Camp Boyfriend by J.K. Rock: Book Blitz

Camp Boyfriend (Camp Boyfriend #1)

by J.K. Rock

Release Date: 07/02/13

From Spencer Hill Press

Summary from Goodreads:

The summer of her dreams is about to get a reality check.

They said it couldn't be done, but geeky sophomore Lauren Carlson transformed herself into a popular girl after moving to a new school halfway across the country. Amazing what losing her braces and going out for cheerleading will do. Only trouble is, the popular crowd is wearing on Lauren's nerves and she can't wait to return to summer camp where she's valued for her brain instead of her handsprings. She misses her old friends and most of all, her long time camp-only boyfriend, Seth. This year she intends to upgrade their relationship to year-round status once she's broken up with her new, jock boyfriend, Matt. He doesn't even begin to know the real her, a girl fascinated by the night sky who dreams of discovering new planets and galaxies.

But Matt isn't giving her up without a fight. As he makes his case to stay together, Lauren begins to realize his feelings run deeper than she ever would have guessed. What if the guy she thought she was meant to be with forever isn't really The One? Returning to Camp Juniper Point was supposed to ground her uprooted life, but she's more adrift than ever. Everything feels different and soon Lauren's friends are turning on her and both guys question what she really wants. As summer tensions escalate, Lauren wonders if she's changed more than she thought. Will her first big discovery be herself?

Available from:

   

"Fun, romantic and giddy, Camp Boyfriend brings real romance to summer camp with grace, humor and passion." - Carrie Jones, New York Times Best-selling Author of the NEED series

Camp Boyfriend Excerpt:

…Seth continued to grip my hand. “Please hear me out, Lauren. This will only take a minute.”

“Fine. But just for a minute. That’s it.” I plunked down on the rooftop and swung my legs over the edge, back hunched, arms crossed.

All around us slept campers in lean-tos. By the moon’s low position, I guessed it was well past midnight. An owl hooted from a nearby pine, then took flight in a blur of white and grey.

“Strix varia,” Seth breathed behind me. “Must be after a frog. Look at him dive.”

I tracked the bird to the river. The current made a soft shhhhh sound as it flowed over and around rocks and boulders. I’d forgotten how much I loved this time of night- the peaceful, natural feel of it.

Seth’s shoulder brushed mine as he lowered himself beside me. Goosebumps broke out on my skin, every molecule in my bloodstream screaming to life. I took a steadying breath.

He wrapped an arm around me. “Cold?”

I shook my head and edged away. “You said this would take a minute, so…?”

His finger pressed against my lips while the other hand pointed. My eyes widened at the sight of a portable field telescope set up to our left. Stargazing. As science geeks, it’d always been one of our favorite things to do together. I couldn’t believe he lugged the collapsible apparatus on the trip. Given the limited gear we were allowed to pack, he’d made some sacrifices to have this moment with me.

“C’mon.” Seth scrambled across the roof, peered into the eyepiece, and focused the lens. He looked up. “Last year we talked about seeing the Perseids together and tonight’s a good clear night for viewing. I didn’t want you to miss it. Have a look.”

He remembered this meteor shower that only an astronomer would love. My heart leaped. Say no, I told myself sternly in spite of its sudden jump.

“Okay,” came out instead.

My eyes flew to the sky. I hadn’t forgotten about the meteor shower and our promise to watch the skies together, but I’d put it out of my mind when I brought Matt to camp. But now… this was science, right? We could be nerds for a few minutes without acting on our hormones, couldn’t we? This was exactly what I needed. To rediscover my passion for astronomy, a part of me that I’d ignored all year, mostly because my dad had checked out of my life.

And didn’t that make me a lot like Matt—spiting myself to get back at my dad for ignoring me? I felt ashamed of myself and my pettiness.

Now, I knelt behind the telescope and looked down into the eyepiece. My breath caught at the otherworldly view. A streak of white light shown against an onyx sky dotted with twinkling stars. Behind it blazed another stream of periwinkle and azure blue.

Wonder filled me. I was transported, aware of the vastness of life and my tiny place in it. The familiar, otherworldly feel brought back my Aerospace Scholar ambition and memories of planetarium trips with Dad.

