Sunday, November 27, 2016

Release Day Launch: Fire in You (Wait for You #6) by Jennifer L. Armentrout


Some are born with fire in them.

✮✮✮SECOND CHANCES, HOPE, & RED-HOT CHEMISTRY…FIRE IN YOU, the final book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Wait For You World is here! Don’t Miss Brock and Jillian’s passionate and richly moving story in this standalone contemporary romance!✮✮✮

Let the FIRE IN YOU burn and grab your copy today!


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From the # 1 New York Times and International bestselling author comes a richly moving story about heartbreak and guilt, second chances and hope. Full of familiar, fan-favorite characters and no two people more deserving of a happy ending, Fire In You will burn bright beyond the last page…

Jillian Lima’s whole world was destroyed in a span of a few hours. The same night her childhood love, Brock ‘the Beast’ Mitchell, broke her heart, her life was irrevocably altered by the hand of a stranger with a gun. It takes six years to slowly glue together the shattered pieces of her life, but Jillian is finally ready to stop existing in a past full of pain and regret. She takes a job at her father’s martial arts Academy and she’s going out on her first date since a failed relationship that was more yuck than yum. Jillian is determined to start living.

She just never expected Brock to be a part of her life again. But he’s firmly back in her life before she knows it, and not only is he older, he’s impossibly more handsome, more teasing and more everything. And when he sees Jillian, he’s no longer capable of thinking of her as the little girl who was his shadow growing up or the daughter of the man who gave him a second chance at life. He sees the woman who’d always been there for him, the one person who believed in him no matter what.

Brock knows she’s the one he should’ve made his, and what begins as a tentative friendship quickly turns to red-hot chemistry that sparks a flame that burns brighter than lust. Falling for Brock again risks more than her heart, because when the sorrow-filled and guilt-ridden past resurfaces, and a web of lies threatens to rip them apart, the fallout could lay waste to everything they’ve fought to build together, and destroy the dreams of those they care most about.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks


   
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Order a digital or paperback copy of FIRE IN YOU by Jennifer L. Armentrout, writing as J.Lynn, AND fill out THIS FORM by December 3rd, and get an exclusive bonus scene-an Epilogue featuring POVs from all the major couples throughout the Wait For You World!

FIRE IN YOU will be available in paperback and eBook November 28th, 2016!

Just enter your name, age, email address, and the order number from your digitalor paperback pre-order receipt at https://a.pgtb.me/M7KhMC to receive your exclusive FIRE IN YOU bonus scene! All entrants will receive the bonus scene on December 5th, 2016 through email using the email given when the entrant filled out THIS FORM.






Making my way through the narrow pathways between the tables, I headed back toward the bathroom. Only once I pushed open the double doors and stopped in front of the water-spotted mirror did I realize I’d left my purse at the table, so there’d be no reapplying my lipstick.

I pumped soap onto my hands and waved them under the facet. Water flowed, washing away the suds as I slowly lifted my gaze to my reflection. Normally when I looked at myself, I didn’t really pay attention longer than was necessary to put makeup on without ending up looking like a tutorial gone wrong.

Standing here now, I really looked at myself, though.

I used to wear my hair up all the time, but I’d stopped doing that every day. My hair now hung in waves and the ends curled over the tips of my breasts. I also used to have heavy bangs, but thank God they were long gone. I’d finally learned how to put on eyeliner. That was another miracle. The slight flush of my face darkened my naturally tan skin. My lips were fuller and my nose straight.

My hair was parted to sweep to the left so it shielded my cheek…and my cheek didn’t look that bad, especially considering how it looked the first time I’d seen it after…after days in the hospital.

Hell, my entire face had been one hot mess.

There was a deep indentation in my left cheek, almost like an icepick had been shoved in there, and as I stared at my right jaw line, I was still amazed by what reconstructive plastic surgeons could accomplish. Half my face had literally been pieced back together with an iliac crest graft with a reconstruction plate and a crap ton of dentistry to give me back a full set of functional teeth.

Plastic surgeons didn’t have magic wands, but they were magicians. If you weren’t looking at me straight on, you’d have no idea that my right jaw was thinner than my left.

You’d have no idea what had happened to me that night. 

Now I stared back at myself just like I had done that night, six years ago, standing in a bathroom, mere minutes before my entire life came crashing down.

It wasn’t that I hated the way I looked now. The fact that I was alive meant I was one of those rare, walking and breathing statistics.

But even knowing how lucky I was didn’t change the fact that I felt…deformed. That was a harsh word to use. I didn’t like to whip it out often. Doing so on what was so far a pretty good date was probably not a good idea.

Taking a deep breath, I shook my head. I didn’t need my thoughts going in that direction tonight. So far, the dinner had been amazing. Grady was nice and he was cute. I could maybe see myself going out with him again, to an art exhibit, and maybe coffee.
And that was what had freaked me out.

I was not going to let living freak me out.

Nope.

I could give him a chance and not worry about whether or not I was settling.

Turning from the sink, I dried my hands and then readjusted my hair so it fell forward, over my left shoulder and cheek. I walked out of the bathroom and into the narrow hall, gaze trained on the floor as I took about two steps before I realized someone was standing right outside the door, leaning against the wall. Before I nearly plowed into him.

Gasping, I took a step back. All I could see were finely cut black trousers paired with…with old black and white Chucks? What an odd combination, but those shoes reminded me of…

I gave a little shake of my head and stepped to the side. “Sorry. Excuse—”

“Jillian.”

I stopped.

Time stopped.

Everything stopped except my heart, because it was suddenly pounding in my chest too hard, too fast. That deep, rough voice. I recognized it all the way to my very core. Slowly, I lifted my gaze, already knowing what I was going to see but refusing to believe it.

Brock Mitchell stood in front of me.


Book Trailer


   











# 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. She spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. 

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA.

She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.  



Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads








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Starr Fall (Starr Fall #1) by Kim Briggs

Summary: On the run from the Organization, Starr never planned on falling in love. 

Starr Bishop’s the complete package. A perfect smile, brains to match, and a winning attitude. Boys want to date her and girls want to be her. She’s the type of girl you want to hate, if only she wasn’t so damn likable. But don’t worry, she’s not interested in your boyfriend. Boys are one complication she can live without. 

When the Organization decides she’s not only the model student but the ideal assassin, Starr’ll need a lot more than high test scores and extracurricular involvement to get herself out of that commitment. 

Dark, moody, and dead sexy Christian Evergood is the last person she’d expect—or even want— to come to her rescue. From opposite ends of Webster High’s social hierarchy, their lives collide in one electrifying moment. Christian isn’t the Goth loner he pretends to be, he’s a part Cherokee, All-American boy who wants to be a hero, Starr’s hero. Christian makes Starr forget that the Organization is after her, but nothing will stop the Organization from collecting their top recruit. 

By the way, the spot for junior class president just became available. (Via Goodreads.com)

Release Date: November 4th, 2016

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Review:
 
I was fortunate enough to receive a free digital copy of Starr Fall from the author, Kim Briggs, in exchange for an honest review. I will be interviewing Kim soon and once I have posted the interview, I will link it here. My excitement to start the novel increased after I saw that its Goodreads rating was a solid five stars. At the time, Starr Fall only had five reviews/ratings since it had not been released yet. Nonetheless, I was extremely hopeful because of its rave reviews. Unfortunately, I did not love Starr Fall as much as those individuals did.

I had a difficult time connecting with any of the characters. While I had that exact problem while reading the first two novels of the Throne of Glass series, which is one of my all-time favorite series, the characters of Starr Fall simply irritated me. I cannot deny that my personality mirrors Starr's, but she is too immature. I cannot say that, at the age of 16, I have discovered everything there is to know about life, but as a 16 year I am about the same age as Starr. I understood some of her thought processes as she was chased by the Organization, but she got off-track too many times. The entire point of the novel was to discover information regarding the Organization in order to seek revenge for her friends, but half the time she was lost in Christian's eyes.

Her inability to focus on the task at hand also led me to dislike her relationship with Christian. I understood that the most important thing for them to do was to seek shelter, not hunt for the Organization; however, once they reached the cabin they should have started searching possible leads, not frolicking through a meadow. Before Christian arrived, Starr went to the library to search for anything associated with the Organization, but after that point she was too distracted to focus her energy on searching for them. When she reached the cabin with Christian she kept telling herself to focus on the mission, not on Christian and whatever they were doing, but she never did. That drove me absolutely insane. I understand that she needed to clear her head to focus, but her head was never on the task at hand, it was always on Christian. I began wondering if she actually cared about seeking revenge for her friends. I must admit that Christian was the most likable character in the novel. Many of the characters seemed too one-dimensional or cliche. While he was especially the latter, he did bring some much needed humor. 

Starr Fall lacked action. While there were moments of the story that got my heart pounding, they ended quickly. I never truly felt like any of the characters were threatened aside from the initial run-in with the Organization. The beginning drew me in; however, after she escaped the Organization, nothing really happened. She did have a run-in with some unexpected individuals; however, she put herself into that situation by making the wrong choice.

A positive of Starr Fall was its diversity. Christian is part Cherokee and towards the end of the novel the characters end up on one of the Cherokee reservations. I do not believe I have read any Young Adult novels that take place or travel to an Indian reservation. It was a great touch that allowed Starr Fall to stand out from countless other Young Adult novels I have read.

The cover of Starr Fall is also gorgeous. Although I did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped, I would love to hang a poster with that cover on my wall. It reminds me of the Mara Dyer covers, which is one of my favorite trilogies and some of my favorite covers. While the cover does not exactly correlate with the story, it does relate to Starr's love of swimming and her escape from the Organization. 

While Starr Fall was not my cup of tea, I recommend that you try it, especially if you are new to YA. I believe I might have disliked it more than normal due to the reading slump I was teetering on. My lack of ambition to read and my annoyance towards Starr caused me to dislike the book more than I would have under normal circumstances.

If I had read Starr Fall when I initially got into reading YA, I would have absolutely loved it. While it lacks fallen angels, Star Fall reminds me of the Fallen series and the Hush, Hush saga, which were two of my favorite series when I began reading YA. Having read Young Adult novels for the last seven years, my reading habits have changed dramatically. While Starr Fall might please someone who has read Young Adult as long as I have, I think it would be better suited for new Young Adult readers. Throughout the last seven years, I have read countless tropes and "hot" genres of Young Adult fiction. In my opinion, Starr Fall contains a couple common tropes that I once loved when I began my journey in YA. Starr Fall contains a mix of romance, action, and suspense that appeals to a variety of readers.



Thursday, November 10, 2016

Event Announcement: Teen Writers & Artists Golden Ticket Event!

The 1st Annual
Teen Writers & Artists Golden Ticket Event!
Only at #YAFest2017
March 18, 2017
12:00pm - 1:00pm


We are excited to announce a Teen Writers & Artists Meet and Greet with authors* that takes place before the festival’s doors open!


What Is It?
A special one-on-one meet and greet session with 10-20 of our attending authors, plus a special guest “visit”!

Who’s It For?
Teens (aged 13-19)

How Do I Enter?
There are four ways to enter the contest:
  1. Design a book cover for The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl (Sunshine Girl #3) based on the book’s blurb. (8”x11”)
  2. Design a bookmark for any of the attending authors’ books, based only on the book blurb. (2” x 7”)
  3. Write the first or last scene of an attending author’s book based on the book blurb. (No more than 1000 words)
  4. If you’ve read a book by an attending author, write an alternate final scene for the book you read. (No more than 1000 words.)

There is no entrance fee!
Entries due by 11:59pm EST, December 31, 2016.

Send your entries to us at YF.GOLDENTICKET@GMAIL.COM
(Please send as DOC, PDF, or PNG files)

The Winners
Winners will be contacted via snail mail on or around February 1, 2017.  The full list of winners will be posted on the YA Fest website on February 14, 2017.

Winners will be picked by coordinators Jennifer Murgia and Ashley Supinski, with additional help from Katie Cardell.

The Rules
  1. Book cover designs must have original concept.  Art can be clipart or graphics, but the concept of the cover should be your own!
  2. Book covers may be computer-designed or hand-designed using any media.
  3. Written stories are considered fanfiction.  
  4. Book covers and written stories cannot be sold or reproduced.  They are for the Golden Ticket contest only.  

Other Considerations
  1. There is no fee to enter the contest.
  2. Golden Tickets are non-transferrable and good only for the initial winner.
  3. Bookmarks and stories will not be sold.  They may be published on the YA Fest website pre-Fest.
  4. Copyright of images and characters belong to respective parties.
  5. Permission has been given by Paige Mackenzie and the Sunshine Group to design a book cover for The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl.


Good luck to the participants,
May the odds be ever in your favor!


*Not all attending authors will be at the Golden Ticket Event.
List of attending authors and their books can be found at: http://yafest.org/authors.  
Blurbs can be found at Goodreads.com or Amazon.com.