Wednesday 31 July 2013

Blog Tour: Again by Brandy Jeffus.

 
From recess buddies to high school sweethearts, Eli Stone and Bonnie Jinks were constants in each other’s lives. Although young, their relationship had withstood the test of many teenage tribulations. Marriage and a happy ever after were in their future plans.
One alcohol fuelled mistake rips them apart. Bonnie ends up on the road with her new boyfriend while Eli joins the military. It seems as if their lives would never intersect again.
A near fatal accident brings them together and their chemistry is undeniable. But will the pain of the past keep them apart? Can they make their love work again?



About the Author!
Brandy Jeffus has been writing stories since an early age. She would dictate them to her mom who would type them out on a typewriter. 
She is a mother to two precious children and lives in North Texas, but she'll always consider herself an East Texan, hailing from the Rose Capital of the world, Tyler.
 



Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the other tour stops here.

Much Love!
Lettie

XXX

July~ A Review

Monthly Feature- rounds up all the books I've read, progress on challenges and monthly blogging goals!
 
July! The first month I forgot to post my review! Lots of reading not so much reviewing!
July in Numbers!
Total posts= 16
Books read= 17
Reviews Posted= 1
 
What I read in July!


What I reviewed!
Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols.~ 4 Hearts.
 
What I posted!
Blog Tour: Again by Brandy Jeffus.
Stacking the Shelves~ July.
New Adult Read-a-thon Wrap Up!
Sizzling Summer Giveaway
Blog Tour: Touching Melody by RaShelle Workman
Weekly Round Up!
New Adult Read-a-thon TBR!
Mini Bloggiesta~ July 2013.
Blog Tour: Three Daves by Nicki Elson.
Interview: Chelsea Fine.
Behind the Cover~ Stripped by Brooklyn Skye.
Once Upon a Read-a-Thon TBR.
Cover Reveal: Lennon's Rain by Chris Myers.
Cover Reveal: Finding It by Cora Carmack
June~ A Review!
 
Did I achieve my goals?
Structure
I worked on this one but I don't think I'll ever make my sporadic posts monthly!
Reviews
I had an awful reviewing month!
Diversity
I kind of achieved this one! I definitely posted a lot of different posts.
 

Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Tuesday 30 July 2013

Stacking the Shelves~ July.

What is Stacking The Shelves all about?
Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
 
Welcome to my monthly round up! July was a good month for 2013 debuts!
 
Borrowed Shelf!
 Just One Day by Gayle Forman~ I saw this one on the shelf in my local library and had to pick it up!
 
Virtual Shelf!
Broken Promises by Dawn Pendleton~ Amazon Freebie, sounds good!
Rule by Jay Crownover~ Finally got round to checking this one out :)
Jet by Jay Crownover~ I had to read Jet's story after Rule's.
The Boys of Summer by C.J. Duggan~ I've wanted read this for ages so I jumped on it as soon as it was 77p.
On an Edge of Glass by Autumn Doughton~ I love the cover!
Frigid by J. Lynn~ I loved Wait for You so I knew I'd like Frigid.
 
Review Shelf!
NetGalley
Come Back to Me by Coleen Patrick~ I loved this one much more than I thought I would!
Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott~ I've wanted to read Elizabeth Scott for years!
All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill~ This is one of the dystopian debuts I've been looking forward to.
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman~ Another 2013 debut I've been looking forward to!
 
Blog Tours
Near and Far by Nicole Williams~ I loved Lost and Found so I knew I'd love Near and Far.
No Reverse by Marion Croslydon~ I'm looking forward to the this one!
 
Other 
Out of Play by Jolene Perry and Nyrae Dawn~ I love Nyrae, I love Jolene so I knew Out of Play would be awesome!
Callum and Harper by Fisher Amelie~ Looking forward to reading this one for my Fisher Amelie feature. 
Earth Girl and Earth Star by Janet Edwards~ I've already read Earth Girl and I loved it!
 
Quite a good haul!
What joined your shelves in July?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Monday 29 July 2013

New Adult Read-a-thon Wrap Up!

What a great Read-a-thon!

Read!

Façade by Nyrae Dawn~ I loved Charade and Façade was just as good!
Near and Far by Nicole Williams~ Another sequel I couldn't wait to read!
Out of Play by Nyrae Dawn and Jolene Perry~ This one isn't actually New Adult but I though it was so I'm counting it :P
The Only Exception by Megan Vernon~ I really enjoyed this one although the politics got abit confusing.
Come Back to Me by Coleen Patrick~ I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would!
If You Stay by Courtney Cole~ Disappointed me!

