Loving Summer Blog Tour

Title:  Loving Summer

Author:  Kailin Gow

Publisher: The Edge

Publish Date:  28 May 2012

Pages: 210

ISBN:  978-1-59748-044-4

Source:  ARC from author

Genre:  Young Adult, contemporary, romance

Series:  Loving Summer

Other books in series:   Perfect Summer (February 2013)

Summer has always looked forward to spending her summers at her Aunt's beach house with the Donovans. To her, summers at Aunt Sookie's beach house was magical, especially getting to spend time with the Donovans - her best friend Rachel and Rachel's brothers Nathaniel, and Drew. Here at Aunt Sookie's beach house, they can be anyone and anything they dreamed. For Summer, she had always wished to become as pretty as Rachel and for her brothers to think of her as more than Rachel's friend. For Nat and Drew, summers at Aunt Sookie's beach house meant fun and escape, a place where they go to with their mom and sister for the summer, away from city life. They never thought this summer would be different. They never thought things would change as much as they did...and it all began with them falling for and loving Summer.

What would it be like if you could return to your favorite time of year? Summer has always loved spending time with her Aunt Sookie at her beach house in Malibu during the summer months. It helped that she also got to spend time with the Donovans - Rachel, Nathaniel and Drew. Summer had a lot of firsts with the Donnovans - "first kisses, first love and first heartbreak."

Rachel Donnovan is her best-friend and she is excited to be spending the summer with them after not having done so in a while. Summer has always had a crush on Nathaniel aka Nat, but he has never thought of her more than his little sister's friend. They have always got along well and made summers the best time of the year.

Now that Summer, Rachel, Nat and Drew are older, will they still have the same relationships as they did when they were younger and carefree? What is going on in Aunt Sookie's life that she invited them all to her house for the summer?

Loving Summer was the first book that I have read by Kailin Gow. I must say, I haven't read a lot of contemporary books, but I really liked this novel. Not only did it keep me in suspense of what was happening, but the character's responses were believable.  I like the way that the characters related how they were feeling (or not) in this book.  With all the focus on supernatural books, it is refreshing to read a story that could actually happen.  I think that we sometimes forget that contemporary novels can be as entertaining as other genres.  Gow really impressed me with this book and I am looking forward to reading her other books.

On the cover there are a girl and a guy holding hands on the beach. This is appropriate because this book is all about falling for someone. The galley copy that I received was really shiny. I hope that they make changes to that in the final edition. I hated picking the book up for that reason because it squeaked.

This is where I normally write what I liked and didn't like about the book and since I couldn't figure out what I didn't like, besides what was said in the cover section, I decided to go over the characters.

Summer Jones: She is drastically different than the last time the Donnovans have seen her.  It has been three years and she is no longer the little girl with braces and glasses.  She is the main character of the book.

Rachel Donnovan: Summer's best friend and the twin sister of Drew.   She is going through her Goth stage currently.  Rachel has felt the need to differentiate herself from her twin.  Even though Drew and she are fraternal twins, they look alike.  Rachel says she feels more like herself with her Goth look.

Nathaniel Donnovan: He is the oldest of the bunch. He is leaving his girlfriend, Chrissy, to go to Aunt Sookie's house for the summer.  He isn’t happy about leaving at that time, but when he gets to Aunt Sookie’s house in Malibu, his attitude changes.

Drew Donnovan: He is the jock of the family and is missing football camp to go to Aunt Sookie's house. He is Rachel's twin brother and older by five minutes. She has told him that she doesn't want him to pursue a relationship with Summer because she doesn't want her to get hurt. Drew is used to getting a lot of ladies who only want to have sex.

"I don't have girlfriends. Just girls who like to have their way with me."

Astor Fairway: He is an actor who is currently starring in a teen sitcom and sometimes takes private lessons from Aunt Sookie's Acting Academy.  He says that he doesn’t really have any friends other than friends in the acting business.

Aunt Sookie: She owns and runs the Acting Academy. She loves having Summer and the Donnovans up to her beach house during the summer.

Two Promotions that coincide with the release of Loving Summer release:

• Included in Loving Summer's Kindle Version, is a full-length Loving Summer Healthy Summer Recipes Cookbook written by Kailin Gow, which will also a book that will release and be sold separately, and valued at $9.99.


