Blog Tour: The Space Beyond (The Book of Phoenix, #2) by Kristie Cook

As members of the Phoenix, Jeric and Leni are thrust into their new lives, expected to lead Earth’s guardians. But Leni struggles with trusting her own soul, and Jeric is more concerned about keeping Leni safe than meeting others’ demands. When Darkness swarms Lake Haven, they embark on their first mission with little preparation and no idea which soul the Dark hunts.

 

Born and raised in Lake Haven, Bex hopes to escape her small-town life, ideally in the arms of her soul mate. She knows he exists, and her heart aches with the need to find him. When her long-lost mama calls to announce she's knockin' on death's door, Bex reluctantly makes the trip to see the uncaring bitch (bless her heart), only to be knocked off her feet by the sexy and charming Dr. Mason Hayes. Is he really The One?

 

Leni’s soul felt an instant connection to Bex, but if Bex found her soul mate, she isn’t their mission. So who is, and why does Leni instinctively feel drawn to her? Can Leni even trust her intuition? And will Jeric step up and lead when the time comes or continue to hold them back?

 

If they don't learn to trust themselves and each other quickly, Darkness will claim them all…along with the rest of Earth’s souls.

 

I couldn't be more excited to be a part of this great blog tour for this fantastic sequel to Kristie Cook's Book of Phoenix series, The Space Beyond.  After reading Cook's first series installment, The Space Between, falling in love with her characters was easy so it was a no-brainer that I would want to share an excerpt with all of you from Jeric's point of view.  Enjoy.....and go grab your own copy of the second installment today!

 

From Jeric, in The Space Beyond: 

 

[Leni] paused for a moment, staring at her hands as her fingers tapped a rhythm on the blanket, and I already knew her next thought. I had to control myself from clamping my hand over her mouth to keep her from saying it, as though that would prevent the thought from already being a reality. Because remembering our pasts was kind of fun, like solving a weird mystery, but what she was thinking took us to a whole different level. One I wasn’t ready for. 

 

“I have this strong feeling the guy in the Gate who’d sounded so desperate was Nathayden,” she said. “And I think … saving Rebethannah is our first mission.” 

 

She lifted her head to look at us. I turned mine to stare at the wall, my jaw clenching. She already knew my feelings on this theory. 

 

“What do you guys think?” she asked when nobody said anything. 

 

My eyes cut to Brock and Asia, who shared another look, but they didn’t hold back this time. Asia reached out and laid her hand on Leni’s knee. 

 

“You tell us,” she said to my other half. “We remembered last night that this has always been your thing, like your super power—you lead us to the souls we’re supposed to help.” 

 

The hair on the back of my neck rose, and I jumped to my feet as though the bed itself had caused the feeling. But what I felt came from inside, and no matter how much I wanted to deny it, to make it go away, to pretend it didn’t exist, I couldn’t. The truth is the truth, and what Asia just said was no doubt a truth. I knew it in my gut, or in my soul, as everyone else would say. Leni was our light, showing us the way. Theo and Mira had emphasized this when we’d been Forged at the Gate. Not just mine, but everybody’s. I hadn’t fully understood what that meant at the time, but it was starting to make more sense. 

 

Didn’t mean I liked it. 

 

“No,” I said, unable to form the words I wanted to say. “Just … no. Not yet.” 

 

“Jeric—” Leni started, and I spun on her. 

 

“Can you really say you feel ready to do this?” I demanded, leaning over her on the bed. “Do you even know what you’re doing?” 

 

Leni stared at me for a moment, opening her mouth then closing it like a carp as she considered my question. 

 

“Yes,” she finally said, and when I lifted my brow and sucked in a breath to argue, she held a hand up. “It’s not knowledge to be gained, Jeric. I don’t have to learn this. It’s intuition. Instinct. My soul talking to me. I know how that sounds, but look at our lives now. Look at what we do know and tell me that relying on our instinct, on our souls that have existed for eons compared to our measly human brains, isn’t what we’re supposed to do. That’s the lesson we’re supposed to learn more than any others. Am I right?” 

 

She turned back to Brock and Asia, who both nodded. 

 

“So we’re just supposed to cut off our brains and all logic?” I snapped. 

 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Asia said with a sigh. “You just have to let your brain catch up to what you already know in your soul.” 