How'd it go?
Goal= 9 Result= 6. Total Page count- 1,704
Not too bad,I worked a lot more than I expected to and I did set my sights very high. I definitely get into this read-a-thon and reached my goal of nine on Tuesday!
Unfortunately I didn't get to do any mini challenges as I spent a lot of time offline but I'm hoping there's a next time!

How'd you do?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxxx

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Sizzling Summer Giveaway

YA Bound Book Tours is organizing the Sizzling Summer Giveaway event featuring 50 authors!  This giveaway event will take place July 22nd to July 27th.  The giveaway is 2 Kindle Fire HD's with e-book prize packs!

Welcome to my post for the Sizzling Summer Giveaway! To celebrate I have Tia Silverthorne Bach and a giveaway today!
There isn’t another way; not now. The others are coming. I can’t let them have you…
Seventeen-year-old Reagan has a problem: She can’t remember what happened the night her brother was taken. Now, the dreams haunting her from the incident are becoming more intense by the day. All the while, the lines between what’s real and what’s a product of her paranormal-obsessed mind are becoming blurred.
Is she losing her mind or has she just stepped into a world she thought only existed in books?
Caught in a web of worried parents, competing boys, Wiccan relatives, protective amulets, and psychiatrist babble, Reagan must determine the truth before it’s too late.


Tia Silverthorne Bach on casting!
When I write a book, I imagine certain actors as my main characters. Not only does it help with descriptions and mannerisms, but it also leaves me prepared in case someone ever wants to make my book into a movie. A girl can dream!
In Chasing Memories, Reagan is devastated when she wakes up and is told her brother is gone. Weeks before, she had visions of prom dancing in her head. Now, her dreams are filled with screams and piercing gold eyes.
Since Reagan is a red-headed teenager with a good amount of spunk, I always imagined Emma Stone (especially in her Easy A role) playing the character. Reagan is at times fragile and at other times pure strength and Emma Stone has an amazing range. Rafe is the new guy who comes to town and immediately piques Reagan’s interests, even though she finds him unsettling. In my mind, he was played by Avan Jogia (soon to be in Twisted on ABC Family). He’s sexy, yet mysterious—just like Rafe.
In every book I write and every book I plan to write, there’s always a role for Hugh Jackman. He is equal parts Wolverine and romantic hero with some Les Miserables thrown in. In Chasing Memories, he would play Reagan’s Papa. It’s a small, but pivotal, role.

Reader's Perspective
As a reader, I can get quite upset when I hear about casting—especially with books I love. Let’s just say Robert Pattinson was originally a tough sale for Edward (although he won me over in the end).
But, at the end of the day, it’s all about breathing life into the characters we care about.
Giveaway!

 


a Rafflecopter giveaway












Good Luck!
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Monday 22 July 2013

Blog Tour: Touching Melody by RaShelle Workman

Sometimes life isn't pretty, but you have to close your eyes and let go...
***************
Maddie Martin's first weekend at college is nothing like she's used to. It's wild, like the wilderness on which the University of Bellam Springs sits. Roped into going to a fraternity party, she literally runs into Kyle Hadley. The boy she's loved since she was nine. The boy she promised all of her firsts to. But that was before his father killed her parents.
Determined to stay away from him, she throws herself into her music. Practicing piano eases her heavy heart, calms the sadness, and pushes away images of Kyle's face.
Until it doesn't.
Her music professor asks her to play a duet for their annual Winter Gala. Doing so means she'll be assured another full ride scholarship. It's an opportunity she can't pass up.
But Kyle is the other half of the duet. And that means hours and hours of practicing.
Weeks of seclusion - just the two of them. And it's more than just music. It's passion like Maddie never believed was possible.
The inevitable happens. She falls in love with him all over again.
But, will loving him be enough to erase all the hate in her heart for his father? Can she look at him, and not see the evil in his family tree?
And maybe it's all a set up. Maybe Kyle is only pretending to care so he can finish what his father started, and kill her too.

