Blog Tour - Never Stop Falling (REVIEW + GIVEAWAY!)

Never Stop Falling by Ashley Drew

Publication date: March 1, 2016
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

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About Never Stop Falling: She didn’t expect to fall for her best friend.

He was always waiting to catch her.

Corinne Bennett lives in the moment. Whether she’s skydiving out of an airplane, or setting off on the road to anywhere, she’s ready to dive into the next adventure. That is, if best friend and always-by-the-book Nicholas Kelley doesn’t put his foot down on her wild stunts first.

When Corinne gives in to her growing feelings for Nicholas the summer before their freshman year of college, she takes the ultimate risk, making this one adventure he has longed to explore with her.

But the moment they take that irrevocable leap, a shocking revelation blindsides Corinne, exposing her vulnerabilities, baring her fears, and shattering her beliefs about love. With their future—and most importantly, their friendship—now clouded in doubt, she must decide if love is really worth the risk.

Because when it comes to love, you never stop falling.

I adored this book more than should be humanly possible. The characters, the relationships, the romance, the story… I just adored everything about this book.

Okay, so maybe I didn't agree with the fact that Cori and Nick were engaged to other people and stuff still happened between them anyway, but I couldn't help but ache for them when their relationship became rocky. Especially because I got to see them together before they even met their fiancées, and I loved them so much. It was heartbreaking to see things fall apart between them, so I couldn't help but want them to be together together when they were finally reunited. They were meant to be together. As much as I am a logical person, I do have a romantic's heart, and I just wanted them to have the Happily Ever After they deserved.

The characters were so real. I know that might not sound like some major feat, but I've rarely felt as connected to characters as I was with the ones in Never Stop Falling. I laughed with them, I screamed at them, I cried for them. It was a roller-coaster of emotions, but it was all so worth it. Seeing Cori and Nick transform and realize who they are and where they are meant to be—it was something else. Even at 24, they still had a lot of growing up to do. And I was so proud to watch them flourish into wonderful human beings and stop letting their mistakes hold them back. They overcame so many obstacles throughout the book, and eventually faced their fears head on.

Ashley Drew's writing was absolutely lovely. Every word seemed to hold a deeper meaning in the grand scheme of things, and I loved putting the puzzle pieces together along the way. Her writing was easy to follow, while also being eloquent and beautiful. The story was so sweet and heartfelt, but also held so much more meaning than a simple love story.

I sped through Never Stop Falling in less than a day. It captured my attention from the start, and may have stolen a piece of my heart along the way. I wasn't sure what to expect when I decided to pick this book up, but it defied all my expectations and was a joy to read.

Rating: 4.5 stars

About the Author:

A San Francisco Bay Area native, Ashley Drew currently lives in Los Angeles. When she’s not going cross-eyed after writing for five hours straight, or burying her nose in a book, you’ll find her sprawled on her couch watching General Hospital, having alien conspiracy discussions with her husband over a bottle of bubbly, and dancing to Taylor Swift’s 1989 album with her daughter.

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Nora & Kettle (Book Blitz + Giveaway!)

Nora & Kettle
Lauren Nicolle Taylor
Published by: Clean Teen Publishing
Publication date: February 29th 2016
Genres: Historical, Young Adult

What if Peter Pan was a homeless kid just trying to survive, and Wendy flew away for a really good reason?
Seventeen-year-old Kettle has had his share of adversity. As an orphaned Japanese American struggling to make a life in the aftermath of an event in history not often referred to—the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the removal of children from orphanages for having “one drop of Japanese blood in them”—things are finally looking up. He has his hideout in an abandoned subway tunnel, a job, and his gang of Lost Boys.
Desperate to run away, the world outside her oppressive brownstone calls to naïve, eighteen-year-old Nora—the privileged daughter of a controlling and violent civil rights lawyer who is building a compensation case for the interned Japanese Americans. But she is trapped, enduring abuse to protect her younger sister Frankie and wishing on the stars every night for things to change.
For months, they’ve lived side by side, their paths crossing yet never meeting. But when Nora is nearly killed and her sister taken away, their worlds collide as Kettle, grief stricken at the loss of a friend, angrily pulls Nora from her window.
In her honeyed eyes, Kettle sees sadness and suffering. In his, Nora sees the chance to take to the window and fly away.
Set in 1953, NORA AND KETTLE explores the collision of two teenagers facing extraordinary hardship. Their meeting is inevitable, devastating, and ultimately healing. Their stories, a collection of events, are each on their own harmless. But together, one after the other, they change the world.