 

I glared at each of them in turn, not sure why this bothered me so much. I’d practically vowed to trust Leni and her intuition, to accept her as our light to lead the way. And I knew deep down that she’d be right—that her soul would know exactly what we’re supposed to do. The “normal” side of me, the Jeric I’d been for the last twenty-three years, however, bristled at the thought of going out and being some kind of supernatural-like ninja, helping people who probably didn’t even know they needed to be helped. How were we supposed to do that anyway? 

 

“So you think your soul will lead us right to whoever Rebethannah is now?” I demanded. “And you really think that’s our mission?” 

 

Leni pressed her lips together and dropped her gaze to the blanket again. “I don’t know yet,” she nearly whispered, but then she lifted her eyes to me and raised her voice. “But it’s time to find out.”

Blog Tour: Royally Lost by Angie Stanton & Giveaway

Dragged on a family trip to Europe’s ancient cities, Becca wants nothing more than to go home. Trapped with her emotionally distant father, over-eager stepmother, and a brother who only wants to hook up with European hotties, Becca is miserable. That is until she meets Nikolai, a guy as mysterious as he is handsome. And she unknowingly finds herself with a runaway prince.

Nikolai has everything a guy could ask for-he's crown prince, heir to the throne, and girls adore him. But the one thing he doesn't have...is freedom. Staging a coup, he flees his kingdom and goes undercover on his own European tour.

When Nikolai and Becca meet, it’s their differences that draw them together. Sparks fly as they share a whirlwind of adventures, all the while dodging his royal guard. But Becca's family vacation ends in a matter of days. Will Nikolai and Becca be forced to say goodbye forever, will his destiny catch up to him, or will they change history forever?

Food, food, and more food!

What’s vacation with out food and our recent fascination to take pictures of it? While doing research for Royally Lost, I was amazed at how food is displayed and sold in Europe. There are a lot of open-air markets with food sold in bulk. Here are some pictures from the Naschmarkt in Vienna where Nikolai and Becca spend time.

I love food, and the first thing I do when I get to a new city, is look at the restaurant choices. I’m kind of picky, but I love anything with a good sauce. Germany is known to have a lot of heavy food with sauces, num! And everywhere I went and ordered a Coca-cola light, (not much Diet Pepsi where we traveled) they served it in an old fashioned Coke glass.

Regensberg, Germany supposedly has the world’s oldest sausage kitchen. Of course, we stopped and the food was delicious! They also sold their famous Regensberg mustard. We brought several jars back. 

The next city, Nuremberg, also claimed to have the world’s oldest sausage kitchen, too. Hmm. We decided there was probably one in every tourist town.

Thanks so much for hosting me on your blog today. I hope everyone enjoys reading Royally Lost as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author:

 

 

Angie Stanton never planned on writing books; she wanted to be a Rockette. However, growing up in rural Wisconsin, with her brothers' 4-H pigs as pets, dance didn't work out. Instead she became an avid daydreamer. After years of perfecting stories in her head, she began to write them down, and the rest is history.

Angie is the author of six books including Royally Lost, Rock and a Hard Place, and Snapshot. She graduated with a Journalism degree from the University of Wisconsin, and is a proud double finalist of the National Readers Choice Awards for Love 'em or Leave 'em.

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Where can you find Royally Lost???

 

Amazon

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And now for the giveaway!!! 

  

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Blog Tour: Scan (Scan, #1) by Walter Jury & Sarah Fine

Tate and his father don’t exactly get along. As Tate sees it, his father has unreasonably high expectations for Tate to be the best—at everything. Tate finally learns what he’s being prepared for when he steals one of his dad’s odd tech inventions and mercenaries ambush the school, killing his father in the process and sending Tate on the run from aliens who look just like humans.

All Tate knows--like how to make weapons out of oranges and lighter fluid--may not be enough to save him as he’s plunged into a secret inter-species conflict that’s been going on for centuries. Aided only by his girlfriend and his estranged mother, with powerful enemies closing in on all sides, Tate races to puzzle out the secret behind his father’s invention and why so many are willing to kill for it. A riveting, fast-paced adventure, Scan is a clever alien thriller with muscle and heart.

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that a vast majority of YA fans found themselves falling in love with a lot of the dystopian literature hitting the stands in the past few years.  So when I came across Walter Jury & Sarah Fine's upcoming release, Scan, I had to stop and see what it was all about.  I was intrigued, curious and wondering if it was possible to actually be as good as the synopsis made it seem.  I was hopeful as always and when I was approached to participate in the blog tour, I decided to dive right in.

