Waiting on Wednesday

What am I waiting on this Wednesday? Read on to find out!

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Evidence of Things Not Seen by Lindsey Lane

Goodreads

September 16, 2014

When high school junior Tommy Smythe goes missing, everyone has a theory about what happened to him. Tommy was adopted, so maybe he ran away to find his birth parents. He was an odd kid, often deeply involved in his own thoughts about particle physics, so maybe he just got distracted and wandered off. He was last seen at a pull-out off the highway, so maybe someone drove up and snatched him. Or maybe he slipped into a parallel universe. Tommy believes that everything is possible, and that until something can be proven false, it is possibly true. So as long as Tommy’s whereabouts are undetermined, he could literally be anywhere.

Told in a series of first-person narratives from people who knew Tommy and third-person chapters about people who find the things Tommy left behind—his red motorbike, his driving goggles, pages from his notebook—Particles explores themes of loneliness, connectedness, and the role we play in creating our own realities.

~ ~ ~ 

MYSTERY! I never read anything like this. I guess we'll see how it goes. 

The Warrior by Victoria Scott Blast

War between heaven and hell is coming, but Dante Walker makes it look damn good.

Dante’s girlfriend, Charlie, is fated to save the world. And Aspen, the girl who feels like a sister, is an ordained soldier. In order to help both fulfill their destiny and win the war, Dante must complete liberator training at the Hive, rescue Aspen from hell, and uncover a message hidden on an ancient scroll.

Dante is built for battle, but even he can’t handle the nightmares where spiders crawl from Aspen’s eyes, or the look on Charlie’s face that foretells of devastation. To make matters worse, the enemy seizes every opportunity to break inside the Hive and cripple the liberators. But the day of reckoning is fast approaching, and to stand victorious, Dante will have to embrace something inside himself he never has before—faith.

Find Dante Online:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FOB3IVI

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warrior-brough-scott/1108160925?ean=9781622662784

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18621882-the-warrior?from_search=true

Victoria Scott is a teen fiction writer represented by Sara Crowe of the Harvey-Klinger Literary Agency. She’s the author of the FIRE & FLOOD series published by Scholastic, and the DANTE WALKER trilogy published by Entangled Teen. Her books have been bought and translated in eleven foreign markets including the UK, Turkey, China, Poland, Israel, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Taiwan, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.

Victoria lives in Dallas with her husband and hearts cotton candy something fierce.

Find Victoria Scott Online:

Website: http://www.victoriascottya.com/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/VictoriaScottYA

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorVictoriaScott

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3251728.Victoria_Scott

Rush {Release Day Blitz and Giveaway}

Welcome to the release day blitz for Rush by Nyrae Dawn! Make sure you enter the giveaway before you leave. And leave the author some comment love!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RUSH by Nyrae Dawn (May 6, 2014; Forever Yours Digital Original; $4.99)

Brandon Chase has always defined himself by one thing: football. Tough and athletic, he is a great college player who enjoys the hard hits and the sweaty grind of the gridiron. But when Brandon is injured, only one person can help him get back on track-a forbidden love he's desperately tried to put behind him.

Alec Andrews has never quite forgiven Brandon for walking away when their friendship turned into something more. But he can't deny help to one of his closest friends. As the two spend the long, hot summer working together, their old attraction comes flooding back.

Now as Alec thinks about coming out to his conservative family and Brandon considers revealing he's a gay football player, the two men must be strong to fight for a love that could be the greatest rush of their lives.

Amazon

iTunes

Author Stalker? Let me help!

Writing has always been Nyrae Dawn's passion. Nyrae gravitates toward character-driven stories. She loves going on emotional journeys with characters whether it be reading or writing. And yes, she's a total romantic at heart and proud.

Nyrae resides in sunny Southern California with her husband (who still makes her swoon) and her two awesome kids.

When she's not with her family, you can be pretty sure you'll find her with a book in her hand or her laptop and an open document in front of her. Nyrae also writes adult romance under the name Kelley Vitollo.

