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A Written Rhapsody: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Book Notes & Giveaway: Click-An Online Love Story by Lisa Becker

Fast approaching her 30th birthday and finding herself not married, not dating, and without even a prospect or a house full of cats, Renee Greene, the heroine of Click: An Online Love Story, reluctantly joins her best guy pal on a journey to find love online in Los Angeles. The story unfolds through a series of emails between Renee and her best friends (anal-compulsive Mark, the overly-judgmental Ashley and the over-sexed Shelley) as well as the gentlemen suitors she meets online. From the guy who starts every story with "My buddies and I were out drinking one night," to the egotistical "B" celebrity looking for someone to stroke his ego, Renee endures her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates. Fraught with BCC's, FWD's and inadvertent Reply to All's, readers will root for Renee to "click" with the right man.
Okay, I loved this book pretty hardcore. From the moment I received it, I was excited to read it. It's kind of hard to explain why I hearted it so much without giving bits of the story away, but I'll try to be like a ninja and keep it out of this. My love for this story is mainly because of the characterization. Sure, I loved some characters more than others, but I don't think there was a character in the book that felt undeveloped to me. I felt like I knew every one of them. Actually, that's just it, I DO know someone in my life that could fit well for each character. I think that's what's so great about the book. After reading about all the vampires, magicians, Keebler elves, and zombies(Okay, maybe not the Keebler elves), it's nice to go somewhere familiar. Though I related to Renee the most, Shelley was definitely my favorite character. I don't know how many times her made-up names and overall personality made me laugh. Seriously, you'll get a little taste of what I'm talking about later in the post and will then completely understand the amazingness that is Shelley.

Reviewing this book alone, I was disappointed about a few story lines being left somewhat open-ended, but now I know there's a sequel so I'll forgive Lisa for making me feel sad. All in all, this was a really fun read you should all buy RIGHT NOW!

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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays: The Willows Haven by Hope Collier



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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:



Photobucket“They say I have that affect on women,” a deep voice purred behind me as a rough hand swept around my throat. Impulse pulled my eyes toward him."

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Monday, August 29, 2011

Book Notes: Black Painted Fingernails by Steven Herrick

"How about we toss a coin? Heads, it's west and a lift. Tails, it's still west, but no lift.'James is heading into the country on his first teacher-training round when a mysterious girl asks him for a ride. Sophie has him all worked out: 'You live with your parents and they bought you this car, and a very nice car it is too...' At first James can't see past her wild hair and attitude, but then Sophie trusts him with a secret she's been keeping too long.Steven Herrick masterfully reveals the essence of his characters in this tough and tender story about opening up to love and living a life that's true. Black Painted Fingernails is a captivating novel by the author of By the River and other popular, award-winning books."


This book was not for me, though I don't think it was a bad book. The characters were relatable with James, a man finally leaving the nest and Sophie, a somewhat wild and rebellious girl who lives her life on her own terms. However, I can't say I ever really liked either of them. They were just there. That's how the whole book was for me. I never felt like I was enjoying or hating it, it was just something to pass the time with. 


Having the author also write with more of an Australian culture made the story as a whole a little less grasping for me. There were a few terms here and there that I wouldn't understand and it would have me pull away from the story. Though the alternating chapters were nice, I didn't feel as though I had a good bearing on who James was as a character since he was always shown in the present. Also, I felt the handful of chapters in his parents perspective were unnecessary and took away from the flow of the book. Sophie, though confident and probably the most well-developed character in the story, had a lot of back stories where I kept feeling unsure about why Herrick bothered to even mention it. 


Overall, I never felt the characters really grow through the book, they more just changed suddenly, like magic. This book was a slow read for me and just left me frustrated that it wasn't ending so I could move on to something more interesting.

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Friday, August 26, 2011

Top Spot & FF


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How to play along:
• Pick your favorite read from the current month
• Make a blog post stating your Top Spot pick and share with us why it got the Top Spot for you. Feel free to add (link or attatched) reviews, book summaries or teasers in the post as well for people to take a look at. 
 » NOTE: No book spoilers allowed! If you have to add them, be sure to include a warning.


I know, I know, MORE memes! I'm sorry, but I had to do this one and I swear I'll be making up for this week on the weekend and all of next week. It's been a heavy workload week for me and my blogging time wasn't getting the attention it usually gets. Don't hate me! This new monthly meme is brought to us by the Skype Sisters! Though I only know Amanda at Letters Inside Out, she alone is amazing so you all need to check them out!

My book for this month isn't even up on here until next week, but I thoroughly loved reading it. I'll be giving away a copy of Click: An Online Love Story, so make sure you guys check it out! I won't say too much about it now, but it was a fun storyline and had really fun characters, one of whom you'll meet next week! 


Click: An Online Love Story"Fast approaching her 30th birthday and finding herself not married, not dating, and without even a prospect or a house full of cats, Renee Greene, the heroine of Click: An Online Love Story, reluctantly joins her best guy pal on a journey to find love online in Los Angeles. The story unfolds through a series of emails between Renee and her best friends (anal-compulsive Mark, the overly-judgmental Ashley and the over-sexed Shelley) as well as the gentlemen suitors she meets online. From the guy who starts every story with "My buddies and I were out drinking one night," to the egotistical “B” celebrity looking for someone to stroke his ego, Renee endures her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates. Fraught with BCC's, FWD's and inadvertent Reply to All's, readers will root for Renee to "click" with the right man."




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Q. In books like the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series the paranormal creature in question “comes out of the closet” and makes itself known to the world. Which mythical creature do you wish would come out of the closet, for real?


A: I've been sitting here thinking about it for almost an hour and am no closer to picking just one! This question is evil! One of my random picks would be a Phoenix. I've always imagined them to be graceful yet dangerous if need be. If not that, a trickster would be great to mess with people, haha. Oh...or wait, can I be Alex Mack? Oy...I'll stop.

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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays: Matched by Ally Condie



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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:












"I know what the blue and green tablets do. I don't know anyone who knows for certain what the red tablet does."

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Friday, August 19, 2011

Follower Fridays






Q: If you could write yourself a part in a book, what book would it be and what role would you play in that book? 

A: Oh man, that's so hard! I know I'd probably be a light-hearted sarcastic character with maybe some deeper story that gets unraveled with time. I say this because I am a really sarcastic person usually, but I take time to let people really get to know who I am. I honestly have no idea what book I would be in though...some cute romantic comedy? Yeah, I'm lame.


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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Book Notes: Intertwined by Gena Showalter

Intertwined (Harlequin Teen)"Most sixteen-year-olds have friends. Aden Stone has four human souls living inside him:

One can time-travel.
One can raise the dead.
One can tell the future.
And one can possess another human.
With no other family and a life spent in and out of institutions, Aden and the souls have become friends. But now they’re causing him all kinds of trouble. Like, he’ll blink and suddenly he’s a younger Aden, reliving the past. One wrong move, and he’ll change the future. Or he’ll walk past a total stranger and know how and when she’s going to die.
He’s so over it. All he wants is peace.
And then he meets a girl who quiets the voices. Well, as long as he’s near her. Why? Mary Ann Gray is his total opposite. He’s a loner; she has friends. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks; she tries to make everyone happy. And while he attracts the paranormal, she repels it. For her sake, he should stay away. But it’s too late…. Together they will enter a dark world of intrigue and danger...but not everyone will come out alive."

Who doesn't want to read about a person who has souls in their head?(Shout out to Wanderer, she's my original soul BFF). Okay, I won't lie, the hot boy on the cover caught my attention too--but really can you blame me? This book had a lot of potential and I wanted to get my creepy tiny hands all over it. Starting off with a great zombie action sequence completely hooking me to the storyline making me have my phone attached to my hands for two days to and from work while on the bus.
The story was a great read and so packed with information, it was almost tiring. We had witches, faeries, zombies, vampires, werewolves, even people who go "omnomnom" on your face! It got to a point where I just had no idea where the book was going. I just stopped trying to figure it out because there was way too much going on. It's like the author wanted to write five books and was like, "Oh hey, I'll just put everything in these three hundred pages and see where we end up." 
Now we have the characters. We had our good, our bad and our look at me; I'm so hardcore. There are a few relationships in this book and though cute, they all felt incredibly undeveloped and rushed. A lot of the storyline seemed to be written because it was convenient to the storyline, but not actually needed. 
I know it doesn't sound like it, but I did actually enjoy the story. I look forward to eventually reading the second and third one, but as a stand alone, this book was too congested. I would've preferred the book to focus on the main story of Mary-Ann and the souls, not bring in a bunch of stories and put that one on the back burner for the majority of the book. I understand the author may have wanted to set-up for further books, but I think it could've been done in a better way. 

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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Blog Tour Guest Post & Giveaway: Breathe by Abbi Glines


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If you've been keeping up with this blog(yeah, I know you all stalk me regularly), you've seen a review of a book called "Breathe". Well, this week author, Abbi Glines has been awesome enough to share a guest post giving all you lovely people an inside look to the making of her book and how the name "Breathe" came to be! If ya missed it the first time around, we also have a cool e-book and grand prize giveaway at the end of this post.

The Naming of Breathe

Ideas for stories just pop out of nowhere for a writer. Doesn’t seem to matter where I am or what I’m doing, if a story is floating around somewhere it finds me. Kind of like little fairies looking for a place to curl up. A writer’s job is to latch onto that one perfect idea and run with it. We are good at that. It’s just how we roll. 

Deciding on the “title” of our beloved story is another thing. Titles aren’t floating around us. They tend to play hide and seek and man are they good at hiding! Hair has been pulled, nails have been bitten, and sleep has been lost trying to come up with that one small description that will become the name of a novel. 
I was recently asked how I came up with the name “Breathe”.  I could have named it a bazillion other things. At one point in the decision making process I had a notebook full of possibilities. A few in the top running were: My Summer with a Rock Star, The Summer I fell in love with a Rock Star, The Boy with a Guitar, and Steal Blue. None of those made me completely happy. None of those truly explained Sadie and Jax. I kept editing and tweaking Breathe, 
getting it ready so I could start sending out queries. Knowing, I had to nail down a title. 

One Sunday afternoon, I sat outside on my front porch rereading my still unnamed manuscript and I came to the turning point in Jax and Sadie’s relationship. The moment Jax laid himself bare as to how he really felt... (a small excerpt from Breathe by Abbi Glines)  “girlfriend seems to be too shallow a word for what I feel for you. These past two weeks it’s been as if you control my breathing. When I watched you with 
Marcus, my chest would tighten, and it became hard to breathe. But then I would see you smile or laugh and I could 
take a deep breath again.” 

After reading that passage the title came to me immediately. It summed up their feelings throughout the entire story. That feeling of tightness in your chest when the one person you love more than life walks away. You truly feel as if without them you can’t breathe. Title found! Gotcha ya, you sneaky little sucker =)

Abbi’s Links:


Want to try and get your hands on your very own copy of "Breathe"? Check out my review and leave a comment with your email! 

Want some more swag? Visit and comment with your email on all the stops on the YA Bound blog tour for your chance to win all this below!


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Winners will be announced on August 25th at 8 p.m. EST during a live chat with Abbi! Good luck all!

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Monday, August 15, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays: Black Painted Fingernails by Steven Herrick



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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:


  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Black Painted Fingernails
"You worry too much," mocks Sophie. She takes a reassuringly large bite and chews loudly. "Who cares if she thinks we're perverts."

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Thursday, August 11, 2011

Book Notes: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Nightshade: Book 1"Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything--including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?"


Okay, I read this book a few weeks ago and I'm still a little unsure about it. Did I like it? Yes, but I also had a few issues with it. However, I won't be a pessimistic Preet and we'll start with the positive. I really loved the pacing of the book. Though fast, it kept me from getting bored and I didn't feel like I was missing much because of it. Finally! We have a strong female character who is fairly badass and thinks for herself. Calla was a nice change from the girls in a lot of YA books who generally kind of annoy me. However, though she was awesome, I did have a few *shakes my fist* moments with her but we'll get to that in a minute. 


I'm a total side characters fan in books and I really liked all the side characters in this story. They seemed to have more of a backstory than the main characters for me. I enjoyed how there were a lot of secondary stories hinted to that I hope are developed more in future books. Throughout the book, I kept wanting to hug Calla's brother because he was so adorable. I also thought the mixing of other creatures within the story really worked for the book. 


The guys, oh the guys! After finishing the story I was pretty torn on who I liked better. Ren is one yummy beast with his confidence and overall take charge attitude. Shay gives me more of that warm fuzzy feeling with his nerdy comic loving nature. They both bring out different sides of Calla and it's difficult to pick one since I loved what they brought to the table. However, man are they really into their sexy time. Like seriously, can you all not see Calla without somehow needing to feel each other up? This brings me to our main lady, Calla.


Calla, I wanted to love, but by the end of the story she lost my vote. Yes, we've heard of all the love triangles and how some girl is torn, but I was hoping this book would change that a little. She was such a strong character! However, throw a guy giving her the eye and she doesn't seem to know what to do with herself. For such a confident alpha female, she seemed kind of ditzy when it came to guys. Throwing away everything you've learned growing up because of a guy doesn't seem to go with the flow of someone with her background. I just think there would be more of an inner struggle. Also, I know they're teenagers, but you'd think if Calla is hanging with two guys and being kinda risque with both of them, she'd have the sense to be a bit more discreet about it. 


Though I had my issues with this book, I think Cremer created a pretty impressive world to get lost in. I do think some areas could be a bit more developed, especially with the main characters however, in no way was it so lacking that it took away from the story. I definitely think this series is worth checking out!

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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays: Click: An Online Love Story by Lisa Becker



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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:




  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
I had to share more sentences to get the full humor of the short passage. 

Click: An Online Love Story
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WHAT I'VE LEARNED FROM PAST RELATIONSHIPS: Maybe the toilet seat should be up. SportsCenter on ESPN is funny. No, these pants do NOT make me look fat. Which one is Beavis and which is Butthead..."

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Sunday, August 7, 2011

Book Tour & Giveaway: Breathe by Abbi Glines




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Holy crap! My very first blog tour and giveaway! I'm kind of excited if you couldn't tell. The story of Breathe by Abbie Glines is here to take my blog tour cherry.



"Sadie White’s summer job isn’t going to be on the beach life-guarding or working at rental booths like most kids her age. With her single mother’s increasing pregnancy and refusal to work, Sadie has to take over her mother’s job as a domestic servant for one of the wealthy summer families on a nearby island.
When the family arrives at their summer getaway, Sadie is surprised to learn that the owner of the house is Jax Stone, one of the hottest teen rockers in the world. If Sadie hadn’t spent her life raising her mother and taking care of the house she might have been normal enough to be excited about working for a rock star.


Even though Sadie isn’t impressed by Jax’s fame, he is drawn to her. Everything about Sadie fascinates Jax but he fights his attraction. Relationship’s never work in his world and as badly as he wants Sadie, he believes she deserves more. By the end of the summer, Jax discovers he can’t breathe without Sadie.
But can their love overcome the disparity in their lifestyles? Or will they have to learn how to without each other breathe again?"


As soon as I read the description for this book, I knew I had to read it. I mean really, who hasn't thought about what it'd be like to be with someone famous? I could probably come up with a list of people(how YOU doin' Matthew Gray Gubler). 


Glines wrote in a very easy to read manner that never made the book tiresome for me. Though I found some of the characters to be not as well-developed as I would've liked, they all seemed to have a lot of heart. Sadie was a lovable character in a naive way. As a reader, her life really pulled at the heartstrings. For someone who went through that many struggles, she seemed to always have a positive outlook on life and it was nice to see people have hope in their lives. Jax, our male hottie in this book, was written in a way that was almost too perfect. Though I could see how Glines was trying to portray two different sides to him, I would've liked to see more of the "normal" Jax side of him that he continuously said Sadie got to. However, an aspect I realized that I did enjoy was having a male character be the one to lay his heart out on the line. There are so many YA books out there always having the girl fall for some guy, where this book took a turn and had a male character speak about his emotions and what he felt for a girl without the girl saying it first. 


Sadie and Jax's relationship overall was pretty adorable from a teen point-of-view,but seemed a bit unrealistic for my taste. Though they were perfectly cute together, I couldn't really see some of their relationship fitting the way it did. The relationship ran a bit quickly for me and I would've enjoyed a little more set-up in them getting to know one another. 


If you're looking for a fun breezy beach read, Breathe could be just what you're looking for. 


Breathe




Want to win an e-book copy of Breathe by Abbi Glines? All you have to do is leave a comment on this post with your email so we can contact you!












Just a book not enough for you? Visit and comment with your email on all the stops on the YA Bound blog tour for these awesome prizes!



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Winners will be announced on August 25th at 8 p.m. EST during a live chat with author Abbi Glines! Good luck!

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