Hey Guys! Today I have an excerpt from a new debut book, Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel. There may be a giveaway link coming soon (to be determined by the publisher). I hope you guys enjoy! Excerpt:I’m seriously questioning the wisdom of coming here. Who is this boy? Who are these people? I may not want these answers. Whatever illusion I had been weaving about this being a normal family can’t be true. This is a family, yes, but one putting on an elaborate show to appear to be something they are not. “Everyday life can’t be so bad,” I say lightly, eager to change the subject before I start luring myself down a hole. “You have a beautiful home, a nice family. You’re popular at school. Kiera Shaw certainly likes you.” He turns his gaze to me, slowly. “Kiera Shaw? You think I like her?” “I don’t know what you like.” I don’t blink. I don’t look away. “I know only what I’ve seen.” Reece leans close, gently entering my personal space. Close enough to put me on edge, but not close enough to intimidate. His voice is silk on gravel. His narrowed eyes glitter down at me. “And what, exactly, have you seen, Angie?” Shivers race up my skin. I want to defuse this so badly, but I feel like this is a challenge I can’t lose. “I’ve seen and heard things that don’t make sense. Things I can’t understand.” I shift my gaze to my crow sitting on a branch above my head. It watches me with an intensity that would scare me if I wasn’t accustomed to it. “Tell me about the crows.” He shakes his head. “Sorry. Either you know about them, or you don’t.” My jaw tightens, even as I step toward him. I can feel his body heat. His clean, guy scent fills my senses with a unique magnetism that draws me close. Closer still. “I will find out.” His gaze sweeps my face, lingering on my lips. “I hope not.” His breath warms my temple, sending a shiver under my skin. “There are worse things out there than a few watchful birds.” “Like what?” I’m breathless, damn him. My words are barely audible. His lashes fan low over his eyes. The narrow space between us crackles with tension. “Oh Angie, you don’t want to know.” Author Bio:Meg Kassel is an author of fantasy and speculative books for young adults. A graduate of Parson's School of Design, she’s always been creating stories, whether with visuals or words. She worked as a graphic designer before realizing the thing she did for pleasure (writing) was something she should do for real. Meg is a New Jersey native who now lives in a log house in the Maine woods with her husband and daughter. A fan of ’80s cartoons, Netflix series, and ancient mythology, Meg has always been fascinated and inspired by the fantastic, the creepy, and the futuristic. When she’s not writing, Meg is reading, hanging out with her family, hoarding peanut butter cups, or playing video games. She is a two-time finalist and the 2016 winner of the RWA Golden Heart© contest in YA. GIVEAWAY link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1cb554951154/ That's it for the post today. I hope you guys liked the excerpt, I know I am looking forward to reading more of the book in the future. If you guys liked this, I am going to have more stuff from this author in the future. So with that, leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram.
~Brooke
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Hey Everyone! First, I just wanted to give a heads up about this blog for the future. I love each and everyone of you guys who reads it, and I would love to post content daily for you guys, but with my school and work schedule for the next semester, it just isn't do-able. However, with that said, I will be posting on here sporadically, so follow me on Twitter to know when that is! Also, I an a co-blogger on Reading in the Rain, and I will be posting there once a week (maybe more if I have time) so go on over and check it out! Anyways, without much further ado, here's a 'fun facts' post from Kat Colmer, the author of the new release, The Third Kiss!! The Third Kiss summary: Love curses don’t exist. At least that’s what Jonas, master of the meaningless hookup, tells himself when a letter warns him he’s an Eros Guardian cursed to endure a test of true love or forever be alone. His levelheaded longtime friend Cora figures it’s a revenge prank by an ex. The way Jonas stamps each girlfriend with a weeklong use-by date, it serves him right. But when an impulsive kiss between the two friends reveals potential for more, Cora becomes the target of the Groth Maar: demons sent to wipe out the Eros Guardian line. And suddenly the curse becomes dangerously real. Breaking the curse means Jonas’s biggest challenge yet. Failure guarantees Cora’s death. But success may cost him his own life…and the loss of his carefully guarded heart to the one girl far too sensible to fall for him. Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Entangled Publishing Thanks for having me on the Cozy Little Book Nook to share a few Fun Facts about myself and my young adult paranormal romance The Third Kiss. Grab a cuppa and a biscuit, and maybe one of those comfy looking pillow’s off Brooke’s couch, and I’ll get started. 