While I knew to expect action and suspense...I'm not quite sure I was prepared for just how much this writing duo could actually pack into one installment...it just never slowed down.  I'm never a fan of providing any kind of spoilers for the books I read because if I truly enjoy them, I wouldn't ever want to take that same enjoyment away from another reader.  So this review proved hard for me to write, because there's just so much I want to say, and no way to say those things without feeling like I'd ruin it for the rest of you.

We are most definitely talking action and suspense, mysteries and secrets, frustrations and lessons learned.  The characters are well developed and their predicaments prove to be HUGE!  While Tate as the main character is obviously the central focal point throughout the novel, the supporting characters were equally well developed and had me becoming a fan of this writing duo's ability to have me attached to all my favorites instantly.  I was constantly trying to read faster, sitting at the edge of my seat the entire time and repeatedly wondering just how much more these characters could possibly endure...or how much more I could endure as the reader.

This was the kind of sci-fi thriller I've been waiting for, and exactly the type of book to jump start my love for yet another series, and left me wanting nothing more than to fast forward through the calendar days until the next installment comes out.  I really need to know what will come next for Tate and the others....the suspense had me the whole way through each and every page and apparently will keep me nervous and guessing until I can get my hands on the sequel!  This is a writing duo that I will be following without a doubt far into the future.

About the Authors:

 

Walter Jury was born in London, has a background in the film industry, is a big fan of the New York Giants, and enthusiast of Jamba Juice's Protein Berry Workout smoothie only with soy, never whey.  "Scan is his first book for teens.  Oh, and under his real name, he's a producer of one of 2014's biggest blockbusters.  Let's just say he "diverges" in his career from film to literature quite well.

 

 

Sarah Fine was born on the West Coast, raised in the Midwest, and is now firmly entrenched on the East Coast, where she lives with her husband and two children.  She is the author (as Sarah Fine) of several young adult books, and when she's not writing she's working as a child psychologist.  No, she is not psychoanalyzing you right now.

 

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Burn Out Blog Tour, Author Guest Post & Giveaway!!

A futuristic blend of Beth Revis's Across the Universe and Lenore Appelhans's Level 2, Burn Out will satisfy the growing desire for science fiction with a thrilling story of survival, intrigue, and adventure.

Most people want to save the world; seventeen-year-old Tora Reynolds just wants to get the hell off of it. One of the last survivors in Earth's final years, Tora yearns to escape the wasteland her planet has become after the sun turns "red giant," but discovers her fellow survivors are even deadlier than the hostile environment.

Holed up in an underground shelter, Tora is alone--her brilliant scientist father murdered, her mother and sister burned to death. She dreams of living on a planet with oceans, plants, and animals. Unfortunately, the oceans dried out ages ago, the only plants are giant cacti with deadly spines, and her pet, Trigger, is a gun--one of the bio-energetic weapons her father created for the government before his conscience kicked in.

When family friend, Markus, arrives with mercenaries to take the weapons by force, Tora's fury turns to fear when government ships descend in an attempt to kill them all. She forges an unlikely alliance with Markus and his rag-tag group of raiders, including a smart but quiet soldier named James. Tora must quickly figure out who she can trust, as she must choose between saving herself by giving up the guns or honoring her father's request to save humanity from the most lethal weapons in existence.

Meet JAMES from BURN OUT 

James is a quiet soldier who has orders to seize the bio-energetic weapons created by Tora’s father. Tora has sworn to protect the weapons so they don’t fall into enemy hands and struggles with her conflicting feelings toward James. James is also the medic for the army and Tora becomes more confused when he saves her instead of killing her.  In this scene, James uses his profession to express his feelings for Tora.

“How ‘bout here? Does it hurt when I touch here?” he asked in a professional tone, yet both his hands slid down toward my hips and his lips almost touched mine. I was no doctor but this was definitely not part of any medical exam I’d ever seen. My legs turned to jelly and I trembled. When I sighed, James raised a finger to his lips. Oh yeah, the com system.

Ultimately, Tora learns that James has some complicated reasons for being involved in the weapons hunt and that being attracted to him doesn’t mean she can trust him.

 

About the Author:

 

Kristi Helvig is a Ph.D. clinical psychologist turned sci-fi/fantasy author. She muses about Star Trek, space monkeys, and other assorted topics on her blog and Twitter. Kristi resides in sunny Colorado with her hubby, two kiddos, and behaviorally-challenged dogs.

