Book Spotlight and Giveaway: Life Unaware by Cole Gibson

Life Unaware

by Cole Gibsen

Release Date: 04/28/15

Entangled Teen

Book Summary:

Regan Flay has been talking about you. 

Regan Flay is on the cusp of achieving her control-freak mother's "plan" for high school success―cheerleading, student council, the Honor Society—until her life gets turned horribly, horribly upside down. Every bitchy text. Every bitchy email. Every lie, manipulation, and insult she's ever said have been printed out and taped to all the lockers in school. 

Now Regan has gone from popular princess to total pariah. 

The only person who even speaks to her is her former best friend's hot but socially miscreant brother, Nolan Letner. Nolan thinks he knows what Regan's going through, but whatnobody knows is that Regan isn't really Little Miss Perfect. In fact, she's barely holding it together under her mom's pressure. But the consequences of Regan's fall from grace are only just beginning. Once the chain reaction starts, no one will remain untouched... 

Especially Regan Flay.

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About the Author

Cole Gibsen first realized she different when, in high school, she was still reading comic books while the other girls were reading fashion magazines.

It was her love of superheroes that first inspired her to pick up a pen. Her favorite things to write about are ordinary girls who find themselves in extraordinary situations.

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Cover Reveal: Cinderella's Shoes by Shonna Slayton

Cinderella's Shoes

by ShonnaSlayton Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads: 

The war may be over, but Kate Allen's life is still in upheaval. Not only has she discovered that Cinderella was real, but now she's been made Keeper of the Wardrobe, her sole responsibility to protect Cinderella's magical dresses from the greed of the evil stepsisters' modern descendants. 

But Cinderella's dresses are just the beginning. It turns out that the priceless glass slippers might actually exist, too, and they could hold the power to reunite lost loved ones like her father-missing in action since World War II ended. As Kate and her boyfriend, Johnny, embark on an adventure from New York to Italy and Poland in search of the mysterious slippers, they will be tested in ways they never imagined. 

Because when you harness Cinderella's magic, danger and evil are sure to follow...

First book in the series:
(cover linked to Goodreads)

Buy Links:
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About the Author

SHONNA SLAYTON is the author of the YA novels Cinderella's Dress, (Summer 2014) and Cinderella's Shoes (Fall 2015) published by Entangled Teen. She finds inspiration in reading vintage diaries written by teens, who despite using different slang, sound a lot like teenagers today. When not writing, Shonna enjoys amaretto lattes and spending time with her husband and children in Arizona.

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Book Blitz and Giveaway: Red by Alyxandra Harvey

Red

by Alyxandra Harvey 

Release Date: March 2015

Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

Bad girls burn hot…

Red is the color of Kia Alcott's hair.
It's her temper, which blazes hot and always gets Kia into way too much trouble.
And it's the color of fire. Fires that Kia can start…just by thinking about them.

When her latest “episode” gets her kicked out of school, Kia is shipped off to her grandmother, who works for the wealthy Blackwoods. It's an estate shrouded in secrets, surrounded by rules, and presided over by a family that is far from normal…including the gorgeous and insolent Ethan Blackwood.

Ethan knows far more about the dangers of the forest surrounding the estate than Kia can ever imagine. For this forest has teeth, and Ethan is charged with protecting the outside world from its vicious mysteries.

But inside, even the most vibrant shade of red doesn't stand a chance against the dark secrets of the Blackwood family… 

Buy Links:

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Excerpt:  Kia from “Red” by Alyxandra Harvey

I flipped through the glossy school pamphlet Abby had left on my desk. Havencrest Preparatory Academy. The photos showed roses everywhere and smiling well-groomed students in uniforms. Uniforms. Shoot me now.

I’d stumbled into someone else’s story. I was in a strange house with a strange woman; the fact that she was my grandmother didn’t change that. I barely knew her and she definitely didn’t know me. Even my dad didn’t know me anymore, and I was closer to him than anyone. I had secrets now, dangerous ones, so maybe it was best that I was stuck here on a secret lake no one knew about. Even if I already missed Riley and Dad and my tiny cramped bedroom strung with Christmas lights. Kia Alcott didn’t belong in a castle or a prep school. She belonged in a fourth-floor walk-up with hallways that smelled like cabbage rolls. She belonged to litter-choked downtown streets, comic book stores, and donut doughnut shops that stayed open all night. She didn’t know the first thing about fashion magazines or name-brand clothes.

Mr. Yang, the counselor who ran the anger-management classes I’d had to take, would say I was making snap judgments about people out of fear. I was stereotyping them before they could stereotype me. I was building walls.

Easy for him to say.

