Review (58): Anya and the Shy Guy by Suze Winegardner

Anya and the Shy Guy

by Suze Winegardner

Series: Backstage Pass, #4

Other Reviewed Titles: 
Daisy and the Front Man, #3
Release Date: July 14, 2015

Publisher: Entangled Publishing (Crush)

Format: eARC 

Source: Netgalley

Author Website

My Thoughts: 

Anya Anderson has been on her own and homeless since she was just 15 years old. She has been trying to figure out a way to make enough money so that she can get off the streets and can get her friend Jude the help he needs. She somehow convinces an online music blog to hire her as a freelance writer, and so for the next two weeks it is her job to shadow Will Fray—the bonafide “shy guy” of the hottest boyband around, Seconds to Juliet—and try to dig up as much dirt about him and the band as possible. What she doesn't expect is that Will is actually Matt, his twin brother, who has been reluctantly filling in for him while he is in rehab. (Although this is the fourth book in the Backstage Pass series, they are all written by different authors and do not need to be read in order).

Anya is a 17 year old girl who has worries and problems no one her age should have to face. Her time on the streets has made her guarded, anxious, and she has a difficult time trusting people, yet none of this has made her angry or bitter. She is primarily trying to make this job work for the sake of her friend Jude—who helped her and kept her safe when she first arrived on the streets—which made me like her that much more (it’s never explicitly said, but I am assuming she’s trying to save enough so she can help him go to rehab). 

Matt is really sweet and self-less. He fills in for his twin while he is away in rehab because he wants to see him get better and also because he does not want either Will or his mom to face a 20 million dollar lawsuit. Stepping into the shoes of a world famous boy band member can not be easy for someone who has no experience or desire to be in one. 

This is the second Backstage Pass book I have read (the first being Daisy and the Front Man). I genuinely enjoyed it; it is well-written and easy to get into. This is told in alternating view points which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it worked for me because Anya and Matt both have strong voices and it was easy to distinguish between them. I also thought that the conflicts and drama throughout the book were well-thought-out and believable which was something that I did not like about the third book. Anya and Matt have great chemistry from the beginning and I loved seeing their relationship progress. The ending is seriously so cute; my favorite part by far!

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* Thank you to the author and publisher for an eARC in return for my honest review *

Review (57): Along the Way by Jacqueline Kolosov

Along the Way

by Jacqueline Kolosov

Release Date: April 1, 2015

Publisher: Luminis Books, Inc.

Pages: 300

Format: Paperback 

Source: ARC for Review

Author Website

My Thoughts: 

Three lifelong friends have decided to do the famous Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage before they begin college in the fall. They have been preparing for a year and are finally heading out on this once in a lifetime experience. Tessa, entranced by her grandparents love story, is also looking for a fairy tale ending of her own. Piper—dealing with her estranged mother constantly popping in and out of her life—and Dani—struggling with the fact that her mother and her fiancé are pregnant with twins—just want a summer to remember. Despite the fact that the girls have since moved across the country from each other, their friendship and bond has remained constant and is only strengthened by this journey.

I had never heard of this pilgrimage but I am now really interested in doing it myself. Although this is fictional, it still seems like a great experience and like an amazing thing to do before college. I feel like this is not something that most 17 year olds would want to do since it is by no means a vacation—they walk hundreds of kilometers a day, sleep in overcrowded hostels, and even have to endure a rain storm. The walk really allows them to get to know themselves and each other. They each discover who they are and become comfortable in their own skin. They realize that what seemed important or overwhelming at the beginning of the walk really isn’t that big of a deal. Although there were a few major bumps in the road, I was pretty proud and impressed that they were able to fight through and finish.

This is a great read and I think that it would appeal to a large audience. It is told in alternating view points which I know is an issue for a lot of people. I usually don’t mind, but this time it was a little hard for me to keep track of who’s turn it was because it was all in the first-person perspective. But it does allow you to really get to know each girl individually and experience their emotions and feelings throughout the Camino. Tessa was a bit annoying at first because she is used to the finer things in life and has a hard time slumming it on the Camino, but she eventually steps out of her comfort zone. Dani was extremely sweet and really shy at first—out of all the girls I think she is the one that comes into her skin the most and you can really see her gain confidence day by day. Piper comes to terms with her relationship with her mother and even falls for someone with the same illness. What I really liked about the three is their relationship and how open and honest they are with each other; they seemed more like sisters. 

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* Thank you to the author and publisher for an ARC in return for my honest review *

Interview with Amanda Black, Author of The Single Game (with Giveaway!)

Title: The Single Game

Author: Amanda Black
Genre: NA, Romance

Release Date: July 15, 2015

In this third, stand-alone installment of Amanda Black’s Apartment Novels series, sparks fly during a sexy party game.

When Eden Foster’s parents tell her they’re moving from Chicago to the Illinois suburb of Aledo, Eden is crushed. That is, until she runs crying to her jock boyfriend, who she finds on top of her so-called best friend. Moving’s not looking so bad anymore.

Now a senior at Mercer County High, Eden is ready to re-enter the dating scene. Still burned over the betrayal of her ex, she’s looking for someone sweet and innocent. With the help of her two new friends, Zoe and Amy, Eden makes a list of what she’s looking for: an eager virgin, ready for training—and no jocks.

Eden thinks she’s found what she’s looking for in Logan Black, a shy and geeky classmate. But why are Zoe and Amy convinced that the answer to her search is a party game…with kissing?

Eden better get ready, because she’s about to play the Single Game.

The Single Game is the latest addition to the erotic Apartment Novels series, which began with Lily and Ethan in The Apartment and The Blank Canvas.

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Hi Jo! Thank you for taking the time to talk with us! 
What elements of your own love life influenced this story? More than I should probably admit! My husband and I were both very young when we started dating. Not quite as young as Eden and Logan, but there were still plenty of bets that we would never make it.

There is less angst in The Single Game than in your previous books (The Apartment and The Blank Canvas), can you talk about that a little bit more? 

That was most definitely on purpose. By the time I finished writing those books I was absolutely drained from all of the emotions I had dredged up, both personal and fictional. Once I started getting the idea for The Single Game I saw that as an opportunity to just sit back and have some fun. It sounds funny to say that I was avoiding melodrama while also writing about teenagers, but I just wanted it to feel genuine, sweet and loving. Life has enough angst. I wanted to give me and my readers a small break. 

What motivated you to write a New Adult Erotica? I was already used to writing erotic romance after the last two books, but I was just really drawn to the story that was growing in my mind of these two teenagers on the verge of graduating high school. It’s such a big milestone in everyone’s life and I wanted to see how this couple would deal with a budding relationship in the middle of all of that.

I was so intrigued by the characters in this story. Logan is a shy, geeky, male virgin whereas Eden is a beautiful, confident, and sexually active HS senior girl. What made you reverse these typically male/female roles? 
I’m always up for a good role reversal! Honestly, some details of their relationship were drawn right from my own and other people I’ve known. There were plenty of girls who got burned by dating a player and they were much happier once they gave the shy guy another look. Plus, how many of us have said at one time, “I’d love to find a guy with no relationship baggage who I could teach exactly what I like.” Eden takes that idea and runs with it, exploring and discovering brand new things that she and Logan both like. 

What character in The Single Game is most like you and why? 

Definitely Eden. I had the proverbial burning by the ex. Not quite as dramatic as hers was, but that scene came from my ugliest high school memories. I wasn’t back in the saddle until early college but by then I knew what a treasure I had when I found my own shy guy.

Anything else you would like us to know?

I’m so excited for the release of my new book The Single Game! It’s my first venture into NA territory and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. While it is a continuation of my Apartment series that gives us a glimpse into the future of some of the main characters, it can easily be read as a standalone novel featuring the next generation of the Foster family. So if you haven’t read the first two books but this one sounds interesting to you, go ahead and jump on in! If you really like this one you can always go back and see how it all began.

