Cover Reveals!! The latest in the Summer Series by C.J. Duggan

Stan 

(Summer Series #1.5) 

by C.J. Duggan
Publication date: December 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Pre-Order

Synopsis:

I had plans, big plans, but all that changed the night Bel Evans darkened my doorstep.

Stan Remington is the go-to man; what he doesn’t know about Onslow means one of two things: it doesn’t exist or it hasn’t happened yet.

And when it comes to Onslow, for Stan, being an only child has meant a guilt-riddled sense of duty to help out at his parents’ caravan park every summer. Same old town. Same old story.

Until Belinda Evans.

The wild and annoying doctor’s daughter spends her summer family holidays at Remington’s Caravan Park, and normally she’s not Stan’s problem. But then she sabotages his planned weekend escape. Now Stan finds himself not only caretaking the caravan park on his own, but also responsible for Bel.

Just the two of them.
Under the one roof.
For one long, long weekend.

In a world where mundane routine and small-town boredom is his norm, one weekend changes every element of his world to anything but boring.

Max 

(Summer Series #2.5)  

by C.J. Duggan
Publication date: December 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Pre-Order

Synopsis:

Max Henry thought he’d left the dusty flats of Ballan behind, but when the past slams into his present, suddenly there is no escaping – even if he wanted to.

Melanie Sheehan didn’t set out to be a liar, but her last lie landed her in big trouble. Now Mel must suffer a harsh consequence – she’s not allowed out of her father’s sight.

No friends, no parties, no life.

Since impeccably good behaviour is now all she’s about, her dad, renowned Ballan local ‘Bluey’ Sheehan, is about to finally cut Mel some slack. The catch? While he heads out of town on business, she has to stay at the Onslow Hotel, and he’s entrusting Max Henry, the eldest son of Bluey’s best mate, to look out for her.

He just doesn’t know it yet.

Max, the new head barman at the Onslow Hotel, is the one boy Mel has been crushing on since forever. At a time when Mel plans to go on the straight and narrow, she is about to tell the biggest lie of all. Will Max be able to handle the fiery farm girl or should he be considered the last boy in Onslow to trust?

 Check Out All of the books from The Summer Series

Amazon / B&N / i-Bookstore / Kobo

 Cover Reveal Giveaway

(provided by the author)

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

AUTHOR BIO

 

C.J Duggan is a Number One Best Selling Australian Author who lives with her husband in a rural border town of New South Wales, Australia. When she isn’t writing books about swoony boys and 90’s pop culture you will find her renovating her hundred-year-old Victorian homestead or annoying her local travel agent for a quote to escape the chaos.

The Boys of Summer is Book One in her international best selling New Adult Romance Series.

Author Links:
Website: http://www.cjdugganbooks.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5779034.C_J_Duggan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cj.duggan.1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CJ_Duggan

Cover Reveal: AGAIN by Lisa Burstein

Cover Reveal

Again by Lisa Burstein

AGAIN

by Lisa Burstein

Age Group: NA/Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: September 22, 2014

GoodReads

How far would you go for a second chance?

 Eleven years after flunking out of college, Kate has finally hit rock-bottom. Losing her job and boyfriend in one drunken night, she’s determined to fix her life by going back to the moment when she let partying and sex take over and do things right. At twenty-nine, she heads back to freshman year of college, with a catch.

 Pretending she's nineteen with a new roommate and full class schedule is easy. When she meets her shy, sexy and seven-years-younger RA Carter, following her self-imposed sobriety and celibacy rules is proving to be anything but.

 A senior enduring years of regret, Carter is more than ready to graduate. He’s anxious to move on from the party his freshman year where he witnessed his frat brothers about to commit a sexual assault. Instead of doing the right thing and stepping in, he looked the other way and left. His guilt has made for a lonely four years.

 When he meets the new freshman on his floor, spunky and confident Kate, he wonders if his time as an outcast has finally come to an end.

 Kate and Carter’s growing friendship and undeniable attraction make it harder to hide the demons from their respective pasts. But when their secrets are finally revealed, will their chance at starting over together still be there?

Excerpt

Chapter One

Kate

  College-take-two started with me hiding in the dorm lobby men’s bathroom. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice the urinals until after I ran inside.

  I stood with my back tight against the wall gasping air like it was Riesling and I was at an all you can drink happy hour.