Because the truth was, I wasn’t going to fit in at a school full of kids who went horseback riding or had their own sailboats, or whatever it was rich country kids did in their spare time. And while I didn’t actually mind being on the fringes, I did mind having to start from scratch. At my old school I’d already scoped out my territory, I knew where to hang out, who to avoid, and which teachers turned a blind eye to a few skipped classes.

Now I knew nothing. Not even who I was.

About the Author

Alyxandra Harvey lives in a stone Victorian house in Ontario, Canada with a few resident ghosts who are allowed to stay as long as they keep company manners. She loves medieval dresses, used to be able to recite all of The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson, and has been accused, more than once, of being born in the wrong century. She believes this to be mostly true except for the fact that she really likes running water, women’s rights, and ice cream. 

Among her favourite books are ‘The Wood Wife’ by Terri Windling, ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, and of course, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen. Elizabeth Bennet is her hero because she’s smart and sassy, and Mr. Darcy is, well, yum.

Aside from the ghosts, she also lives with husband and their dogs. She likes cinnamon lattes, tattoos and books.

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Book Blitz and Giveaway: Snark and Stage Fright by Stephanie Wardrop

Snark and Stage Fright

by Stephanie Wardrop

Release Date: 03/10/15

Swoon Romance

Summary from Goodreads:

Happily-ever-after isn’t as happy or forever as Jane Austen makes it look. Just something Georgia Barrett learns when her sharp tongue costs her the only guy she’s ever really cared about: Michael Endicott.

Determined to move on, Georgia lands the lead role in the school’s fall musical. But to survive on stage, she’ll need to learn to express herself without her protective shield of snark. She soon discovers being honest with others means being honest with herself, and the truth is she’s still in love with Michael.

But from the looks of Michael’s new girlfriend, Georgia isn’t the only one who tried to move on. Apparently, some people are just better at it than others. And when Michael and his girlfriend join the cast of the fall musical, Georgia finds out that snark and stage fright are the least of her worries…

Buy links:

Amazon

Excerpt

You would think that on a cloudless, picture-postcard-perfect summer day, lying on a raft beside my boyfriend in his pool, I would be incapable of worry. 

But I am good at what I do.

Michael’s pool is one of my favorite places in the world, because it looks like it was carved out of the woods by nature herself, like a little lagoon accidentally popped up in a New England backyard about a century ago. It’s very rocky and ferny and surrounded by beautiful exotic plants, lush green and fuchsia and orange-colored plants that shouldn’t thrive in Massachusetts but grow here like the happiest transplants ever.

And a month ago, on the night of the school prom, when I was one of the least happy transplants to New England ever, Michael and I met here and finally admitted that we actually really liked each other. It’s where he kissed me for the very first time. So I should be luxuriating here on the raft with him, basking in the sun and the enticing smells of chlorine and sunscreen, but I’m not.

I’m too busy panicking because in a few days I am going to be spending a week at Michael’s family’s summerhouse. Before I’d moved here to Longbourne a year ago, I’d never even met someone who has a different house for different seasons. I don’t even know what you wear at a summerhouse, but I tried to sound casual as I tugged at my Target tankini and asked Michael, “So it’s your dad’s sister’s house, right? And it’s on the beach?”

Michael nodded and stirred the water with his fingers, making his own personal tiny tidal wave and watching it crash against the side of the raft. One of the reasons I love him is because he seems so serious on the outside but in private he does these silly boyish things like making private tsunamis in the pool. And I have to admit he looks really good wet, with his dark curls plastered to his head like one of those statues of Apollo at a Greek temple, only with a tan, since he’s been teaching little kids to swim every day at the YMCA in Netherfield. 

 “Are people going to be, like, walking around in straw hats and white linen dresses all day, sipping smart cocktails and playing croquet?” I asked. 

Michael lifted his sunglasses, revealing his now squinting dark eyes as a familiar smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. 

“We’re going to my aunt’s house on Cape Cod, George, not into a deleted scene from The Great Gatsby.” He laughed. “We’ll drive there, and traffic might be a pain, but we don’t require a time machine.” 

I could tell he was amused but a little of weary of my pre-travel angst. But summer family get-togethers at my house involve rickety metal grills, inflatable pools for the kids, and lots of potato salad. I’m not sure Michael understands I feel about as comfortable walking into a weeklong celebration for his cousin Rose’s wedding as I would be to crash-land on an island overrun by cannibals. Cannibals wouldn’t care if I wore last season’s sandals or sipped out of the finger bowl. They wouldn’t even have finger bowls.

 

About the Author
Stephanie Wardrop grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania, a town mostly famous for being a railroad card in Monopoly. After giving up on her childhood goal of becoming a pirate, she decided to become a writer but took a detour through lots of college and grad school and ended up teaching writing and British and American literature. She's the author of the Swoon Romance e-novella series Snark and Circumstance, based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and lives in western New England with her husband, kids, cats, and gecko.

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Book Blitz and Giveaway: Bricks by John Davidson

Bricks

by John Davidson 

Release Date: 02/03/15

Anaiah Press

Summary from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year old Cori Reigns learns that not all tornadoes take you to magical places. Some take your house, your school, and life as you knew it. Struggling to put the pieces of her life back together, Cori learns to rebuild what the storm destroyed by trusting family she didn't know she had and helping friends she never appreciated.

Amazon│Barnes & Noble

Married to my bride for twenty-four years, I have an amazing son and a wonderful daughter.

Born and raised in central Oklahoma, I work in education, first as a teacher now in technology curriculum. I write. I read. And in the summer I make snow cones.

Author Links:

  

Excerpt:

We found Leo in the third floor waiting room, just where Slim said he would be.

With just a cursory glance, it was easy to see he’d made the corner of the waiting area into his own private room. A blanket draped over one arm of the chair, with a pillow tucked beneath when it was needed. He had a cup of water and a box of fish crackers on the stand. The bags beneath his eyes looked like they’d been carved with a chisel as he stared at the TV with the sound off.

I marched over and fell around his neck. His hand rested on my back like an anchor while his breath warmed my neck. Letting go, I sat back on to the plain wooden coffee table, his hand still in mine.

“How are you?” I was tired of hearing it myself, but sometimes words are what they are no matter how fancy we try to dress them up.

He nodded, as I expected him to. I’d never known Leo to complain. He played an entire football game with a broken arm once. “Really?” I prodded. “It’s us, Leo. Talk to us.” Slim slid in beside me.

“I’m no worse than anybody else, you know? I’m alive. Dad’s alive, and he’s not getting worse.”

Ah, Leo’s optimistic way of saying his dad wasn’t getting better. I squeezed his hand. “I’m going to go look in on Sara. But when I get back, I want to get you out of here for a while.”

His eyes widened and he sat up and swallowed.

“Just a little while,” I assured him. “I promise. We’ll get something to eat. A snow cone, maybe.”

He settled back in his seat with a still frightened gaze.

“It’ll be fine,” I said. I let go of his hand, and it fell like a rock to his lap. Maybe Slim could perk him up while I was gone. As I made my way down the hall to the room the nurse had given me, I felt a little awkward since I didn’t have a gift to give her, but I brushed it aside. We saved Sara’s life. Considering our history, that’s a pretty big deal.

 
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Book Blitz and Giveaway: For Sure and Certain by Anya Monroe

For Sure & Certain

by Anya Monroe 

Release Date: 02/05/15

390 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

***She knits, cans jam, and lives in the city. He’s an Amish college student, breaking the rules. They're so right, it's wrong.***

Marigold, a recent high school graduate with a shady past, is looking to redefine herself. She doesn’t know what she wants exactly, but college isn’t it.

When she meets Abel, an Amish guy on Rumspringa, his ‘running around’ time, she doesn’t plan on falling for someone wearing a straw hat and suspenders. But she can't help it, Abel is the breath of fresh air she's been waiting for.

Abel, who’s moved to the city for a summer program at Jamestown, never imagined Marigold would be drawn to the life he was trying so hard to avoid. His family expects him to take over the family farm; college parties and dorm life don’t quite fit in with their plans for him.

Opposites attract, but nothing is easy with love. When they trade places for the summer they learn a life together isn’t as for sure and certain as they thought. 

Buy Links:

Amazon

Excerpt:

“I’d like to take you out again, if you’ll have me. I know there are a lot of differences between us, ja? And maybe it’s a bad idea, knowing I’m here for just a summer before I’m supposed to go back home. But you make me feel at ease, it’s not like that with everyone. I don’t want to miss out on a good thing because of an unknown future.”

She looked down at his hands, realizing she’d already assumed there would be another date. More of these hands on hers, and maybe his mouth on hers, too. She pushed that thought away, realizing she was in no position to kiss someone so different than her.

As far as the future, she didn’t even know where she’d be by the end of summer. For now she’d find ways to be happy. Abel was one of them. She knew seeing him again wasn’t even a question. Of course she would.

“For sure and certain,” she said, remembering the Amish words he’d said before.

The simple words brought a huge grin on his face, and she matched his.

 

About the Author
Anya Monroe likes to write stories and paint words on her walls. She believes in love at first sight and fights for happily-ever-afters. As a wife and mom to six kids, she carves out time to write between carpool pick-ups and date nights because words are her heartbeat. She lives a ferry ride from Seattle and is a total Pacific Northwesterner who drinks chai lattes and wears Birkenstocks and has dreadlocks. She's a cliché, but doesn't mind it. Not even a little.

She documents her lovely-messy life on IG @anyamonroe. Find her there!

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