Category: Blog Tour

Release Day Happiness for White-Hot Hack by Tracey Garvis Graves

Posted June 7, 2016 by Jana in Blog Tour, Book Spotlight / 2 Comments

Release Day Happiness for White-Hot Hack by Tracey Garvis Graves

I don’t usually participate in release day blitzes, but Tracey Garvis Graves is and always will be my one and only exception. I love everything she’s ever written, and I can’t wait to read the conclusion of Kate and Ian’s love story! White-Hot Hack is out today, and this is basically the best news you’ll receive all day so there you go.

White-Hot Hack by Tracey Garvis Graves
Series: Kate & Ian #2
Published: June 7, 2016
My review of book #1: Heart-Shaped Hack
Genres: Adult, contemporary, romance
Read the prologue!
Add to Goodreads
Buy: Amazon • B&N • Apple • Kobo

Their love story began in Heart-Shaped Hack. Join Kate and Ian for the thrilling conclusion in White-Hot Hack.

When cybercriminals doxed undercover hacker Ian Bradshaw and forced him to flee, he begged Kate Watts for forgiveness and vowed never to hurt her again. He also convinced her to marry him, and when their idyllic summer on Roanoke Island comes to an end, the newlyweds relocate to their new home deep in the heart of Virginia’s horse and wine country. Ian still struggles with boundaries, but he keeps Kate’s lingerie drawer filled with surprises, and there’s no shortage of number-six kisses. There’s even a fast, new car to replace his beloved Shelby.

Ian promised Kate that life with him would never be boring, but spending her days picking out paint colors and going to Pilates isn’t going to cut it. Meanwhile, Ian discovers that building a white-hat security firm from the ground up seems harder the second time around, and he might have underestimated how much he’d miss the undercover work he walked away from. To make matters worse, the hacktivists are threatening national security, and the task force could really use Ian’s help.

Kate and Ian have always worried that their past would catch up to them, and when faced with the biggest showdown of their lives, they must capitalize on the one thing they excel at most: teamwork. Ian claims no one is a better hacker than him, but in order to triumph, he’ll have to prove it. And if he can’t, he risks losing the woman whose heart he worked so hard to hack.

About Tracey:

Tracey Garvis Graves is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author. Her debut novel, On the Island, spent 9 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, has been translated into twenty-seven languages, and is in development with MGM and Temple Hill Productions for a feature film. She is also the author of Uncharted, Covet, Every Time I Think of You, and Cherish.

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Holly Schindler Guest Post | Spark Blog Tour (+ Giveaway)

Posted May 16, 2016 by Jana in Blog Tour, Giveaway, Guest Post / 2 Comments

Holly Schindler Guest Post | Spark Blog Tour (+ Giveaway)

Welcome to my spot along the Spark blog tour, hosted by The Irish Banana Review! I’m pleased to turn the blog over to the author of Spark, Holly Schindler, for a guest post.

I asked Holly:
If you could write yourself into Spark,
what kind of character would you be and why?

Following her post, read all about Spark and enter to win one of three finished copies of the book!

Holly Schindler on Her Place in Spark

In many ways, I did write myself into SPARK. I’m a little bit Quin—I’ve worn glasses since I was nine, and I’ve always been a giant reader, always written. (I was writing stories at my child-sized rolltop desk when I was a little girl!)

I’m also a little bit Cass—I’m a music junkie, and have always loved anything vintage. In high school, I wore more vintage clothes than new.

And I’m a little bit Dylan—I was a really shy kid. You definitely didn’t hear my voice much in class. I’m not a stutterer—I didn’t have the same reason not to be a big talker—but I do know what it’s like to feel like the quiet one in a giant group of more extraverted classmates.

…And that brings me to one of the central themes of SPARK: Growing up, I also felt, just like all the kids in Advanced Drama, what it was like to be full of flaws. But the thing is, we ALL have flaws. Or at least, perceived flaws, both internal and external. We all have that voice inside our head that says we’re not quite good enough—that’s constantly musing about how great it would be to snap our fingers and fix our shortcomings.

SPARK encourages readers to imagine what it would be like if you could magically erase your flaws.

Spark by Holly Schindler
Published by HarperTeen on May 17, 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Magical Realism
Add to Goodreads
Amazon • B&N • IndieBound • iBooks • Book Depository

The local Avery Theater was just a run-down building to Quin—until her mother told her the tragic love story of Nick and Emma that played out on the theater’s stage all those years ago. Quin is convinced it’s the perfect story to rewrite for her drama class, but when she goes searching for more information, she makes a startling discovery—the Avery is rapidly regaining its former splendor and setting the stage for her classmates Dylan and Cass to relive Nick and Emma’s romance. Quin can see the spark between them, but it’s up to her to make sure her friends—and the Avery—can both be saved this time around.

