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TBR Tuesday: Blog This by Cami Checketts (& free reads!)

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Today we’re celebrating the release of Blog This by Cami Checketts!


Will protecting children throughout the world cost Natasha her own family?

Devastated by the loss of her brother, Natasha Senecot works to expose the dangers of Matthew Chrysler’s violent video games, succeeding in bankrupting and humiliating him.

Chrysler retaliates and sends a hit man after her. Natasha is forced to fake her own death to protect her children, but after witnessing another tragedy, Natasha won’t hide any longer.

In a race against time, can Natasha expose Matthew Chrysler before his assassin murders her family and shatters her world?

Celebrating her release, the author is also offering her other books on sale through October 18th!

FREE!
 FREE!
Poison Me Dead Running

 

Starting tomorrow, October 16, through October 18th
99¢
 99¢
The Broken Path Blog This

My review

I read Dead Running over the summer and really enjoyed Ms. Checketts’s blend of humor, romance and suspense. She hits all the right notes again with Blog This! At first I wasn’t sure which romantic lead we were supposed to be rooting for, but pretty soon it was obvious there was only one viable option, though there were some very big, very real obstacles to overcome. A couple times I wanted to shake the main character, but Ms. Checketts did a really great job of making even kind of annoying or outright evil characters sympathetic. A fun read!

I received a free e-copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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TBR Tuesday: #TackleTBR update

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I’m still chugging away at the Tackle your TBR Read-a-thon! Over the weekend, by some miracle, I finished both books I was working on last week! And, wonder of wonders, I got my current WIP sent in to my editor, so I’m ready to attack some more reads!

But first, let me give you my final verdict on last week’s books.

Way-Back-to-You-cover-682x1024
A Way Back to You by Emily Gray Clawson

For two and a half years, Annabelle, a young widow with three small children, has been stuck in the past. Numbed by grief and overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising her three small children alone, she agrees to let them spend the weekend with a friend while she tries to get some much-needed rest at her parents’ home. But the next morning, Annabelle is suddenly sixteen again—and it just happens to be the worst day of her teenage years.

As she relives the drama of high school life, Annabelle realizes that her future husband, Mitch, has just returned from a mission and is living on the other side of town. While getting Mitch’s attention is more complicated than she imagined, Annabelle discovers that she is stronger than she has been willing to admit, and there just might be a future for her after all.

Um, wow. As Emily’s critique partner, I’ve had many a peek at her rough drafts. This particular book predates our critique group, and . . . wow. It’s awesome. Awesome. This might well be the best book I’ve read all year. Do you know how hard it is to make me cry and not resent it? I’m struggling to put together words to describe how wonderful this book is. The character’s arcs, the romance, the impossible choices she faces . . . W!O!W! Well done, Emily!

(Oh, I guess I should say I was given a free copy of this book because Emily is sweet. She wasn’t expecting a review.)

And on my Kindle:


Pivot Point by Kasie West

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, a special type of clairvoyant, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she is able to look into the future and see both outcomes. So when her parents tell her they are getting a divorce and she has to pick who she wants to live with, a Search has never been more important.

In one future Addie is living with her mom in the life she’s always known and is being pursued by the most popular guy in school. In the other she is the new girl in school, where she falls for a cute, quiet artist. Then Addie finds herself drawn into a murder investigation, and her fate takes a darker turn. With so much to lose in either future, Addie must decide which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she’s willing to live without.

This was a fun read. I said last week, I had some definite expectations of where I wanted the novel to go. I didn’t get what I wanted—being both an adult and a huge fan of investigation series like Law & Order probably means I’m not quite the target audience, but I was kind of hoping it would be a little like the ill-fated TV series Awake. So when Pivot Point didn’t really go there, I was a little sad.

But there’s nothing wrong with how it did turn out. I loved the final choice Addie had to make. The narrative structure and unique concept also worked really well!

I realized after last week’s post that both of these books have to do with a form of time travel, and dual (duelling?) memories. Kind of funny to read them at the same time! I did start to get them a little mixed up, but fortunately, I kept them straight. I think.

What are you reading now?

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TBR Tuesday: Reads in progress

#TackleTBR! The Tackle your TBR Read-a-thon is underway, and I’ve joined in! I haven’t . . . you know . . . finished anything yet, but here’s what’s in progress.

Way-Back-to-You-cover-682x1024
A Way Back to You by Emily Gray Clawson

For two and a half years, Annabelle, a young widow with three small children, has been stuck in the past. Numbed by grief and overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising her three small children alone, she agrees to let them spend the weekend with a friend while she tries to get some much-needed rest at her parents’ home. But the next morning, Annabelle is suddenly sixteen again—and it just happens to be the worst day of her teenage years.

As she relives the drama of high school life, Annabelle realizes that her future husband, Mitch, has just returned from a mission and is living on the other side of town. While getting Mitch’s attention is more complicated than she imagined, Annabelle discovers that she is stronger than she has been willing to admit, and there just might be a future for her after all.

Emily is a good friend—a critique partner, in fact—but we didn’t meet until this book was already sitting in the slush at her publisher. Soon after, she got her acceptance, and after a whirlwind editorial “romance,” she was on the shelves!

I’m in the acknowledgments (woot!) but this is actually the first time I’ve read this story. I’m only a few chapters in, but I’m totally captivated! I can’t wait to read more!

And on my electronic TBR:


Pivot Point by Kasie West

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, a special type of clairvoyant, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she is able to look into the future and see both outcomes. So when her parents tell her they are getting a divorce and she has to pick who she wants to live with, a Search has never been more important.

In one future Addie is living with her mom in the life she’s always known and is being pursued by the most popular guy in school. In the other she is the new girl in school, where she falls for a cute, quiet artist. Then Addie finds herself drawn into a murder investigation, and her fate takes a darker turn. With so much to lose in either future, Addie must decide which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she’s willing to live without.

I keep setting this one down, but I think about it (and have even dreamed about it!) when I can’t read it. I’m about halfway through the book, and I think I see where some of the plotlines are going (and if they don’t go this cool way, I might be disappointed :\ ). I’m enjoying this one, too, with its fresh idea and fun execution!

What are you reading now?

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TBR Tuesday: How do you review a (sort of) “bad” book?

A lot of elements go into a book: the characters, the plot, the writing style, the voice, the grammar. Getting them all perfect—or even just really, really good—is tough! Writers know that better than most readers, because we (hopefully) have worked very hard at getting all of those elements juuuuust right in our own works.

ok stars

After my most recent reading kick (though all those books were quite good), I’ve been thinking about this. Minor mistakes, or things that just aren’t my personal taste are kind of easy to compartmentalize. But how do you review a book that gets some of those major elements great, but one or two are executed only “fair” (or worse)?

Let’s discuss.

Is one element more important than the others?

I listed five of the biggest elements of a book above: characters, plot, writing style, voice and grammar. Assuming none of them is bad enough to make you stop reading, do any of these elements bother you more than the others when executed badly?

For me, I’m most inclined to forgive minor punctuation errors. Though I try to avoid them myself at all costs, and though I know the rules, I don’t freak out over things I consider minor slips—using commas with interrupted dialogue when inappropriate, for example.

I can still enjoy a book that doesn’t have perfectly executed characters, or one that has a kind of bland voice. Writing style can get on my nerves sometimes. A bad plot? Bugs me after the fact, usually.

Does review = endorsement?

Another issue I find, especially as I’ve entered the publishing arena, is worrying about putting my name on a review—especially a book I review on my blog. I seldom write negative reviews—I typically don’t review books I don’t enjoy (and I try not to read them in the first place 😉 )—but what about a book with good characters or plot or voice, but poor mechanics?

Is giving the book a positive review an endorsement of every element of the book? Do you worry about someone buying the book based on your recommendation, and then being disappointed in your grasp of grammar/whatever? Do you feel compelled to make a note of particular elements—especially mechanics—when writing a review? Or is that maybe just appeasing your own pride, saying “I’m better than X author”?

I don’t know. I hope not the last, but sometimes it feels like it.

What do you think? How do you review?

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TBR Tuesday: Mind Games

I usually say that I read a lot of YA, but I’m not really inclined to write it. And that’s . . . mostly true. Several years ago, I had a YA idea about a girl who suddenly discovers she can read people’s minds, but she’s misdiagnosed as schizophrenic. One of the doctors recognizes her true abilities and “rescues” her from the mental hospital, bringing her into a support group for people like her. She uses her abilities to help recruit other gifted people—until she discovers this seemingly benign support group is a front for telepathic assassins.

Sounds pretty dang cool, huh? As much as I liked the idea, my efforts to write it were pretty darn lame. (I did like this one little snippet I wrote for the Kissing Day Blogfest 4 years ago). It didn’t get written—but if I had written it, I could only hope it would be as cool as Kiersten White’s book about telepathy and teenagers programmed as assassins, Mind Games.

For obvious reasons, I’m pretty sure I’m not going back to that idea now.

Fia and Annie are as close as two sisters can be. They look out for each other. Protect each other. And most importantly, they keep each other’s secrets, even the most dangerous ones: Annie is blind, but can see visions of the future; Fia was born with flawless intuition—her first impulse is always exactly right. When the sisters are offered a place at an elite boarding school, Fia realizes that something is wrong . . . but she doesn’t grasp just how wrong. The Keane Institute is no ordinary school, and Fia is soon used for everything from picking stocks to planting bombs. If she tries to refuse, they threaten her with Annie’s life. Now Fia’s falling in love with a boy who has dark secrets of his own. And with his help, she’s ready to fight back. They stole her past. They control her present. But she won’t let them take her future.

Obviously I’d been interested in this book since I first heard about it on Kiersten’s blog, but I (lamely) waited until HarperTeen put the ebook on a crazy good sale—at $1.99 I really couldn’t say no.

This book sucked me in and dragged me under the surface along with the characters. I loved the non-linear structure, the twists and turns, the unreliable narrators (and everyone else!). The mythology of this slightly paranormal world tastes so real that you’re not sure it isn’t real.

Occasionally I had a hard time telling who was narrating (of course, the chapters were labeled with the sister’s name, but I leapt straight into the story, so it didn’t really register all the time), but for me that was a very minor problem.

However, the biggest problem I had was the villains. They were obviously manipulating Fia and Annie horribly, but their objectives and the rest of their means were shadowy at best. I wanted a better sense of the threat Keane posed to not just the sisters, but the rest of the world, to really get him as a villain. I’m hoping that will be all cleared up in the sequel, Perfect Lies, due out in February. (Six months away!)

What are you reading?

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TBR Tuesday: Dead Running by Cami Checketts

I don’t really do beach reads. I just keep reading at the beach. So on a recent family reunion to the beach, the Kindle got a little sandy 😉 .

First up, I read Dead Running by Cami Checketts.

Cassidy Christensen is running. Running from the mercenaries who killed her parents. Running from a scheming redhead intent on making her life miserable. Running from painful memories that sabotage her dreams of happiness. With two very tempting men competing for her attention, she hopes she’ll finally have someone to run to, but can she trust either of them? When secrets from her past threaten her family, Cassidy decides to stop running and fight for her future.

A light-hearted suspense with a side of PG-rated romance, Dead Running will have you lacing up your running shoes and impatiently waiting for the sequel.

I wholeheartedly agree with the last line of the summary: this is definitely a lighter suspense novel, though the suspense is still there. I thought the bad guys’ ultimate scheme was well done. I started to get a little annoyed at Cassidy for not being able to choose between the two men pursuing her—love triangles, blech—but I managed to forgive her because her voice is so much fun to read! I really missed it when we were in sections of the book not narrated by her. Those sections felt almost bland and distant.

Like Cassidy at the start of the book, I hate running. But following her journey throughout the novel made me believe I could run a marathon. (Almost thou persuadest me to be a runner…) We get into the technical side of running and marathon training without feeling like we’re reading a manual (though there is a little jargon—I’m the kind of reader who tends to gloss over that without being overly bothered, though).

Some elements of the plot might be a little unrealistic, but, hey, it’s fiction. It’s fun. Run with it 😉 .

I got this book during a free promo on Amazon.

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Reading

TBR Tuesday: What makes you put down a book?

Goodreads conducted some research with surveys, Listopia and even digging into members’ bookshelves and reviews to find out what makes you put a book down. Their results, in a pretty little infographic:

putbookdown

via Sarah LaPolla on Twitter

So, what makes you put a book down? For me, it’s usually my insane schedule!

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TBR Tuesday: Confessions of a 16-Year-Old Virgin Lips by Cindy M. Hogan

I recently got the chance to read“First Kiss”, (99¢) episode one of Confessions of a 16-Year-Old Virgin Lips, a new serial by Cindy M. Hogan. I enjoyed Watched (free!) by Cindy and was excited to read the first episode of Confessions.

Like the heroine of Watched, Brooklyn prides herself on being almost sweet 16 and never been kissed. But can she keep her badge of honor?

VL. Virgin Lips. You may not have heard of it, but where I live, it’s a thing with a card, even if it is a figurative card. I was Brooklyn Hill, certified virgin lips, and I planned on clinging to that figurative card with all I had—while dating as many of the hottest guys at school as I could.

Maybe that’s a bit strange. I mean, what teenage girl isn’t interested in kissing? Locking lips definitely interested me, but the drama that came with it didn’t. No kissing, no drama. Simple.

But on my sixteenth birthday, on my first real date even, the drama found me. His name was Luke Graham—cute, funny, and bad news for the whole female race.

This book has a very fun voice, and many of the things she experiences take me right back to my own high school years. I was most impressed with the main character, Brooklyn. In some ways, she’s very mature for 16. When I was in high school, like Brooklyn, I lived a different standard than many of my friends, and ironically, I felt like I had a much better handle on what was up (of course, my friends weren’t just kissing).

While this book is a fun, quick read, it also helps to remind us that we all know in our hearts what’s right and what’s wrong, and we know when we need to listen to our intuition. Brooklyn doesn’t follow her intuition, and she pays for it.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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