 

You can also find Kristi on Facebook and Goodreads

 

Grab a copy of BURN OUT on:

 

Amazon

Indiebound

Barnes & Noble

 

And now for a fabulous giveaway!!  If you want a chance to win your very own copy of BURN OUT by Kristi Helvig just enter with the form below and cross your fingers that your name is announced on Monday, April 28th.  This contest is open to residents in the U.S. and Canada.

 

Good Luck!!
 

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Blog Tour & Review: Waterfell (The Aquarathi, #1) by Amalie Howard

 

THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE QUEEN

Nerissa Marin hides among teens in her human form, waiting for the day she can claim her birthright—the undersea kingdom stolen from her the day her father was murdered. Blending in is her best weapon—until her father's betrayer confronts Nerissa and challenges her to a battle to the death on Nerissa's upcoming birthday—the day she comes of age.

Amid danger and the heartbreak of her missing mother, falling for a human boy is the last thing Nerissa should do. But Lo Seavon breaches her defenses and somehow becomes the only person she can count on to help her desperate search for her mother, a prisoner of Nerissa's mortal enemy. Is Lo the linchpin that might win Nerissa back her crown? Or will this mortal boy become the weakness that destroys her?

 

I have to admit that I wasn't sure what to expect from this book when the opportunity to participate in the tour came around.  I figured I'd give it a shot after checking out the book's synopsis and finding it interesting enough.  I cannot express how happy I was that I did.  Without the chance to jump on this blog tour I'm not sure if I'd have come across this book quick enough and that would have been a sorry state.  If you're in the market for a great read, and maybe one that hasn't been plastered all over the Internet but deserves every bit as much attention, look no further.

 

While every reader and fan of YA literature most likely will have come across a book featuring an under-the-sea type of world, I highly doubt you'll have come across one quite like this.  Howard has taken a unique idea and worked her magic.  What might have started out normal enough quickly turned into something extraordinary!

 

Nerissa might appear to be the typical high school girl attending a private school with the hopes of doing well and surviving like the rest of her classmates, but in fact, she's far from normal.  She's got secrets her fellow classmates could never possibly imagine and things are about to change.  The plan might have been to fly under the radar and go about her normal routine as if nothing was amiss, but soon things change and she has no other choice than to face facts, and realize that actions will need to be taken, and quickly.

 

There's a new boy at school's who has caught her eye and of course seems to be showing up wherever she is, and there's something different about him.  But who's Nerissa to judge...after all, she's not exactly human...no matter how hard that might be to believe, or how good of a job she's done to have everything thinking otherwise.  Secrets unfold, tensions begin to mount, and Nerissa is running out time.  She's got to act, and in order to get things done and solve the problems she's faced with, she'll need help...there's just no way she can do this on her own.  Luckily for her she's got help.

 

This novel is full of surprises and plenty of action and romance that will leave readers content and on the edge of their seats, all at the same time.  I can't wait to see what Howard has in store next for the series, and will be on the lookout for the next installment's release date so that I can start the countdown.  Because with any great series and it's opener, there's always a cliffhanger to leave readers wanting more and to plain and simply drive them crazy.  Howard quickly jumped to the top of my favorite authors list and I'm truly looking forward to what she brings to the bookshelves next!

 

About the Author

 

 

A rising star among young adult writers, Amalie H oward developed a loyal following after releasing her debut book, “Bloodspell,” in 2011. Now, she is returning with five new books that are sure to excite her devoted fans and catch the attention of new readers.

 

A bookworm from the beginning, Howard grew up on a small island in the Caribbean with her nose

buried in books. When she was just 13 years old, her poem “The Candle” was published in a University of Warwick journal, marking a sign of great things to come. Howard immersed herself into other cultures, globetrotting through 22 countries in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. After moving to the United States, she earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies and French from Colby College in Maine. She also holds a certificate in French literature from the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, France. Traveling around the world, Howard has lent talents as a research assistant, marketing representative, freelance writer, teen speaker, blogger and global sales executive.

 

Howard is a recipient of a Royal Commonwealth Society award, an international youth writing competition. She is also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers Howard’s first book, “Bloodspell” (June 2011, Langdon Street Press) earned rave reviews and was named a Seventeen Magazine Summer Beach Read. Readers will hear more from Howard as she releases a pair of two-book series, “Waterfell” (November 2013, Harlequin TEEN) and “The Almost Girl” (January 2014, Strange Chemistry), as well as “Alpha Goddess” (March 2014, Skyhorse/Sky Pony Press) over the next two Howard lives in New York with her husband, three children and one willful feline that

she is convinced may have been a witch’s cat in a past life.