About the Author:

I’m a hybrid author of critically acclaimed traditionally published and Amazon bestselling independently published works for readers of all ages. My previous YAs (A BLUE SO DARK, PLAYING HURT, and FERAL) have received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly, won silver and gold medals from ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year and the IPPY Awards, respectively, been featured on Booklist’s First Novels for Youth, School Library Journal’s “What’s Hot in YA,” and been selected as a PW Pick.

Going hybrid means that I’ve been able to explore all sorts of new avenues—short fiction, sequels, I’m even going to be branching out into doing some illustrative work. Throughout 2016, I’m releasing one short story a month in the Forever Finley Short Story Cycle. The cycle begins with “Come December”.

HollySchindler.com
Twitter
Facebook
Newsletter

PlayingHurtMashup

 

Also, in honor of SPARK’s release, Holly is holding a sale on PLAY IT AGAIN, the sequel to her YA romance, PLAYING HURT. For a limited time, PLAY IT AGAIN is $.99.

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Follow the rest of the tour!

Week 1:
 
Week 2:

This Is Who I Am Now | The Square Root of Summer Blog Tour

Posted May 3, 2016 by Jana in About Me, Blog Tour / 0 Comments

This Is Who I Am Now | The Square Root of Summer Blog Tour

Happy book birthday to Harriet Reuter Hapgood and The Square Root of Summer! In celebration of Harriet’s debut Macmillan, in partnership with Macmillan UK, has put together and fun time capsule blog tour that focuses on capturing who we are right now. Some of us bloggers chose to answer a series of questions about ourselves in February and again in May to see how we’ve changed over those three months. Others opted to mail in a physical object that defines them. These objects are showcased over at FierceReads.com, so go take a look.

I decided to answer the questions, and I set up two documents so that I could answer in May without seeing what I wrote in February. See how I’ve changed, and then read a little about this fun, summery book!

What brings you the most joy in life?
February 2016: Turning in a grad school assignment. The earlier, the better.
May 2016: At this very moment, I am feeling joyful because I finished another semester of grad school and feel so much lighter than I have in months.

What are you reading?
February 2016: The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig and The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry
May 2016: The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye and Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

What is something you’re really looking forward to?
February 2016: Being done with the semester!
May 2016: A relaxing summer with fun trips and tons of time to do what I want.

What is one thing that’s worrying you?
February 2016: A marketing assignment for one of my classes.
May 2016: I’m sick right now, and I’m worried it’s going to last forever.

What is something that you always have with you?
February 2016: My phone.
May 2016: My phone!

What is something that you wish you could change?
February 2016: Which classes I chose to take this semester.
May 2016: I just got a haircut, and it was cut WAY too short!

The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood
Published by Roaring Brook Press on May 3, 2016
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Time Travel
Amazon • Barnes and Noble • Add to Goodreads

This is what it means to love someone. This is what it means to grieve someone. It’s a little bit like a black hole. It’s a little bit like infinity.

Gottie H. Oppenheimer is losing time. Literally. When the fabric of the universe around her seaside town begins to fray, she’s hurtled through wormholes to her past:

To last summer, when her grandfather Grey died. To the afternoon she fell in love with Jason, who wouldn’t even hold her hand at the funeral. To the day her best friend Thomas moved away and left her behind with a scar on her hand and a black hole in her memory.

Although Grey is still gone, Jason and Thomas are back, and Gottie’s past, present, and future are about to collide—and someone’s heart is about to be broken.

Join in on social media with #SquareRootofSummer and #thisiswhoIamnow
Visit Harriet’s website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram!

And make sure you stop by all the other participating blogs today!