  How the hell did I think I’d ever pull this off? Pretend to be a nineteen-year-old freshman at twenty-nine-years old?

   Going back to college might not have been one of my best ideas—but it was the only one that might finally change my life. I wanted to change my life. I needed to. It was just hard to convince myself of that once I was actually on campus with tons of real freshman all around me.

  I guess it’s a lot easier to fantasize about living your life over again than to actually go through with it. 

 

  “Are you lost?”

 

  I turned and found a built, blonde-haired hottie washing his hands. He dried them quickly, crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned against the sink.

  That was the moment I realized I was in the men’s bathroom. The moment my breathing went from gulping Riesling at an all you can drink happy hour to puking it up into the disgusting toilet at the back of the bar when drinks went back to full price.

  My knees went wobbly. My mouth was dry; my head seemingly floating on top of my neck. I couldn’t tell if I was suddenly unbalanced because of how handsome he was, or the realization I clearly was lost.

  Minus a penis lost.

  “Shit,” I reached for the door handle with sweaty palms. At least I was making the kind of a stupid mistake a real freshman would.

  My wide, wild eyes probably made me look as confused by my surroundings as any other student arriving, but honestly I was terrified and not because I’d almost caught this guy with his pants down, because this whole idea was insane.

  “It’s okay,” he said, walking toward me, waving his large hands to calm me. “This is definitely not the worst thing I’ve seen someone do the first day back.” He smiled showing teeth that reminded me of toothpaste commercials. It brought out the sweetest dimple the size of an M&M on his chin.

  Fuck me. I smiled back.

  He paused; eyeing me up and down, perhaps noticing the tight body I was showing off in a desperate attempt to appear nineteen.

  “What makes you an expert?” I asked hoping to change his focus, Maybe he wasn’t regarding me for the reason I thought; tight body or no, I was not nineteen. I was twenty-nine. Why the hell would anyone believe any different?

  He pointed to his red polo shirt.

  Turns out he was doing his job.

  The area above his right pectoral muscle read Resident Advisor, Hudson University. There was something I couldn’t identify in his sea-glass blue eyes; almost like he was holding back, putting up a good front.

  I knew his look well. It was one I’d mastered. When it got too hard to wear my own everything-is-fine-mask I doused it in alcohol and sex and bad choices, but that wasn’t a solution anymore.

  And clearly, everything wasn’t fine.

  “I need to get out of here,” I grasped for the door latch again, trying to put out the fire blazing in my neck and face.

  He reached from behind me and also went for the door. His hand brushed against mine blistering enough to brand my skin.

  My pulse popped like the last minute of popcorn in a microwave. I needed to get away from him. I would have usually chastised myself for even glancing in his direction. Not that I had much choice considering I’d been the one who put us in such close and uncomfortable quarters.

  Twenty-nine-year-olds didn’t spontaneously combust from a college kid’s accidental touch. But damn, this guy was fine. My RA back in college-take-one was nothing like this. If he had been I might have made it past the first semester.

  I might have passed my actual college-take-one classes.

  Of course, I also might have spent it studying what was under his khakis.

  “Let me help you,” he said, pushing on the latch as I continued to pull. His voice was a deep vibrato, as deep as his blue eyes seemed.

  “I can open a door,” I said, pulling as hard as I could. Nothing happened.

  Apparently I couldn’t.

  He lifted his arms I-surrender-style and stood back stifling a laugh. “It’s a push.”

  “I knew that,” I looked down as I finally pushed the door open and we exited the bathroom. Not because I was embarrassed, though who was I kidding?

  I kept my eyes away from his. I didn’t want to show him my face. Have him laugh and say, what the hell are you doing here old lady? Or even worse, are you here helping your daughter or son move in?

  It was one thing to be told you had a baby-face your entire life. It was another to put it to the test next to actual babies!

  That was why I’d run into the bathroom. Too bad my early-onset cataracts had obscured the mammoth M and stick figure dude.

  We stood in front of the door, the dorm lobby brimming with students and their parents. I should have just walked away, but I liked the way he was checking me out, his gaze sliding from my just purchased Uggs to my just purchased white winter hat with cat-ears smashed over my recently highlighted blonde hair. I had been doing my best to look student-like.

  But I was pretty sure I looked like Hannah Montana.

  It had been easy to Photoshop my high school transcript so it seemed like I graduated a year ago. Simple to change my one semester of F’s to A’s, to take the SATs again, to get a fake ID, to dress like any other nineteen-year-old. It took an hour to sublet my rent-controlled New York City apartment.