 

Author's Website

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Blog Tour: Evade (Ever, #2) by Jessa Russo

 

Young Adult Paranormal Romance

Book 2 of The Ever Trilogy

#EVERTrilogy

Releasing October 1, 2013

 

In this thrilling sequel, Ever Van Ruysdael's race to beat the odds—and the clock—begins with the introduction of an integral part of her past. As secrets are revealed, and truths uncovered, she learns her imminent death is the least of her problems: Ariadne did more than just put an expiration date on her life; she marked Ever's soul by upping its value for greedy collectors looking to buy their freedom.

Condemned by the countdown on her life, and hunted by hired Seekers, Ever’s journey leads her to question everything she’s known and everyone she’s trusted, while growing closer to the one person from her past she was determined to avoid—and the one guy she never could—Toby James.

With her ex-boyfriend by her side, and the countdown clock rapidly ticking away, Ever tries thwarting fate’s plans. But as her nineteenth birthday approaches, and desperate Seekers follow her every move, she may be too late.

A marked soul is hard to come by … and even harder to escape.

 

 

Available on Amazon

Available on Barnes & Nobles

 

“A Young Adult Author on Writing New Adult”

(Or, Why I Decided I Hate Labeling Myself)

By Jessa Russo

 

The first story I began working on when I decided I was supposed to be a writer (back in 2009, for those of you meeting me for the first time) was a thriller set in my favorite place—New Orleans, Louisiana. My main character was in her mid-twenties, unmarried, but in a serious relationship. Not in college but not settled into a lifelong career, either. She just . . . was. I had no idea that her age, as well as her state of transitioning to adulthood, would make this a new adult book. At the time, I was just writing characters, telling their stories, and letting the words carry me along.

 

See, I didn’t know I needed to choose a category, select a genre, or label myself or my writing. I didn’t know I needed to decide what kind of writer I wanted to be.

 

I just wanted to write.

 

As I wrote my way through the first 40,000 words of that manuscript, I realized I found it difficult to write proper “adult” characters. Did this mean I wasn’t a good writer? Did this mean I wasn’t a good adult? (The jury is out on both questions, but both are also beside the point.) As I flip-flopped around, trying to figure out why her voice didn’t match her age, or why the more mature moments between the characters didn’t feel right to me, I eventually gave up on my New Orleans thriller. I chalked it up to not knowing what I was doing. I mean, why was my seemingly adult character making such poor decisions? Why was she leading with her heart, or actingbefore thinking? Who was this woman, and why was she behaving so . . . un-adult-like?

 

As I worked on trying to flesh out the why’s and how’s of that story and those characters, another protagonist began forming in my mind until it got to the point where she couldn’t be ignored. That MC was Eleanor Van Ruysdael—or Ever, for short—and her story became the first story I managed to finish, as well as my first published manuscript. Ever was relentless. She wanted her story told, and for some reason, whether lack of maturity in the writer or something else altogether, found EVER so easy to write. Ever’s voice was my voice, her story was my story, her mistakes and quirks were mine, mine, mine.

 

Then, it hit me. I realized I was a young adult writer. My voice was painfully young adult. Gah! Why hadn’t I figured this out before!?

 

From that day forward, I knew I would be Jessa Russo: Young Adult Author. I relished the security of knowing who I was, what I was meant to write. I went on to start many young adult stories, forming beloved teenaged main characters: Cadence, whose story began during Spring Break and faded to black after the first few chapters, thank God (no offense, Cadence); Lizzie Reins, who was stuck in the foster home from hell and falling for her best friend and her substitute teacher all at the same time (a fantasy I have yet to finish); and Desi, a main character whose story is based on my own life experiences with an abusive boyfriend (which may or may not ever be told, to be honest). All along, though, with each teenager I wrote, I felt at home, comfortable. I knew these characters—their likes, dislikes, quirks—I’d been a teenager once myself, after all, right?

 

Easy peasy. Comfort. Safety. Home.

 

And then DIVIDE came along, and Holland was in high school but nearing the end of that academic journey. She was still technically a young adult, but something was changing . . . in me. I wanted to write more, wanted more for Holland, more from Holland. So, though DIVIDE is a young adult fantasy, it tried very hard to break out of that mold, to leave adolescence behind . . . much like any teenager would do.

 

After DIVIDE was with my agent, I wrote EVADE (the second book of the Ever Trilogy), and I thought I was settling back into my young adult niche. Except that now Ever is eighteen, and technically that means the book should be new adult. And she’s had sex, so she should behave a bit differently with boys, have a bit more sexual confidence. Right? As I tried to keep EVADE in the young adult zone, I found myself asking what Ever would really do in certain situations, and I started to wonder if sticking to the young adult label was fair to my characters. I wrote EVADE, sticking to its category as much as I could, but that question remained in my mind.

 

As characters grow, does the category change?

 

When ARK OF DREAMS came along, my main characters (dual POV) were both twenty years old. I struggled with this discovery, feeling like I was failing my chosen category, my self-proclaimed label. I was a young adult writer, darnit, and I needed to stick with it! I even tried to change Marco and Ana, tried to force them back into that young adult box I’d put myself in.

 

Young adult was what I knew.

 

Wasn’t it?

 

ARK is the best thing I’ve written to date. I say that in as humble a voice as possible, but I am really proud of this manuscript. Like, really proud. From concept to character building, my past four years of writing has helped hone my ever-evolving craft, and ARK is proof that I’ve been paying attention (at least some of the time). That doesn’t mean it’s perfect, by any means, but for me, it’s something I can really be proud of.

 

And you know what?

 

It’s new adult.

 

There are adult situations.

 

There are sex scenes.

 

Though the book by no means focuses on sexuality, the romance factor is heavy (which seems to be a trend in what I write—and read!), and there are a few steamy scenes that go way past innocent kissing or even heated make-out sessions. The sex is right there in front of your face, though this isn’t erotica. My main characters are alone, acting as adults and taking charge of their lives. They’re college students, artists, professional athletes. They’re the masters of their own destinies, and though they may stumble, they’ve clearly left adolescence far behind.

 

They are new adults, finding their way, making mistakes, and diving face first into adulthood, whether by choice or by environment.

 

But . . . I write young adult fiction. If ARK OF DREAMS isn’t young adult, then I’m not a young adult author, right?

 

So who am I?

 

Am I a new adult author?

 

I write young adult books as well.

 

So who am I?

 

And this is where I decided to stop labeling myself.

 

I am a writer. Period.

 

I write young adult, but I am not strictly a young adult writer. I write new adult, but I am not strictly a new adult writer. I write fantasy. I write paranormal. I write contemporary with a dystopian edge. I write romance. I write biblical retellings. I redux fairytales. I write ghosts.

 

Witches. Love triangles. Suicides. Fairies. First kisses, first loves, first times.

 

I write.

 

Because I am a writer.

 

Tour Schedule:

 

October 1st - Katie Teller's Stories

October 2nd - Krystal Wade

October 7th - Bookworm for Kids

October 8th - Stacey Nash

October 9th - Amazing Books

October 15th - Eliza Tilton

October 17th - Kelley Harvey Writes

October 18th - Ryan Hill Writes

October 21st - Sharon Bayliss

October 23rd - Jamie Ayres

October 24th - The Bookshelf Sophisticate

October 29th - YArush

October 31st - Tamara Mataya

November 4th - Tonya Kuper

November 5th - Love & Life & Learning

November 7th - A Different Drum Beat

November 9th - YA Stands

 

About the Author:

 

 

An unashamed super fan of all things paranormal romance, Jessa Russo reads, writes and breathes paranormal YA, rarely straying from her comfort zone. When not writing or reading--or raising the coolest kid ever--Jessa enjoys making memories with her amazingly supportive family and friends, while secretly planning her next trip to New Orleans. She will always call Southern California home, where she lives with her husband and daughter, and a Great Dane who thinks he's the same size as his cranky sister, the Chihuahua.

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Blog Tour & Guest Post: Fault Line by Christa Desir

 Ben could date anyone he wants, but he only has eyes for the new girl — sarcastic free-spirit, Ani. Luckily for Ben, Ani wants him too. She’s everything Ben could ever imagine. Everything he could ever want.

But that all changes after the party. The one Ben misses. The one Ani goes to alone.

Now Ani isn’t the girl she used to be, and Ben can’t sort out the truth from the lies. What really happened, and who is to blame?