1. The idea for The Third Kiss came to me after reading the Old Testament story of Amon and Tamar, in which King David’s beautiful daughter Tamar is shamed and cast out of her father’s palace, all because her half brother Amnon felt she was his for the taking. The disgraced Tamar goes mad thanks to the ordeal. This got me to thinking… What if she didn’t go mad? What if she got mad instead? And so the Love’s Mortal Coil curse was born. 2. The kiss in the gazebo in chapter sixteen is an award winner! The scene won the Romance Writer’s of Australia First Kiss competition back in 2014. That’s right, that there is one award winning smooch, and I had huge fun writing the verbal and emotional push and pull between Jonas and Cora in the lead up to this momentous moment. 3. One of the scenes in The Third Kiss takes place on the Sydney University campus, where an iconic Jacaranda tree has stood for close to a century in the university’s quadrangle. Shortly after I started edits on The Third Kiss, the Jacaranda died and collapsed! I was about to edit the tree out, when the university announced they’d be planting a graft of the old tree in its place, so I got to keep the Jacaranda in the scene. Phew! 4. In the first draft of The Third Kiss, Jonas’s sister Beth had a boyfriend. My editor felt he had to be done away with. I didn’t like the character that much anyway—he had questionable taste in music. 5. A friend of mine makes replica weaponry, so I had a Sword of Absolom made—the only weapon the Groth Maar demons can use to kill Cora. Here’s a picture. Looks real, doesn’t it? You’d never know it was made of foam and rubber! 6. My writing space consists of a small table and chair, as well as a chaise, which comes in handy when I want to lounge around and type on my laptop. Or when I want to kick back and read. Mind you, I usually have to fight one of my kids to get to it. Kat Colmer is a Sydney-based Young and New Adult author who writes coming-of-age stories with humor and heart. The recipient of several writing awards, she has won the Romance Writers of Australia First Kiss contest, as well as the Romance Writers of America On the Far Side contest for her debut Young Adult Paranormal Romance. Kat has a Master of Education in Teacher Librarianship and loves working with teens and young adults. When not writing, teaching, or reading the latest in YA fiction, Kat spends time with her husband and two children. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Entangled Publishing Alright guys, that is it for this post. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and learned something new about a new book! Be sure to check out the links to the book, as well as connect with the author on social media and all that! Also, since this is my first time having a fun facts post, and I love hearing from you all, tell me if you guys liked this post, and what type of other posts you want to see in the future!
And with that, this is it for today, and I hope to post more soon! (And go check out Reading in the Rain, it is such a lovely site, and I am so happy to be a part of the team!) You can also find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. ~Brooke If you guys have been around my blog long enough, you'll know that I love any book that Entangled Teen publishes, and there are several series that the publisher has out, and many of those have new books coming out around this time. Since I am slowly getting back into the groove of blogging, look forward to many of those reviews to come your way very soon! I know that I have at least 2 more reviews planned for the next week or so. Anyways, here is a excerpt post and info for Erin Fletcher's newest release: Tied Up In You! Since I don't have the review up for you guys today, I am including a couple of teaser graphics! (I had the post and review written, and since I wrote it directly into the text editor of the site builder, and not on a google docs, the post somehow got deleted, and I lost the review. I am working to rewrite it, and it will be up tomorrow, I promise!) Tied Up in You by Erin Fletcher Release Date: 7/10/17 About the book: Everyone says hotshot goalie Luke Jackson is God’s gift to girls, but the only girl he wants is his best friend, Malina Hall. He’s always known how brilliant she is, but now that he’s “accidentally” kissed her, he can’t stop thinking about her…or wanting to kiss her again. Problem is, things have been a little…awkward since the kiss. Because she likes him, too? Hopefully, but even if she did, their futures—and the ridiculous schedules that come with them—are in the way. And now one of his teammates is showing interest, and the guy has more in common with Malina than Jackson ever will. As her best friend, Jackson should get out of the way. But if there’s one thing he’s learned from hockey, it’s that you have to go for what you want, even if it means falling flat on your face. And he’s definitely falling for Malina. Disclaimer: This book contains a hot hockey player who goes after what he wants, a super-hot, super-distracting shirtless workout, and the kind of best friends to lovers romance every girl in the friend zone has dreamed of. Buy Links: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072V26ZGV B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tied-up-in-you-erin-fletcher/1126605022?ean=9781640631489 iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/tied-up-in-you/id1250033681 Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tied-up-in-you Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35486927-tied-up-in-you Entangled: https://entangledpublishing.com/tied-up-in-you.html About the author: Erin is a young adult author from North Carolina. She is a morning person who does most of her writing before sunrise, while drinking excessive quantities of coffee. She believes flip-flops qualify as year-round footwear, and would spend every day at the beach if she could. She has a bachelor's degree in mathematics, which is almost never useful when writing books. Connect: Website: https://booklaunch.io/erinfletcher11 Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErinFletcher11 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7544504.Erin_Fletcher Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Erin-Fletcher/e/B00HV4IQPE Newsletter: http://booklaunch.us16.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=93bdb8df983a8ffd72b9b049f&id=4de897a04a Excerpt:“What muscles are these?” Malina asked. “Shoulderceps?” I laughed. “For someone so smart, you’re really not up on human anatomy, are you?” She glanced up from my shoulders long enough to smile. “I’ve been much more into physical sciences than biological ones. But right now…” I grinned at her. “I’m glad I’m having an influence on you.” I motioned for her to turn and face me. She swung one leg over the bench, as well. I slid a few inches closer to her. I put my hands on her shoulders, where she’d just been touching mine. “Trapezius,” I said. I let my hands drop a little lower, but not too low. “Pectorals,” I said. “Trapezius and pectorals,” she echoed. “I think those might be some of my favorites.” “Yeah? You want to end the anatomy lesson there?” She gave a firm shake of her head. “Keep going.” I slid my hands down to the sides of her rib cage. “Intercostal muscles. Those aren’t very big or strong. But these…” I let my hands drop down to her sides. Then I slid my hands up her shirt to rest in the same place. I brushed my thumbs against her abs. Her skin was warm, and she shivered against my hands. I liked making Malina shiver. A lot. “These are your obliques. Big. Strong.” “Not as strong as yours,” she said. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “You don’t have to be as strong as me,” I said. “You’re perfect the way you are.” Then I slid closer to her on the bench, closing the distance between us, and kissed her. She melted into me and kissed me back, taking some control and making my heart race faster than the treadmill had. When my sweatshirt got in the way, she pulled back long enough to let me tug it over her head. I wanted to take the other shirt with it, but I settled for letting my hands explore through the thin fabric of her shirt, taking in what my eyes couldn’t. GIVEAWAY!(Disclaimer: this giveaway is sponsored by the publisher, and not by The Cozy Little Book Nook) Giveaway: $5 Amazon GC & Hawaiian Swag Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1cb554951141/ That's it for today's post guys! I hope you guys enjoy the excerpt and the teasers. Again, I apologize for not having the review up today, but that will be up tomorrow! Hopefully you guys will love the book as much as I did!
So will you go and pick it up? Leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. I will be back tomorrow with the review! Keep an eye out for that! ~Brooke Hey everyone! I know I've been gone from blogging for a while, I had some personal business to take care off, but good news is, I'm back! I won't be posting as much as I was before, but hopefully I'll get something up at least once a week. So for this week, I have a spotlight post for a new book from Kari Lynn West! Enjoy! Book title: The Secrets of Islayne Series: No Is the book a standalone? Yes Author: Kari Lynn West Genre: YA Fantasy Published: June 30, 2017 Synopsis: A boy who can restore forgotten moments from the past unearths a secret that threatens his entire future. For centuries, the island of Islayne has given certain residents the ability to revive other people’s memories. These gifted individuals are known as luminators, and sixteen-year-old Ronan Saunders desperately desires to join their illustrious ranks. As he struggles against the prejudice of the old, powerful families who have an iron grip on the trade, Ronan falls under the tutelage of a reclusive luminator, rumored to be insane. Just when his long-desired future is within reach, Ronan and his three friends discover a deadly secret on the island. As they delve deeper into the mystery, what they find forces them to question their loyalties, doubt long-held beliefs, and wrestle with the dire consequences of revealing the truth. Ronan finds himself torn between everything he loves and the only future he’s ever wanted. The entire fate of the lumination trade hangs in the balance of his decision. Buy links: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2tIfNKi Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/2tOhLs Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-secrets-of-islayne iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-secrets-of-islayne/id1238277289?mt=11 Excerpt: Prologue: Memories are sacred. Memories are sacred. Memories are sacred. The words kept flitting around his mind like insistent flies—inconsequential, but