  Being here and acting like a college freshman would clearly be a lot harder.

 Be sure to add Again on GoodReads!

About Lisa Burstein

Lisa Burstein is the author of the Young Adult Novels: Pretty Amy and Dear Cassie, and the New Adult Novels & Novellas: Sneaking Candy, The Next Forever & The Possibility of Us. She is also a contributor to the essay collection, Break These Rules: 35 Young Adult Authors On Speaking Up, Standing Out, and Being Yourself. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats. Again is her self-publishing debut.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads

Stacking the Shelves (18)

This week I'm joining Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews and sharing the books that I acquired throughout the week.

 

(links to Goodreads)

 

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins w/swag (Purchased) - Over the 4th of July weekend, I stopped in Hooray for Books in Alexandria, VA to pre-order my copy of Isla in hopes being one of the first 25 who would get the coveted tote and swag as part of the pre-order campaign. I was and my package arrived earlier this week - another perk of pre-ordering. I love indie bookstores!

How to Love by Katie Cotugno (Purchased) - I purchased the e-book of How to Love and read it immediately AND FELL IN LOVE WITH IT. Ever since, I've wanted the gorgeous book to have on my bookshelf and this week I FINALLY got it. I love it and can't wait to read it again.

The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone by Adele Griffin (ARC for review) - Thanks to Soho Teen. I'm looking forward to starting this one AND I'll get to see Adele again at YALLFest. I can't wait to talk to her about her new book!

The Green Teen Cookbook (Finished Copy for review) - Thanks to Zest Books - I acceoted this for review because I thought it would be fun to try some recipes with my teenaged nieces and nephew.

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian (Finished Copy for review) - Thanks to Penguin Random House

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Library; Audiobook) - I'm reading this one for a book club that I plan to crash in a few weeks!

Let's Get Lost chapter sampler by Adi Alsaid (Won) - I'm excited to read this. This chapter sampler will have to tide me over until I can get the finished copy.

Swimming to Tokyo by Brenda St. John Brown (Won; e-book) - Thank you Brenda! 

 

Beach Reads Giveaway Hop

I'm headed to the beach next week and I am taking a selection of books with me. I probably won't have a chance to read them all. I plan to spend a good amount of time in the ocean and walking the beach, but I'll have these with me when I have some "down time" from relaxing.

For this giveaway, the winner can select two e-books of their choice from:

(links to Goodreads)

Make It Count by Megan Erickson

Swimming to Tokyo by Brenda St. John Brown

Pieces of Olivia by Melissa West

More Than Music by Elizabeth Briggs

Giveaway Details

  Giveaway is for Kindle E-books

(available through Amazon US)

Must be at least 18 years old to enter

This hop runs from August 1 -15, 2014

Enter via Rafflecopter below

If I cannot verify your entries, those entries will  not count.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

After the Rain by Renee Carlino

I love the covers of Renee's books. Just seeing the cover, I want to read her books. I immediately want to know the story within the covers. After the Rain is no exception. It is gorgeous!!

AFTER THE RAIN 

by Renee Carlino

Atria Books Paperback 

 320 pages 

November 11, 2014

About AFTER THE RAIN:

From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a deeply emotional contemporary romance about the second chances waiting beyond the shattered dreams of youth.

Under the bright arena lights of a rodeo show, young Avelina Belo falls for a handsome cowboy with a larger-than-life personality. After a whirlwind courtship, she happily moves away from her family in northern California and settles into married life with her cowboy on a seven-thousand-acre cattle ranch in Montana. One freak accident later, Avelina’s hopes for the future come to an end.

Nate Myers graduated from UCLA medical school at the top of his class, ready to follow in the footsteps of his father, a superstar cardiothoracic surgeon. Six years later, Nate’s career is being ruined by a malpractice suit. Questioning himself for the first time, he retreats to a Montana cattle ranch to visit his uncle and gain perspective. There, he meets a beautiful young woman named Avelina who teaches him more than he ever knew about matters of the heart. 

About the author:

Renée Carlino lives in Southern California with her husband, two sons, and their sweet dog, June. When she's not at the beach with her boys or working on her next book, she likes to spend her time reading, going to concerts, and eating dark chocolate. To learn more, visit ReneeCarlino.com.

Visit Renee online:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

 

Pre-Order Links:

Amazon

Apple

Barnes & Noble

Blio

Books-a-Million

IndieBound

Google

UK Links:

Amazon

Waterstones

Foyles

WHS

Apple

Google

AUS Links:

Bookworld

Amazon

Apple

Google

Review: Gone by Anna Bloom

Gone

by Anna Bloom

Publication Date: July 28, 2014

Pages:364

Source: Good Choice Reading Blog Tours

Add to Goodreads

Purchase Amazon / Barnes & Noble

from Goodreads

 Rebecca Walters harbours a dark secret, and as the fifty-three bangles she wears on her wrists as a self-imposed sentence of guilt remind her, she can’t even begin to consider moving on. Not after what happened on that night six months ago… a night which she can’t remember and yet managed to change her life forever.

When Rebecca comes across Joshua Adams, man equally haunted by past tragedies, on a moonlit beach, both of their lives are destined to change forever, and when the girl made out of the sun meets the boy made out of the moon and sea, anything can happen… but will the knowledge of their murky pasts bring them together or drive them apart?

Will Rebecca finally be able to claim her freedom? Will she stay and fight to be the girl she found on the sandy beaches of Cornwall or is she destined to keep running and hiding from a past that won’t stay Gone? One thing’s for certain: either way, nothing will ever be the same again.

My Thoughts

Gone is beautiful story through and through. Anna Bloom's writing grabbed a hold of me and made me believe in this story of two young people struggling to live in the present.

Both Rebecca and Joshua are holding on to major regrets and guilt from their pasts. They are both devastated in ways that they believe they are beyond repair. I'll admit that I had some reservations about both of these characters and their pasts that left them haunted and damaged. Would it be overly dramatic? I shouldn't have had any worries because it was perfectly balanced. I think that story being told in alternating perspectives helped with that. 

I loved the intensity between Joshua and Rebecca during the serious moments between them but also in playful moments too. It was easy to get caught up in what was going on between them and experience happiness when they did and sadness when that was what they were feeling. This can be attributed to Bloom's ability to capture authentic emotions. 

I liked the interactions between Rebecca and her family. Her parents are involved in her life regardless of how she tries to separate herself from them. They are observant and understanding and well -meaning and great examples that parents can be relied on and confided in. And because of them, Rebecca doesn't have to experience the pain of her past all alone. 

A friend had recommended to me other books by Anna Bloom, but I hadn't read any of them prior to reading Gone. Having read this beautiful and emotional story, now I understand why she was raving about the writing and the characters. I will definitely read Bloom's other books in the near future.

Disclaimer:  I received this e-ARC from Good Choice Reading Book Tours  in exchange for my honest review.  I was not compensated in any way other than the e-ARC provided. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

It's Release Day!! Swimming to Tokyo by Brenda St. John Brown

It's Release Day!!!

 Swimming to Tokyo

 Swimming to Tokyo

by Brenda St. John Brown

Published by Spencer Hill Contemporary

July 29, 2014

235 Pages

Add to Goodreads

About Swimming to Tokyo

The rules for swimming are simple:

Rule #1: There is no lifeguard on duty.

Since her mom died three years ago, nineteen-year-old Zosia Easton’s been treading water. Living at home. Community college. Same old Saturday nights. So when her father breaks the news he’s taken a job transfer—and by the way, it means renting out the house that’s been her refuge—a summer in Tokyo feels like it just might be a chance to start swimming again.

Rule #2: Beware of unexpected currents.

Finn O’Leary has spent God knows how many years trying to drown out his past. Juvenile detention. Bad decisions. Worse choices. He’s managed to turn it around – MIT, Dean’s List, a sexier-than-thou body with a smile to match – at least on the surface. When his mom asks him to spend the summer with her, Tokyo seems as good a place as any to float through the summer.

Rule #3: Swim at your own risk.

Find Brenda online:

Website / Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Twitter / Facebook 

 

 

Author Bio: 

Brenda St John Brown is a displaced New Yorker living in the English countryside. She hasn't quite adapted to the idea of fireworks in November (despite now being a dual US/UK citizen), but she knows not to call trousers pants & often finds herself saying things are lovely...a word that never crossed her lips until she passed through UK immigration. She writes YA & NA fiction. When she's not writing, Brenda loves running, reading and traveling, & talking about Greek mythology with her son.