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EXCERPT:

I snort, push my sleeves up, and lean back on my forearms. She watches me, her eyes on my bare skin, and I wonder what she’s thinking. “Dances. Really? What’s to miss?” My experience with dances was one forced event in the camps where we watched the grownups awkwardly shift in lines to scratchy music. It didn’t look very enjoyable.

She releases the button she’s been playing with and smirks. “Says someone who’s clearly never been to one.”

“How do you know that?” I say, raising an eyebrow and touching my chest, mock offended.

She laughs. It’s starlight in a jar. I blink slowly. “Oh, I can tell just by looking at you, the way you move. You,” she says, pointing at me accusingly. “Can’t dance.”

The candlelight twinkles like it’s chuckling at me. “I can dance,” I say, not sure why I’m lying to defend myself. I’ve never danced in my life.

She stands up and beckons me with her finger, and I think there’s something wrong with my heart. It’s hurting… but the pain feels good.

She looks like a pirate’s cabin boy, shirt billowing around her small waist, ill-fitting pants rolled over at her hips to stop them from falling down. She points her bare foot at me. “Prove it!”

Shit!

I cough and stand nervously. I don’t know what to do with my hands, so I put them behind my back. She giggles. Touches me. Runs her fingers lightly down my arms until she finds my hands. She grasps my wrists and I gulp as she places one on the small dip between her hips and her ribs, extending the other out like the bow of a boat. Her hand in mine.

I follow her small steps and we wind in circles, avoiding the clumps of debris, painting patterns in the dust.

I stare at my socks and her narrow bare feet, listening to the swish of them across the dirt. “You know, this is pretty weird without music,” I mutter, looking up for a moment and suddenly losing my balance.

She exhales and brings us back to equilibrium. She starts humming softly. It’s a song I’ve heard before, but I pretend it’s the first time. Her voice is sweet, cracked and croaky, but in tune as she gazes at the ground and leads us up and down the back of the tunnel.

This moment is killing me. I don’t want it, but I do. Because I know it won’t be enough and it’s all I’ll get.

The end of the song is coming. It rises and rises and then softly peters out. We look at each other, understanding that something is changing between us, and we have to decide whether to let it. Please, let it.

She sings the last few bars. “And if you sing this melody, you’ll be pretending just like me. The world is mine. It can be yours, my friend. So why don’t you pretend?”

Her voice is like the dust of a comet’s tail. Full of a thousand things I don’t understand but want to.
She stops and starts to step away. She’s so fragile. Not on the outside. On the outside, her body is strong, tougher than it should have to be. It’s inside that’s very breakable. I’m scared to touch her, but I don’t want to avoid touching her because of what she’s been through. That seems worse.

So I do it, because I want to and I don’t think she doesn’t want me to. Her breath catches as I pull her closer. I just want to press my cheek to hers, feel her skin against mine. There is no music, just the rhythm of two barely functioning hearts trying to reach each other through miles of scar tissue.

She presses her ear to my chest and listens, then she pulls back to meet my eyes, her expression a mixture of confusion and comfort. She breathes out, her lips not wanting to close but not wanting to speak. She settles on a nervous smile and puts her arms around my neck. I inhale and look up at the ceiling, counting the stars I know are up there somewhere, and then rest my cheek in her hair.

I don’t know how she is here. I don’t know when she’ll disappear.

We sway back and forth, and it feels like we might break. That we will break if we step apart from each other.

I can’t let her go.

I think I love dancing.

Author Bio: Lauren Nicolle Taylor lives in the lush Adelaide Hills. The daughter of a Malaysian nuclear physicist and an Australian scientist, she was expected to follow a science career path, attending Adelaide University and completing a Health Science degree with Honours in obstetrics and gynaecology.

She then worked in health research for a short time before having her first child. Due to their extensive health issues, Lauren spent her twenties as a full-time mother/carer to her three children. When her family life settled down, she turned to writing.

She is a 2014 Kindle Book Awards Semi-finalist and a USA Best Book Awards Finalist. 

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Whatever It Takes (Book Blitz + Giveaway!)

Whatever It Takes
Lindsey Pogue
(Nothing But Trouble, #1)
Publication date: January 22nd 2016
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult

Four years ago, I thought my life was pretty normal for a teenager. Three years ago, my world was shattered, and now I’m just trying to hold the pieces together. But regret and anger aren’t so easy to ignore.
I just need to catch my breath … for it all to go away …
I thought I might finally be ready to move on from that horrible night, but then he decided to come back.
He can’t come back … he’ll ruin me completely.
One horror-filled night changes the course of Samantha’s seemingly normal life. She’s ruined everything. Despite her determination to keep the family ranch up and running, her guilt makes it impossible to completely move on or forget.
Sam takes comfort in her quirky, endearing friends as she tries to balance between the girl she was and the woman she wants to become. Just when she thinks she’s finally making amends with her past, someone she never thought she’d see again returns, and Sam’s life is once again turned upside down. Both her head and her heart want different things, so she’s lost when, once again, she’s forced to make a decision that will inevitably change her life.

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Author Bio:
Lindsey Pogue has always been a little creative. As a child she established a bug hospital on her elementary school soccer field, wrote her first YA manuscript in high school, and as an adult, expresses herself through writing. Her novels are inspired by her observations of the world around her—whether she’s traveling, people watching, or hiking. When not plotting her next storyline or dreaming up new, brooding characters, Lindsey’s wrapped in blankets watching her favorite action flicks or going on road trips with her own leading man.

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The Prophecy of Shadows (Book Blitz + Giveaway!)

The Prophecy of Shadows
Michelle Madow
(Elementals #1)
Published by: Dreamscape Publishing
Publication date: January 26th 2016
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Filled with magic, thrilling adventure, and sweet romance, Elementals is the first in a new series that fans of Percy Jackson and The Secret Circle will love!
When Nicole Cassidy moves from sunny Georgia to gloomy New England, the last thing she expects is to learn that her homeroom is a cover for a secret coven of witches. Even more surprisingly … she’s apparently a witch herself. Despite doubts about her newfound abilities, Nicole is welcomed into this ancient circle of witches and is bedazzled by their powers–and, to her dismay, by Blake–the school’s notorious bad-boy.
Girls who get close to Blake wind up hurt. His girlfriend Danielle will do anything to keep them away, even if she must resort to using dark magic. But the chemistry between Blake and Nicole is undeniable, and despite wanting to protect Nicole from Danielle’s wrath, he finds it impossible to keep his distance.
When the Olympian Comet shoots through the sky for the first time in three thousand years, Nicole, Blake, Danielle, and two others in their homeroom are gifted with mysterious powers. But the comet has another effect–it opens the portal to the prison world that has contained the Titans for centuries. After an ancient monster escapes and attacks Nicole and Blake, it’s up to them and the others to follow the clues from a cryptic prophecy so that they can save their town … and possibly the world.

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“Elementals is going to blow your mind!”
-Crossroad Reviews, ★★★★★

“Five glittery stars for being such a compelling read!”
-Andrea Heltsley, Goodreads Reviewer ★★★★★

“A perfect mixture of magic and mythology. An entrancing story of trust, friendship and well naughty boys. WITCHES are not the only thing walking the earth!”
– BenjaminOfTomes, BookTuber ★★★★★

—

EXCERPT:

“There’s energy everywhere.” Chris moved his hands in a giant arc above his head to demonstrate. “Humans know that energy exists—they’ve harnessed it for electronics. The difference between us and humans is that we have the power to tap into energy and use it ourselves, and humans don’t.” He smiled at me, as if I was supposed to understand what he meant. “Make sense?”

“Not really,” I said. “Sorry.”

“It’s easier if you relate it to something familiar,” he said, speaking faster. “What happens to the handle of a metal spoon when you leave it in boiling water?”