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Wanna know some more about the thoughts going into this book? Read what Nyrae had to say in response to these questions!

Which of your characters has been the most fun to write so far? This is a really hard one for me because I really love both of these boys. They’re both very special to me. I don’t know that Brandon was more fun to write than Alec, but I do feel a special closeness to Brandon and has struggle

 What is the secret to staying in love with your characters to see your story through to the end? Wow. Great question. I’m not sure there is a secret. I just think it’s important to make sure your characters are real and as layered as possible. To make them the kind of people you feel for, and pull for. People you continue to discover new things about.

   What would be the soundtrack to RUSH? This Years Love by David Gray, New York by  Snow Patrol, Outlaws of Love by Adam Lambert, Please Forgive me by Bryan Adams, to name a few. 


   Tell us about your writing process. Do you start with an idea or a character? Do you know what’s going to happen from the beginning or do you figure it out as you write? It’s different for each book. I never do it the exact same. Most of my books start with the characters though. I usually have some ideas in my head and know where I need to get the story, then I just starting writing. After I have a quarter or so written I feel more comfortable in the story and then I start to plot a little more. 

Wattpad: One Girl's Tale of Addiction

Dear Whoever, 

There’s a really good reason why I deleted my Wattpad account three, short years ago. Wattpad took over my life. THE STORIES! There are so many amazing and undiscovered writers on there and you have the ability to interact with them and read their stories and see them publish their works. But then there are the uncompleted ones that YOU NEED TO BE COMPLETED RIGHT THIS VERY INSATANT OR YOU WILL DIE. There are a lot of those.

Now, it’s happening again. (thanks so much Dana. That was sarcasm) It’s a vicious cycle, I tell you! Do you know how many works I read in the first three days of creating a new account? Eight. Granted that most of them were only about 50 or so pages but still. . . That’s a whole lot man when you do actually have other things to do besides stare at the computer screen all day and compulsively click the ‘next chapter’ button at the bottom of the screen. Seriously y’all. Nothing good is going to come from this except for free books, hot book boyfriends and girl power. I know that sounds awesome but when you need to do school work and, I don’t know, study this sounds like my kryptonite. *sigh*

Wait-you’ve never been on Wattpad? WAIT HOLD ON THERE?! YOU’VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF IT AND YOU THINK I’M MAKING ALL THIS UP? Well, let me give you a Tour de Wattpad. First, you have all the lovely sections to discover new amazing stories such as ‘werewolves’, ‘what’s hot’, ‘teen fiction’, ‘romance’, ect. Then when you see a story you want to read, you download it to your library. 

POOF!

If you have the app, you can read it anywhere! *even on school wifi! ~bonus~* You can create ‘shelves’ of sorts to organize all the awesomeness. When you read, you can vote on individual chapter and get the awesome people who wrote them up on the lists and make it easier for their stories to be discovered. When reading said awesomeness, make sure you comment with encouragement or (NICE!) critiques. Don’t be mean y’all! Also, tell them if they have grammar mistakes. THEY REALLY DO WANT TO KNOW!

Anyways, are any of y’all self-proclaimed Wattpad addicts, like myself? What do y’all read? Isn’t the ‘What’s Hot’ section the absolute best thing in the freaking entire world?

Here are some of my favorites as of this moment

- The Fox and the Wolf

- Masked SheWolf

- I'm Sorry, Did You Say Mate?

- Talk About the Direct Approach

- Bitter Kisses

Do y’all have any recommendations for little ol’ me? *wink wink*

Quoteable: Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Goodreads

Sixteen-year-old Janelle Tenner is used to having a lot of responsibility. She balances working as a lifeguard in San Diego with an intense academic schedule. Janelle's mother is bipolar, and her dad is a workaholic FBI agent, which means Janelle also has to look out for her younger brother, Jared.

And that was before she died... and is brought back to life by Ben Michaels, a mysterious, alluring loner from her high school. When she discovers a strange clock that seems to be counting down to the earth's destruction, Janelle learns she has twenty-four days to figure out how to stop the clock and save the planet.

Would I read this book only because of this quote?

Nope. I mean this book sounds epic and all but if I was deciding to read it with no other information whatsoever, I wouldn't read this book. 

What about y'all? Would you read this book based only on the quote?

ARC Review: Second Star by Alyssa B. Shinmel

Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
Published: May 13, 2014
Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this book to review. In no way did that sway my opinion.
Goodreads

Summary

A twisty story about love, loss, and lies, this contemporary oceanside adventure is tinged with a touch of dark magic as it follows seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling on a search for her missing surfer brothers. Wendy’s journey leads her to a mysterious hidden cove inhabited by a tribe of young renegade surfers, most of them runaways like her brothers. Wendy is instantly drawn to the cove’s charismatic leader, Pete, but her search also points her toward Pete's nemesis, the drug-dealing Jas. Enigmatic, dangerous, and handsome, Jas pulls Wendy in even as she's falling hard for Pete. A radical reinvention of a classic, Second Star is an irresistible summer romance about two young men who have yet to grow up--and the troubled beauty trapped between them.

I’m not sure I’ve ever been this confused in my entire life. This book’s premise sounded so perfect, I didn’t think there was any way I could not love this book. Yet, that is what happened. I’m not really sure how it happened, but the entire time this book was occurring I was completely confuzzled. I didn’t know what to believe and I was. . . well . . . confused. Really, really confused. Especially with that ending. I mean don’t get me wrong, I liked the book better when I read the ending but it did make me even more confused than I was before. I don’t really know what to think.

 It looks like madness. (ARC)

The book begins with Wendy broken-hearted with the loss of her brothers to the waves. She refuses to believe that they are gone and embarks on a journey where she falls into the arms of Pete and Jas: two boys who are complete opposites. Me being me, I liked Jas better. *psh* I mean, when y’all read this book (even if it is just because of a morbid curiosity) you’ll like him better too. To me, at least, it seemed like Pete had just too much baggage and was a little bit of a liar and for most of the book I wanted to rob him of the chance of making more of him. As for Jas, he really seemed like he wanted to redeem himself. Also, he was tall and sweet and just completely and utterly sigh worthy. Oh, and he’s also a drug dealer. But let’s not let that sink in and go back to the sweet and tall and sigh worthy.

When she runs into these boys, one lies and the other sort of stalks. Stalks with the intention of keeping her safe because she can’t surf and is yet attempting to. The ones that lies, lies to keep her safe and keep her to himself. Greedy, greedy. Along with the ways of the waves and taking care of what I will call Lost Boys. We also have a modern Tinker Bell.

 It looks like lunacy. (ARC)

With the loss of her two brother and her lack of acceptance in recognizing that they are indeed gone, she embarks of a hunt for them with the help of scavenger hunt clues like the ones she devised for them when she was younger.

In this book, there is a road to self-discovery, acceptance and a battle with yourself so deep it will get to you. I was confused. So. Freaking. Confused. But I think it was supposed to be that way, just like Wendy felt. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.

In the end, Jas was my favorite part of the book. The emotions were real but the story line was just all-too confusing for me to keep up with. 

But it also looks like grace. (ARC)

I usually LOVE retellings and I'd never read a Peter Pan one before, and I've got to tell y'all, I was disappointed. Have any of y'all had a chance to read this one? Do y'all like retellings as much as I do?

ARC Review: Love's Paradox

Love's Paradox by Laura Kreitzer

Published May 5, 2014

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher

Goodreads

Stalked by her abusive ex-fiancé, Rae Zachery retaliates by singing karaoke and spilling all their dirty secrets to the entire bar. When her ex attempts to silence her brazen performance, sexy, leather-clad Parker comes to her rescue and soundly punches her ex in the face. As valiant as that may be, Rae finds Parker’s violent assistance unsettling, yet she can’t help but be drawn to him and his tragic past.

Fighting her attraction for Parker is a battle Rae can’t win, and soon their night of sharing secrets morphs into an undeniable bond. But fate won’t so easily relinquish her grip on their happily-ever-after. Instead of blissfully skipping into obscurity, Rae and Parker are subjected to her ex-fiancé’s vicious proclivities. Who knew love could hurt so good?

I’m here to say that I went into this book (a book that left my heart in knots and soul aching) with absolutely no expectation. Why is that? The cover is what makes me want to read a book; even more than the synopsis does. If the cover is gorgeous, the story should be good too, right? Well, that theory is really not necessarily true, but what can I say? I’m a sucker for pretty things. Back to the point: I don’t like this cover. The whole purple overshadow on everything looks moody and a tad bit odd. Especially since the guy on the cover already doesn’t match what I saw in my head for our motorcycle- riding bad boy with a major hero’s complex.  The cover needs to be prettier. But maybe it not being stunning works in it’s favor? I mean I freaking adore this book. It has action and emotion and finding yourself. It has all the reasons I love the New Adult genre so much.

Love’s Paradox is about Rae and her sonofabeep EX- fiancée. She’s being stalked by him after being mentally and physically abused by him. One day while with her band of misfits (her too-hot-to-handle with a questionable job best guy friend and her wacky hair stylist best girl friend with a possessive girlfriend) she sings at the bar- well more like preforms- and grabs the attention of her EX and her savior, Parker. *fans self wildly and unintentionally slaps self in face* Through this lovely book we see Rae’s fear, we see her bravery, we see her cope and we see her break. But, more than any of that, we see her learn to acknowledge what has happened. We see her learn to live again. Rae was never weak. Would a weak person tweet her location to a stalking ex and then sing a song she knows will send him over the edge? Okay, maybe that’s a little self- destructive. . .

What did I love in this book?

-          I loved the self- discovery. She knew herself before, but she didn’t know how to put herself first. This book showed that you are not the victim. It showed that she could live. It showed that people can change, if they choose to. It showed her love of cooking and how she should do that if she show chooses. Love’s Paradox showed that you have to do what makes you happy and that other peoples happiness are not based on what you do, how you act. This book showed that there is, indeed, an after.

-          I’m me, people. I love the love. ROMANCE. This wasn’t the normal kind though. Nope. This was the hot and heavy kind with a heavy dose of I wanna save you. Parker and Rae were like the sun and the mood. Seemingly unattainable with the barrier driving them apart, that barrier being the EX fiancée, but when they were together, the whole world fell into an eclipse. It was gorgeous. Though there was one moment where I wanted to wring Parker’s neck, but besides that, everything was cool and dandy with a dash of insanity. *grins*

-          The way the EX fiancée was portrayed. And by that I mean a beephole. Hehehe. He was the true definition of ‘not all there.’ He would hurt her, say she would blame it on him (see the problem with that statement), and then start bawling like a two year old and hug her. It was a vicious cycle that was getting worse and worse. It was ultimately going to lead to her death. Her life was literally hanging by a thread. I feel so bad for Rae. Also I wane rip that sucker’s head clean off then shove it where the sun don’t shine. *growls menacingly*

-          The music aspect was absolutely gorgeous. Listen to Goodbye Earl by the Dixie Chicks and you’ll understand everything.

-          The moms!!! You might not get Parker’s mom at first but she is her own personal shade of awesome. And Rae’s mom is amazing.

Okay folks, that’s about all I have to say about this one. I was grinning like an idiot through most of it (oh how I hate reading in public. I get funny stares) and then cringing through some of it. It’s worth the read and the time and y’all get a copy!

The music choice in this book was rather wonderful. But the core of this book was abuse and how it's NOT THE VICTIM'S FAULT! Any thoughts y'all?

"That's the paradox of love, darlin'. It can shatter you as effortlessly as it can send you over the moon."