ashtyn. We’re spooning like and old married couple and her long hair is in my face. The flowery smell of her perfume reminds me that while Ashtyn talks tough and is a football player, she’s one hundred percent female. I did my best to stay on my side of the bed, but she kept moving closer. And closer. Then she told me she was cold and asked me to hold her, so I did.

That was my first mistake.

I quickly take my arm off her and manage to get some space between us. I need to cool off. She was half-asleep when she asked me to hold her, so hopefully she won’t remember. I’m not about to play her temporary boyfriend until we get to Texas.”

SWOON! Seriously.

While at the football camp, Landon makes Ashtyn’s life hell–and her discovery that Derek is a renown quarterback turns her world upside down. Ashtyn will do anything to get Derek onto Fremont’s team–even if it means trusting him with her heart.

As with PERFECT CHEMISTRY there is some heat to this YA romance. It doesn’t get all smexy, but it doesn’t exactly fade-to-black; it’s recommended for readers at the 9th grade and above. Personally, I loved it and look forward to the next Fremont title–because now I NEED to know how the team fares in the season.

WILD CARDS is due for release in late September/early October–just in time for the high school football playoffs, I guess. You can pre-order it now.

Best laid plans are SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Subject to Change (Picturing Perfect, #2)I’ve been reading New Adult of late, mainly because they bring freshness to the romance genre. Just like a first kiss, one’s first adult relationship swings between tentative and unsteady to primal and headstrong. Alessandra Thomas has scored big time in this touching story about finding one’s dreams while managing parental expectations.

Josephine “Joey” Daly promised her father she’d become a doctor–just like him–before he died. It is her life’s goal, financed by the special trust fund created in her father’s will. And, try as she can, she struggles mightily with the course-work.

Joey spends so many hours studying she may as well move her bed from her sorority house to Temple’s library–and still she’s barely making a B- average.

Organic Chemistry is killing her.

In Joey’s single fluff course, Introductory Business, she’s paired with Will “Hawk” Hawkins a scruffy, chronically-late, hot mess who is now 50% responsible for her grade. High-strung Joey is also frustrated by the cold-as-stone Dr. O’Donnell, a pediatric oncologist she’s shadowing, who counsels Joey to remain detached from patients–something Joey finds impossible to do.

Like most pre-med students, Joey sacrifices to get into med school, to be the perfect doctor, to help cancer patients–all plans she made with her father’s legacy in mind. Driven, Joey struggles on even as she discovers the reality of medicine isn’t what she imagined it to be.

Surprisingly, it is the taciturn Hawk–shouldering more responsibility than Joey can imagine–who embodies an open-minded approach to life. Growing close to Hawk, Joey finally experiences the joy of following her heart instead of her plans.

What is romance without conflict, right? Joey’s mom plays a role in sabotaging Joey’s new life plan, but Joey finds a path that her father would have applauded. And, that’s exactly what new adulthood is about–figuring out how in the world to become an adult.

What I admired about this story:

It’s accurate. How can I say that? In another life I was a pre-med student. And, in a life after that one, I taught physiology to med students and pre-med students. Here’s what I learned: All parents wants to say their child is a Doctor–and it’s a lofty ideal that many ascribe to–but becoming a physician is a long hard row to hoe.

In truth, I’ve known more people who happily got off the Pre-Med track than medical school students who completed their training. It’s a VERY difficult career, one I quickly learned would not fit my life goals. Unlike Joey I didn’t have a medical legacy to live up to, yet it still wasn’t easy to go home and tell The P’s about my change in plans.

SUBJECT TO CHANGE is an excellent New Adult romance that deals with real-world issues many college students face. The narrative is well-paced and the conflict vital without being overblown or melodramatic.

If you decide to check it out make sure to leave your thoughts on it in the comments.

INSEPARABLE Book Blitz and GIVEAWAY

Inseparable banner

Hey there! Today I’m hosting my first Book Blitz for Inseparable by Missy Johnson
Release Date: 05/14/13

Summary from Goodreads: Can you imagine losing your twin?

Nineteen year old Lily is still struggling with the death of her identical twin, Abby, a year later when she moves away from home for college. Even in death though, their bond is still strong, with Abby visiting Lily in her dreams.

When a chance encounter with twenty-one year old Dane Hansen changes Lily’s life, Lily’s friends warn her off becoming involved with Dane. He’s bad news, according to the rumors, anyway.