Excerpt Time!
It’s obvious how naïve I really am. I had no idea people did stuff like this. Living with my aunt and uncle was fine; they took care of me, gave me affection, but I was also home-schooled, kept in a pampered prison. Up until this moment my only social life was therapy sessions, piano recitals, and a yearly visit to the tattoo parlor.
The atmosphere around me is everything I never imagined. And I think I might like it.
“Come on, let’s get drunk and do something stupid,” Gina says excitedly.
 I follow her, trying hard not to run into anyone, but it’s difficult. People are everywhere. Gina moves ahead of me, her lithe body sliding around people like they aren’t even there.
In the living room is a ratty green couch. Around it is a lot of commotion. People cheering. Bewildered, I stop to watch. A guy kneels on either side of the couch. Two girls sit down. The guys tilt the couch back and two more guys pour white liquid down the girls’ throats. Students are chanting: “Go. Go. Go.”
A couple of seconds later the guys on either end of the couch tilt the girls back up. The girls look flushed, their eyes glassy. Giggling, they wobble as they stand and stumble away. Two more girls take their places and the guys repeat the process.
If that’s what Gina means about couch shots then she can call me Maddelena for as long as she wants. I turn away, looking for my roommate, and she’s in my face, two cups of the red liquid in her hands.
“Here you go, Maddelena.”
I take the cup from her and sniff. Orange, lemon, and lime chunks are floating on top. It smells like gasoline mixed with citrus. “What is it?”
“It’s called Jungle Juice.” She tips the cup and chugs down the whole thing, takes out a piece of fruit, and bites the fruit off the rind. “Ahhhh, this stuff is good. Try it.”
I bring the glass to my lips and take a sip. It burns all the way down, but in a good way. It’s sweet and painful. As though it’s telling me to enjoy the scorching. And I do.
I pull the cup from my mouth, and look at Gina. My eyes are wide with surprise.
“It’s good, right?” Gina asks with a knowing smile. “It is,” I say, taking another drink, this one larger than the first. My insides warm and open and relax and sigh all at the same time. I chug down more.
“Welcome to the best part of college,” she says, touching her cup to mine with a plastic clink.
 

Check out the rest of the tour for more excerpts and reviews!

Much Love!
Lettie
Xxxx

Weekly Round Up!

One of my favourite memes hosted by the lovely Shelia over at Book Journey!

I haven't done this meme in ages! I'm doing two weeks because I missed it so much :) 

Last Week's Posts!
Mini Bloggiesta~ July 2013. Got on quite well! I will my post my wrap up tomorrow.
Blog Tour: Three Daves by Nicki Elson. An 80's New Adult!
Interview: Chelsea Fine. Interview about Chelsea Fine and her new New Adult book!
Blog Tour: Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols. 4 Hearts to Dirty Little Secret!

Read!

Hopeless and Losing Hope lived up to hype, I couldn't put either one down!
Earth Girl was amazing! I loved the concept and the plot.

Reading!

Façade- first book for New Adult Read-a-thon! I imagine I'm loving it!

What's Next!
I've got a New Adult Read-a-thon TBR that I'll be flittering through!

Upcoming Posts!
New Adult Read-a-thon TBR- Should be up today!
Blog Tour: Touching Melody by RaShelle Workman~ Going up today as well!

What are you planning this week?
Much Love!
Lettie

Xxx

Sunday 21 July 2013

New Adult Read-a-thon TBR!


So excited for this Read-a-thon! Hopefully I'm already ploughing through this list!

TBR!
Façade by Nyrae Dawn.
Come back to Me by Coleen Patrick.
The Only Exception by Magan Vernon.
One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker.
Don't Hate The Player by Katie Ashley.
The Hazards of Skinny Dipping by Alyssa Rose Ivy.
Boys of Summer by C.J Duggan.
Frigid by J. Lynn.
Deeper We Fall by Chelsea M. Cameron.
4 Summers by Nyrae Dawn.
Give Me Something by Elizabeth Lee.
If You Stay by Courtney Cole.
The Space Between by Victoria H. Smith.
Untouched by Melody Grace.
Waiting for You by Shey Stahl.

Goal!
Set my sights high on 9 books!

What's on your TBR this Read-a-thon?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxxx

Saturday 20 July 2013

Mini Bloggiesta~ July 2013.

This weekend is the 2nd semi-annual MINI Bloggiesta!
Hosted by Suey from It’s All About Books and Danielle from There’s a Book.
Bloggiesta starts now and runs until midnight Sunday! Participate when and how you want. This is your time to improve on those little things about your blog you’ve been thinking about for months, mark off those long to-do lists and possibly even discover a few great new blogs. Whether you have days, hours or just a few minutes we hope you’ll join us!
 
It's Bloggiesta time again! I've got high hopes for this weekend!
 