• Also, for anyone who purchase a copy of Loving Summer from Amazon.com, they get  a chance to win one of Kailin's own Gently Used Coach Bag that is SIGNED by her, as well, valued at $500.

This blog tour runs through the month of June and there are multiple contests in it.  Check out the full schedule on SupaSector Books.  The next few stops are:

May 28 - Escaping One Book at a Time *GIVEAWAY #1*
              - Young Adult Book Reviews *Review

May 29 - Kindling the Fire

May 30 - Waiting on Sunday to Drown

May 31 - FireStarBooks

 

 

Dark Frost: Blog tour, excerpt and giveaway

Title: Dark Frost

Author: Jennifer Estep

Publisher: Kensington Books

Publish Date: 29 May 2012

ISBN: 978-0-7582-6696-5

Genre: Young Adult, Mythology

Source: ARC from author

Series: Mythos Academy

Other Books in Series: First Frost, Touch of Frost, Kiss of Frost

I’ve seen so many freaky things since I started attending Mythos Academy last fall. I know I’m supposed to be a fearless warrior, but most of the time, I feel like I’m just waiting for the next Bad, Bad Thing to happen. Like someone trying to kill me—again.

Everyone at Mythos Academy knows me as Gwen Frost, the Gypsy girl who uses her psychometry magic to find lost objects—and who just may be dating Logan Quinn, the hottest guy in school. But I’m also the girl the Reapers of Chaos want dead in the worst way. The Reapers are the baddest of the bad, the people who murdered my mom. So why do they have it in for me?

It turns out my mom hid a powerful artifact called the Helheim Dagger before she died. Now, the Reapers will do anything to get it back. They think I know where the dagger is hidden, but this is one thing I can’t use my magic to find. All I do know is that the Reapers are coming for me—and I’m in for the fight of my life.

Can anything more happen at Mythos Academy?  Gwendolyn Frost is back at Mythos Academy as the tale continues in Dark Frost.  The story starts out in Crius Coliseum, a museum near the academy.  Every second-year student was supposed to go through the exhibit on artifacts.  Most left this until the very last day of winter break.  Gwen went with her best friend Daphne and Daphne’s boyfriend, Carson.  She ran into Logan there, who is the object of her affection.  She is sure if they have a relationship or not.

When they are talking and going over the artifacts, they hear screaming.  They soon know that the Reapers of Chaos have entered the coliseum and are looking for a certain artifact, the Helheim Dagger. This is the last artifact that they need to free Loki and have him return to Earth.  They are sure that it will be there in the exhibit.  This turns into “chaos” as the students who are attending the exhibit are trained to fight reapers.

This also makes up Gwen’s mind that she needs to find the dagger before the Reapers of Chaos do.  Since it was her mother who originally hid the dagger, this should be easy, right?  Wrong.  Will Gwen find the dagger?  Will the Reapers of Chaos free Loki?  What is happening between Gwen and Logan?

On the cover, you see Gwen Frost wearing the necklace that Logan gave her before Christmas break.  You also see Mythos Academy.  Again, I like how the “T” in “dark frost” is a dagger or sword.

 

•Gwen.  She always has the best intentions.  Even though some people think otherwise and think the she really doesn’t belong to Mythos Academy because she is a gypsy.

•Logan.  He is always there to help Gwen and this book is no different.  Gwen isn’t sure what their relationship is at the beginning of this book.  

 

•Loki’s champion.  I won’t say any more about her because I don’t want to spoil the book for you.  Gwen sees glimpses of her in a dream, but doesn’t know who she is.  She does things for Loki that you would, well expect a Champion of an evil God to do.

•The other Reapers of Chaos.  Killing people to get what you want is a surefire way to end up on my “did not like” list.

•Loki.  The evil God.  You don’t hear a lot about him in this book, but what you do, I don’t like.  He is the one who gets his “reapers” to do horrible things.  Okay, that sounded really bad, but I don’t know how else to put it.

The Crius Coliseum was shaped like a giant wheel, with one main space in the middle and the hallways and rooms branching off like spokes. The doorway we stood in opened up into the center section of the museum. When Daphne, Carson, and I had walked through it a few minutes ago, folks had been milling around the exhibits, looking at the artifacts and browsing through the expensive replica jewelry, armor, and weapons in the gift shop. Besides the staff, most of the other people here had been second-year Mythos students, trying to get their homework assignment done, just like the three of us.