no less annoying—as he steered the small motorboat toward the mouth of the cave. That mantra was the foundational tenet of lumination; it had no place on his nighttime journey. Luminators lived to bring memories back from the brink of extinction. Never to push them over the edge. It was unthinkable; it was impossible. More fool them. The boat coasted up to the shore. It was dark, but he’d come prepared. He retrieved the book, flashlight, and battery-powered standing lamps and carried them deep into the cave. He wound his way through seemingly endless passageways, hearing only the fall of his footsteps and the far-away drip of water on stone. Finally, he turned the last sharp corner of the twisting tunnel and stepped into a large cavern. The flashlight cast a narrow beam of light, pale and weak, into the dark expanse, as if at any moment it could be swallowed up by shadow. During the day, the chamber was beautiful. There was no daylight now. He walked to a long, high bench in the middle of the stone floor and placed one lamp on either side. He took a moment to gaze down at the book in his hands and trace the strange markings on the leather cover. Even though Classical Gaelic wasn’t something they taught at the Academy, he’d slowly deciphered the text. For years, he struggled against the power of those translated words; it didn’t matter in the end though. In an instant, desperation and grief brought a vicious clarity to his life, and the knowledge burrowed deep within him blossomed into something vital and beautiful. Why should he serve the cause of memories when they’d only ever brought him despair? Better to break them to his will. He glanced down at his watch. For a moment, Elise’s smiling face rose up in his memory. He recalled her barely contained excitement as she placed the watch in his hands, eager to see his reaction to the birthday present. He pushed the thought firmly away. This wasn’t the time. They would be here any moment. He waited, relishing the perfect stillness all around him. It wouldn’t last much longer. Soon enough, screams would drive out the silence. Author bio: Kari Lynn West writes contemporary YA fantasy—normally while drinking far too much coffee. She likes to create character-driven stories that are set in the real world with a twist, weaving fantastical elements into everyday life. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two daughters. Author links: Website: www.karilynnwest.com Twitter: @karilynnwest Facebook: www.facebook.com/karilynnwestwrites/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16870760.Kari_Lynn_West That's it for the post today you guys! Leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. Hopefully I'll be posting again soon!
~Brooke Weird and Wonderful by Cece Barlow Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction Release Date: February 13th 2017 Summary from Goodreads: Gin Autry must finish the last semester of high school in eclectic Austin with her hippie grandmother while Gin’s brother waits for heart surgery in Houston. Instability reigns, but Gin uses the principles of feng shui to find balance and send positive energy to her brother. She also secretly hopes her voice-over actress dream will advance and true love will show up. Instead, she falls for the wrong guy and clings to the wrong dream. Nothing in Gin’s life is balanced, but when death threatens her brother, she discovers true balance is about listening, compromise, and the guy in the friend zone. Add to Goodreads Buy Link: Amazon About the Author Cece Barlow writes books for young adults and the young at heart. She's a a dash of fun, mixed in with some smart cookie and a splash of capable. She started her first fan fiction group in junior high and never stopped writing. Today, she writes about girls with lofty dreams and about the absolute craziness of falling in love. When Cece's not writing, she curls up with a book, heads to a popcorn blockbuster, or kicks back to watch shooting stars. If she sees the moon in the daytime, she thinks she's lucky. Cece lives in College Station, Texas with her college sweetheart Tim and two cats - one evil and one good. Author Links: Website│Goodreads│Twitte Guest Post:Idea for the post: Inspiration for the book, the characters, the location, etc... The seed of this story was a girl who falls in love with her best friend. I wanted an ensemble cast of characters to grow that Texas feeling of extended family and friends. I also wanted a family to be in turmoil, and it broke my heart when I learned my girl's brother had a life-threatening heart condition. My girl needed a dream. I don't know if I can write a character that doesn't have some fan love. My girl loved anime and wanted more than just fan status. She let me know she was dreaming of being a voice-over actress. Fun Fact! My characters write me letters about what they want. People need pets. A friend of mine has sugar gliders and, ta-da, so did my character. Why Austin, Texas? A phrase that is popular in these parts is "Keep Austin Weird." Where else could I set this book? And who do you find in Austin? University of Texas student-college guys. Romance is in the air! That's it for the post! I hope you guys liked it. Leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. I will be back soon with another post!
~Brooke Hi Everyone! Today's post is a review, as part of the blog tour for Internet Famous by Danika Stone, as organized by the Sunday Street Team. I just wanted to thank Nori, Helena, and Aditi for organizing this tour, and being there to answer all my questions. you guys rock! Anyways, let's get onto the review! Internet Famous by Danika Stone Genre: YA Contemporary Publication Date: June 6, 2017 Format: I received a copy of the book in advance to review, for this Sunday Street Team post. All opinions in this post are my own, and in no way was I compensated for this review. You can preorder a copy of the book here: Preorder Links: Amazon- US: http://amzn.to/2o2dg88 Amazon - UK: http://amzn.to/2po6ZUm Barnes & Nobles: http://bit.ly/2oZLWv5 Book Depository: http://bit.ly/2oT3xFb Summary: High school senior and internet sensation Madison Nakama seems to have it all: a happy family, good grades, and a massive online following for her pop-culture blog. But when her mother suddenly abandons the family, Madi finds herself struggling to keep up with all of her commitments. Fandom to the rescue! As her online fans band together to help, an online/offline flirtation sparks with Laurent, a French exchange student. Their internet romance—played out in the comments section of her MadLibs blog—attracts the attention of an internet troll who threatens the separation of Madi’s real and online personas. With her carefully constructed life unraveling, Madi must uncover the hacker’s identity before he can do any more damage, or risk losing the people she loves the most… Laurent included. My Thoughts: It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged, and even longer since I’ve done a review, so things are feeling a bit rusty, but hopefully, as soon as i start typing, everything will come back to me, and this review turns out awesome. So to start off, I’ve been wanting to read a story by Danika Stone ever since I started blogging, and started following her Twitter, because I just loved her online personality, and the synopsis of her (then newly released) book, All the Feels was just so good. It’s been about a year and a half since I started blogging, and I am just now getting around to reading some of her work, Internet Famous (which is what this review is about, duh) and I was not disappointed, and hopefully, you guys will like it to! This book covered several topics that are pretty big in today’s day and age (I feel so old just saying that). It covered mental issues, family/marriage problems, and online safety, which I have a personal connection to all of them. I won’t go into much detail about them, except the internet part which I will stress a bit at the end. The characters, were all very developed. I like how we were able to understand so much from just Madi’s interactions, and not much else was needed to explain. None of the characters were flat, or felt forced. It was more like I felt that I could really be right there next to them, and maybe even be their friend. I totally understood Madi, and the way she was viewing the events happening in her life, but Laurent on the other hand seemed to be a bit sketchy, with how fast their relationship is moving. I feel like Danika was able to truly capture the voice of the teen, going through all these problems, which I can tell you, many authors are not able to do. The struggle, the love, the hate, the internal issues; all of the feelings are there, and as the reader, it’s really hard not to feel with the character. I’m the type of person who is able to compartmentalize my own feelings and feelings while reading a book, and I was not able to separate the two this time around. Another thing that I really liked was the conversation that was held in the book, really embraced the 21st century (as one of my friends likes to point out very often) because as teens in this modern world of technology, so much of our lives revolve, and even depend on the internet. Of course, this isn’t the most healthy way to interact, but there’s no denying it, and Danika did a fabulous job in incorporating that into this book. Much of the book was written in text message, blog post, comments, emails and meme format. It was a bit hard to read at times because of the formatting on my copy on my phone, but it was also an ARC, and I know that the final copy is much better. The only thing I had a problem with is how easy the end problem was solved. It seemed a tad bit unrealistic, but what YA book is completely realistic? That would just make for quite a few depressing books. In order to avoid any spoilers, as this is also part of a tour in promo for the book, I will quickly recap everything that’s just a bit unrealistic. So Madi, suddenly was able to solve the social problem that her sister had been having for years now, she finds the person who’s been trolling her, and she also gets the guy. It sounds more like the plot of a rom-com, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. With the internet part, as a blogger myself (obviously), one of the really, really long term goals is to reach that level of recognition. I’m not talking about popularity among everyone, but among the book community, as some of my friends online are. But with that, comes the haters, and one of the most important thing is to leave them alone, or else you're only putting more fuel for the fire. I love the people that I personally interact with online, and love the positivity that the bookish community is always spreading. (sorry for that personal part peeps). Overall, I give the book a 8/10 (4/5 stars). I love how the book covered a bit of everything. There was school, family, blogging and especially, first love. Everything a normal teen has, wrapped up into an amazing book. It was fluent to read and relatively quick as I was able to finish it on the bus in 3 hours (yes, I know, my bus ride is insanely long). I really recommend you guys go check it out, it reminded me a bit of Geekerella, and also BLOGGERS, this is definitely a book you will want to read, and will probably relate to as well. Here’s a bit about the author: Danika Stone is an author, artist, and educator who discovered a passion for writing fiction while in the throes of her Masters thesis. A self-declared bibliophile, Danika now writes novels for both teens (All the Feels and Internet Famous) adults (Edge of Wild and Intaglio). When not writing, Danika can be found hiking in the Rockies, planning grand adventures, and spending far too much time online. She lives with her husband, three sons, and a houseful of imaginary characters in a windy corner of Alberta, Canada. Ms. Stone is represented by Morty Mint of Mint Literary Agency. Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Danika-Stone/426003857425751?fref=nf Twitter: https://twitter.com/Danika_Stone Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danika_k_stone/ linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danika-stone-99783769/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmYNXyohrKMkIgsWLLbMjEA Tumblr: http://danikastone.tumblr.com/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authordstone/ So that’s it for today’s post, for the Sunday Street Team tour for Internet Famous by Danika Stone. I hope you guys enjoyed the book, and the preorder link is at the top of this post. What did you think about the review? Will you go and pick it up? Leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram.
I will be back soon with plenty of new posts, and other fun stuff in the summer (only a couple more days left!). I will see y’all then! ~Brooke Hey everyone! It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted, and while I have at least 5-6 posts that i have started, none of them are completed yet (I have a commitment issue with separating from my posts, and I just keep getting new ideas and starting them before finishing the old ones), but no fear, they will all be up at some point in the next 3 -4 weeks, especially as this school year winds down and I have more free time. Actually that's a lie, my summer is already jam packed with activities, but with school out of the way, i have more time to write which is very exciting. Ok, enough of my rambling. The real reason you are probably here today is because I'm part of the Entangled Bliss new releases Blitz today (try saying that 10 times fast). So without further ado, here are all the amazing books coming out soon! Are you ready to find your next perfect romantic read? Bliss has two new releases from NYT Bestselling authors, Rachel Harris and Victoria James today. Be sure to pick up your copies today and find out why people are swooning over these reads! The Nanny Arrangement By Rachel Harris Release date: May 22, 2017 About the book: Soft-spoken and shy Hannah Fisher is determined to make the man she’s loved her entire life finally see her as a woman. With the help of a makeover, a new mission—Operation Find My Happy—and the convenient forced proximity of a tour bus, she vows to win her best friend Deacon’s heart. Former bad boy and current fiddle player Deacon Latrell has the world at his fingertips: a new gig with a famous band, plus his best friend on tour as his son’s nanny. Life couldn’t get much sweeter. Now if only he could stop imagining kissing the daylights out of his childhood BFF… With one friend set on pushing the boundaries and the other afraid to rock the boat, one thing’s for certain—their story would make one heck of a country song. Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Goodreads About the Author New York Times bestselling author Rachel Harris writes humorous love stories about sassy girls-next-door and the hot guys that make them swoon. Vibrant settings, witty banter, and strong relationships are a staple in each of her books…and kissing. Lots of kissing. An admitted bookaholic and homeschool mom, she gets through each day by laughing at herself, hugging her kids, and watching way too much Food Network with her husband. She writes young adult, new adult, and adult romances, and LOVES talking with readers! Website | Twitter | Facebook | Newsletter The Doctor's Redemption by Victoria James Release date: May 22, 2017 About the book: Gwen Bailey has been busy taking care of everyone but herself. After a tragedy tore her family apart, she put her dreams aside to be with family. Now that her life is getting back on track, and her new Chocolaterie is open, she can concentrate on snagging the handsome, mysterious customer who has her dreaming about her own happily-ever-after... Doctor Luke Thomson has spent the last five years filled with guilt. He hopes to make amends in Shadow Creek, however he doesn't count on falling for the adorable and gorgeous Gwen Bailey. He vows to not get involved with her, but she's too sweet to resist. It's only a matter of time, though, before the truth comes out. Luke knows there's no way Gwen will look at him the same way once she discovers his secret... Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Goodreads Series Info: Book 1 - Christmas with the Sheriff Goodreads | Buy Online Book 2 – The Baby Bombshell Goodreads | Buy Online About Victoria James Victoria James is a romance writer living near Toronto. She is a mother to two young children, one very disorderly feline, and wife to her very own hero. Victoria attended Queen’s University and graduated with a degree in English Literature. She then earned a degree in Interior Design. After the birth of her first child she began pursuing her life-long passion of writing. Her dream of being a published romance author was realized by Entangled in 2012. Victoria is living her dream— staying home with her children and conjuring up happy endings for her characters. Victoria would love to hear from her readers! You can visit her at www.victoriajames.ca or Twitter @vicjames101 or send her an email at [email protected]. Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Author Goodreads | Newsletter That's it for today! I know it was a long post, but these books are all so interesting, and I'm looking forward to reading them, although they are a bit above my age group (but age is just a number right?)
Anyways, let me know all your thoughts about the books in the comments below, or on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. I will be getting more into the groove of blogging soon, so keep your eyes out for more posts soon! ~Brooke Hey Everyone! I'm so excited to be a part of the Sunday Street Team for Girl Out Of Water by Ms. Laura Silverman. I came across the book after following Laura on Twitter, and of course, I could not pass up a chance to read the book and promote it. The number one things that caught my eye was the cover, and just the way that the blue lured my in so my post for today is some graphics that i have created on some of my favorite quotes of the book as some of you guys who are frequent readers of my blog know, I really love graphic design, and wanted to do something a bit different for this post. I also wanted to let you guys know that I will have a review for the book up sometime in the future, probably once school gets out but in the meantime, I will include all the buy links, author info, etc... :) Also!! There's a giveaway at the end of this post as well from Laura as part of SST so be sure to enter that as well! *Disclaimer: All of the photos used in my designs are royalty free images found online. I am not claiming that I took them, nor did I steal them. All of the designs however, are mine* Synopsis (GR): Fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen will fall in love this contemporary debut about finding yourself-and finding love-in unexpected places. Ocean breeze in her hair and sand between her toes, Anise can't wait to spend the summer before her senior year surfing and hanging out on the beach with friends. Santa Cruz is more than her home-it's her heart. But when her aunt, a single mother, is in a serious car accident, Anise must say goodbye to California to help care for her three young cousins. Landlocked Nebraska is the last place Anise wants to be. Sure, she loves her family, but it's hard to put her past behind her when she's living in the childhood house of the mother who abandoned her. And with every Instagram post, her friends back home feel further away. Then she meets Lincoln, a charismatic, one-armed skater who challenges her to swap her surfboard for a skateboard. Because sometimes the only way to find your footing is to let go. Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29640839-girl-out-of-water Preorder Links: Amazon- US: http://amzn.to/2nMpDV1 Amazon - UK: http://amzn.to/2ohyxh6 Barnes & Nobles: http://bit.ly/2ohJC1x Book Depository: http://bit.ly/2oaYo9S Social Media: Blog: http://www.laurasilvermanwrites.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/LJSilverman1 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15148197.Laura_Silverman Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ljsilverman1/ About the Author: Laura received her MFA in writing for children from the New School. She loves books and dogs—okay, and quite a few people too. She currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. You can say hello on Twitter at @LJSilverman1. And don't forget about the giveaway!! You can access it through this link here: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/aedf8e5835/ What do you guys think about the post? I had so much fun creating all the graphics, so let me know if you want to see more of them on my blog in the future. Also tell me, have you read this book yet and what you think about it! Until next time, leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. I will be back soon with another post!
~Brooke Hey everyone! Today's post is another guest post, and this time it's from the author of the newly released book True North: L.E. Sterling. Keep reading, and I hope you guys like it! World Craft There’s a point in True North where my main characters, Lucy Fox and Jared Price, end up somewhere new. As I started writing my couple into this different space (literally outside the world of Dominion) I started thinking, how did the characters get there? Besides the obvious (duh - you wrote them there), my mind wandered to the question of how I could write about places I’ve never been. Let me get the easy truth out of the way first: it’s a heck of a lot easier to write about places you’ve never been if they are set in a dystopian sci-fi/fantasy future. Dominion City, where the True Born novels are (mostly) set, is not a place I’ve been because, despite the fact that it’s based on a real North American city, it really is a city of the future—a place of the imagination. Eventually, Lucy and Jared end up in a small city in Russia (also a real place). But I’ve never been to Russia, either, let alone a future-tense Russia. Still, at a certain point I had to ask myself, does that matter? The answer is: yes. And no. I guess there’s a specific kind of freedom that’s possible when you write sci-fi and fantasy. The real world can be your canvas, but it’s a warped canvas, more like a Picasso painting, all jumbled and strange, than the realism of a photograph. The ‘real world’ details that you’d typically rely upon as a writer don’t matter as much. But what are these ‘real world’ details? These are things we all know about in the here and now, like: that the sky over Montana is big or that 5th Avenue in Manhattan is a pretty awesome place to go if you have a gold card, or that the metro (subway) in Montreal, Quebec look like toy trains. That magnolias smell sweet and cut grass has a distinctive scent that often smells like childhood. We live in a world where there are four seasons (in some states) and the Kardashian sisters and Syrian refugees. Dominion, on the other hand, is an amalgam of city spaces that I know very well, but projected into another reality. The smells and flavors that would ordinarily be present in a city, giving it its distinct flavor (and also making it readily identifiable by readers) are skewed in Dominion. Here, the sky is leaden and white-gray. The stores are closed and the streets are populated by a growing number of corpses, with rovers to collect them. There are dog-sized rats and graffiti everywhere, though not the kind of tagging you’d see outside your school today. To write convincingly about a place is to make it real to your readers. So the question is, how do you write convincingly about a place if you don’t know the space you’re writing about? You make sure you think about all of those little details. “World craft” is what Sci-fi Fantasy novels do best. SF/F writers quite literally create the map—and then fill it in. My favorite books are those that provide you a map of their fantasy world complete with rivers, mountains and lakes. Writers can write these make-believe places so well because they make these worlds. And the more the writer thinks through the nuances of their world(s) (are there birds here? Do people shake hands or do they bump elbows?) the more convinced the reader becomes. It was when I’d stuck Lucy and Jared on an ancient cruise ship that I realized I’d come to some dramatic conclusions about the world of the True Born Trilogy, and specifically about this place outside of Dominion. The sky, leaden over Dominion, sometimes peeks blue over the ocean. The ship is powered by coal and Lasters who will likely die before the end of the journey, while hundreds of Upper Circlers, as well as some members of the Gilt, sup from fine china. As I wrote, I saw Dominion get bigger, and more complex, and more and more detailed. Every sentence revealed to me some new nuance of the world, each detail changing something about the way the characters acted and reacted to their environment. For me, that pure creativity is one of the best things about being a writer. I am a maker of worlds. I hope you guys liked it and I will be back soon with another post!
Remember to leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. ~Brooke Hey everyone! I'm back again today and you guessed it! It's another guest post! This one is from the author of the newly released book Other Breakable Things, Kelley York and is about her writing process and advice she gives to new and aspiring writers (which is super cool especially since it's the final stretch of Camp Nanowrimo and I'm still trying to meet my goal)! You can also find my review of the book here: Other Breakable Things. One of the most common questions I’ve seen authors asked—especially by newer writers or aspiring authors—has to do with our writing processes. Do we plot everything out ahead of time? Do we write as it comes to us? Do we write in chronological order or skip around? What about revisions and edits? What’s the right way to write?! It’s like asking an artist what the correct way to draw is. You’re going to get thousands of answers because it depends. So while I can’t tell you what the “right” process in, I can tell you a little about my process. Every single one of my books begins with a character. For HUSHED, it was Archer. Vincent for SUICIDE WATCH. Chance for MADE OF STARS. I start fleshing that character out and ask questions about them: Who are they? What do they like/dislike? What hobbies do they have? What’s their background? Who are the people that impact their lives? (Then those characters I can take and do the same.) Almost always, at some point in this stage, I start getting ideas for a plot involving these people. I’m extremely character-driven while other writers might focus more on plot first. Again, both ways are awesome. There is no wrong way. First drafts are ugly things. Always. There are days where I have little motivation and my writing is horrid, but I do my best to get the words down because they can be fixed later. While 90% of the time I write chronologically, if I find myself completely stuck on a scene, I’ll make some notes and skip ahead to come back and fill it in later. It’s the only amount of jumping around I can do. At this stage, I try my hardest to limit my editing, because if I get bogged down in editing-as-I-go, I’ll never get the damn thing finished. At this point, I do a round of edits catching any huge problems and I try to clean it up so I have a decent second draft. This is the point where I’m (usually) confident enough to send it off to my. Her response includes an editorial letter. This round of revisions, for me, is the hardest because it tackles all the big problems of the book: characterization, pacing, plot holes. Every other round of edits that follows are a piece of cake in comparison. (“How many rounds of edits are too many?” Depends on your book. I know people who’ve worked on the same story, revising and revising again, for years. But when you have a publisher and an editor, you don’t get that kind of time. If you’re a first-timer, my advice is to revise and edit until your manuscript shines. The less work an agent or editor thinks they’ll have to put into it, the better.) Finding your groove and what process works for you is a process in of itself, and your process might even vary from book to book. So, what’s the right way to write? Answer: all of the above. That's it for this post! Let me know what you liked or what you learned (I know that I always love reading about how other authors write, especially ones who's works I've read and loved) and also tell me what you want to see next! I think the next post I will have up in a review for a book I read a while ago so keep an eye out for that. And to make sure you don't miss any of my updates, go and follow me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram.
~Brooke |
About me!Brooke's a high schooler who loves to read all sorts of books. She's happy to be able to share all the books she's reading with all of y'all. Archives
June 2020
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