Ben wants to help her, but she refuses to be helped. The more she pushes Ben away, the more he wonders if there’s anything he can do to save the girl he loves.

Language is incredibly powerful. What we say, how we phrase things, the words we use, these things matter immensely. And one of the things I’ve noticed in YA literature is our great desire to cast the males in books as “heroes”. I see reviews over and over again mention the hero of a book, way more than I ever see the term “heroine” used. I think this speaks volumes about the YA genre.

If we have a girl and a guy in a story, we immediately want to jump to love story. Yes, there are exceptions, but we want to go there. And this is a truth in teen lives. Teens spend a lot of time on the quest to date. But love stories have pretty specific requirements, the biggest of which is a HEA/HFN (happily ever after/happy for now). I did not write a love story.

 

And yet, I’m asked over and over again about my “hero” Ben. Whenever I get this question, the first thing I say is, “he’s not a hero, he’s a 17yo boy who stays.” I know what a lot of people want from this book. I’ve read enough romance books to know that there is a big part of us that wants the guy to swoop in and make things better for the girl after trauma.

 

Now here’s my truth. It doesn’t work like that in real life. Guys cannot fix you after rape. They want to, believe me. They want you to heal quickly and move on and all those other things. God love my problem-solving husband who wants me to be over this already, it happened forever ago, it shouldn’t still impact me, I need to push forward. But with rape, there isn’t moving on and forgetting. To me, there is integrating your experience into your life so you can continue. But you do not forget.

 

When we set the expectation that a guy will swoop in and fix things, be the hero of our lives, we are selling girls a bill of goods that will leave them disappointed. Because we’re all deeply flawed and even the very best of people do stupid and insensitive crap sometimes. I didn’t want Ben to be a hero because I don’t want girls to think they can heal from rape that way and I don’t want guys to have an

unobtainable bar set for them. When we write unrealistic heroes, guys look at that and shut down. They’ll never be able to live up to this, so they don’t engage at all.

 

I’ve talked to a lot of guys who care about the issue of sexual violence deeply, and they almost all universally say something to the effect of, “I’m no expert. I do a lot of dumb stuff. I probably don’t belong here. But I am worried about the issue.” This needs to change. Guys do belong in this movement. Not to “fix” or “mansplain” things, but to come to the table with an open mind, an acknowledgement that we’re all deeply flawed but have the best intentions, and that no one is expecting heroes or heroines in this.

 

If my book does anything, I hope that it starts a dialogue about what guys can do or say around sexual violence. I hope it starts conversations about consent and active bystanders and the things to say when the person you love has been traumatized. I hope people take the word “hero” out of this and instead start to look at what could’ve happened differently. And I hope that we don’t have expectations of one person “fixing” another. Because it really doesn’t work that way.

 

About the Author:

 

 

I'm a YA author who loves dark contemporary books. My debut novel FAULT LINE comes out

from SimonPulse October 1, 2013. My second novel BLEED LIKE ME will be released from

SimonPulse in Fall 2014.

 

I am also a feminist, rape victim activist, and romance novel editor. I live outside of Chicago

with my awesome husband and our three small children.

 

Author's Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

 

After this post and following along with the rest of the tour, I'm sure everyone will be wanting to get themselves their very own copy and if you go to one of the links below you'll be all taken care of!

 

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

 

Here's the complete tour schedule, be sure to check out all the stops so you don't miss out on any of the fabulous posts and fun stuff!

 

October 7th - Itching for Books

October 8th - YA Reads

October 9th - Novel Novice

October 10th - IB Book Blogging

October 11th - Fangirlish

October 14th - Novel Thoughts

October 15th - The Bookshelf Sophisticate

October 16th - Chapter by Chapter

October 17th - Mundie Moms

October 18th - The Page Turner's Blog

October 19th - The Story Siren

Blog Tour & Guest Post: When the World was Flat (and we were in love)

 

Shocking Facts About Einstein

 

When the World was Flat (and we were in love) is based around a reimagining of

Albert Einstein’s decision not to accept a potentially life-saving operation.

I am not going to go into details, because that would involve giving away

spoilers, but I would love to tell you a bit about my research into Einstein.

I not only researched his theories for my novel, but also his life. Today, I have

compiled a list of the top five most shocking facts I read about Einstein, some of

which I mention in When the World was Flat (and we were in love).

 

1. He married his cousin

 

Yep. How very Downton Abbey. His cousin was also not his first wife. She was his second. Scandalous! His first wife was college sweetheart Mileva Maric, who he married in 1904 and divorced after a long separation in 1919. Later that year, he married his cousin and divorcee Elsa Loewenthal (which was her married name, as her maiden name was Einstein). They were first cousins through their mothers and second cousins through their fathers. They do look very happy together in photos though.

 

2. He had a secret illegitimate daughter

 

Einstein had two sons with his first wife Maric. However, scholars recently discovered they had a daughter before they were married, who they called Lieserl. Not much is known about Lieserl, as children born outside of wedlock were usually kept under wraps in those days. It is believed she either died of scarlet fever or was put up for adoption.

 

3. He blamed himself for the first atomic bomb

 

In 1939, Einstein wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt suggesting that the U.S. should build an atomic bomb before Germany.  The letter led to the development of the atomic bombs ‘Little Boy’ and ‘Fat Man,’ which were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, killing more than

200,000 people.  Einstein, who considered himself a pacifist, later described his letter to President

Roosevelt as his greatest regret.

 

4. He was expelled from school

 

Einstein went to a school called Luitpold-Gymnasium in Munich from 1888, but was reportedly expelled in 1894 for being “disruptive and affecting the other students” and left without a diploma. I read that he had been scheming to leave anyway and had secured a doctor’s certificate citing a nervous breakdown if he did not return to his parents, who had moved to Italy.  I also read that he failed his college entry exams, but I am not sure about that, as there is a lot of misinformation about Einstein.

 

5. His brain has been used for scientific research

 

Einstein passed away on April 18 rupture of an aneurysm, which had previously been operated on. He refused a potentially life-saving operation, saying it was his time.  The pathologist removed his brain within eight hours of his death for scientific study into his genius. There is debate around whether this was done with the permission of the family, although apparently his son agreed after the fact on the 18th, 1955, from internal bleeding caused by the condition that the research only be published in journals of high-standing.  The findings are contradictory, but it seems to be agreed that he had unusual

brain anatomy. In 2012, a new study was published in the journal Brain, stating: Although the overall size and asymmetrical shape of Einstein's brain were normal, the prefrontal, somatosensory, primary motor, parietal, temporal and occipital cortices were extraordinary.

 

Looking back, I wonder if I had an inkling that my life was about to go from ordinary to extraordinary.

 

When sixteen-year-old Lillie Hart meets the gorgeous and mysterious Tom Windsor-Smith for the first time, it’s like fireworks — for her, anyway. Tom looks as if he would be more interested in watching paint dry; as if he is bored by her and by her small Nebraskan town in general.

 

But as Lillie begins to break down the walls of his seemingly impenetrable exterior, she starts to suspect that he holds the answers to her reoccurring nightmares and to the impossible memories which keep bubbling to the surface of her mind — memories of the two of them, together and in love. 

 

When she at last learns the truth about their connection, Lillie discovers that Tom has been hiding an earth-shattering secret; a secret that is bigger — and much more terrifying and beautiful — than the both of them. She also discovers that once you finally understand that the world is round, there is no way to make it flat again.

 

An epic and deeply original sci-fi romance, taking inspiration from Albert Einstein’s theories and the world-bending wonder of true love itself.

 

About the Author:

 

Ingrid Jonach writes books for children and young adults, including the chapter books The Frank Frankie and Frankie goes to France published by Pan Macmillan, and When the World was Flat (and we were in love) published by Strange Chemistry.

 

Since graduating from university with a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing (Hons) in 2005, Ingrid has worked as a journalist and in public relations, as well as for the Australian Government.

 

Ingrid loves to promote reading and writing, and has been a guest speaker at a number of schools and literary festivals across Australia, where she lives with her husband Craig and their pug dog Mooshi.

 

Despite her best efforts, neither Craig nor Mooshi read fiction.

 

Find out more at www.ingridjonach.com

 

Giveaway Details

 

Enter below for your chance to win one of two awesome prize packages as part of the Around the World in 80 Days Blog Tour for When the World was Flat (and we were in love) by Ingrid Jonach.

There will be two winners worldwide. Each prize package includes:

 

• a signed copy of When the World was Flat (and we were in love)

• a pair of silver plated key-shaped earrings in a When the World was Flat (and we were in love) gift box

• a When the World was Flat (and we were in love) bookmark.

 

The competition will run until 21 October 2013 and the winners will be

announced on this page and via www.ingridjonach.com
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway