BLOG TOUR: SIX MONTHS LATER by NATALIE RICHARDS ~ REVIEW AND AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Today is my stop on the Six Months Later Blog Tour, hosted by Sourcebooks. My post includes a review and author interview.

Category/Genre: YA Contemporaray
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: 10/1/13
Format: eARC
Pages: 336
Source: Received from publisher for review
Rating: 4 stars

Chloe didn't think about it much when she nodded off in study hall on that sleepy summer day. But when she wakes up, snow is on the ground and she can't remember the last six months of her life. Before, she'd been a mediocre student. Now, she's on track for valedictorian and being recruited by Ivy League schools. Before, she never had a chance with super jock Blake. Now he's her boyfriend. Before, she and Maggie were inseparable. Now her best friend won't speak to her.

What happened to her?
And why can't she remember?

I haven't been in the habit of reading Young Adult in the last year or so, but when I do, I tend to enjoy a good suspense or mystery. Six Months Later delivered in that respect. I spent the first seventy-five percent of the story trying to solve what was going on with Chloe, and the rest wondering how the fallout would go down. This definitely kept my attention throughout. No easy feat with a mind like mine.

Six Months Later had several aspects that worked well for me. Of course, as I've already mentioned, the well-developed mystery, but I also enjoyed the characters and the way the story unfolded. Chloe was an engaging protagonist. I appreciated that she was a average. Average student, average popularity, and seemed to be genuinely okay with that. She didn't spend her time coveting the top of the popularity pile, and isn't happy when she "wakes up" in that very position. We also get a cast of secondary characters: Mags, the supportive best friend, well-meaning but annoying parents, the suspicious psychologist, the seemingly perfect boyfriend, and the brooding bad boy who may be a hero, or another baddie. Each character had an important place in the story.

Six Months Later opens with a "normal" beginning, and the mysterious changes happen shortly thereafter when Chloe wakes up six months in the future. Is she ill, or has her memory been tampered with? I love mysteries that pose this question, it's a true mind game. I ended up not being completely surprised by the answer to the puzzle, but appreciated  the reason for the nefarious actions. The ending left me satisfied instead of angry or disbelieving.

If you love Young Adult, or just a good mystery in general, Six Months Later is definitely worth a try.


Favorite Quote:

  My memory decides to have some sort of massive file corruption and these are the months I missed? What about my years in braces? Or the summer my dog and grandmother died a month apart? No, I get to miss the six months that turned my life from train wreck to perfection. Lovely.  ~eARC, 10%

Purchase Six Months Later

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Book Depository

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

 

What inspired you to write a story that dealt with memory loss?
NR:  Sometimes I wish I could say I met an amazing amnesia victim at a train station or something, but it's totally not true! The truth is the idea for Six Months Later was sparked by a creepy dream I had about closing my eyes and opening them to find several months had past.

My book ideas usually start with a very small scene that pops into my head. Almost always, it’s a scene that makes me ask a question. For Six Months Later the question was, "What would you do if you fell asleep and woke up six months later?" And then that sent me right me down the rabbit hole. What if you weren't asleep at all? What if you just didn’t remember that six months? What if everything is different? What if everything is perfect, but somehow very, very wrong? Somewhere in answering those questions, the story unfolded. J

Did you learn any interesting facts about memory loss while researching for the book. Can you tell us about one?
NR:  Hm. Tricky sticky business, this question! If I answer it with too much detail I'll reveal some important things about the book. I will say I learned a great deal about how very fragile and subjective memories are. And also how connected we are to our memories. Memories can hold tremendous power over us.


Did you ever suffer from writer's block while writing this book?
NR: Oh, I suffered alright. ;-) I'm pretty sure anyone who's ever written an entire book realizes that it's one part sunshine and puppy dogs, and ninety-nine parts unbelievably hard work. Don't get me wrong, I deeply love what I do, but it can be brutal. There was a scene at the end of the book that I wrote so many times I lost count. But that's all a part of it. I don't think of it as writer's block. I think writing is a little like a road trip. Sometimes you're going to get stuck in the mud and make wrong turns. The days when you're changing a tire in the rain, it reeeally sucks, but it's just part of the adventure.


What would you say is the overall message of Six Months Later?
NR: I didn't write Six Months Later with a theme or a message in mind, but it did happen. At the end, I realized Chloe had to come to terms with her own version of success. Perfection is a myth that many of us tend to aim for, but I think it’s more important to be authentic. Being true to who you are and being able to swallow the good and the really-not-good parts of who you are is its own kind of success.

 

Is there a particular book/author that has inspired you?
NR:  Ah, the hardest question of them all. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that most writers are readers first and foremost. There are so many authors that inspire me. John Green, Libba Bray, Jay Asher, Neil Gaiman, Laurie Halse Anderson, Gayle Forman, Suzanne Collins, JK Rowling...if you're not getting the point already, let me warn you, this could go on for a long, long while! I add to this list every year. Rainbow Rowell is the most recent author to make her way onto my list. J


Can you tell us about a current or future project?
NR:  My next YA thriller is in edits now and I've got to say, I'm beside myself about this book. It's a book about a girl who makes a very sinister discovery and ends up tangled in a web of moral ambiguity and vigilante tactics in her quest to make things right. I absolutely CAN’T WAIT for this book to come out. J



Thanks again for having me, Andrea! I’ve had a great time and really hope everyone enjoys Six Months Later!

 

 

Connect with Natalie Richards

Website  |  Twitter  |  Facebook


 

REVIEW: TMI by PATTY BLOUNT

Category/Genre: Young Adult Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: 8/6/13
Format: eARC
Pages: 336
Source: Received from publisher for review
Rating: 3 stars

Best friends don’t lie.
Best friends don’t ditch you for a guy.
Best friends don’t post your deepest, darkest secrets online.

Bailey’s falling head-over-high-heels for Ryder West, a mysterious gamer she met online. A guy she’s never met in person. Her best friend, Meg, doesn’t trust smooth-talking Ryder. He’s just a picture-less profile.

When Bailey starts blowing Meg off to spend more virtual quality time with her new crush, Meg decides it’s time to prove Ryder’s a phony.

But one stupid little secret posted online turns into a friendship-destroying feud to answer the question:

Who is Ryder West?
/

I'm going to start this by saying that I never had a truly healthy relationship with a best friend until a little over a year ago. In high school, my girlfriends and I were basically a train wreck most of the time. We weren't "bad", it was just drama. I would love to say I was completely innocent, but I had my moments. The reason why I'm sharing this in my review? TMI brought back some of the painful moments of friends and high school. It made me sad and it made me cringe. So I'm thinking the author probably did exactly what she set out to do.

I spent much of the first half wondering if TMI is the story of a girl who wants to much control and worries about her friend too much, or the story of the dangers of befriending people online. I guess it could be both, and I would like to think I'm fairly intelligent when it comes to themes, but I had a hard time pinning TMI down for a while.

At TMI's mid-point, the story picks up focus. It's a sad situation in which two girls with a lot of issues let emotions and hurt feelings take control, causing everything to spin out of control. I liked that I felt a sense of where the story was headed. And I hesitate at saying this, because I genuinely do believe an author should be able to tell their story, exactly the way they want, but I also must go with my feelings. I'm not saying TMI goes beyond the realm of possibility, but at times it felt like there was too much drama, too many intense and crazy scenarios for me to get completely on board. But then again, things have changed a lot since I was a teen, so maybe what happens isn't too much at all.

As for the characters, I often felt conflicted. Now, I know that Meg and Bailey made bad choices. And I may be waaaay beyond my teen years, but I remember what it's like to be a teen. I made bad choices, and I don't know any teen who didn't at least a few times. So with this in mind, I didn't read TMI with a notepad, chronicling every bad choice Meg and Bailey made. I tried to remain a bystander, and let them tell their story. (Now excuse me while I climb off my soapbox.)

Having said that, these girls were completely frustrating, especially Megan. And it's not that I can't see where she was coming from, but still, frustrating. I did adore Chase. The boy had the patience of a saint. I honestly left the story happy with how it ended up, but still scratching my head over how it all went down.

Honestly, I think this should be chalked up to me not being a perfect fit for TMI. The story had valuable lessons. As an adult, I have hindsight on my side. I think a teen's opinion on TMI would be invaluable. 

  

Favorite Quote:

 

  "Forget it. I'm done, Megan." He shook his head again. "I'm...I've given you time and space and...and--all the patience I could squeeze out, but shit! It's not enough. It's never enough."  

 ~eARC, 52%

 

Purchase TMI

          

About the author
Technical writer by day, fiction writer by night, Patty mines her day job for ideas to use in her novels. Her debut YA "Send" was born after a manager suggested she research social networks. Patty adores chocolate, her boys, and books, though not necessarily in that order.

Website  |  Twitter

 

 

BLOG TOUR: TRULY, MADLY, DEADLY by HANNAH JAYNE

Welcome to the Truly, Madly, Deadly Blog Tour, presented by Sourcebooks.
Thanks for stopping by!
 

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Young Adult

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: 7/16/13
Format: eARC
Pages: 272
Source: Received from publisher for review
 

Sawyer Dodd has it all. She's a star track athlete, choir soloist, and A-student. And her boyfriend is the handsome all-star Kevin Anderson. But behind the medals, prom pictures, and perfect smiles, Sawyer finds herself trapped in a controlling, abusive relationship with Kevin. When he dies in a drunk-driving accident, Sawyer is secretly relieved. She's free. Until she opens her locker and finds a mysterious letter signed by "an admirer" and printed with two simple words: "You're welcome."

 

 

Several years ago (okay, more like ten to fifteen), I was a huge fan of teen suspense/thrillers. I read books like I Know What You Did Last Summer, watched a lot of suspenseful and scary movies and I loved it. Somewhere along the way, I became a huge baby about getting scared, and I'll blame that on Scream 2. It was not pretty. My point is, Truly, Madly, Deadly represents what I've always loved about those teen thrillers, and was a much welcomed change for me.

 

Truly, Madly, Deadly begins a few days after the death of Sawyer's boyfriend Kevin. On the outside their relationship seemed perfect, but Sawyer was hiding the fact that Kevin was abusive. The very same night Sawyer has the courage to walk away is the same night Kevin died while driving drunk. Sawyer has no reason to believe otherwise, until she receives a card with the message "You're welcome." After that, Sawyer's world slowly begins to unravel. Whomever was "protecting" Sawyer from Kevin isn't finished yet, and no one who hurts her isn't safe. Little clues throughout the story slowly clue Sawyer in that she's being watched. The more she wants to seek help, the more dangerous the situation becomes, and eventually Sawyer's "protector" becomes her biggest threat.

 

Truly, Madly, Deadly's heroine, Sawyer, was well-written. I found her conflicting feelings about Kevin, sadness over his death, yet relief he could never hurt her again, to be realistic. Did she always make the best decisions? Eh, probably not, but what's a good story when everyone does what they should do? In the midst of her life turning into a crime scene, Sawyer becomes closer to Cooper, a new guy at her school. Now, I love a cute guy as much as anyone, but when people around you are dying, the focus is on staying alive and not a new relationship, right? The author totally made a good call on this aspect. I was thrilled that Sawyer kept her head, deciding that yeah, she does like Cooper, but first she needs to find out who's protecting her. I loved that she remained focused, despite the lure of a new guy.

 

Truly, Madly, Deadly wasn't terrifying, thank goodness, but it was without a doubt suspenseful. I love a good mystery, and am generally good at calling who the bad guy is. The author did a really great job of not being too obvious with the clues. Over the course of the story I had three people who were up for suspicion, before settling on a culprit at the halfway mark. I am not sad to say that I was wrong, because the killer was not my main suspect. While I didn't find the reveal to be a complete shock, I was definitely surprised by the motivations, and how sad it made me for everyone involved. The story's pace was just right, with each turn of the page leading a tiny bit closer to the revelation, never lagging or rushing through.

 

Truly, Madly, Deadly was a thrilling mystery with a great suspense, and an admirable heroine. It will definitely leave you guessing until the very end.

 

 

Favorite Quote:

 

  Memories crashed over Sawyer like so many waves, breaking like shards of glass at her feet. She felt ashamed, alive, and free as Cooper's arms slipped around her waist, pulling her close to him. His touch was soft but strong, and Sawyer loved the way he held her, making her feel safe and wanted at the same time.  ~eARC, 24%

 

 

 

Purchase Truly, Madly, Deadly at:

       

 

 

 

 

 

About the author:

Hannah is the author of the UNDERWORLD DETECTION AGENCY CHRONICLES from Kensington books and the upcoming young adult thrillers TRULY, MADLY, DEADLY and SEE JANE RUN available from Sourcebooks, Inc. When she's not battling the demons of the Underworld or tackling a murderer at Hawthorne High, Jayne kicks her feet up in her San Francisco bay area home and attempts to share couch space with two enormous cats.

 

Connect with Hannah Jayne at:

Website  |  Twitter

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLOG TOUR: IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME by LAURA NOWLIN ~ REVIEW and GUEST POST

Series: Stand alone

Genre: Contemporary Young Adult

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: 4/1/13
Format: eARC
Pages: 336
Source: Received from publisher for review

 

If he had been with me, he wouldn't have died.

Throughout their whole childhood, Finn and Autumn were inseparable—they finished each other's sentences, they knew just what to say when the other person was hurting. But one incident in middle school puts them in separate social worlds come high school, and Autumn has been happily dating James for the last 2 years. But she's always wondered what if...

The night she's about to get the answer is also one of terrible tragedy

 

 

 

I finished If He Had Been With Me a few hours ago, and I still sit here not quite knowing what to say. This book, it did quite a number on my emotions. That's a good thing. I think I'm still in shock over the conclusion of the story.

 

 I don't know why I found the ending so shocking, I was clearly warned in the opening that If He Had Been With Me would not have a happy ending. Maybe it's because I am a hopeless optimist who always believes that every story has a happy ending. I would also say my heart feels crushed because I went into the story thinking it would be Finn and Autumn, learning that it's more about Autumn and her life without Finn, but always longing for him,  waiting for both of these two to WAKE UP and see what is right there in front of them, a short time of elation, then

 

hoping...

 

hoping...

 

hoping...

 

that Autumn and Finn's story would not take the tragic turn promised at the beginning of the story.

 

When I finished If He Had Been With Me, I felt sick, heartsick and physically. I wanted to be angry, at the characters and at the author. I really, really did.  As a reader, I was so invested in this story, and that really surprised me because I spent the first half frustrated of Autumn's trivial day-to-day account of her own life. But once I was able to really get into the story and grasp what it was truly about, I was so there. I could hardly put it down. But I can't be angry, though I am so heartbroken that I am thisclose to just laying my head down and crying all over again. I can only feel, grateful, I guess? Because If He Had Been With Me made me feel deeply. And that is my greatest test as a reader.

 

 

 Favorite Quote:

 

  I've loved him my whole life, and somewhere along the way, that love didn't change, but grew. It grew to fill the parts of me that I did not have when I was a child. It grew with every new longing in my body and desire in my heart until there was not a piece of me that did not love him. And when I look at him, there is no other feeling in me.  ~eARC, 49% 

 

 

  My eyes are wet again, and I feel one tear trail down the corner of my eye, and then another and another, and I realize that there may never be another moment more perfect than this for the rest of my life.  ~eARC, 94%

 

 

GUEST POST

Ten Things I Wish I Could Change about my High School Years



1. I wish smart phones had existed, and that I'd had one.
This seems frivolous, I know, but when I was in high school only the rich kids had cell phones at all, and wi-fi was a rare and wondrous thing. I can only imagine how cool it must be to get into hilarious hijinks with your friends, and be able to post pics of your shenanigans in real time. If we did something cool, we had to tell people about it later, and we probably didn't have photographic proof, because pictures were these paper things you had to pay money to have made.


2. I wish I had broken up with my boyfriend.
Now, my high school sweetheart was not a bad guy by any means, but looking back I see how I only dated him for my entire high school career because I liked the idea of only having one boyfriend ever. If I had really been following my heart, I would have admitted to myself that he wasn't the one and only guy for me, and I could have possibly had a wider range of romantic experience.


3. I wish I had broken more rules.
I was a good kid. A really, really good kid. Sometimes as an adult I wish I had some of the when-I-was-a-crazy-teen stories that other people have.


4. I wish I had learned to drive.
In If He had Been with Me, Autumn manages to graduate high school without learning to drive. I managed to graduate from college and get married without a driver's license. I let a small anxiety grow into a massive mental block, and I wonder what the ego-boost of conquering my fear would have done for teenage me.


5. I wish I had admitted to others that I needed help.
As an adult I have been diagnosed with clinical depression, but as a teenager I hid my depressive episodes from my loved ones. I can only imagine how different those years would have been if I would have admitted my to struggle and gotten the help I needed.


6. I wish I had worked harder in Spanish class, and gone to Spain on the class trip.
I ended up minoring in Spanish, but I never did get the experience of full immersion, and now my skills are so rusty that I'll probably never be fluent.


7. I wish our exchange student had lived with us all four years
Swantje lived with my family for ten months. She challenged and inspired me, and ultimately changed me forever. To this day I keep a picture of her by my writing desk.

8. I wish I had cared less about what other people thought.
I think everyone feels this way about their high school years. At the time, I claimed that I didn’t care what others thought, but when I compare that to how much I really don’t care now...


9. I wish I’d been less critical of my body
When I look at pictures of my teenage self, I just want to grab that girl by the shoulders and scream, “Your stomach IS flat! It really is! And you are not appreciating how high your breast are! Your stomach is flat and your breasts are perky! Go put on a string bikini and feel fabulous! Right Now!”

10. I wish I had written more.
To be fair, I think this is something I will always say about any time in my life. I guess it's nice to know that some things will never change.

 

 

Preorder If He Had Been With Me at:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Book Depository

 

 

About the author

Laura Nowlin holds a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Missouri State University. Her short stories have appeared in The Moon City Review and STEM. In addition to being ambitious writer Laura is also an avid reader who believes that books allow her to live many lives in one lifetime. When she isn’t at home agonizing over her own novels Laura works at the public library where the patrons give her plenty of inspiration for her writing. She lives in St. Louis with her musician husband, neurotic dog, and psychotic cat.

 

Connect with Laura at:

Website  |  Twitter

 

BLOG TOUR: THINGS I CAN'T FORGET (HUNDRED OAKS #3) ~ REVIEW AND GUESTPOST

I am excited to be today's stop on the Things I Can't Forget Blog Tour. My stop includes a review and guest post from Miranda Kenneally. Thanks to Sourcebooks for inviting me to take part in the tour.

Series: Hundred Oaks #3
Category/Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: 3/1/13
Format: eARC
Pages: 320
Source: Received from publisher for review

Companion to Catching Jordan and Stealing Parker.

Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to some people at school—although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different…

This summer she’s a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He’s the first guy she ever kissed, and he’s gone from a geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt--with her.

Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn’t that easy…

Read an excerpt here.

Note: Mature themes, sexual situations, religious discussions.
 

At this point I have read a ton of reviews for Things I Can't Forget. Almost all have given Miranda Kenneally high praised (very well-deserved) for her writing and the story. Almost all have also mentioned having a hard time connecting with Kate. I am absolutely not trying to argue or discount those feelings, each person comes to a book bringing their unique outlook on life and relationships. What I want to do is offer an alternative point-of-view in regards to Kate.

Kate Kelly is maybe the best example I have personally read for a character who is driven, and often conflicted, by their faith. I know this might make her appear to be judgmental and pushy, and I'm not going to argue with that. The thing is, if you've been raised in a very strict church that takes the Bible and it's rules very literally, this is often who you become. I know this because almost all my friends were like Kate, and I even caught myself doing it when I was really young. We were raised going to a very, very strict church, probably even stricter than Kate's because it didn't even allow music in church or dancing. Kate was raised with a specific set of standards to live by, God's standards, and she takes that seriously. I had a friend (of an even stricter religion) tell me I was going to Hell for cutting my bangs. My best friend told me my Uncle would go to Hell for getting a divorce. Though my feelings were hurt, I didn't exactly get mad at them, because I knew that's what they were taught. A lot of that went by the wayside, though, when we became teenagers. We went to parties, we kissed a lot of boys. We still knew these things we "wrong", we just traded our piousness for a buttload of guilt.

See, Kate feels guilty; for things she's done, things she's said, every errant thought or feeling. Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. And it will drive you crazy, trust me. My point is: Yes, with her judmental thoughts, worries, and guilt, Kate may be hard to connect with, but that just means that Kenneally nailed the portrayal of a girl conflicted by the world around her. Kate sees the world in black or white, wrong or right. Things I Can't Forget is Kate's journey of learning that the world is not concrete, there are many shades of grey to what she thought was absolutes. And if you don't see that when you're reading this, you're going to miss a really powerful story.

Okay, I'm climbing down off my soapbox now... So how about that story?! I personally love books set at summer camps, maybe because I never got to go. I enjoyed the different personlities of the counselors, and how they interacted with one another. Of course, my favorite counselor was Matt, a super cute, super sweet guy Kate knew from her own camp experience. I loved that Matt had this open, affectionate way with Kate, but still maintained a bit of a mysterious edge. To see Matt, with his relaxed nature, help bring Kate out of her shell was so endearing. I loved being able to experience them falling in love. AND, it was so so so great to have Parker and Will at camp, and to get to see a bit of Sam and Jordan!