Dane has experienced loss himself, he understands Lily, and the more time he spends with her, the harder he falls. There is something he hasn’t told her though, something almost nobody knows, and it’s something that might stop Lily from feeling the same way.

Abby holds the key to something that will change Lily and Dane’s life forever, but how do you get someone else to believe something you don’t quite understand yourself?

INSEPARABLE is available on Goodreads, Kindle, Nook, Book Depository, and Kobo–pretty much anywhere! How convenient 😉

inseparableLast I checked, Kindle and Nook editions were $.99, but if that price doesn’t entice, check out these excerpts:

Excerpt #1

The worst thing, apart from the obvious, was seeing my sister fade away before my eyes.

Looking at Abby was like looking into a mirror, identical in every way, from our long blonde tresses, right down to our emerald green eyes and our curvy silhouettes.

After her diagnosis, the weight dropped off her, her eyes lost their sparkle, and her hair slowly fell out leaving a shadow of who she once was. I’d look at Abby and I’d feel guilty.

Why wasn’t I sick? Why had Abby been given such a horrible sentence?

Why did she deserve to die and not me?

Every day following her death, I’d look in the mirror and see Abby. I’d see the Abby I knew before she got sick. The Abby that was full of life, stuck deep inside her sick exterior right up until the moment she died.

Excerpt #2:

“Don’t you make your bed?” I laughed, raising an eyebrow at him. He shook his head proudly.

“You know, research has shown there is actually less bacteria in an unmade bed when compared to a made one.” He said, brushing the creases out of the sheet.

“Is that your idea of foreplay?” I giggled, “Woo me with your bacteria talk, Dane. It really turns me on.” I said in my sexiest voice. He blushed, then pulled me into his arms, caressing my face.

“Are you making fun of me, Lily?” He asked, teasing me with promises of a kiss. My lips lurched forward, trying to catch his. He was too fast for me, pulling away, with a sly smile. Then leaning in again, and pulling away. “Still want to make fun of me?” He murmured, his eyes narrowed.

Really? He thought he was the one with the power here? He was about to learn a valuable lesson. I pulled out of his embrace, circling him around the room until I was up against the bed.

“You don’t want to kiss me, Dane?” I pouted, tilting my head to the side, my hands threatening to undo the second top button of my shirt. Eventually, it popped open, giving him an eyeful of breast.

He breathed in sharply. “You’re not playing fair, sexy.” He muttered, as he slowly walked closer to me. I let his arm slide around my waist, and eyed him with caution as he brought me flush against his body. I narrowed my eyes at him as he ran his finger down the middle of my chest, opening the third button. I shivered as he ripped the final buttons apart.

Looks like Missy Johnson can bring the heat!

About the Author:

Missy Johnson lives in a small town in Central Victoria with her husband, and her confused pets (a dog who think she’s a cat, a cat who thinks he’s a dog…you get the picture). When she’s not writing, she can usually be found looking for something to read.

Check her out on Goodreads, Twitter or Facebook if you’re an author-stalker, like me.


***GIVEAWAY***

One signed copy of Inseparable and 5 e-book copies of Inseparable (INT) 

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

For the love of ALA 2013!

IMG_0778Oh, my aching back!

Seriously.

I think I need an adjustment…mainly because I carted home 23.5# worth of reading from my one-day mission at the American Libraries Association annual meeting that just wrapped up in Chicago yesterday.

And, if you think that sounds greedy, you might be right.

Still, I make no apologies.IMG_0779

Check out this haul! 28 books in total and most of them ARCs–Advance Reader Copies. For a new blogger like me, those babies are manna from Heaven.

And, yes, I did pay for some books. Particularly some discounted hardcovers for my kids. Because I’m that mom. The one who gives books as gifts.

For my Exhibits Only $35 fee I was able to meet some of the most vibrant people in publishing. It was exhilarating. And, transcendent.

People say that books are dead. I’m here to report I saw them firsthand–alive and well.

And if you think I’m kidding, let me say: who among you would wait 94 minutes to meet a Caldecott medal IMG_0772winner? Many people–the line was over a 100 people long. But Jon Klassen is as delightful and compassionate as his stories. He wade a point to address each and every person in the line graciously, asking questions and being absolutely lovely.

And, I had the same treatment when meeting Oliver Jeffers, IMG_0769

Tom Angleberger IMG_0770

and Jarrett J. Krosoczka

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But truly, the coup de etat of my fruitful day was snagging an ARC from a lady I truly admire as an author:  Simone Elkeles.

I’ve got my hands on WILD CARDS–so expect a review soon!

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