If I Die Tour: Interview with Nash and a Giveaway

I am so excited to be one of the host's for the IF I DIE by Rachel Vincent Kismet Book Tour. I have for you an interview with Nash and a giveaway for 2 copies of IF I DIE.

1.    What was it like being addicted to Demon’s breath?

It was like sitting in a hot room, staring at a glass of ice water, watching condensation drip down the outside. It was like fighting every single second of every day not to pick up that glass of water and take just a little sip. You know the water’s laced with poison, and eventually it’ll kill you. You know everyone will hate you if you give in. But you can’t see anything else, and you can’t think about anything else, and inside, you feel like you’re dying of thirst, and the longer you sit there, staring at this water, the more stupid you feel for letting yourself die of thirst when there’s a glass of water right there.

So you take a drink, and not only does everyone else hate you, but you hate yourself too.

2.    What do you see when you look at Kaylee?

Strength. Beauty. Purity of soul. She’s everything I want to be, but can’t. The best I can do is hold her close and never let her go.

3.    How do you feel about the rivalry between Kaylee and Sabine that revolves around you?

I feel guilty.

Sabine understands me in a way that Kaylee never has, and she needs me in a way that Kaylee never will. She doesn’t judge, and she’ll never leave. In a lot of ways, we’re two halves of the same coin. But she’s not Kaylee, and she never will be.

4.    Describe the relationship between you and Tod.

We’re brothers. At one point or another, we’ve also been friends, rivals, and coconspirators. He’s known me since before I was born, and he’s seen every mistake I’ve ever made. I love him, but he drives me insane. I think he’s jealous of me because I lived and he died. I feel guilty about his death sometimes—it’s my fault, how the whole thing went down—but he would have died some other way, if I hadn’t been there. You can’t cheat death, right?

Except that he did.

He can’t move on, so he’s haunting me. Trying to live the life he lost through me. He’s always telling me what to do, but it’s none of his business how I live my life! His is over, and sometimes I really wish he’d just stay the hell out of mine.

5.    Where do you see yourself 100 years from now?

I don’t know. And that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? I’m going to live several human lifetimes, and I’ll have to move every few years, to keep people from noticing that I don’t age. On the downside, I’ll never really put down roots. But on the other hand, anything’s possible. I can remake myself as often as I want. Endless do-overs. I hope Kaylee will be there. I hope Sabine will be there too. I’ll never lose touch with my mom, and I couldn’t get rid of Tod if I tried. So, I guess I see my future as full of new places and familiar faces. That doesn’t sound too bad, right?

6.    IF I DIE opens with a revelation that Kaylee is going to die. What were you thinking when you found out?

I was thinking that it wasn’t fair. I lose everyone I care about. My dad. Tod. Doug. Scott. One way or another, they’re all gone, or they may as well be. Losing Kaylee too is just too much.

7.    If you had six days to live, what would be on your bucket list?

Travel. I’d want to see the things I’ve never had a chance to see. Me and Kaylee, wandering around with no agenda, stopping whenever something looks interesting. But lately that’s starting to sound like a good plan not just for imminent death, but for life.

Now for more information on the giveaway:

1. Win two copies of IF I DIE books - one for you and one to share with a friend! Contest runs 24 hours only!  To enter, answer one of the following question (which you can find posted on the Soul Screamers Facebook page):

Team Nash or Team Tod?  Why??

Your chance to win a Nook Touch! US/Canada only. Runs until October 8th.  Gather multiple entries:

• Follow Rachel Vincent on twitter +3
• “Like” Rachel Vincent on Facebook +3
• “Like” The Soul Screamers on Facebook +3
• Sign up for Rachel’s email subscription to get all the latest news from Rachel’s blog  +3
• Promote the tour by adding the badge to your blog and link back to the tour page + 5

 Add up your entries and fill out the form to be entered to win.

Want even more chances to win?!?  Oh sure!

• Leave a comment on this blog +1 (up to 10 points if you comment at each tour stop)  

The Badge:

To enter, fill out the form HERE

Visit the other tour stops:

Monday, September 19th - The Story Siren
Wednesday, September 21st - Chasing Words
Friday, September 23rd - The Page Turners

Monday, September 26th - The Elliot Review
Tuesday, September 27th Book Birthday - Mundie Mom's
Wednesday, September 28th - Harlequin Blog
Friday, September 30th - IB Book Blogging

Monday, October 3rd - Electrifying Reviews
Wednesday, October 5th - A Cupcake and A Latte (YA Reads, Reviews and more)
Friday, October 7th- Teens Read and Write

Multi-character Interview: My Beating Teenage Heart by C.K Kelly Martin

Today the characters from My Beating Teenage Heart and Martin's other novels are stopping my for an interview with moi! Enjoy. =)


1. Describe your ideal mate. 

Breckon (My Beating Teenage Heart) – My girlfriend, Jules. She’s creative, independent, and sexy and you can talk to her about anything.
Ashlyn (My Beating Teenage Heart) – a guy who makes me laugh but is also a good listener. Loyal too. If he’s a good dancer that would be a bonus.
Finn (One Lonely Degree) –  Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace but since he’s taken, somebody who likes good music as much as I do, probably a couple of years older than me and someone who is definitely not a pack animal and doesn’t care what other people think of him. Intelligent, sensitive, funny and all the better if he looks good in a T-shirt.
Mason (The Lighter Side of Life and Death) – someone really down to earth that you can hang out with for hours, doing anything or nothing with without feeling like you’ll run out of things to say. A girl who will be your friend and not just your girlfriend. From experience, I’m going to say she should also probably be pretty close to my age because otherwise it can get pretty messy.
Nick (I Know It’s Over) – I can’t really seriously think about that yet but I used to picture, like, a French girl with a guitar on her back, who had a sexy name like Solange or Anaïs.


2. If you were going to be trapped on a deserted island for 1 year, what 3 things would you have to bring with you?

Breckon (My Beating Teenage Heart) – the world’s biggest bag of rice, lighter fluid and my guitar
Finn (One Lonely Degree) – some kind of survival guide, seeds to grow fruit and veggies and one of those flashlights that you power just by shaking
Mason (The Lighter Side of Life and Death) – a waterproof tent, a bunch of those tablets that purify water and a fishing net
Nick (I Know It’s Over) – a hammer and nails (does that count as two things or one?), a saw and if I can still bring one more thing, a propane container
Ashlyn (My Beating Teenage Heart) – Pretty much what Finn said except I might trade the flashlight for a sturdy tent.

3. What is your favorite book?

Ashlyn (My Beating Teenage Heart) – One Day by David Nichols. I love the idea of seeing where Emma and Dexter’s relationship was at on a single day from every year.
Nick (I Know It’s Over) – I don’t really read that much but Ken Dryden’s hockey book, The Game, was cool.
Breckon (My Beating Teenage Heart) – A graphic novel called Black Hole by Charles Burns. It’s really trippy – it’s set in an alternate reality Seattle in the late 1970s where a gross STD causing bizarre physical mutations has broken out in a group of teenagers.
Mason (The Lighter Side of Life and Death) – If I can pick a play instead I’d choose Twelve Angry Men. It’s amazing. I’d love to play one of the parts in it some day. Otherwise, I’d go with The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams.
Finn (One Lonely Degree) – The Patti Smith book Just Kids about her leaving her family, moving to New York and becoming friends with all these really cool people at the very beginning of her musical career.


4. If you were going to die in 30 days, what would be on your bucket list?

Finn (One Lonely Degree) – I wouldn’t leave Audrey alone until she forgave me. I’d set aside at least a week to see London and New York before I die too. Other things: See the northern lights, meet the members of OLP and Green Day, dye my hair electric blue. Kiss a good looking stranger in the middle of a city street just for the hell of it.
Nick (I Know It’s Over) – If I only had a month left to live I’d want to see Jillian again and see what happens. I’d also hang out with Keelor and Nathan as much as I could, take a road trip with them somewhere – just the three of us – and do something wild like skydive or bungee jump. Drink Absinthe. Deep sea dive.
Breckon (My Beating Teenage Heart) – If I only had 30 days I really wouldn’t want to do anything out of the ordinary. I’d just hang out here with my friends and family and try to spend as little of that time asleep as humanly possible.
Ashlyn (My Beating Teenage Heart) – Too late! This question obviously isn’t meant for me.
Mason (The Lighter Side of Life and Death) – I’d love to do a couple more performances of All My Sons with my friends and if money was no object, fly them all (and my parents too) to New York with me to see something on Broadway afterwards. I’d eat too much every day and have sex outside somewhere, like on a beach or in a forest. Visit however many other places I could in the remaining time – like Japan, Rio de Janeiro, Italy.

5. If you could travel to anywhere in the world, where would you choose to go?
Finn (One Lonely Degree) – London! And I’m sure I wouldn’t want to come back.
Mason (The Lighter Side of Life and Death) – South America including the parts no one usually gets to see. Definitely the rainforest.
Ashlyn (My Beating Teenage Heart) – Tahiti. It looks like paradise.
Nick (I Know It’s Over) – Australia probably. It sounds really cool – lots of weird animals and fantastic weather.
Breckon (My Beating Teenage Heart) – Egypt. I’d look at the pyramids for Skylar. 