Art, Books, Coffee Blog
Book Briefs
Bumbles and Fairytales
Confessions of a Book Junkie
Manga Mania Cafe
Ticket to Anywhere
The Irish Banana
Firefly Read It
Across the Words
Books and Makeup
Ex Libris Kate
Dark Faerie Tales
Jenuine Cupcakes
Miss Print
Mundie Moms
Nobs Book Reviews
Seeing Double in Neverland
Reading Teen
Starry Eyed Revue
Read Now, Sleep Later
Forever Young Adult
Gone Pecan
Book Rambles
Perpetual Page Turner
Melissa’s Eclectic Bookshelf
Twirling Pages
Andi’s ABCs
That Artsy Reader Girl
Waste Paper Prose
Evie Bookish
Book Rook Reviews
Fiction Fare
Lady Knight Reads
Book Nerds Across America
Page Turners’ Blog
Tripping Over Books
Consummate Reader
Fiktshun
Ageless Pages Reviews
A Perfection Called Books
XPresso Reads
Good Books and Good Wine
Swoony Boys Podcast

Love, Lies, and Spies by Cindy Anstey Excerpt | Blog Tour (+ Giveaway)

Posted April 27, 2016 by Jana in Blog Tour, Book Excerpt, Giveaway / 2 Comments

Love, Lies, and Spies by Cindy Anstey Excerpt | Blog Tour (+ Giveaway)

Love, Lies, and Spies by Cindy Anstey Excerpt | Blog Tour (+ Giveaway)Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey
Published by Swoon Reads on April 19, 2016
Genres: Historical Romance, Romance
Pages: 368
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Buy on Amazon • Buy on B&N

Juliana Telford is not your average nineteenth-century young lady. She’s much more interested in researching ladybugs than marriage, fashionable dresses, or dances. So when her father sends her to London for a season, she’s determined not to form any attachments. Instead, she plans to secretly publish their research.

Spencer Northam is not the average young gentleman of leisure he appears. He is actually a spy for the War Office, and is more focused on acing his first mission than meeting eligible ladies. Fortunately, Juliana feels the same, and they agree to pretend to fall for each other. Spencer can finally focus, until he is tasked with observing Juliana’s traveling companions . . . and Juliana herself.

Welcome to my spot along the blog tour for Love, Lies, and Spies hosted by Xpresso Book Tours! Cindy Antsey is a 2016 debut author (yay Debut Author Challenge books!), and I have an excerpt that is sure to get you excited to grab a copy soon. Make sure you enter to win a print copy of the book as well!

“Oh my, this is embarrassing,” Miss Juliana Telford said aloud. There was no reason to keep her thoughts to herself, as she was alone, completely alone. In fact, that was half of the problem. The other half was, of course, that she was hanging off the side of a cliff with the inability to climb either up or down and in dire need of rescue.

“Another scrape. This will definitely give Aunt apoplexy.”

Juliana hugged the cliff ever closer and tipped her head slightly so that she could glance over her shoulder. Her high-waisted ivory dress was deeply soiled across her right hip, where she had slid across the earth as she dropped over the edge.

Juliana shifted slowly and glanced over her other shoulder. Fortunately, the left side showed no signs of distress, and her lilac sarcenet spencer could be brushed off easily. She would do it now were it not for the fact that her hands were engaged, holding tightly to the tangle of roots that kept her from falling off the tiny ledge.

Juliana continued to scrutinize the damage to her wardrobe with regret, not for herself so much as for her aunt, who seemed to deem such matters of great importance. Unfortunately, her eyes wandered down to her shoes. Just beyond them yawned an abyss. It was all too apparent how far above the crashing waves of the English Channel she was—and how very small the ledge.

Despite squishing her toes into the rock face as tightly as possible, Juliana’s heels were only just barely accommodated by the jutting amalgamate. The occasional skitter and plop of eroding rocks diving into the depths of the brackish water did nothing to calm her racing heart.

Juliana swallowed convulsively. “Most embarrassing.” She shivered despite a warm April breeze. “I shall be considered completely beyond the pale if I am dashed upon the rocks. Aunt will be so uncomfortable. Most inconsiderate of me.”

A small shower of sandy pebbles rained down on Juliana’s flowery bonnet. She shook the dust from her eyes and listened. She thought she had heard a voice.

Please, she prayed, let it be a farmer or a tradesman, some-one not of the gentry. No one who would feel obligated to report back to Grays Hill Park. No gentlemen, please.

“Hello?” she called out. Juliana craned her neck upward, trying to see beyond the roots and accumulated thatch at the cliff’s edge.

A head appeared. A rather handsome head. He had dark, almost black, hair and clear blue eyes and, if one were to notice such things at a time like this, a friendly, lopsided smile.

“Need some assistance?” the head asked with a hint of sarcasm and the tone of a . . .

“Are you a gentleman?” Juliana inquired politely.

The head looked startled, frowned slightly, and then raised an eyebrow before answering. “Yes, indeed, I am—”

“Please, I do not wish to be rescued by a gentleman. Could you find a farmer or a shopkeep— anyone not of the gentry—and then do me the great favor of forgetting you saw me?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I do not want to be rude, but this is a most embarrassing predicament—”

“I would probably use the word dangerous instead.”

“Yes, well, you would, being a man. But I, on the other hand, being a young woman doing her best not to call attention to herself and bring shame upon her family, would call it otherwise.”

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Heir to the Sky by Amanda Sun | Blog Tour Mini Book Review (+ Giveaway)

Posted April 26, 2016 by Jana in Blog Tour, Book Review, Giveaway, Young Adult Fiction / 7 Comments

Heir to the Sky by Amanda Sun | Blog Tour Mini Book Review (+ Giveaway)Heir to the Sky by Amanda Sun
Published by Harlequin Teen on April 26, 2016
Genres: Dystopia, Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction
Pages: 384
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher (Mail)
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Buy on Amazon • Buy on B&N • Buy on Audible

As heir to a kingdom of floating continents, Kali has spent her life bound by limits—by her duties as a member of the royal family; by a forced betrothal to the son of a nobleman; and by the edge of the only world she’s ever known—a small island hovering above a monster-ridden earth, long since uninhabited by humans. She is the Eternal Flame of Hope for what’s left of mankind, the wick and the wax burning in service for her people, and for their revered Phoenix, whose magic keeps them aloft.

When Kali falls off the edge of her kingdom and miraculously survives, she is shocked to discover there are still humans on the earth. Determined to get home, Kali entrusts a rugged monster-hunter named Griffin to guide her across a world overrun by chimera, storm dragons, basilisks, and other terrifying beasts. But the more time she spends on earth, the more dark truths she begins to uncover about her home in the sky, and the more resolute she is to start burning for herself.

Welcome to my stop along the Heir to the Sky blog tour, hosted by Hannah at The Irish Banana Review! I’m so happy to review this book today because I really enjoyed it! I guess I had been needing a really good dystopia because I ate this one up! I’m really at a loss for words, and am having a hard time coming up with a coherent review. So much happens in the book and it is so well done. I love that it’s a standalone, as it is super refreshing to read a fully fleshed-out story for a change. Anyway, I’m going to keep my review short and sweet so as not to give too much away.

The premise of the story is really interesting, and I was immediately intrigued even though I was a little worried that the floating continents aspect would be too similar to Lauren DeStefano’s Perfect Ruin. The bulk of this story takes place on Earth, though, so everything ended up feeling unique and fresh. And really, the story picked up for me after Kali fell and was literally thrown from her extravagant life as a royal to surviving a cold, dirty, scary life. Her first night on Earth was really exciting for me, and I loved reading about her experiences with the crazy beasts and dragons. But Griffin. Oh, Griffin. I LOVE him. He definitely made this story for me. I loved the bond that he and Kali formed, and I loved how sweet he was to her as he protected her and tried to get her back home.

This story is surrounded by a lot of legend and secrecy, and I enjoyed watching the mystery unfold regarding how the islands really ended up in the sky, what Earth is really like, and who these people really are. Kali has been lied to her whole life, and falling to Earth gave her the awful truth very quickly. She no longer wants to get home for selfish reasons, she wants to get home to save the world. She learns a lot about herself in the process and what she is capable of. She also meets a lot of people, makes some friends, falls in love, and experiences some very dangerous and life-changing things. I enjoyed watching her grow and become more aware and fierce.

I loved Sun’s writing style and the details she provided. Earth is portrayed in vivid detail, with lots of colors and ferocious beasts. I felt like I was there. I loved the characters and all the little secrets to society and politics and ways of life that shaped the story. Heir to the Sky is a fast-paced, action-packed read that had me turning the pages as quickly as humanly possible. I’d definitely recommend it to people who are looking for an interesting dystopia/fantasy mash-up.

About Amanda Sun

 

I’m a YA author and proud Nerdfighter. I was born in Deep River, Canada, a very small town without traffic lights or buses, and where stranger safety is comprised of what to do if you see a bear—or skunk. I started reading fantasy novels at 4 and writing as soon as I could hold a pencil. Hopefully my work’s improved since then.

In university I took English, Linguistics, and Asian History, before settling into Archaeology, because I loved learning about the cultures and stories of ancient people. Of course, I didn’t actually become an archaeologist—I have an intense fear of spiders. I prefer unearthing fascinating stories in the safety of my living room.

The Paper Gods is inspired by my time living in Osaka and travelling throughout Japan. That and watching far too many J-Dramas. I currently live in Toronto with my husband and daughter. When I’m not writing, I’m devouring YA books, knitting nerdy things like Companion Cubes and Triforce mitts, and making elaborate cosplays for anime cons.

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