“It gets hot?” I said it as a question. This was stuff people learned in fifth grade science—not high school homeroom.

“And what happens when it’s plastic?”

“It doesn’t get hot,” I said slowly. “It stays room temperature.”

“Exactly.” He grinned at me like I’d just solved an astrophysics mathematical equation. “Humans are like plastic. Even if they’re immersed in energy, they can’t conduct it. Witches are like metal. We have the ability to absorb energy and control it as we want.”

Author Bio:
Michelle Madow grew up in Baltimore, graduated Rollins College in Orlando, and now lives in Boca Raton, Florida. She wrote her first book in her junior year of college, and has been writing novels since. Some of her favorite things are: reading, pizza, traveling, shopping, time travel, Broadway musicals, and spending time with friends and family. Michelle has toured across America to promote her books and to encourage high school students to embrace reading and writing. Someday, she hopes to travel the world for a year on a cruise ship.
Visit Michelle online at www.michellemadow.com, and be sure to sign up for her newsletter and follow her on Amazon to get instant updates on her books! 

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Blog Tour - Every Big & Little Wish (Guest Post + Giveaway!)

Every Big & Little Wish by E.C. Moore
Publisher: Booktrope Publishing
Publication date: October 20th 2015
Genres: Romance, Young Adult

About Every Big and Little Wish:

E.C. Moore’s young adult novel, Every Big and Little Wish, opens in late spring 1970. Sixteen-year-old Jacy Wilbert’s Mom got promoted, so her parents sold their Victorian home in California and moved to a townhouse in Oregon.

Torn away from the only home she’s ever known, forced to leave her beloved German shepherd behind, Jacy feels misplaced. Exacerbating an already terrible situation, her dad runs off with the bombshell real estate agent who sold them their townhouse. And, just when it seems things can’t get any worse, her mom loses the stupid job they left California for in the first place and begins to drown her sorrows with pink wine, night after night. Jacy’s caught in the middle, struggling to maintain a relationship with her AWOL dad while tolerating his annoying, much-younger girlfriend.

Missing old friends back in California, and feeling like an outsider, Jacy needs to build a new social life in a new school. Not the sort of girl to wait around for what she wants to come her way, she sets her sights on Neil Wilder, the best-looking boy around.

Everything changes when Jacy Wilbert knocks on the wrong door.

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~ GUEST POST ~

How I Came to Write Every Big & Little Wish

Every Big & Little Wish is dark and suspenseful but not without lighter moments and heart. I chose 1970 as the setting. I believe this iconic period helps to set the narrative apart. This coming of age novel is a fictional attempt to explore what if felt like to be stalked and kidnapped from my own unique perspective. Although Jacy Wilbert goes through much of what I did, my protagonist is not like me in any way shape or form, and I chose to depict her a few years younger than I was when I got abducted. But her German Shepherd Thor is a genuine portrayal of the guard dog my dad bought to protect me, right down to his name, unusual coloring, and astounding bravery.

I usually begin a book with a seed of an idea. For instance, on a walk one day, I noticed a rundown house with Christmas lights still up in late spring, a dried up wreath hanging on the entry door, and a yard full of potholes. An attractive high school girl walked by just then. If such a girl liked and wanted to meet a boy who lived in such a house, would she be brave enough to knock on his door? What sort of girl could ignore such a ramshackle exterior? How could she be so bold? My protagonist, Jacy Wilbert, was born. I always knew I would write a book loosely based on my stalking and eventual kidnapping, so I began to incorporate that scenario into the outline.

For some reason, parents are often portrayed as peripheral, two-dimensional characters in novels. I wanted Jacy’s parents to be genuinely human and flawed. I didn’t conceal or suppress their bad conduct or erratic behavior patterns. I attempted to illustrate Jacy’s response to her parent’s actions with the choices she makes in return.

The attraction Jacy feels for Neil Wilder, the best-looking boy around, is all consuming and leads her to knock on the wrong door. How could she know it was the wrong door? Contact with the Wilder family leads to obsession and danger.