My Beating Teenage Heart by C.K. Kelly Martin
September 27, 2011
Random House Books for Young Readers

Ashlyn Baptiste is falling. One moment she was nothing—no memories, no self—and then suddenly, she's plummeting through a sea of stars. Is she in a coma? She doesn't remember dying, and she has no memories of the life she left behind. All she knows is that she's trapped in a consciousness without a body and she's spending every moment watching a stranger.
Breckon Cody's on the edge. He's being ripped apart by grief so intense it literally hurts to breath. On the surface, Breckon is trying to hold it together for his family and his girlfriend, but underneath he's barely hanging on.
Even though she didn't know him in life, Ashlyn sees Breckon's pain, and she's determined to find a way help him. As her own distressing memories emerge from the darkness, she struggles to communicate with the boy who can't see her, but whose life is suddenly intertwined with hers. In alternating voices of the main characters, My Beating Teenage Heart paints a devastatingly vivid picture of both the heartbreak and the promise of teenage life—a life Ashlyn would do anything to recover and Breckon seems desperate to destroy—and will appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen, John Green, and David Levithan.

Review: As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott

As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott

September 15, 2011

Dutton Juvenile

Synopsis:
Ava is welcomed home from the hospital by a doting mother, lively friends, and a crush finally beginning to show interest. There's only one problem: Ava can't remember any of them - and can't shake the eerie feeling that she's not who they say she is.

Ava struggles to break through her amnesiac haze as she goes through the motions of high-school life, but the memories that surface take place in a very different world, where Ava and familiar-faced friends are under constant scrutiny and no one can be trusted. Ava doesn't know what to make of these visions, or of the boy who is at the center of them all, until he reappears in her life and offers answers . . . but only in exchange for her trust.

My Review:
AS I WAKE is a compelling and all-consuming novel that will have you under its spell in second. I had absolutely no idea what was happening and why things were, and I loved it. It kept me guessing and wanting to read, read, read until I could figure out what was going on. The only complaint I have about AS I WAKE is that I feel it was just a tad short for the concept.

Ava is a confused and helpless girl who has absolutely no idea who she is when she wakes up in a strand bedroom. She hates the fact that she doesn't have any clue about her supposed life that she wakes up in, and wants to know what is going on when she starts seeing memories from a seemingly different life. I truly felt for Ava and I don't know that I would be able to cope if I woke up and didn't know who I was. Ava's thoughts and feelings are broadcasted to us as she goes through the motions and discovers more about the memories she flashes back to.

I don't even know how to describe all of the crazy things that happen in AS I WAKE. Sure, it isn't really action packed, but so many new ideas are brought up that will have you very intrigued. I also love the fact that we were just as clueless as to Ava what was going on. I hate when protagonists keep us in the dark about parts of their lives, but Ava can't help it. She doesn't know anything. I enjoyed discovering bits and pieces of what was going on right alongside Ava.

AS I WAKE is most definitely a novel to look out for when it hits stores. It explores many fresh concepts that aren't brought up often in YA, and will give you a new perspective on life.

My Rating:

Character Interview: Danny from Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

 
Today I have Danny from Amy Garvey's Cold Kiss for an interview. Enjoy!

1. Why do you love Wren so much?
Because she’s awesome. She’s smart and her brain works like no one else’s. She thinks about stuff, you know? She doesn’t really care what people think, and she does her own thing. Plus, she’s, like, so cute. I could almost put her in my pocket. If she were here, she’d kick me for saying that, though. Hard.

2. What is your favorite memory of your time with Wren?
Um, I can’t really talk about that. Let’s just say we were alone and it was everything I wanted it to be. But I also loved the first time we went into New York together. We walked everywhere, just the two of us, and it was awesome. 



3. Why do you enjoy drawing?
I don’t even know. I just do it, you know? Give me a pencil and the next thing you know there’s a doodle or a picture of someone. It comes pretty naturally. 



4. Do you remember what it felt like to die?
I don’t really want to talk about that, but no, not much. 



5. Are you mad at Wren for bringing you back from the dead?
I don’t know. It’s sort of weird, because I know now how much she loved me. And when I was there with her again, it was nice at first, because it was just us, and that was all I wanted. But yeah, it got … strange. It never would have worked. Not forever. But everyone wants forever, right?