I grabbed Seth’s hand, wanting him to share this amazing moment.  But then his arms wrapped around me and he stared into my eyes, the stars reflected in his gaze.

Our breaths synchronized. He exhaled against my temple, making my chest flutter. I turned to tell him I had to go. But before I could speak, his lips captured mine.

My feelings for Seth rushed back with a pull as unstoppable as gravity itself. We tumbled against the roof, every nerve-ending awakening at his familiar touch. He was fantasy come to life. A forgotten dream remembered.

Seth pulled back and looked down at me with his expressive eyes. “I’ve missed you so much, Lauren.”

“Me too,” I admitted.

He rolled us over so that I was on top. My hair hung down like a curtain, the dark strands blotting out the world….

About the Authors:

J. K. Rock is the writing partnership of sisters-in-law Joanne & Karen Rock. Separately, they write adult romance. Together, they dream up Young Adult books like CAMP BOYFRIEND, the first in a three-book series. The summer camp stories continue with CAMP PAYBACK (4/14) and CAMP FORGET-ME-NOT (8/14), plus bonus free novellas in between stories. Visit http://campboyfriend.net to learn more about the series and the free prequel novella, CAMP KISS, which you can download here.

***Author Links***

Author Website / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Goodreads / Karen's Twitter / Joanne's Twitter / Facebook

***GIVEAWAY***

Grand prize - Signed copies Amanda Ink's SUN, Jennifer Armentrout writing as J. Lynn's FRIGID and JK Rock's CAMP BOYFRIEND. Also included, advance sneak peek copy Laurie Halse Anderson's THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY and Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian's FIRE WITH FIRE, plus an "I <3 my Camp Boyfriend" tee shirt, friendship bracelets,  'I <3 Camp' temporary tattoos, and a bookmark with the download code for CAMP KISS.

Three other winners will receive $10 Amazon gift cards

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Book Blitz Hosted by:

Guest Post: Authors Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin

 




A Really Awesome Mess
by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin
Published by Egmont USA
Publication Date: July 23, 2013
Pages 288
Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Indiebound









Last week I read and reviewed A Really Awesome Mess by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin. The fun cover and title appealed to me and made me want to read it, but the characters and their stories prove that this book is more than just a cute cover. A Really Awesome Mess "is witty, a bit raunchy (but not too much), sometimes a little far-fetched (but weirder things have happened), and completely entertaining" (from my review). 

I'm hosting a giveaway for a copy of A Really Awesome Mess. For a chance for you own copy, you can enter to win it HERE. 

Today I am happy to host both Trish and Brendan at Actin' Up with Books. I asked that they share some of their favorite bookish memories - their favorite books that introduced them to a love for reading or a memorable experience visiting a favorite bookstore.

 Welcome Trish and Brendan!!

From Trish Cook:

I don't think it's a stretch to say I've loved books since birth. My mom was so big on reading to my brother and I as kids, I caught on to the process naturally when I was three or four and was already a total bookworm by the time I entered kindergarten.  I've fallen in love with so many books since then, but I think the author that still inspires me most is Judy Blume. It was such a revelation to me that a grown-up could not only remember exactly what it was like to be a kid, but that she treated our worries and dreams with such respect and compassion and seriousness. Also, her honesty blew me away. How great was it that she could discuss periods, boobs, boys and sex in a way that made you feel like she was your best friend and not some judgmental adult? In fourth grade, I took Are You there God? It's Me Margaret out of the school library so many times the librarian started teasing me about my addiction. When I was thirteen, my mom handed me a copy of Forever, and I soon became the neighborhood dealer of this book--no one else's parents would buy it for them. So yeah, totally Judy Blume. She rules. What a great role model.

From Brendan Halphin:

My best book memories don't involve bookstores; they involve libraries.  As an only child growing up in an era where there were only 3 TV channels, I had a lot of time to read.  And so the library always felt like a magical place to me: you walk in and you can look around at all these books and then they let you take a bunch of them home!  For free! Many of my best library moments are tied to specific spots. I remember these places and can instantly feel the excitement: I can read anything! 

The children's room at the Hyde Park branch library was in the basement.  There was a little fountain with water pouring over rocks in the hallway that led to the stairs. 

The Mount Washington branch housed its fairy tale collection in a cramped little hallway that always felt cozy and homey and where I was always the only patron.

The main branch of the Cincinnati Public Library had its science fiction and fantasy collection in a little nook of a mezzanine accessible only via a very long ramp. 

The Somerville Public Library had its new releases on the lower level of its beautiful two-story atrium of a library.

 And the Boston Public Library's courtyard is one of the best public spaces in America, with a fountain, a statue, and wooden chairs and benches around the perimeter. Summers when I was my daughter's primary caregiver, we used to take the T down to the BPL and grab a bunch of books that I would read to her on a wooden bench in the shade.  Once a Korean student of English came and sat down next to us and asked if she could sit in while I read a Junie B Jones book so that she could improve her English. 

At a time when the very idea of a public good is under attack and some people even assert that the internet has rendered libraries obsolete, I feel like it's important to speak up for the libraries that made me the reader and writer I am today, and for the great joy and beauty of having places to go where you can just sit and read.


About the Authors

Trish Cook

Trish Cook is the author of Notes from the Blender, So Lyrical, and Overnight Sensation. She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and daughters. You can visit her online at www.trishcook.com.

Brendan Halpin

Brendan Halpin is the author of Notes from the Blender, How Ya Like Me Now, Forever Changes, and Donorboy, an Alex Award Winner. He lives in Boston with his wife, Suzanne, their three children, and their dog. You can visit him online at www.brendanhalpin.com.

Sneak Peek: Finally, Forever by Katie Kacvinsky

With her books First Comes Love and Second Chance author Katie Kacvinsky has given readers two memorable characters in contemporary fiction: Gray and Dylan  I was hooked by their story by the very first line. "Out of the corner of my eye, I'm watching a girl." Theirs isn't a perfect love story but it is one that has captured my heart and hasn't let go. If you want to know just why I loved First Comes Love, you can read my review here.

I am beyond thrilled to be share a sneak peek of Finally, Forever, the last book of the series. The release date of Finally, Forever isn't available just yet, but like all good things, I just know it will be worth the wait. 

From Katie Kacvinsky:

Here is a short clip from Finally, Forever, the last book in the First Comes Love series. If I had to sum up Finally, Forever in one word it would be: comedy.  Whether writers will admit to it or not, events and situations in their own lives bleed into their stories. I’m at a point in my life where I just want to laugh. I want to relax. I want to take time to appreciate the people around me who love me and who help me to shine, because man, without those people I would shrivel. I would be weak. I would break apart. Love is what makes us strong.

Here is the excerpt. Enjoy, and keep up with me on twitter (@KatieKacvinsky) to find out more about the release date.

From Finally, Forever:

Dylan scoots into a booth and I almost slip in right next to her, until I remember she isn’t mine and I have a pretend girlfriend and Dylan has an over-achieving, smart, outdoorsy boyfriend that could model for a Patagonia catalogue with all his stupid dogs. I hope they get married and own a dog shelter together and start a reality show about their stupid, charitable, perfect life.

For some reason, I feel the pathetic need to annoy Dylan, because her presence is sexually annoying the crap out of me. I had a hard-on three times last night, and I woke up with one. It’s like a headache in my pants.

Dylan opens her menu and I open mine and the waitress comes up and asks if we’re ready to order.  I clear my throat.

“I have a question,” I speak up, and pin my eyes directly on Dylan’s.  “I was wondering which was moister,” I say moister slowly and delicately, giving every consonant and vowel careful annunciation. “The cinnamon rolls, or the muffins?” I finish.

Dylan scrunches her nose like she smells something foul. When we first met she told me what her three least favorite words were. Her long term memory sucks, but mine is prolific. It’s one of my weaknesses. I remember everything. The challenge is to try and forget.   

I look away from Dylan and smile at the waitress, an elderly woman who appears to have more red lipstick on her teeth than her lips. She chews on the end of her pen while she considers my question.

“By moister, you mean?”

“I mean exactly that,” I say. “Moist, as in having a spongy, porous texture saturated in pockets of moisture.”

Dylan covers her mouth with one hand like she’s about to gag. She takes a long breath and blows it out slowly to stay calm.
“Ah-huh,” the waitress mumbles. “The homemade raspberry muffins are popular,” she offers.

“Great,” I say. “I’ll have one.”

I smile at Dylan’s frown. This is going to be fun. Hey, if I have to be mentally, emotionally, and sexually tortured by her presence, then the least I can do is return the torture. I’m mature like that.

Dylan orders coffee and when the waitress walks away, she narrows her eyes. “Is it torture-Dylan day?” she asks and my smile widens. “I hate the m-word. Passionately hate.”

“I know,” I tell her. “You hate the words moist, protoplasm and membrane.”

She sets down her menu. “How do you know that?” she asks, her eyes suspicious, as if I was reading her diary.

“You told me,” I remind her. “When we first met.”

She blinks with surprise. “I don’t remember saying that.”

I shrug. “I do.”

“What else do you remember?” she asks.

I stare at her. “Everything. It’s my curse,” I say.

“Wow,” she says. “I have a tough time remembering anything. Names. Places. Dates. I barely passed freshman history.”

Must be nice. “That’s probably why you take so many pictures,” I tell her. “It’s your way of remembering.”

She smiles at me, a Dylan smile that’s part lips and part laugh and it always catches the corners of my lips and pulls them up. Even when I fight to hold them down.  

About the Author

Katie Kacvinsky with Grass Roots store manager

Katie Kacvinsky is a young adult and new adult fiction writer. Her books have been nominated for YALSA awards and First Comes Love was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. She currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

 Find Katie Kacvinsky

Blog * Goodreads * Twitter

Belonging by Karen Ann Hopkins: Review

Belonging
by Karen Ann Hopkins
Published by Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: April 30, 2013
Pages: 408
Source: ARC provided by author and Kismet Book Tours

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Indiebound







I left everything I knew behind.

But it was worth it. He was worth it.

No one thought an ordinary girl like me would last two minutes living with the Amish, not even me. There are a lot more rules and a lot less freedom, and I miss my family and the life I once had. Worst of all, Noah and I aren't even allowed to see each other. Not until I've proven myself.

If I can find a way to make it work, we'll be NOAH & ROSE

together forever.

But not everybody believes this is where I belong.

My Thoughts 

Like with my review of Temptation, the first book of this series, I find it difficult to share my thoughts about Belonging without revealing too much. So this is my warning: This review gets a little spoilery - so read at your own risk.

Rose and Noah, the star-crossed lovers of Temptation, try to make their love work in Belonging.

As much as I love reading about the romance in Temptation and now in Belonging, I am still conflicted with the idea of Rose and Noah being right for each other. There are times I can believe that they have an overwhelming, real love but I continue to question if it is the constant separation that feeds their need to be together. Is it just the longing or is it forever love? In Temptation, Rose and Noah were forbidden to love one another because Noah was Amish and Rose was not. In Belonging, Noah and Rose are still kept from being together and openly showing love and affection, because Rose must prove to everyone that she wants to give up her ways and assimilate into the Amish community.

In Belonging, I got to know Rose a lot better. This probably had a lot to do with her introduction into the Amish community and the new friends that she made there. I enjoyed seeing Rose in this new role - friend and confidant. She’s strong-willed and protective of her friends. She’s more than just the girl who loves Noah.

Her relationships with her siblings was key to this story too. She was giving up more than just the comforts of modern life. By choosing to become Amish, she was leaving her family behind.

The introduction of Sam’s point of view was a nice surprise. Temptation was told in Rose and Noah’s alternating POVs and adding this new perspective in Belonging was a great contribution to the story. Getting outside of the minds of the main characters is refreshing because they can be pretty intense.  Plus Sam is an entertaining character to read. He is completely full of himself and does fill the role of over-bearing, know-it-all older brother. Their interactions are some of the more entertaining moments of the book. They push each others buttons, but Rose holds her own.

Rose adapted to her environment to bide her time but it’s obvious that she never completely accepted what she was doing. She was changing but still playing a role. While reading, I made a note of many passages where Rose acknowledged that she was giving up and giving in just to be with Noah and how she often had to numb her thoughts of the truth of what she was doing because it was easier to pretend she was doing the right thing. One of the most telling conversations was between Rose and Summer, when Rose doesn’t know if she can continue “playing Amish”:

    “I don’t know. Sometimes, when I’m with Noah, everything is fine with world. But other times, it’s like waking up in a nightmare . . . The alternative would be to leave Noah, and I’ll never do that,” I said, scooting my chair a little back form the stove to avoid melting.

    “See, that’s where you and I are different. If I fell in love, I’d give my life for my guy, but not my soul,” she said cryptically.

    “What are you saying?” The fact that Summer was getting all philosophical had be suddenly on edge.

    She gazed at me with steady eyes and said, “That if you give up your spirit, who you really are, for a guy, you won’t have much left to love him with.” (pg 273)

THANK YOU SUMMER!

What really gets me going is why Rose has to be the one to give up everything. What Noah loves so much about Rose are her differences from the Amish ways. He loves her joy, her impulsiveness, all of the things that makes her who she is. Why would he want her to change or suppress these things that make her alive just so they can be together? Why can’t Noah be the person who has to make the sacrifices?

Why? Why? Why? I really do understand why. It is easier for Rose to give up her life and her family because her family would eventually accept her choice. If Noah was the one to change, to leave, his would be shunned and never allowed back in his community. His family wouldn’t be as forgiving. He would have nothing.

To say that their love story infuriates me would be melodramatic and it would give the wrong impression of my opinion of Belonging. I love the complexity of the story and the portrait of this life and love and the community that Hopkins has created. Rose and Noah’s story is far from over and knowing the dramatic ending (not spoiling that part here) of Belonging has me aching to read the final book of the series, Forever.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the author and am providing this review as part of Kismet Book Tour.  I was not compensated in any way other than the book provided. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

About Karen Ann Hopkins

Blog | Goodreads | Facebook

A native of New York State, Karen Ann Hopkins now lives with her family on a farm in northern Kentucky, where her neighbors in all directions are members of a strict Amish community. Her unique perspective became the inspiration for the story of star-crossed lovers Rose and Noah. When she’s not homeschooling her kids, giving riding lessons or tending to a menagerie of horses, goats, peacocks, chickens, ducks, rabbits, dogs and cats, she is dreaming up her next romantic novel.

Tour-wide Giveaway

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Summer Road Trip Giveaway Hop

I'm back joining another hop. The Summer Road Trip Giveaway Hop is hosted by The Starry-Eyed Revue and all of us participating are giving away Road Trip books.

I am giving away one of my favorite road trip books: The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour.

From my review:

"Why do I read young adult books? The Disenchantments IS WHY I read young adult. It is the reason I read contemporary. It was like hanging out with my best friends."

About The Disenchantments:

Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev's band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she's abandoning their plans - and Colby - to start college in the fall.

But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing in small towns and dingy venues, while roadie- Colby struggles to deal with Bev's already-growing distance and the most important question of all: what's next?

Morris Award–finalist Nina LaCour draws together the beauty and influences of music and art to brilliantly capture a group of friends on the brink of the rest of their lives.

Giveaway Details

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Forever by Karen Ann Hopkins: Cover Reveal

Cover Reveal!!

 The final book of the Temptation Series by Karen Ann Hopkins

FOREVER

Forever by Karen Ann Hopkins 
Temptation Series: Book #3
Publication date:  January 28, 2014

by Harlequin Teen
Genre: Young Adult 

Pre-order: Amazon * Barnes and Noble

 Add to Goodreads Shelf

All I want is my happily-ever-after.

That's all I've wanted since meeting Noah Miller.

From the day we met, the world has tried to keep Noah and me from being together, but now that I'm carrying his child, no one will be able to tear us apart. Or so I hope. But Noah and I have made some mistakes along the way, and the consequences are impacting the people we love. Worse, there's a storm on the horizon, and it's sure to cause serious devastation.

If we can get through this, we'll finally be Rose and Noah; a family, forever.

But first we have to survive the road ahead. And happily-ever-after is a long way off.

About Karen Ann Hopkins

Blog | Goodreads | Facebook

A native of New York State, Karen Ann Hopkins now lives with her family on a farm in northern Kentucky, where her neighbors in all directions are members of a strict Amish community. Her unique perspective became the inspiration for the story of star-crossed lovers Rose and Noah. When she’s not homeschooling her kids, giving riding lessons or tending to a menagerie of horses, goats, peacocks, chickens, ducks, rabbits, dogs and cats, she is dreaming up her next romantic novel.

Head over to the HarlequinTEEN Facebook page and share your thoughts on 

this series finale cover!

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