~

About the Author:

When Elizabeth’s not writing feverishly, you will find her out walking or sightseeing. She’s crazy about coffee, books, cooking, good wine, cairn terriers, miniature ponies, historical houses, tapas, and witty people.

She resides in a fifties bungalow in Southern California, with her creative-director, hubba-hubba husband, a yappy blonde dog, and one feisty Chihuahua.

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Blog Tour - The Secrets We Kept by Lily Velez (REVIEW + GIVEAWAY!)

The Secrets We Kept by Lily Velez 

Publication Date: November 8th 2015

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

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About The Secrets We Kept: One year. That’s how long it’s been since childhood sweethearts Sully Graham and Cadence Gilbertson broke up, since one adoption and one out-of-state move turned their worlds upside down.

Suddenly, Cadence is back in New York City, but something’s different about her. The light in her eyes, the music in her laughter, the warmth in her smile—all of those things have entirely vanished. In their place stand the makings of a girl Sully can’t even begin to recognize, much less understand.

Still, despite the collective history of heartbreak between them, he’s convinced he can win her trust again, and he’s committed to proving the invincibility of their love no matter what it takes.

But Cadence is quietly harboring secrets of her own. Dark secrets. Ugly secrets. Secrets that could break a person. And though broken herself and unbearably lonely, she’s determined to protect Sully from her terrible, biting truths. Even if it means locking him out of her life forever.

The only problem is it seems her heart hasn’t quite received the memo. One glimpse of him is all it takes for her to trip into familiar (and, she’ll admit, addictive) feelings that threaten to all but consume her. Now her biggest fear is that her secrets will begin to slowly unravel one by one…long before Sully’s resolve ever does.

The Secrets We Kept is a moving story about first love, friendship, and forgiveness, and the enduring bonds that forever connect us and give us our strength.

The Secrets We Kept is a beautifully written novel about loss, love, friendship and hope.

The plot was very character-driven, which I enjoyed immensely. I felt a deeper connection to the characters, and I thought Velez balanced the foster care/adoption lifestyle, the characters' internal and psychological struggles, and the romance extremely well. Sometimes a certain aspect of a book can overpower the rest, but Velez did not disappoint. She weaved the different components and themes of the story in a way that helped the story instead of hurt it.

There were a few parts that seemed cliche to me (like Cadence's secrets), but compared to what I've read in the past, Lily Velez wrote it so much better. I also thought that some of the conflicts resolved too quickly once the conflict escalated, but as cliche as it sounds, I could not put the book down. I kept wanting to know more and refused to stop until I got the answers I wanted and needed.

The characters were all very well-developed and felt real and raw. Their lives truly exemplified the idea that life is like a rollercoaster — there were so many times when they were on the brink of falling and were constantly trying to make it back to the top. All of the characters were absolutely maddening at times, but at the same time I couldn't help hut love them and want to cheer them on. They all go through so much throughout the novel, and I just wanted them to be happy again.

Sully and Cadence were extremely cute together. Even though most of the novel was building up to them getting back together (or not), the snapshots of their lives before California were absolutely adorable and all I wanted was for them to have moments like that again. It was frustrating to see them struggling within the relationship with each other as well as with their family and friends, but based on the circumstances I could understand why they acted the way they did.

As individual characters, Sully and Cadence were definitely interesting. It was hard to see them close themselves off from their loved ones and I grew irritated with them at times, but I know that I could probably not do much better if I was in their shoes. 

Overall, The Secrets We Kept was a quick and enjoyable read.

My Rating: ✪✪✪ 1/2

~~

About the Author:

Lily Velez has been writing stories since she was six years old. Not much has changed since then. She still prefersthe written word and her overactive imagination over the ‘real world’ (though to be fair, her stories no longer feature talking dinosaurs). A graduate of Rollins College and a Florida native, when she's not reading or writing, she spends most of her days wrangling up her pit bulls Noah and Luna, planning exciting travel adventures, and nursing her addiction to cheese. All this when she isn’t participating in the extreme sport known as napping. You can learn more about Lily and her books at www.lilyvelezbooks.com.

Lily's debut young adult novel, The Secrets We Kept, released on November 8, 2015.

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