The idea for this story actually came to me in a dream a while ago. It was just a fleeting image of two random teenagers making out for the first time in a dark closet during a party game that was sort of like spin the bottle. The boy was very nervous and the girl was the one putting him at ease. For some reason that one scene kept replaying in my mind over and over again after I woke up, which I found totally weird because I can never remember my dreams. I always feel like they must have been awesome, but damn if I can ever recall one single detail the next morning. That’s why when I realized that I was building on that scenario in my head the more that I thought about it, I knew I had to write it down or it would drive me crazy. As the story unfolded, I realized that I was drawing on a lot of my own experiences from when I started dating my husband, so this one ended up being very near and dear to my heart.

I really hope you check out this sweet and sexy story and let me know what you think! 

Once again, thank you for sitting down with us & good luck with your next novel!

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About the Author:

Amanda Black was born and raised in the Midwest, where she still lives with her husband and spoiled-rotten dogs. She earned a bachelor's degree in Studio Art before deciding that she actually needed to pay some bills, which is when she took a position as an ophthalmic technician.

For the past few years she's been a closet romance writer in her spare time and would love nothing more than to make it a full-time career. When she's not writing her next steamy love scene, her interests include reading, sketching, and annihilating her friends and family in movie trivia.

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Waiting on Wednesday (42)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases we can not wait to read! This meme is the perfect way to add books to your TBR list. Along with upcoming releases, I sometimes include books that I have not had the chance to read or buy even if they have already come out. 

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Never Always Sometimes
by Adi Alsaid

Release Date: August 4, 2015

From Barnes & Noble:

Never date your best friend

Always be original

Sometimes rules are meant to be broken

Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids—the ones who sit at the same lunch table every day, dissecting the drama from homeroom and plotting their campaigns for prom king and queen. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they'd never, ever do in high school.

Some of the rules have been easy to follow, like #5, never die your hair a color of the rainbow, or #7, never hook up with a teacher. But Dave has a secret: he's broken rule #8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It's either that or break rule #10, never date your best friend. Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember.

Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they've actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love.

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Excerpt: At the Heart of the Deep by Carrie L. Wells (with Giveaway!)

Title: At the Heart of the Deep

(A Falling in Deep Novella)

Author: Carrie L. Wells.
Release Date: June 23, 2015
Genres: NA, Paranormal Romance

Oceanographer Luke McAllister races to figure out why the ocean depth is changing off Florida’s Treasure Coast. But before he and his crew discover what’s transforming the deep, he stumbles upon an even greater mystery. Leagues below the waves, he swear he sees…a mermaid?

Anya isn’t allowed to get close to humans. But when a golden-haired researcher gets too close to her island, she can’t afford to stay away.

Together, this unlikely pair will seek to discover what’s causing shifts in ocean floor. While their new alliance is forbidden, Anya will risk everything to save her beloved ocean. The only problem is, she’s not sure what’s really luring her in, her love of the sea or the tempest Luke has stirred in her heart. Either way, Anya knows that the dangers facing the sea are nothing compared to what will happen to her when her father learns she’s broken the merfolks’ most sacred law.

Can Anya and Luke discover what lurks at the heart of the deep before it’s too late?

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Excerpt:(Scrollbox) 

I caught sight of his cut, thought a moment, and swam away. He floated there, treading water and wondering what would happen next. At that point, his face conveyed the pain in his side. I watched an intense sting replace what I knew of the original burning sensation of a coral abrasion, and the open wound spilled into the ocean at a steady pace. 

Conceivably, I had underestimated the severity of the cut. Maybe the coral cut deeper than I thought. The blood clouded the water surrounding him, and now the problem remained of how to take the injured man across the reef without doing further damage. We still needed to cross at least two miles and climb a rocky beach. Or did we?

Before he had time to contemplate any other option, I approached him from below. I swam up to him slowly, and he did nothing. He didn’t dive to meet me or attempt to swim away. He hung vertically in the water, waiting. 

He must have felt me before he could clearly see me. The water shifted as I neared, my physicality changing the flow of the ocean around me. He knew I was there, but he didn’t dive below. Was he afraid? Too hurt to move? Instead, he stayed still, moving as little as possible, allowing my approach, and keeping the blood loss at a minimum. 

I moved below him and then up, along his body, until my head emerged from the inky blue water and he stared into my eyes. He let out a fast gasp and quickly sank below the surface.

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About the Author:

Carrie L. Wells crosses genres, writing everything from newspaper editorials and textbooks to paranormal romance novellas. Her first fiction publication, The Heart of the Deep, will release in June 2015, followed by Playing with Magic in October 2015. A New England native, she spent her childhood on the beach and inland, fishing and dancing, before moving to Florida. And while she doesn’t tan, nothing keeps her from a walk on the beach.

Carrie earned her Master's degree in English with a minor in Psychology from Hardin-Simmons University and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida. With a love of chocolate, books, and her family, Carrie braves the world and chaos only children can bring. She currently lives in Florida with her fire-medic hubby and three children. She is an English instructor at Eastern Florida State College.

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Review (56): Don't Ever Change by M. Beth Bloom

Don’t Ever Change

M. Beth Bloom

Release Date: July 7, 2015

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 368

Format: eARC 

Source: Edelweiss

Author Facebook

My Thoughts: 

Eva has wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember. So when she hands in her last writing assignment of her high school career and her writing teacher tells her she should focus on writing “what she knows”, she is a little distressed and realizes she doesn’t actually know all that much. She decides to take advantage of her last summer before college to gain new experiences and finally live a life worth writing about. That’s how she ends up as a camp counselor even though she is wholly unqualified, how she finds herself falling for the last person she ever thought possible, and how she almost loses her two best friends. 

Eva is a judge-y, know-it-all who has this irritating need to be different than everyone around her. But despite all of this, I found myself liking her. She knows how problematic she is (because she is told by pretty much everyone she talks to) and she genuinely seems like she wants to change her negative attitude. She realizes that she hasn’t lived any life changing moments thus far because she hasn't really let herself; she’s been more preoccupied trying to be different and unique that she has shunned people and passed up opportunities. She kind of reminds me of my high school self in this regard, unfortunately.

Her sister, Courtney, is also a great character. She is 21 and, although she is more confident and in control than Eva, she is also a little lost and trying to find herself. She is going to community college and doesn’t sound like she fully knows what she wants to do with her life—except maybe travel. I really liked her and Eva’s relationship. She is always there whenever Eva needs her and is actually great at giving her advice and making her realize when she’s being difficult or ridiculous. 

The plot isn’t particularly exciting or action-packed, but it is real. The book takes place the summer after Eva’s senior year and is spent just like any new graduate probably would; with a summer job, spending as much time with friends as possible, and coming to terms with the fact that going to college means leaving the only home you’ve ever known. What I also really liked about this is that Eva doesn’t go through a magical transformation and doesn’t turn into a completely different person by the end of the story. She learns a lot about herself during those few weeks but she herself recognizes that this is just the beginning and that she has a long way to go. And I think that’s perfect.

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* Thank you to the author and publisher for an eARC in return for my honest review *

Interview with Jo Schneider, Author of Fractured Memories

Title: Fractured Memories

(Jagged Scars, #1)

Author: Jo Schneider
Genre: YA, Sci Fi, Post-Apocalyptic

Release Date: May 20, 2015

Sixteen year old Wendy never knew the world before the Starvation. She’s learned to put her trust in her knives, and her confidence in her fighting ability. When the Skinnies attack her compound, she’s the lone survivor.

Injured and near death, Wendy is rescued and nursed back to health by mysterious strangers. Her saviors offer her a place among them, but trust has never been one of Wendy’s strengths, and suspicion soon leads to evidence that these people might be the group who killed her family.

The decision to get her revenge, and take the settlement down from the inside out is easy. Keeping her distance from those she must befriend in order to make it happen proves to be much more difficult.

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Hi Jo! Thank you for taking the time to talk with us! 
What does your writing process look like?

Imagine a desk, and at one end is a neat, little pile of papers. Next to that is another pile, this one not quite so tidy. Maybe one paper is slipping off the stack, which leads the eye to an array of notes that may have been, at one time, in a pleasing fan shape, but now looks like someone gave it a noogie. This is usually where you will discover the discarded wrappers of whatever snacks I could find. A glass with the glazed on remains of a Diet Coke will be sitting on a Dr. Who coaster, and the little cup for pens will be empty, because the pens are now hiding under the papers. When your eyes reach the keyboard, you'll see that everything has been pushed aside to make room for me playing of Facebook.

What book do you wish you could have written?

Ender's Game. That book has captured so many people's imaginations, I would love to have been the person to have written it. Plus, Ender's Game sits somewhere in the middle of commercial fiction and literary fiction, a place I hope to venture someday.

How important are names in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning? Do you have any other name choosing resources you recommend?

Names are very important, and I'm sometimes horrible at finding just the right one. Ages ago, I bought a baby name book--a book that my fiance packed up when we got married and moved in together and was a little concerned about--and I often use that to find names. Sometimes I look at meanings. Often I will end up with names that all sound the same (one syllable for instance) or all start with the same letter. When that starts to happen, I find a letter I haven't used and I flip open the book. Sometimes I use the web too. Especially if I need, say, legitimate last name from Africa .

In my first novel, New Sight, I couldn't think of a name for the bad guys, so I named them the New until I came up with something better. By the time I got finished writing the book, the New had stuck. It's a dumb name, but now it's theirs.

What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?

This one is easy, and maybe you're expecting me to say "Finishing my first manuscript!", but that's not it at all. While writing isn't easy, it's something that I can do. What I struggled for six years to get is my black belt in Shaolin Kempo. I'm a round girl--always have been--and I had to put some seriously hard, physical effort into every single thing I did at the dojo. I can write all day, but ask me to do a push up, and I still inwardly roll my eyes and do them from my knees. So yeah, black belt. I'm pretty proud of that.

What writing advice do you have for aspiring authors.

Years ago, I was at a little, tiny writing/Sci-fi/Fantasy convention and I went to a class by a guy I'd never heard of. A guy named Brandon Sanderson. His first Librarians book was about to come out, and he was talking about magic systems. I don't really remember what he said about that. What I do remember is one simple statement he made, "Don't be afraid to suck."

I've lived by this creed ever since. Don't expect to be the best author in the room, don't expect to get everything right the first time, and don't expect to wow every reader you encounter. What all authors need to do is keep writing. Find some people who will help you get better and listen to them. It's okay to suck, as long as you're willing to try again.

Do you read reviews? Do you respond the them, good or bad? Do you have any advice on how to deal with the bad?

I started out reading my reviews, but quickly gave up. Partly because it's like an emotional roller coaster with some ups, some downs and often times afterwards I just wanted to throw up. My fix for all of this was to have my husband read them. He then tells me if there are any common threads. For instance, if three or four people say they felt the ending was rushed, then that's something I should look at.  

I remember getting a review of my first novel that said it was horrible and she couldn't connect with the characters and she didn't even make it through the book. I was devastated. How could anyone be so mean? In a fit of rage, I looked up her blog to see if she was mean to everyone, or if it was just me. That's when I found out that she reviews fluffy romances, not action/Sci-Fi/Fantasy stories. No wonder she didn't make it through, there wasn't nearly enough googly eyes and sexual tension for her. That's when I asked my hubby to read the reviews for me. One romance writer hated my book. That's totally fine, but her feedback isn't terribly pertinent to me, because I'm not writing Twilight.

What is your biggest failure?

I still haven't received any death threats for killing off a character. This will happen.

What is your biggest fear?

The dark. No, wolves. No, the lack of toilet paper in the apocalypse. 

What do you want your tombstone to say?

Okay, two things here. The mom of one of my best friends growing up wants this on hers, and I think it's brilliant, "See, I told you I was sick." I can probably talk my husband into this.

If not that, then something silly. None of the sweet, tear jerking messages that people leave. Those are lovely, but not really me. I'm more like, "Did you turn the lights off before you left?" or, "Be good. There is no try."

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

Flying. Fast. Then I'd figure out some weapons and the bad guys would hate me. Buahahaha!

Once again, thank you for sitting down with us & good luck with your next novel!

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About the Author:

Author of Babes in Spyland, New Sight-YA fantasy out April 2014, wearer of a black belt in Kempo and always in search of the next cool place to visit!

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