Aims!
  • Reviews~ My reviews have been backing up like crazy! I want to write up a few and draft all the others.
  • Comments~ I have been so rubbish at commenting which annoys me because I think it's rude!
  • Planning~ My planning has gone awry so I'm taking this chance to plan out August and September.
  • Posts~ I have a few post ideas sitting in drafts that I want to type up.
  • Email~ Gmail has changed for some reason and doesn't show me all my emails?! Need to look into that!
  • Social Media~ Lastly I stopped my automatic twitter link so I need to make sure I schedule tweets when I schedule all the new posts I will have written :P
Goals!
  • Reviews~ At least 5 and a few more drafted!
  • Comments~ Back comment all of July and visit new blogs.
  • Planning~ Plan August posts and review books and start doing the same for September.
  • Posts~ Write up 2 of these ideas and work on the others.
  • Email~ Figure out how it changed!
  • Social Media~ Lastly Make sure all scheduled posts have a scheduled tweet

Phew! A lot of work to do! Fingers crossed a lot gets done!

What are your goals?
Good Luck!
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxxx

Wednesday 17 July 2013

Blog Tour: Three Daves by Nicki Elson.

Jennifer Whitney was the last American virgin. At least that’s what she felt like in 1986 as she began her sophomore year at Central Illinois University. She was proud of her decision to wait for the right guy, and yet she was getting restless. It seemed like everyone around her was doing it... and having fun doing it, too. She didn’t want to become the campus slut or anything, but surely there was a difference between a trashy skank and a nice girl with a little experience. Perhaps it was time to stop relying on fate to guide her and instead take matters into her own hands. And with that realization, Jen decided to find “the one” and lose her virginity, although not necessarily in that order...
Nicki Elson has created a heroine that everyone will cheer for as she comes of age in the mid-1980s. Whether you lived through the decade and survived the bad hair and acid-wash jeans, or just heard the wild stories, readers of all ages will identify with Jen Whitney as she searches for “the one,” enjoying her romantic ups and downs, made even more entertaining by Nicki Elson’s amusingly wry sense of humour.


Three Daves is definitely a different New Adult! It is set on a 1980s college campus which changes the dynamics from the technology fuelled 21st century settings we're used to!

About the Author.
Writing wasn't something Nicki set out to do; it just sort of happened when she realized writing reports was by far her favourite part of her investment consulting position. She traded stock allocation and diversification for story arcs and dialogue and now weaves her creative writing time in with the other activities of her busy life with her family in the Chicago suburbs. 
Nicki writes with two
goals in mind: #1 to keep the characters realistic, even when their circumstances are anything but, and #2 to make the reader feel. Her published works include
Three Daves, a light-hearted romantic romp through a 1980s college campus, Divine Temptation, a romantic novel of angelic proportions, and short stories “Sway” (available as a single), “I Don’t Do Valentine’s Day” (part of A Valentine Anthology), and “Impressionism 101” (included in the debut issue of Insatiable: The Magazine of Paranormal Desire).

Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the other stops for reviews guest posts and extracts!

Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Saturday 13 July 2013

Interview: Chelsea Fine.

I'm thrilled to have Chelsea Fine here answering some questions!

About Chelsea
Where were you born and where do you call home? 
I was born in Tucson, Arizona and lived there until I was fourteen. I moved to the Phoenix area my freshman year of high school (boy was that fun!) and have lived here ever since. I think “home” is an ever-evolving thing for me. Five years ago, I would have called my parents’ kitchen home. (It is, after all, where my mom feeds me.) But now I think “home” is my living room couch, curled up next to my hubby and our two kiddos. Wow. I sound sappy, haha. But I can’t help myself. It’s true.
What writers inspire you?

I want to be Veronica Roth when I grow up. But I’m also a huge fan of Cassandra Clare, Jennifer Castle, and John Green. 
Book for a long journey?
The Count of Monte Cristo. It lasts for days.
For your own reading, do you prefer ebooks or traditional paper/hard back books?
Paperback copies of books are the best! You can underline in red pen and dog-ear the corners and leave tearstains on the pages. That’s what reading is all about.


About Writing
How do you plan your books?
I fly by the seat of my pants. It’s terrifying and unpredictable. I love it! 
Do you know how a book will end as you start writing it?
Sometimes. Not usually, though. Sometimes I think it’s better not to know. Like…I go on the journey with my characters without knowing the outcome, and sometimes that makes me experience their emotions in the same raw way a reader might. I don’t know.  
Do you plan an entire series, or take it book-by-book?
The correct answer here is “I plan the entire series.” But that would be a big fat lie. *grins*

Where do your ideas come from?The crazy Wonderland that is my brain, haha. I usually get inspired by pictures I see, or movies I watch, or songs I hear, and then I just let my imagination go wild with that inspiration.
About New Adult
What first drew you to New Adult?
The age group! 18-25 is sort of like a Dark Age and I LOVE the concept of giving characters that fall into this lost time some roles in the literary world. Instead of only knowing what their first kiss/love/heartbreak was like in high school and then jumping right into their career lives in their thirties, we can actually let all the significant life changes of their “college years” play out. Forget high school, those are the years that truly shape us.
Why did you want to write a New Adult book?
Because I wanted to write characters who had to figure out their futures beyond prom dresses and graduation. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things, I just wanted to write something with more at stake.
What does “New Adult” mean to you?
Characters who are new at being adults and living in an adult world without the supervision/threat/safety of parents.
What would you love to see next in New Adult?

More paranormal New Adult. And maybe a “New Adult” version of some popular Young Adult book series? That might be fun.

What's next
What are you working on at the minute?
I’m currently finishing up my first New Adult book, as well as working on my first MG series.
The New Adult book is about childhood friends who grow up together, experience a tragedy, and drift apart. But a year later, they end up living next door to one another for the summer and find it difficult to keep the past, well…in the past. It’s a story about hurt and healing, and true love of course.
And the MG series is about a young girl who stumbles upon some magic in Scotland and goes on a wild ride through a world steeped in fantasy, beauty, and danger in order to find her way back home.
Eeek! I’m so excited for both!
On Chelsea's Upcoming New Adult novel.
Tell us what your book is about in 140 characters or less.
What was I thinking, living under the same roof as Levi’s blue eyes? There’s no way I’ll survive the summer. I can barely survive breakfast.
Is this book part of a series?
No. At least that’s not my intention. However, there are some secondary characters that I would love to write about in the future.
What was your favourite chapter (or part) to write and why?
I loved writing the scene where my two main characters first kissed. It was sweet and intense…and it took place in a fort during an epic game of Capture the Flag, so yeah. Big fun. 
Tell us about the cover/s and how it/they came about.
With the exception of Sophie & Carter, I’ve handled all my book covers personally. I have a great photographer (Ashley Bugg with Bugg Photographer) who shot the cover models for my Archers of Avalon series, and I have a love/love relationship with Photoshop where I design my own covers like a true control freak.
Leave us with a teaser/quote from your book?
'Levi is so distracting. His arms are all raised, and his shoulders are all broad, and he’s fixing crap, and it’s just...just...annoying.
I pry my eyes off his back and force my feet to the stove where I throw vegetables into a pan, grab a wooden spoon, and ignore his close proximity.
My body hums.
I ignore that too.
He’s unscrewing the cover of the fire alarm and his arm moves with the motion. Why does he have so many muscles in his forearm? That can’t be healthy. I drop my eyes to the pan and focus on bell peppers.
Because bell peppers are interesting and they don’t have forearm muscles or backs the size of Alaska.
The forearm muscles that I’m not thinking about lightly brush against my shoulder and the humming inside my body knots together and zips around like a bumblebee on crack.
I casually turn down the heat on the stove, like that’s the reason I’m suddenly a human vibrator, and go back to stirring. Levi goes back to screwing.
Bell peppers.
I’m thinking about bell peppers.
But those blasted muscles can’t seem to keep their distance and soon enough Levi brushes against me again.
Except this time his forearm grazes my breast and my body immediately goes wild like I’m some love-starved teenager and the humming dives low in my belly and the stove gets hotter and my breaths get shallow and suddenly bell peppers are the sexiest vegetable on earth.
From the corner of my eye, I catch Levi’s Adam’s apple bobbing with a nervous swallow, which can only mean one thing. The boob brush was an accident.
Well crap.
If he had been trying to cop a feel with his Hulkish forearm, I could have responded with some kind of snarky “you’re a pervert” comment. But it wasn’t on purpose and somehow that makes it sexier and now the cracked-out bumblebee is buzzing in my nether regions and my hands are starting to tingle and why the HELL is this stove so hot?
He lowers his arm for a moment, his eyes still on the alarm, and stretches his neck.
Ah, the neck stretch. Then universal sign of stress. Well at least I’m not alone in my frustration. My hot, distracting, pants-are-so-inconvenient frustration.
Wait, what? Who said anything about pants? I am NOT thinking about pants—or the lack thereof. Damn you, bell peppers!
I toss the wooden spoon to the side and move back to the counter where I pretend to be fascinated by a list of omelette ingredients.
I bite back a groan. What was I thinking, living under the same roof as Levi? There’s no way I’ll survive the summer.
Hell, I can barely survive breakfast.'

Thank you Chelsea Fine for asking the questions and to New Leaf Literacy for giving me the chance to do this interview as part of their Addicted to New Adult feature.

Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx