Tuesday, May 21, 2013

TRANSPARENT is out!

My sweet friend Natalie Whipple's debut novel, TRANSPARENT, hits shelves today. Woohoo!

I'M SO STOKED FOR HER! Natalie's such a sweetheart, always giving her time and support and encouragement to other writers. One Twitter, on her blog, in contests. And she's truly as sweet and kind and giving as she seems on her blog.

And I've been dying to spread the TRANSPARENT birthday love!

Here's the fantastic cover:



Awesome, right?!

Want more? Thought so.:)

Here's the blurb:

Plenty of teenagers feel invisible. Fiona McClean actually is.

An invisible girl is a priceless weapon. Fiona’s own father has been forcing her to do his dirty work for years—everything from spying on people to stealing cars to breaking into bank vaults.

After sixteen years, Fiona’s had enough. She and her mother flee to a small town, and for the first time in her life, Fiona feels like a normal life is within reach. But Fiona’s father isn’t giving up that easily.

Of course, he should know better than anyone: never underestimate an invisible girl.

***

I get shivers every time I read it.:)

Curious to know what readers have said? Here you go....

"Fast-paced, fun, and so original I was downright giddy, TRANSPARENT is a truly awesome debut from an author destined to be on my auto-buy list." —Rachel Hawkins, owner of best awkward foreign cover EVER. (And NYT Bestseller)

“Debut author Natalie Whipple deftly explores painfully real teen experience through delightfully unreal stories. Transparent is a smart, funny, tense gem of a book, and Fiona claims a spot as one of my favorite heroines.” Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of the Paranormalcy trilogy.

Yay! A fun, fresh YA read has hit the wild! Happy book birthday, Natalie! :)

And go TRANSPARENT!!!!!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Shout out to Robin Mellom, author of DITCHED

Hey sweet YA readers!

YA contemporary is so hot right now, and so fun. Lots of great reads out there, like . . .





JUST ONE DAY by Gayle Forman
(and a sequel is coming soon!)






LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR by Stephanie Perkins
(companion novel to ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS . . . so good!)










BODY AND SOUL by Stacey Kade
(the finale of THE GHOST AND THE GOTH series--just love!)








But here's one you definitely shouldn't miss:



I know Robin personally (we actually went to high school together, can you believe it?!) and she's as sweet as she is talented. Crazy thing is, I read DITCHED (and LOVED it!) before I realized this Robin was the same Robin I went to high school with. It was that whole maiden-name-changed-to-married-name thing that threw me off. 

So let me say it again--I LOVED THIS BOOK, even before I realized I loved the author.  

Here's the blurb from Goodreads:

There's a girl.
Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. That said, she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.

And there's a boy.
Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat, handle first.
Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.
Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.

Then there's a ditch.
But when Justina is ditched, figuratively and literally, she must piece together--stain-by-stain on her thrift store dress--exactly how she ended up dateless...with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven.

To get the whole store, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. Can losing out at her prom ultimately lead to finding true love?

Doesn't it sound amazing? *nods* It really is.:)

I'm over at the YA Valentine blog today getting the full scoop from Robin. Pop over if you can, find out Robin's favorite scene, and say hi.:) 

Plus, if you've got middle-grade readers, Robin had a new MG book coming out next month from Disney-Hyperion! Woot!

Happy Tuesday y'all!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

BROKEN FOREST . . . A CYOA Blog Hop!



Hey y'all! Today I'm excited be be part of debut-author Eliza Tilton's Choose-Your-Own-Adventure blog hop to celebrate the release of her YA fantasy, BROKEN FOREST.


If you’ve landed here during your adventure, skip all this and go below.
If you’re wondering what’s going on, go here to start your own adventure! 
And may The Creator bless you on your journey.

Going east is the dangerous choice, and even though you want to run in the other direction, you don’t.
The village is running low on nectar and if the hunts aren’t successful in collecting vast amounts, you risk going through the winter season with none. You remind yourself of how important this is as the trees’ crowded branches begin to close off the moonlight.
Silence fills the forest, and there’s nothing but the cold air to comfort you. You search for water, knowing the flowers tend to grow nearby. It isn’t long before a small stream crosses your pathway.
You hop across and follow the stream deeper into the forest.
A thunderous noise replaces the silence.
You sneak behind the next tree and search the area. In front of you is a small waterfall, not large. The clear water plunges into a pool, and around the pools edge are black flowers.
The wolves are known to roam this area, yet you don’t see any. Could it be luck? You think so, and
slowly walk to the water. You manage to collect all the nectar you can find without incident. It’s a victorious night!
With a bounce in your step, you head back to the clearing, thinking of all the ways you can brag about your bravery until you spot a wolf print.The wolf print doesn’t look fresh, but maybe you should be careful, or start running!

A)    Running sounds like a fantastic idea. Go here
B)     No need to fret. It’s only one print and winter wolves hunt in packs. Go here

----

Want more? I thought so! :)

How about a giveaway? Eliza has BROKEN FOREST awesomeness up for grabs. Check out the Rafflecopter giveaway below:




And in case you missed it, here's the BROKEN FOREST blurb from Goodreads:

Hopeless he'll never be more than the boy who didn't save his brother, 17-year-old Avikar accepts his life as the family stable boy, trying to forget the past. But when his sister, Jeslyn, is kidnapped, the thought of losing another sibling catapults him on a desperate quest. With his best friend by his side, and using the tracking skills he learned from his father, he discovers Jeslyn has been taken, kidnapped by one Lucino, the young lord of Daath, a mystical place thought only to exist in fables.

And Lucino has plans for Jeslyn.








Last but not least, here's a bit about Eliza...

Eliza graduated from Dowling College with a BS in Visual Communications. When she’s not arguing with excel at her day job, or playing Dragon Age 2, again, she’s writing. Her stories hold a bit of the fantastical and there’s always a romance. She resides on Long Island with her husband, two kids and one very snuggly pit bull.

You can stalk Eliza on Twitter, Tumblr, her website, Pinterest and Facebook.:)






Congratulations, Eliza, and happy blog-hopping everyone! :)