Not anymore.

Now, figures wearing long, black, hooded robes stormed through the coliseum—and they all carried sharp, curved swords. The figures swarmed over everyone in their path, their blades slashing into the students who’d been staring at the artifacts just a few seconds before. More screams and shouts tore through the air, echoing as loud as gunshots, as people realized what was happening.

But it was already too late.

“Reapers,” Daphne whispered, voicing my own horrific thought.

The Reapers of Chaos ran their swords through everyone they could get their hands on, then shoved the dead and dying to the floor. The museum staff, adults, kids. It didn’t matter to the Reapers who they killed. Wax figures, statues, and display cases crashed to the floor, splintering into thousands of pieces. Blood spattered everywhere, a cascade of scarlet teardrops sliding down the white marble walls.

A sick, sick feeling filled my stomach at the bloody chaos in front of me. I’d heard about Reapers, about how vicious they were, about how they lived to kill warriors—about how they lived to kill us. I’d faced down two Reapers myself, but I’d never seen anything like this. I was so shocked by the scene in front of me that I felt stuck in place, just like my friends. I knew we should be doing something, anything, to try to help the other students, but I didn’t know what it could be.

Some of the Mythos students tried to fight back, using their fists or whatever they could get their hands on. But it didn’t work, and one by one, the Reapers swarmed over the kids. Samson Sorensen fell to the floor, screaming and clutching his stomach, blood spurting out from between his fingers. A few Mythos students tried to run, but the Reapers just grabbed them from behind, rammed their swords into the kids’ backs, and then tossed them aside like trash.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Morgan McDougall duck down and squeeze in between a tall, wide pedestal and the wall, putting her parallel to the doorway that my friends and I were next to. Green sparks of magic shot out of Morgan’s fingertips like lightning, a clear sign of her surprise and panic, and she curled her hands into tight fists and tucked them under her armpits to try to smother the colorful flashes. Morgan knew as well as I did that if the Reapers saw the sparks, they’d find her and finish her off. The pretty Valkyrie spotted me watching her and stared back at me, her hazel eyes full of fear.

“Stay there! Hide! Don’t try to run!” I shouted, although I didn’t think Morgan could hear me above the screams and the alarms that had started blaring.

In less than a minute, it was over. The Reapers regrouped in the middle of the coliseum, talking to each other, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying over the moans, groans, and whimpers of the dying kids on the bloody floor.

“Reapers,” Daphne whispered again, as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing any more than I could.

It was almost like they’d heard the Valkyrie’s low murmur because several of the black-robed figures turned and headed in our direction.

This contest is for one finished copy of Dark Frost.

Rules

• You will have 48 hours to respond or you will forfeit your prize.
•  I reserve the right to cancel the contest at any time without reason.  
•  I am not responsible for parcels lost or damaged in the postal system.  I will make every attempt to avoid this.
• You must be 13 years or older to participate.
• Contest is U.S. only.
• Names will be drawn by Random.org that is within rafflecopter.  
• Winner will be announced in this blog post at the conclusion of the contest and notified by the e-mail provided to enter the contest.  Make sure this is the e-mail that you want me to contact you! 

Author Interview: Brigid Kemmerer

Brigid Kemmerer was born in Omaha, Nebraska, though her parents quickly moved her all over the United States, from the desert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the lakeside in Cleveland, Ohio, and several stops in between, eventually settling near Annapolis, Maryland. Brigid started writing in high school, and her first real “novel” was about four vampire brothers causing a ruckus in the suburbs. Those four brothers are the same boys living in the pages of The Elemental Series, so Brigid likes to say she’s had four teenage boys taking up space in her head for the last seventeen years. (Though sometimes that just makes her sound nuts.)

Brigid writes anywhere she can find a place to sit down (and she’s embarrassed to say a great many pages of The Elemental Series were written while sitting on the floor in the basement of a hotel while she was attending a writers’ conference). Most writers enjoy peace and quiet while writing, but Brigid prefers pandemonium. A good thing, considering she has three boys in the house, ranging in age from an infant to a teenager.