Ultimately, for me, Things I Can't Forget was Kate's journey of forgiveness and acceptance. She needs to forgive herself. She needs to accept that others won't always see the world the same, or feel the way she does. And she needs to accept herself.

Things I Can't Forget was a beatifully written, very thoughtful story. It's my favorite Miranda Kenneally book yet.


Favorite Quote:

  "Your dress is pretty," he whispers in my ear.
  "You dance well."
  "You feel good."
  He thinks I feel good?
  "You do, too," I mumble, nearly choking on the words.
  "I love your hair," he says, clutching a clump of it.
  "I love your invisible shoes." We look down at his bare feet, and laughing, we look up at each other. He shakes the dirty blond hair out of his eyes and holds my gaze, pulling me closer. My heart pounds against my chest.  ~eARC, 39%


  I like how he touches my jaw and stares deep into my eyes, like I'm the only girl he's ever seen. He drinks beer and I know he wouldn't mind sharing a bed with me.
  But this week, when I asked him if he believes in God, he said, "What a silly question. Just look at that." He turned me to face the sun setting above the rolling hills beyond camp.
  If I were to ditch Matt and wait for a guy who's 100 percent devout, I might end up with a guy who doesn't stare at me like I'm the only girl he's ever seen.  ~eARC, 61%

Top Ten things Miranda Kenneally would change about her high school years if she could go back in time


1. I would do my homework the night before school rather than 10 minutes before class.

 

2. I would pull my pants up. Sagging was not cool then and it’s not cool now.

3. I would not consider the daughter of the owner of the local car dealership a “celebrity.”

4. I would not wear those two-inch long crocodile earrings. Really, Miranda, what were you thinking?

5. I would accept the soccer captain’s invitation to come swim at his pool instead of wussing out.

6. I would’ve waited for my first kiss. The guy I kissed first was not a good guy, and it wasn’t worth it just to say I’d kissed someone.

7. I would confront the school guidance counselor, who told me I’d “fail” if I went to an out-of-state college. And if I got in trouble for telling her off? So be it.

8. I would push harder for a role in Fiddler on the Roof instead of settling for stage manager again!

9. That time me and some of the guys took my mom’s SUV mudding? Yeah, I would not do that again. Even 5 trips through the carwash didn’t get rid of the mud. What a nightmare.

10. I would read more books instead of worrying about guys so much!

 

 

 

About the author

Miranda Kenneally writes and works for the State Department in Washington, D.C., where George W. Bush once used her shoulder as an armrest. She is also the co-creator of the website DearTeenMe.com. You can visit her at www.mirandakenneally.com or @mirandakennealy.

Purchase Things I Can't Forget at:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Book Depository

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is...

Genre: Contemporary Young Adult

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: 7/16/13
 

 

Sawyer Dodd has it all. She's a star track athlete, choir soloist, and A-student. And her boyfriend is the handsome all-star Kevin Anderson. But behind the medals, prom pictures, and perfect smiles, Sawyer finds herself trapped in a controlling, abusive relationship with Kevin. When he dies in a drunk-driving accident, Sawyer is secretly relieved. She's free. Until she opens her locker and finds a mysterious letter signed by "an admirer" and printed with two simple words: "You're welcome."

 

 

Sounds awesome, right? I can't wait to get my hands on this one!

 

 

What are you waiting on this week?

 

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is...

 

Series: Stand alone

Genre: Contemporary Young Adult

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: 4/1/13

 

If he had been with me, he wouldn't have died.

Throughout their whole childhood, Finn and Autumn were inseparable—they finished each other's sentences, they knew just what to say when the other person was hurting. But one incident in middle school puts them in separate social worlds come high school, and Autumn has been happily dating James for the last 2 years. But she's always wondered what if...

The night she's about to get the answer is also one of terrible tragedy

 

 

 

Why I'm Waiting ~  If He Had Been With Me sounds so so tragic. I loooove tragic.

 

 

Preorder If He Had Been With Me at:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Book Depository

 

 

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is...

 

Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her. Now Parker wants a new life. So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty? But how far is too far before she loses herself completely? Companion to CATCHING JORDAN. ~From GoodReads

Why I'm Waiting ~ I adored CATCHING JORDAN so much. I can't wait to see what Miranda Kenneally brings next. And I'm hoping some of the guys from CJ show up.


Expected publication: October 1st 2012 by Sourcebooks Fire