Teaser Tuedsday

Well, well, well it is yet another terrific Teaser Tuesday! I'm sorry that I haven't been posting as much other than features and that I might not post much this week, but as usual life as a freshmen is crazy and getting crazier every day! I will try my best though and I do have a few posts planned I just need to write them and post them! But, for now, here is a teaser from The Scarboys by Len Vlahos!

The Scar Boys

"I was able to make it to the shoulder where Dino let out his last gasp and died on the spot. We were still one hundred miles from Athens--all our equipment, all our luggage, all our hopes and dreams entombed in rusted metal."

Add it on Goodreads and buy a copy through Liberty Bay Books by clicking the hyperlinked title beneath the cover!

Happy Doom's Day: A Bookish and Horribly Gooey Post, Wherein All Sorts of Craziness Ensues

Ah, Valentines day! Or as Catherine and I affectionately call it, Dooms day. So to celebrate this...special...day I had grand plans for a brilliant post. Originally, it was going to be a list of my favorite cross book ships. If that doesn't make sense to you, here is a quick explanation; the list would consist of couples that I ship the most but the people that I ship would be characters from different books. Here is an example (I don't actually ship this): Isabelle Lightwood from The Mortal Instruments series and Uriah from Divergent. However, I couldn't come up with many, or really any, that I liked enough to make into a list for this post so this will be a jumble of various things that fallow the romance theme and are of course bookish! Enjoy the ensuing chaos! ;)

First and only Cross Book Ship
Ok, so the one "Cross Book Ship" that I thought of and actually kind of liked was Mia Price from Struck and Harry Jones from The Scar Boys. Pretty much the only reason I ship this is because they were both struck, well Harry was nearly struck, by lightening and I feel like they could bond over the social and other repercussions of it.

My Top Ten List of Minor/Secondary/Supporting Characters That I Think Deserve to Find True Love
So I am one of those cheesy people that thinks everyone deserves to find true love but let's face it, when reading there are some people that we want to find love a bit more than others. Here is my list of those people.

1) Raven from Halflings

2) Kope from The Sweet Trilogy 

3) Dee from Lux

4) James from Lament

5) Cristina from The Divergent Trilogy 

A fun little game...
Now for a little game/quiz where the prizes are awesomesauce, neverending, and completely imaginary! The better your imagination the better the prize you get! I can't wait to see how y'all do and what kind of prizes you think up! So, here is the deal, I will list quotes from some relationship from some book and you need to name the book and character or relationship for full points! Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor! Oh and so that the answers aren't given away to people by scrolling through the comments I will post the answers sometime this weekend separately!

1) "My girlfriend is a party girl angel who can kick some arse and cook." 

"He was my drummer. My guy. Mine. I bit my lip to hold back a grin." 

Hints: Dukes. Drummer.

2) "He must have longed for it so much. He must have longed for it so much. he must have loved her so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips again and would go to his grave without them." 

Hints: Historic. Books.

3) "What would you do if I kissed you right now?"
I stared at his beautiful face and his beautiful mouth and I wanted nothing more than to taste it. "I would kiss you back." 

Hints: Life and Death. Swamps. 

4) "I might be in love with you." He smiles a little. "I'm waiting until I'm sure to tell you, though." 

Hints: Fears. Character. Different. 

5) "Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?"

"If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have just asked." 

Hints: Not the suburbs but the___. Black. Fantasy/Paranormal.

6) "You don't look like an alien!' It seemed important to point that out. 

He arched a brow. 'And what do aliens look like?'

'Not...not like you,' I sputtered. 'They aren't gorgeous--'

'You think I'm gorgeous?' He smiled." 

Hints: Light. Aliens. Not dogs but ___. 

7) "I never loved you any more than I do, right this second. And I'll never love you any less than I do, right this second." 

Hints: Spells. The South. Lollipops. 

8) “I wish you could be kissed,' he said. 'Because I would beg just one off you. Under all this.' He flailed an arm toward the stars.”

Hints: Eccentric. One of the primary colors. Birds. 

9) "I miss you.

I miss you. I miss you, I miss you.
Be ready, because when I see you, I'll never let you go again." 

Hints: Falcon. Opera songs. 2.

10) "You have to kiss me," I find myself saying.

"Yeah." He leans closer. "I do." 

Hints: Rooftops. Politics. Kids...kids everywhere. 

Well that's all folks! I hope you enjoyed this posted and had a brilliant, mushy, gushy Valentines day, or a spectacularly dark Dooms day! 

Stacking The Shelves

I am so excited about this post! I have been waiting for this post for days, even though I only added one book to my shelves this week.

It was for sure the highlight of my week. :) And why yes, yes I did look almost exactly like that. And why yes, of course, I stroked it, and smelled it, and loved it, and still love it dearly, because what else would you ever do with a book?

And did I tell you that it has one of those weird, yet awesome covers that is all soft-ish and almost velvety feeling! Oh, I'm sorry, I almost forgot to tell you what it was! I bought myself a copy of The Scar Boys in a purely impulsive moment where I lost all self control thanks to a newly rediscovered Barnes and Noble gift card.

The Scar Boys

But, I most certainly do not regret it. It was love at first line. Of course it took a while to get to that fabulous first line and through the into thanks to some classmates that didn't seem to get that when someone is reading it means that you don't talk to them or interrupt and pester them about the book itself or anything else. Especially not at the beginning or end. They also didn't seem to be capable of reading basic body language and vocal tone. It should have been no secret that I deeply wanted to smack them until they shut up.

I had planned on taking pictures so you could experience the beauty better, but then I was too lazy and tired for that after a full day of singing and living life, so the plain cover picture above will just have to be enough for y'all, sorry. So I guess this Stacking the Shelves post was a bit unorthodox but hey, aren't some of the best things unorthodox?  

Right, the book. Well, I really encourage you to not only add it on Goodreads but buy a copy through Liberty Bay Books by clicking the hyperlinked title beneath the cover! They have autographed copies and if you request one when you order they are happy to send you one!

Does it drive you crazy when people try to talk to you way too much when you are reading? What are your reading pet peeves? Do you believe in love at first line? 

Special Guest Elizabeth Heiter

Bum-bum-bum! Happy happy Thursday everyone! I hope y'all had a great day! I am super pumped to share with you my interview with Elizabeth Heiter, the author of Hunted! (See my review here.) Well, I'm just going to go a head and jump right into it!

What made you decide you wanted to start writing? Tell us a little bit about how you got your start!

I’ve always loved writing – and I always knew I wanted to be a novelist!  I can remember starting novels longhand in notebooks back in middle school.  I finished my first co-written manuscript in high school, and a few years after I graduated from college, I began submitting to literary agents!

What is your favorite thing about being an author and writing?

There’s a great thrill to coming up with that first tiny seed of an idea that you know can bloom into a full novel.  One of my favorite things is the brainstorming process, where that little nugget of an idea begins fleshing out into a real story.  One of my other favorite parts about writing is being so engrossed in writing a scene that my fingers can barely keep up with my brain.  That time when the story is flowing just right and you don’t want to stop writing, no matter how late it gets.  As an author, I have to admit there’s also something pretty amazing about seeing my novel in bookstores and hearing reader reactions.  The other day, I got a letter from a sixteen-year-old who said she hated to read, but loved HUNTED.  Moments like that make all the hard work truly worthwhile!

How did you come up with this story?

Many years ago, I became fascinated with the idea of criminal profiling – the notion that someone could show up at a crime scene where there were no solid leads, no strong suspects and no forensic evidence, and give law enforcement details about who had committed the crime anyway.  That was the first nugget for me – the first tiny kernel that would ultimately become HUNTED.  From there, I started fleshing out my character – asking myself what kind of person would choose this kind of work.  I decided that Evelyn needed something that personally motivated her from her past, such as the disappearance of her best friend when she was twelve.  Once I knew some basics about my character, I started developing my villain, the Bakersville Burier, and the plot.

What is your favorite character, moment, line, ect. from Hunted?

This is a hard one!  I love the characters for different reasons – I appreciate my heroine, FBI profiler Evelyn Baine, for her determination; her friend and possible love interest FBI Hostage Rescue Team Agent Kyle “Mac” McKenzie for his persistence and his charm; and their friend Gabe Fontaine for his humor.  One of my favorite moments in the book is when Evelyn opens up to Kyle a  little bit about her past and the case that brought her to the Bureau – the disappearance of her best friend Cassie seventeen years earlier.  (That case will return in the sequel to HUNTED, out next year.)

What character in Hunted do you relate to the most? (Explain how or why.)

I relate to them all (well, most of them anyway – not the serial killer so much!) for different reasons.  With my heroine, Evelyn, I love her tenacity and I relate to her determination to go after what she wants, no matter the hurdles.   I also like that she’s not perfect – she’s prickly and socially awkward and she’s definitely got room to grow, both in the course of HUNTED as she learns to let others in, and as the series progresses.

Did you end up cutting out whole characters or scenes during the writing process? Was it hard?

I did!  It was difficult.  There were some characters and scenes that I really loved, and I ended up cutting them.  But ultimately the end, the book was stronger without them, so they had to go!  When I’m revising, I try to take an unforgiving look at each scene and ask myself if it advances the plot and the character development in some way.  If not, no matter how much I like it, it’s got to go!

What was the biggest challenge you faced when writing and/or publishing Hunted? How did you handle or overcome it?

I think one of the biggest challenges was persistence.  I wrote many manuscripts and spent years submitting those manuscripts before selling, and sometimes that was discouraging.  But at the end of the day, I wanted this too much to give up on it!  And then HUNTED sold along with four other novels, so it was definitely worth the wait!

Are there any books or authors who have influenced your writing style or inspired you?

There are so many!  I’ve always loved to read, and I used to devour huge stacks of novels every week (I have less time for that now, being under deadlines, but I still read a lot).   I’m inspired every time I read a book that I don’t want to put down.  Some of my favorite authors include Lisa Gardner, Tom Clancy, Allison Brennan, Suzanne Brockmann, and Laura Griffin.

Any last words or advice for aspiring authors?

I think some of the best advice I can offer is the advice I got from Suzanne Brockmann many years ago.  At a book signing, she told me that the difference between an unpublished writer and a published author is perseverance.  So, “never give up” is a good motto for a writer!  Another thing I’d recommend is to find a strong writing organization to join – it makes a difference to have the access to craft and business information they can provide, but also being in a community of other writers is inspiring!

Thank you so much for your time! It has been great having you and learning more about you, your writing and Hunted!

Thank you so much for having me here, Briana!

J Elizabeth Heiter

Wasn't that just charming and full of great advice? Be sure to add her book Hunted on Goodreads and get it through Liberty Bay by clicking this: Hunted, and of course be on the look out for more from Elizabeth! I can't wait to read book 2!

Expiration Day

Expiration Day

What happens when you turn eighteen and there are no more tomorrows?
It is the year 2049, and humanity is on the brink of extinction….

Tania Deeley has always been told that she’s a rarity: a human child in a world where most children are sophisticated androids manufactured by Oxted Corporation. When a decline in global fertility ensued, it was the creation of these near-perfect human copies called teknoids that helped to prevent the utter collapse of society.

Though she has always been aware of the existence of teknoids, it is not until her first day at The Lady Maud High School for Girls that Tania realizes that her best friend, Siân, may be one. Returning home from the summer holiday, she is shocked by how much Siân has changed. Is it possible that these changes were engineered by Oxted? And if Siân could be a teknoid, how many others in Tania’s life are not real?

Driven by the need to understand what sets teknoids apart from their human counterparts, Tania begins to seek answers. But time is running out. For everyone knows that on their eighteenth “birthdays,” teknoids must be returned to Oxted—never to be heard from again.

I found this book underwhelming and slightly boring. As I browsed reviews by others on Goodreads I found that many people rated it five stars and raved about the genius and thrill of it and praised it for all the many things I felt it lacked. The plot was an utter bore and lacked thrilling twist,s and turns, and suspense, and all the things that make a plot fabulous.  There were lots of loose ends and blunt cut offs. One character disappeared with explanation and with reason. It was logical for the story line but then they were just gone. They weren't really mentioned that much after that and their disappearance didn't really seem to adversely impact the other characters lives as much or in as many ways as I felt it should have with the reason for their disappearance and their role in the story line. Also, as Tania changed her mind on whether or not Sian was a teknoid or a human, there weren't really any transitions. You agreed with what ever her current opinion on the matter was based on evidence provided but then she'd change her mind again and nothing would have happened to disprove the previous evidence. Additionally, there wasn't much of a transition between opinions. When she changed her mind it would happen abruptly and out of the blue just thrown in there and it was almost confusing. Speaking of confusing, the lingo or slang or language, or whatever you want to call it was a bit confusing at times for me. I assume that the terms are British because I eventually found out that it was set in the UK (however this part of the setting didn't become apparent for far too long), and I realized that why yes, the author just so happens to also be from the UK. So, it might have only been confusing to me because I have never heard some of the terms that Tania uses but it was bothersome nonetheless. I tried to think of substitute words based on the context to figure it out that way but frequently that was unhelpful and I had no idea what the term was supposed to mean. I figured out one term out of who knows how many and it wasn't until way later in the book when it was used again and this time the context was a bit more helpful. I am happy to say that I understand the meaning of the word wobbly in UK context! Yay me! (I feel so accomplished. No really I do.) The writing overall was decent and I did appreciate the messages and themes woven into the story. However, sometimes I felt that William would do well to learn the art of subtlety... The fact that the messages and themes of the book practically screamed at you as you read (yes they were that obvious) didn't take away from the book and didn't degrade them thankfully because they didn't stick out from the story but instead fit into the flow smoothly. The downside however, was that in the big finally moment, I knew exactly what would happen and exactly how it would happen down to the very thoughts that would occur before the characters had even an inkling of it all. So it sucked all the suspense and excitement out of the end. Essentially, the book spoiled itself; and I find that rather sad. On another note (yet on a still sort of  similar and related topic), I have a confession to make. I skipped and skimmed through sections of this book out of pure boredom. I know, I know, I am a horrible person! Before you smack me across the face via the internet or even just mentally let me explain. The book is written as a series of diary entries from Tania, but every so often there is an entry from the "Mister Zog" alien that recovered her diary and is reading. Both characters write as if they are speaking or writing letters to one another even though supposedly Tania and her entire civilization are long gone by the time "Zog" is reading her diary. I tended to skip and skim through most of the parts written by "Zog" because I found them to be boring, irrelevant, and there fore irritating. I read a few of his entries all the way through before coming to this opinion though, I promise you. I found that there were often wise and all knowing and chock-full of inspirational crap and advice and life messages. It was utterly ridiculous in my opinion. The messages "Zog" wrote weren't even blended in with plain writing. Messages seemed to be really the only thing "Zog" could say! It didn't work and it was annoying. As I said he seemed rather irrelevant with no purpose (other than to drive me to the brink of madness of course), but then at the end, in his last entry all of the sudden Tania's life and "Zog's" collided and that was how the book ended. I was so confused it wasn't even funny. I understood the gist of what happened but as to how we got to that point or what exactly happened in between Tania's last entry and "Zog's"? No clue what so ever. I don't think I have ever been that confused by a book in my life! I re-read thinking that my skipping and skimming had come back to bite me but that didn't help. It had nothing to do with my reading, there was just this gaping whole in the writing! Maybe William was trying to just leave something up to the readers' imagination or something. I don't know. Whatever the case it was a huge mistake that pretty much ruined the book entirely for me. The ending was the chance for redemption! A chance to change my opinion of the book thus far! The last thing I read is going to be the part I remember most so it should end epic-ly, and of course in a way I can actually make sense of! Sadly, this ending was quite the opposite and an utter failure. The only part of this book I actually liked where the characters. The characters were actually quite vivid with very realistic personalities and relationships that I felt were a lot closer to real life than they are in many YA fiction books today. I enjoyed the characters and in the end the characters and their emotions were probably the only thing that kept me reading. The book was packed with vivid emotions that people from all walks of life can relate too as well of people of many different age groups. Of course, teens can probably relate more than some other age groups. Tania had a complex, relatable, and lovable personality. The other characters did too,  but they paled in comparison to her. However, there was a large portion of the book where I ended up ranting to Catherine and wanting to smack both William and Tania, as well as bang my head repeatedly against a brick wall. That portion of the book was the portion in which Tania was dating two guys, at the same time.

 TWO. AT THE SAME TIME. 

This isn't a love triangle. This is much, much, much worse my friends. Nothing, is worse than reading about cheating, at least how it is written and thrown into this book. Oh, and not only is she cheating on a really awesomesauce guy with a guy that just want's her for her body, but she was in a play with the latter and so she thinks of it as her character Portia dating his character Bassanio. That was the point when I lost faith in her and her mental stability and just everything. I was so done at that point. 

Overall, I didn't like it really. Originally, I was going  to give it two stars because I found it sort of entertaining despite it's flaws, but now I am rethinking that decision. I have decided I will compromise and give it one and one half stars out of five. If you'd like, you can add it on Goodreads or check it out through Liberty Bay Books by clicking the hyperlinked title below the book's cover. It has an expected publication of April 22nd, 2014.

Teaser Tuesday!

It's Teaser Tuesday! Whoop, whoop!

Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy

"He laughs at this hilarious joke, turns his back on us, and leaves. There is nothing as suspicious as a long goodbye." -pg.63 Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy by Elizabeth Kiem

*This quote was taken from an uncorrected proof and may be subject to change*

Add it on Goodreads by clicking the hyperlinked title after the quote and then buy it through Liberty Bay Books by clicking the title underneath the cover! 

As always you are welcome to join in on the teaser fun by commenting with your own teaser below or on Facebook or leave a link to your own teaser post! 

Stacking the Shelves and A Pending Come Back

I have been rather absent lately and I apologize for that. I have been quite overwhelmed with finals, the first winterguard performance of the season, and just life in general. But the nice thing about finals is that while I didn't have much time to blog, I did have a lot of time to read. That sounds strange, I know, but I got extra reading time during the school time because we had extended periods and lots of spare time. However, I had less fee time around a computer so the blogging thing fell to the side for a bit. But, now that all that is over and now that I have time to read up you can expect plenty of activity from now on! Here is my stacking the shelves! 

The Impossible Knife of Memory

For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.

Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? 

I am so excited to finally have added this to my shelves! I bought it on my kindle app today and immediately  began eating it up! I have been wanting to read this SO BAD since before it came out and the day has finally come, I am finally reading it!