While writing STORM, it’s ironic to note that Brigid’s personal life was plagued by water problems: her basement flooded three times, her roof leaked, her kitchen faucet broke, causing the cabinet underneath to be destroyed by water, the wall in her son’s room had to be torn down because water had crept into the wall, and her bedroom wall recently developed a minor leak. Considering SPARK, book 2 in the series, is about the brother who controls fire, Brigid is currently making sure all the smoke detectors in her house have batteries.

Brigid loves hearing from people, and she probably won't refer to herself in the third person like this if you actually correspond with her. She has a smartphone surgically attached to her person nearby at all times, and email is the best way to reach her. Her email address is brigidmary@gmail.com

Brigid Kemmerer, the author of Elemental and Storm, sat down and answered some questions that YABR had for her.

YABR: What inspires you when you write?

BK: Okay, so I know this is going to sound really weird, but when I'm stuck with a scene or something, I go on YouTube and look for choreographed dances that match my favorite songs. There are a lot of great amateur choreographers out there! I read once that when you have writer's block, you should appreciate an art form that's not your own. Choreography does it for me. Here's an example of what I mean:

YABR: Do you base your characters off of real people?  Do you have a process for coming up with characters?  Who is your favorite character?

BK: All my characters come straight out of my head. The closest to a real person would be Becca's mom, who is a night nurse, just because my mom has been a night nurse almost all my life. When I'm trying to create a new character, I just throw a person into some kind of conflict and see how they respond. They all grow organically from there. I can't pick a favorite!

YABR: In the Elemental Series, the Merricks and other have powers unlike anything that I have read before.  I like how the different powers deal with the different elements.   How did you come up with this concept?

BK: Just lucky, I guess. :-) No, seriously, I'd struck out with two novels: a vampire one, and a Greek mythology one. While the writing wasn't as strong in both those books, I also coincidentally went out with them while Twilight and Percy Jackson were right on the verge of going huge. I sat down and decided to write something that no one was doing, and I knew I had four brothers I wanted to play with. I had a lot of ideas in the running: four horsemen of the apocalypse, four leaf clovers (leprechaun brothers, anyone?), but the elements seemed to stick.

YABR: What do you wish was different about the book(s), if anything?

BK: Nothing! I'm really proud of how Storm came out.

YABR: What is your favorite item on your work space?

BK: Work space? I have two small children. My work space is anywhere I can hide with my laptop.

YABR: What type/genre of books do you like to read?

BK: Everything! I read from Paranormal YA to women's fiction to high fantasy to contemporary romance (YA and adult) to thrillers.

YABR: Favorite color

BK: Green. (Whew. An easy question.)

YABR: Favorite holiday/season

BK: Halloween. I used to love imagining that strange creatures would come out and frolic among the mortals. I still love wondering about it.

YABR: Word that best describes you and why?

BK: Driven.

YABR: Optimist or pessimist?

BK: Optimist.

YABR: Favorite author/book/series

BK: Impossible to answer. Two recent reads that knocked my socks off were Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi and I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella.

YABR: Favorite food/drink

BK: Popcorn and mojitos.

YABR: Favorite place to read/write

BK: For writing, anywhere I can sit down. I wrote an entire chapter of Storm while sitting on the floor of the basement of the RWA hotel in 2010. For reading, anywhere.

There are many books coming out in The Elemental Series.  Elemental and Storm are already out.  

Elemental Series:

0.5: Elemental

1: Storm

1.5: Fearless – August 2012

2: Spark – 28 August 2012

3: Spirit – May 2013

Cover Reveal: Protecting Truth

I was lucky enough to participate in a cover reveal for the second book in The Seraphina Parrish Trilogy, Protecting Truth.  There isn't any other information available yet about the book, so stay tuned to the Wander Dust Trilogy website for that post.  Warren is officially releasing the cover on May 18th.

And here it is:

Isn't it a beautiful cover?  As soon as I find out more information, I will let you know. 

Also, because of the release of the cover of book two, Wander Dust is going to be on sale.  Everyone loves a sale, right?  If you have ever wanted to read this book, now is your opportunity!  I highly recommend this book.  Here is my review.  In case you don't remember what Wander Dust is about, here is the synopsis from Goodreads.

Ever since her sixteenth birthday, strange things keep happening to Seraphina Parrish.

The Lady in Black… burns Sera’s memories.

Unexplainable Premonitions… catapult her to other cities.

The Grungy Gang… wants to kill her.

And a beautiful, mysterious boy… stalks her.

But when Sera moves to Chicago, and her aunt reveals their family connection to a centuries old, secret society, she is immediately thrust into an unbelievable fantasy world, leading her on a quest to unravel the mysteries that plague her. In the end, their meanings crash into an epic struggle of loyalty and betrayal, and she’ll be forced to choose between the boy who has stolen her heart and the thing she desires most.

Wander Dust is the breathtaking fantasy that will catapult you through a story of time, adventure, and love.

Clockwork Prince

Title:  Clockwork Prince

Author:  Cassandra Clare

Publisher:  Simon & Schuster

Publish Date:  06 December 2011

Pages: 502

ISBN:  978-1-4169-7588-5

Source:  Bought

Genre:  YA, angels, demons

Series:  The Infernal Devices

Other books in series:  Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Princess (March 2013)

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

There are so many questions that this book posed.  What will happen if Charlotte loses her position at the institute?  In this book, the Clave is set between a rock and hard place.  They don’t want to replace Charlotte, but with her previous actions, they may not have a choice.  The Lightwoods are the ones who want Charlotte out of the institute, but why?  This is how the story starts out.  Charlotte is given a certain amount of time to find the magister and if she does, she’ll remain as the head of the institute, for we all know that Henry doesn’t run it.

There is also the question of the Magister.  Did the Shadowhunters really find out who he is?  What does he really want?  Why does he want Tessa?  As the search for the Magister contintues, you learn about who is faithful to the Shadowhunters and who is to the Magister in this book. 

Then there is Jem and Will.  Will acts like he doesn’t want to be emotionally close to anyone and pushes everyone away.  Jem knows he doesn’t have much time to live and is really nice toward Tessa.  Why is Tessa drawn towards Will?  Who will she chose?

After reading Clockwork Angel, I immediately began reading this book.  I was so enraptured by the Shadowhunter world, that after this, I started on the Immortal Devices series.  I loved this book and cannot wait until Clockwork Princess comes out in 2013 to see what happens next. Clare’s writing is one that will draw you and make you feel like you are part of the story and not just reading it.  That is what any reader/author wants.

This book was different for me to review because there were so many different questions happening in the context of the book.  I didn’t want to ignore any of the major ones, but I also didn’t want to have a 20 page review.  I love the story of Will, Jem and Tessa.  I must say that it is difficult to distinguish which person I would choose – Will or Jem.  That will be a discussion for another day.  

It looks to me as this is Jem on the cover.  I say that because of the walking stick that he carries.  Correct me if I’m wrong.  You cannot tell it from the picture, but the book cover has raised lettering.  I think this adds to the cover.

•Tessa.  She is not a Shadowhunter, not a warlock because she doesn’t bear the warlock’s mark.  The Silent Brothers do not know what she is.  Even still, she is set on helping the Shadowhunters as they have helped her in the past.  She is strong willed and obviously cares about people.

•Jem.  Due to unfortunate circumstances, Jem is dying.  He knows this.   He is always nice to Tessa. 

•Will.  Will’s attitude changes a lot.  Sometimes you think he really likes Tessa and other times you think that he doesn’t.  One thing is for sure is that he is true to his word and faithful to the Shadowhunters.

•Charlotte and Henry.  She is the head of the institute where Will, Jem, Tessa and others live.  She cares for all of them.  Henry is Charlotte’s husband. He is content to work in his lab creating “toys” for the Shadowhunters.

 

•Jessamine Lovelace aka Jessie.  She is one of the people who live at the institute.  She doesn’t like people to know that she is a shadowhunter and tries to marry her way into normal society.

•Nate Gray.  Tessa’s brother. He is why Tessa is here in London in the first place.  We learned in Clockwork Angel that Tessa came here on her brother’s bidding after her aunt had died.

•The Magister.  He does some evil things.  You don’t really know who he is until the end of the book, but you see his touch throughout.

•Benedict Lightwood.  He is the one who is trying to get Charlotte removed as head of the Institute.  It is a position that he has coveted for years and wants really badly.