Thanks for stopping by!

Waiting on Wednesday (43)

The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers

February 14, 2012

Bloomsbury USA

Synopsis:
Jocelyn’s twin brother Jack was the only family she had growing up in a world of foster homes—and now he’s dead, and she has nothing. Then she gets a cryptic letter from “Jason December”—the code name her brother used to use when they were children at Seale House, a terrifying foster home that they believed had dark powers. Only one other person knows about Jason December: Noah, Jocelyn’s childhood crush and their only real friend among the troubled children at Seale House.
But when Jocelyn returns to Seale House and the city where she last saw Noah, she gets more than she bargained for. Turns out the house’s powers weren’t just a figment of a childish imagination. And someone is following Jocelyn. Is Jack still alive? And if he is, what kind of trouble is he in? The answer is revealed in a shocking twist that turns this story on its head and will send readers straight back to page 1 to read the book in a whole new light.

Why I'm Excited:
This one sounds really unique and thrilling. Also, I love the name Noah!! ;)

Review: Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

October 11, 2011

HarperTeen

Synopsis:
First I find out that my boyfriend is cheating on me. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And now he’s depending on me to clear his name. Seriously?
As much as I wouldn’t mind watching him squirm, I know that he’s innocent. So I’m brushing off my previously untapped detective skills and getting down to business. But I keep tripping over dead bodies and I’m still no closer to figuring out who did it. And what’s worse: all signs seem to point to me as the killer’s next victim.
I really need to pick a better boyfriend next time.

My Review:
DEADLY COOL is a hilarious contemporary debut that I consumed within hours of opening to the first page. Halliday knows how to craft a story that is light, funny, and so charming that you can't help but enjoy yourself. This is definitely one of those novels that you should read if you want a break from the heavy and emotional YAs. While not the most well-written novel with a few overused phrases here and there, I still enjoyed myself.

Hartley is a sympathetic and comical protagonist that will have readers cheering for her. She gets herself into the most ridiculous situations, but I came to anticipate them because it brought out the best (and most hilarious) in her! I loved her can-do attitude and her determination to clear her boyfriend Josh's name, even though he was a lying and cheating jerk. She obviously must have a heart of gold to do that for her scum of a boyfriend.

The side cast of characters have their own appeal as well. Sam is Hartley's best friend who participates in her Nancy Drew Sleuthing. Sam and Hartley are great together. Their antics together make for one heck of a story and they became one of my favorite pair of best friends. Josh is such a tool but even he had his moments. I hate him for the fact that he cheated on a girl as wonderful as Hartley, but I felt sorry for the guy. And then there is Chase, who is a "bad boy" in the words of Hartley and somehow gets sucked into the murder investigation. Let me tell you, he is one yummy piece of man!

One thing that I really admire DEADLY COOL for is that it was so hard for me to guess who the murderer was. I am usually pretty good at guessing in the beginning, but it took awhile for me to catch on to this one. Maybe it was more obvious to some others, but I had a fun time solving the case right alongside Hartley.

DEADLY COOL is a cute and light-hearted read that will have you giggling the whole way through. The situations are just ridiculous, but I absolutely loved the quirkiness of the whole story. Check this one when it releases!!

My Rating:

New YA Book Releases: September 27, 2011

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Simon & Schuster

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.
She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.
She's wrong.

The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton
Tor Teen

The year is 1871, and Tiki has been making a home for herself and her family of orphans in a deserted hideaway adjoining Charing Cross Station in central London. Their only means of survival is by picking pockets. One December night, Tiki steals a ring, and sets off a chain of events that could lead to all-out war with the Fey. For the ring belongs to Queen Victoria, and it binds the rulers of England and the realm of Faerie to peace. With the ring missing, a rebel group of faeries hopes to break the treaty with dark magic and blood—Tiki’s blood.
Unbeknownst to Tiki, she is being watched—and protected—by Rieker, a fellow thief who suspects she is involved in the disappearance of the ring. Rieker has secrets of his own, and Tiki is not all that she appears to be. Her very existence haunts Prince Leopold, the Queen’s son, who is driven to know more about the mysterious mark that encircles her wrist.
Prince, pauper, and thief—all must work together to secure the treaty…

The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegan
EgmontUSA

Sasha is desperate to find out who murdered her father. When getting the answer means pledging her soul to Eryx, she unlocks a secret that puts her in grave danger—Sasha is Anabo, a daughter of Eve, and Eryx’s biggest threat.

A son of Hell, immortal, and bound to Earth forever, Jax looks for redemption in the Mephisto Covenant—God’s promise he will find peace in the love of an Anabo. After a thousand years, he’s finally found the girl he’s been searching for: Sasha.

With the threat of Eryx looming, Jax has to keep Sasha safe and win her over. But can he? Will Sasha love him and give up her mortal life? 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Little, Brown

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies
HarperTeen

On the night of Skye’s seventeenth birthday, she meets two enigmatic strangers. Complete opposites—like fire and ice—Asher is dark and wild, while Devin is fair and aloof. Their sudden appearance sends Skye’s life into a tailspin. She has no idea what they want, or why they seem to follow her every move—only that their presence coincides with a flurry of strange events. Soon she begins to doubt not just the identity of the two boys, but also the truth about her own past.
In the dead of a bitingly cold Colorado winter, Skye finds herself coming to terms with the impossible secret that threatens to shatter her world. Torn between Asher, who she can’t help falling for, and Devin, who she can’t stay away from, the consequences of Skye’s choice will reach further than the three of them could ever imagine.

If I Die by Rachel Vincent
Harlequin Teen

The entire school's talking about the gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck. Everyone except Kaylee Cavanaugh. After all, Kaylee's no ordinary high-school junior. She's a banshee—she screams when someone dies.But the next scream might be for Kaylee.
Yeah—it's a shock to her, too. So to distract herself, Kaylee's going to save every girl in school. Because that hot new teacher is really an incubus who feeds on the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend's needy ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren't quite human, either.
But Kaylee's borrowed lifeline is nearing its end. And those who care about her will do anything to save her life.
Anything.

Indelible by Lani Woodland
Pendrell Publishing

Sixteen-year-old Yara Silva has always known that ghosts walk alongside the living. Her grandma, like the other females in her family, is a Waker, someone who can see and communicate with ghosts. Yara grew up watching her grandmother taunted and scorned for this unusual ability and doesn t want that to be her future. She has been dreading the day when she too would see ghosts, and is relieved that the usually dominant Waker gene seems to have skipped her, letting her live a normal teenage life. However, all that changes for Yara on her first day at her elite boarding school when she discovers the gene was only lying dormant. She witnesses a dark mist attack Brent, a handsome fellow student, and rushes to his rescue. Her act of heroism draws the mist s attention, and the dark spirit begins stalking her. Yara finds herself entrenched in a sixty-year-old curse that haunts the school, threatening not only her life, but the lives of her closest friends as well. Yara soon realizes that the past she was trying to put behind her isn't going to go quietly.

Lost in Time by Melissa De La Cruz
Hyperion


After their beautiful yet brief bonding ceremony in Italy, Schuyler Van Alen and Jack Force are forced to separate. To fulfill the Van Alen Legacy, Schuyler travels to Alexandria to search for Catherine of Siena and the Gate of Promise. But Schuyler quickly discovers that everything she believed about the Gate to be wrong. Meanwhile, Jack makes the difficult decision to return to New York to face his twin and former bondmate, Mimi. But instead of a bitter reunion, he is faced with a choice for which there is no good option.

Mimi, with a most unexpected travel companion in Oliver Hazard-Perry, jets off to Egypt, too, to search for Kingsley Martin, her long lost love. With all roads leading to Hell, Mimi learns that not all love stories have happy endings. But she'll have to put her own feelings aside if she's going to save her crumbling Coven.

Paula Morris Interview and Giveaway

Author of DARK SOULS, is stopping by the blog today for an interview. Thanks for answering my questions, Paula!

1. What got you interested in writing?
Reading. I loved reading stories, and escaping through books to other places and times. Soon I wanted to try my hand at writing my own.

2. What is your favorite place to write?
I write wherever I can. At my little desk in our spare room, looking out over Glasgow. In the reading room of the British Library in London (if I’m researching-as-I-write, which is usually the case.) In airport lounges, more often than I’d like. I wrote most of my second novel at a café selling bubble tea. I’ve written sitting at other people’s dining room tables – three at least – in the US and New Zealand. On a deck in Tulum in Mexico: that was DARK SOULS, and I had to write long-hand in a notebook, because I didn’t take my laptop.

3. What is your favorite YA novel?
Probably How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. And though it’s not strictly speaking a YA book, I love The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾

4. What is your writing schedule?
I don’t really have one. I just try to write when I can make the time. I’m not very good at writing in the morning – too many other things competing for my time and attention, especially work-related emails. I’m more of an afternoon-into-evening writer. If I have a deadline, though, I write all the time.

5. What is your favorite genre to read?
I’m not sure if I think about genres. A lot of the books I read are realist fiction, I guess.

6. Describe Dark Souls in three words.
Mystery. Secrets. Ghosts.

7. Do any of your characters resemble people you know? Or even yourself?
My protagonists are often much braver than I am, and much less lazy. Some of my friends would LIKE to make thinly veiled appearances in my books, but I resist this. They’re too silly. They’d be implausible as characters. I think of my characters as people with their own things going on, rather than shadows of the living.

8. Do you have any plans for a sequel to Dark Souls?
I’d quite like to do one, actually. There’s a hint in the novel’s epilogue of where that might be set … But first I have to finish the sequel to RUINED!

Dark Souls by Paula Morris
August 1, 2011
Scholastic

Miranda Tennant arrives in York with a terrible, tragic secret. She is eager to lose herself amid the quaint cobblestones, hoping she won't run into the countless ghosts who supposedly roam the city. . . .

Then she meets Nick, an intense, dark-eyed boy who knows all of York's hidden places and histories. Miranda wonders if Nick is falling for her, but she is distracted by another boy -- one even more handsome and mysterious than Nick. He lives in the house across from Miranda and seems desperate to send her some sort of message. Could this boy be one of York's haunted souls?

Soon, Miranda realizes that something dangerous -- and deadly -- is being planned. And she may have to face the darkest part of herself in order to unravel the mystery -- and find redemption.

Paula Morris and her publisher Scholastic have generously offered up a finished copy of DARK SOULS for one lucky U.S. reader. All you have to do is leave a comment with a way to contact you to enter. The only rule is that this giveaway is U.S. only. This giveaway will go from today until October 3 at 12:01 am.

Touch by Jus Accardo Cover Reveal

I have the pleasure of being able to be one of the many bloggers to reveal the cover of TOUCH by Jus Accardo. It is scheduled to be released November 1st from Entangled Publishing. I think the cover looks great! What are your thoughts?

When a strange boy tumbles down a river embankment and lands at her feet, seventeen-year-old adrenaline junkie Deznee Cross snatches the opportunity to piss off her father by bringing the mysterious hottie with ice blue eyes home.
Except there’s something off with Kale. He wears her shoes in the shower, is overly fascinated with things like DVDs and vases, and acts like she’ll turn to dust if he touches her. It’s not until Dez’s father shows up, wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez realizes there’s more to this boy—and her father’s “law firm”—than she realized.
Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen Corporation—an organization devoted to collecting “special” kids known as Sixes and using them as weapons—his entire life. And, oh yeah, his touch? It kills. The two team up with a group of rogue Sixes hellbent on taking down Denazen before they’re caught and her father discovers the biggest secret of all. A secret Dez has spent her life keeping safe.
A secret Kale will kill to protect.

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver Book Trailer

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver
October 4, 2011
HarperTeen

Liesl’s cruel stepmother, Augusta, keeps her locked in her attic bedroom. Lonely and grieving for her recently deceased father, Liesl is surprised one evening by Po, a ghost who suddenly materializes in her room. The two become fast friends, and it is because of Po that Liesl is able to escape from her attic room and embark on a journey to bury her father’s ashes beside those of her mother. However, because of a mix-up at the undertaker’s, the box that Liesl carries does not contain her father’s ashes. Instead, it contains the most powerful magic in the world. And the alchemist who created that magic desperately wants it back. 

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:

http://lieslandpo.com/

AUTHOR WEBSITE:

http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/

Review: My Beating Teenage Heart by C.K. Kelly Martin

My Beating Teenage Heart by C.K. Kelly Martin

September 27, 2011

Random House

Synopsis:
Ashlyn Baptiste is falling. One moment she was nothing—no memories, no self—and then suddenly, she's plummeting through a sea of stars. Is she in a coma? She doesn't remember dying, and she has no memories of the life she left behind. All she knows is that she's trapped in a consciousness without a body and she's spending every moment watching a stranger.
Breckon Cody's on the edge. He's being ripped apart by grief so intense it literally hurts to breath. On the surface, Breckon is trying to hold it together for his family and his girlfriend, but underneath he's barely hanging on.
Even though she didn't know him in life, Ashlyn sees Breckon's pain, and she's determined to find a way help him. As her own distressing memories emerge from the darkness, she struggles to communicate with the boy who can't see her, but whose life is suddenly intertwined with hers. In alternating voices of the main characters, My Beating Teenage Heart paints a devastatingly vivid picture of both the heartbreak and the promise of teenage life—a life Ashlyn would do anything to recover and Breckon seems desperate to destroy—and will appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen, John Green, and David Levithan.

My Review:
MY BEATING TEENAGE HEART is a lyrical and highly emotional novel that I want to recommend to everyone! Seriously, the writing is absolutely gorgeous and characters each have their own heart-breaking stories that will bring tears to your eyes. The best part about the book is that you never know what to expect, what secrets will be revealed.

Ashlyn is one of the most complex characters that I have ever read about. She is an absolute mystery from the beginning, and it takes awhile to grasp what she is and why she is given full viewing access to Breckon's life, but hasn't an idea of her own. I had no idea what would come next, and what was happening with her. I was compelled to keep reading and discover Ashlyn's past.

Breckon's life was perfect until something horrible happens that leaves him a shell of the person he once was. My heart broke for everything that he had to go through, and what the emotions he experienced. I loved how real Martin made him. I have read a few books with a guy's perspective in them, but Breckon's felt the most realistic to me.

MY BEATING TEENAGE HEART is a YA novel that will slowly weave its way into your heart. It is definitely one of my favorite books that I have read this year.

My Rating:

The Predicteds Character Book Picks

Christine Seifert is stopping by the blog today to talk about what she could see her characters reading and loving.

I’m positive that my characters would love books. How could they not?  I’m pretty sure book love is genetic; I must’ve passed the trait to them! So here’s what I think you’d find some of the main characters reading:

Daphne Wright
Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier—I think she was named after the author (at least that’s what I assume). Daphne loves the dark, gothic tale of Rebecca’s protagonist, a newly married girl who has to follow in the footsteps of the dead Rebecca who still haunts the mansion.

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella—Daphne loves anything vintage, so she loved this hilarious book about a woman who gets stuck ushering around her ghostly grandmother from the 1920s. Daphne would kill for a great flapper dress.

Hate List by Jennifer Brown—Daphne is reeling from the aftermath of a school shooting; she thought this book was sensitive and deeply emotional.

The Handmaid’s Tale—Of course Daphne is on the dystopian train. This is her favorite book. It feels like a feminist manifesto to her, and she’s just discovering what that means.

Dizzy Lewis-Strong aka Daphne’s best friend at Quiet High
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatick—Dizzy’s a sucker for a good paranormal romance. She’s a fan of this fast-paced read.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer—Dizzy’s Team Jacob all the way. She likes his fun-loving spirit. (But she wouldn’t mind Edward either).

Jesse Kable
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell—Jesse loved this mind-blowing sci-fi novel about a space exploration gone horribly awry. It’s a book full of ideas, and Jesse finds that compelling. He wants Daphne to read it too.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card—I bet this was his favorite book as a kid. He reads it every
summer, just because it meant so much to him as a kid.

River of Doubt by Candice Millard—Jesse likes nonfiction a lot, and this book about Theodore Roosevelt’s exploration of the Amazon thrilled him. I bet he wants to visit the Amazon now.  (He’ll have to go without me. I read the book too, and the Amazon jungle sounds pretty scary).

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky—This is Jesse’s all-time favorite book. He loves the way the book explores morality and immorality. It’s become a particularly meaningful book since the predicted lists came out!

January Morrison
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen—January is a Jane Austen fan; she started reading those books when she was just a kid. She loves all the old-fashioned romance.

The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling—January is a big fan of fantasy; she doesn’t have the best life in reality, so she prefers to live in a fantasy world. Like her little sister, Jan reads Harry all the time.

Melissa aka Daphne’s kooky mom
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy—Unlike me, Melissa’s actually read the whole thing. And she actually liked it!

The DSM-V (otherwise known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)!

Your future is not your own...
"We wanted to know what makes a good kid good and a bad kid bad. Can you blame us for that? We found an astoundingly, marvelously simple answer: The brain isn't so much a complicated machine as it is a crystal ball. If you look into it, you will see everything you want to know."
-Dr. Mark Miliken, senior researcher at Utopia Laboratories

Who will it be?
Will the head cheerleader get pregnant?
Is the student council president a secret drug addict?

The whole school is freaking out about PROFILE, an experimental program that can predict students' future behavior.

The only question Daphne wants answered is whether Jesse will ask her out...but he's a Predicted, and there's something about his future he's not telling her.

Review: Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

December 8, 2011

Philomel

Synopsis:
A thrilling debut story of death, love, destiny and danger

Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.

Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon.

My Review:
Shattered Souls completely blew me away. I loved everything about this book! Lindsey has weaved a wonderful story full of mystery, paranormal, and romance. Her writing is gorgeous! I fell in love with all of her characters, especially Alden. He has to be one of my favorite heros of YA! He is so scrumptious! I am so happy that I didn't have to wait until December to read this. The only thing I have to complain about is I have to wait that much longer for a possible sequel.

Lenzi is a sweet yet complicated girl who has started to hear voices. Her dad recently died when he committed suicide and she is afraid that she is becoming schizophrenic, just like he was. She doesn't want to look like a mental patient to her mom and boyfriend Zak, but she can't stop her reactions to the voices. She just wishes they would leave her alone so she could live in peace. When Alden shows up, she is thrown completely for a loop and everything that she has ever known changes.

I felt so awful for Lenzi and all the things she had to go through with her dad. I could feel the pain she held whenever she thought of him. She loves him so much but fears that she is schizophrenic, just like him. Her boyfriend Zak is everything she thinks she could ever want. He understands her and puts up with her weirdness. Problems arise between them when Alden comes around though, and she begins to harbor feelings for him. She doesn't want to fall for Alden but she can't seem to stop her self. He knows exactly what she is going through and aids her with the spirit resolutions. They are the perfect team together.

Alden is muey caliente! He is such an amazing guy and puts up with Lenzi even when she denies what she is. He thinks about her in ways that he shouldn't and doesn't want to distract Lenzi. He is so torn! He doesn't at all understand the new Rose that Lenzi is. Lenzi is warm and affectionate and isn't at all aloof. He can't hold back his feelings for her no matter how hard he tries. The chemistry between them crackled on the pages! They are the perfect couple for each other and I could feel the centuries worth of history between them.

Shattered Souls is a magical debut that had me on my toes throughout the entire story! Lindsey is a wonderfully talented writer! I could picture the scenes crystal clear and could feel the emotions coming from the characters. I wish I had taken my time with the story but I just couldn't help myself! Once I started reading, I was sucked in and I couldn't stop for even a moment. You do not want to miss out on this magical debut!


My Rating:

Review: Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

September 20, 2011

HarperTeen

Synopsis:
When her boyfriend, Danny, is killed in a car accident, Wren can’t imagine living without him. Wild with grief, she uses the untamed powers she’s inherited to bring him back. But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy she once loved.

Wren has spent four months keeping Danny hidden, while her life slowly unravels around her. Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school and somehow, inexplicably, he can sense her secret. Wren finds herself drawn to Gabriel, who is so much more alive than the ghost of the boy she loved. But Wren can’t turn her back on Danny or the choice she made for him—and she realizes she must find a way to make things right, even if it means breaking her own heart.

Amy Garvey’s transcendent teen debut is perfect for fans of Shiver and Beautiful Creatures. Wren’s unforgettable voice and story will stay with readers long after the last page is turned.

My Review:
Cold Kiss is an eerie and romantic novel that has a somewhat messed up and confused protagonist who decides it's a good idea to bring her dead boyfriend back. She doesn't consider any of the consequences, and only knows that her love will be back and that they can be together again. What follows is tons of confusion, magick, and another boy who enters into the picture and changes everything for Wren. This isn't your average zombie novel, folks!

Wren is a conflicted and loving girl who doesn't know how to live her life after her boyfriend Danny dies. They spent all of their time together and loved each other so much that it is hard for Danny to let go and move on. She makes the greatest mistake of her life bringing Danny back from the dead and spends a majority of the novel scared and confused.

I could feel the love that she felt for Danny and while it doesn't warrant bringing him back from the dead, I can see that she was so hurt and confused that she wasn't thinking straight. While I did get annoyed at her at times for brushing off the help of Gabriel, the new boy in town who makes her feel again, I could see that she just didn't know what to do.

Danny is somehow who is not at all easy to connect to as a zombie. The way Wren describes him when he was alive makes me see why she could love him so much and be so upset and conflicted about who he is after she brings him back. When it is eventually revealed to him that he died, I felt a flicker of sympathy for him. He didn't know what to think and I felt angry at Wren for having him go through that pain.

Gabriel is a bit of an enigma at first. While he is very upfront with Wren and reveals secrets about himself right away, I could tell that he was always holding something back. I didn't see why Wren would fall for him so quickly. I couldn't see any sparks between them and their romance felt a bit forced. I did like how willing Gabriel was to help Wren with her HUGE problem and I liked him much better because of that.

Cold Kiss is a sad, creepy, and romantic debut that I really enjoyed! The writing is so honest and heartfelt that I couldn't help but get deeply engrossed in the story. You have to check this one out when it releases!

My Review: