Breakable Blog Tour: Interview with Tammara Webber and Book Review!

unnamed

I am SO pleased and excited to be a part of the official Breakable blog tour. Tammara Webber is one of my absolute favorite authors, story since the first time I purchased Between the Lines, pills and I’m so excited to be sharing this with you all. I’ll be talking all about Tammara, her new book, Breakable, and we’ll have an awesome interview at the end.

First, let’s talk about Tammara herself! 

unnamed-2

Tammara Webber is author of the New York Times bestselling New Adult novel Easy, the first novel in her Contours of the Heart series, and the Between the Lines series.  She is a hopeful romantic who adores novels with happy endings, because there are enough sad endings in real life.  Before writing full-time, she was an undergraduate academic advisor, economics tutor, planetarium office manager, radiology call center rep, and the palest person to ever work at a tanning salon.  She married her high school sweetheart, and is a mom to three adult kids and four very immature cats.

You Can Find Her At:

Her Site / Her Twitter / Her Instagram / Her Facebook

About Breakable

unnamed-1

In Tammara’s novel Easy, we meet Jacqueline Wallace, a girl trying to survive in college, after an acquaintance tries to rape her after a party, and her relationship with her savior, Lucas. You can find Easy at GoodReads here.

In BREAKABLE, readers are introduced to teenage Landon on the worst day of his life, the day is family is ripped apart by the death of his beloved mother.  Webber flashes from the present to the past, young capturing Landon as he deals with the stark and painful changes in his life following his mother’s death, and present-day Lucas as he reacts to meeting Jacqueline Wallace, the young woman whose appearance changes his life for the better.  Loving Jacqueline is so easy, but Lucas knows just how breakable the soul is and that giving himself wholly to another person is the most frightening thing he’ll ever do.

You Can Find/Purchase the Book At:

Good Reads / Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Book Depository

Quick Book Review

I don’t want to sit and talk forever about this book because this will be the longest post in the entire world and I don’t want to do that to you. Here’s the small gist of it: I loved Easy. Easy tackles the idea of rape in such a beautiful way, in an honest and raw way. Jacqueline is nearly raped but she’s afraid to say anything because of the rape culture that we live in, and the only person that knows is her attacker and Lucas. Tammara builds a beautiful love story between Jacqueline and Lucas and its a beautiful book. Breakable continues it, and I honestly had to admit that I was worried. I love Tammara and think she’s an absolutely amazing author but the idea of a companion…I wasn’t 100% sold. Until I got the book. Until I stayed up all night reading it. Breakable gives us even more depth to the person that Lucas (Landon) is, and his story is just as beautiful, just as heartbreaking and just as hopefully as Jacqueline’s was in the first novel. It is a must-read, both of these books, and I encourage you all to pick them up!

The Interview!

Nerd Girl: Why was it important to you to tell Lucas’ side of the story in Breakable? 

Tammara: It was Landon’s story that convinced me to write Breakable. I knew his story was heartbreaking, of course, but there was so much more to it. Once he started telling me about it, I had to write it.

Nerd Girl: Was it difficult to return to the same story, but in a different voice? 

Tammara: Lucas’ perspective of their relationship was different from Jacqueline’s. The overlapping parts (which one comprise a third of the book) were only difficult in that the conversations and outcomes were already there and set — I couldn’t change them. I enjoyed adding scenes that didn’t occur in Easy – some that included Jacqueline, some that didn’t.

Nerd Girl: Did Jacqueline’s story still have an influence over Lucas’ voice? 

Tammara: Over his voice? No. Over his story-yes.

Nerd Girl: There is so much going on within the story of Breakable: abuse, neglect, loss, grief, self-discovery, rebellion, love, etc. What do you hope your readers come out of this novel with? 

Tammara: I don’t. I write in hopes of readers to connecting with the story, going on a journey with the characters and finding entertainment and escape along the way. Easy is the only book I’ve written with a clear message in mind — and that message, it wasn’t your fault, was unhidden and meant for a particular reader. In Breakable, I had the added desire of giving readers who loved Easy an in-depth view of Lucas.

Nerd Girl: Now that you’ve wrapped up the Between the Lines series, and now have finished both sides of the story with Jacqueline and Lucas, what can you tell us about what you’re working on next? 

Tammara: I can’t reveal much just yet. I have a couple of storylines in mind, but I’ve got my usual brainstorming to do, and meetings with me agents and editors, before I settle down and write.

Nerd Girl: Did you always picture yourself as an author or did you have other career aspirations, and what is the best part of being an author? 

Tammara: I didn’t even start calling myself a writer, let alone an author, to real-life people until after I’d published Easy — my fourth book. Writing fiction for a living is literally all I’ve ever wanted to do. When I couldn’t find an agent for Between the Lines, I honestly thought it was never going to happen. I’d already written a second BTL by the time I self-published the first. I never thought it would sell — or that people would want sequels.

The only job I had before writing full-time that I enjoyed was academic advising. I loved helping people one-on-on. As much as I loved it, though, it was secondary to writing.

Nerd Girl: You’ve written all of your novels in the young adult/new adult contemporary genre. Do you see yourself continuing in that trend or maybe branching out to any other genres? 

Tammara: I started writing Between the Lines in 2009, with MCs aged 17-20. I called it “Mature YA” and hoped to sell it to a YA publisher, because there was no such thing as NA. Publishers (and therefore agents) have been saying for years, “No one wants to read stories about college students”. I was shooting myself in the foot, writing about characters in that age range — but it’s all I wanted to write. And also, I’m really stubborn. I figured I would find a niche market, perhaps. All I can say is…I found it!

Nerd Girl: Most of your readers definitely have developed book crushes on Lucas. Who is YOUR book crush?

Tammara: Darcy. Always Darcy. :)

*     *     *     *     *     *

Thanks Tammara for stopping by What A Nerd Girl Says, for the second time! You can check out my interview with Tammara from June 2013 here.

And don’t forget to hit your local bookstore and pick up a copy of Breakable (and Easy if you haven’t read that), now!

Tammara Webber and I at her book launch event with Abbi Glines in Los Angeles, CA!

Tammara Webber and I at her Breakable book launch event with Abbi Glines in Los Angeles, CA!

Oh, and I still totally fancast Reid Alexander from Between the Lines as Jace Wayland in The Mortal Instruments ;)

Happy Reading Everyone!

Book Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

8909152

   

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Author Website

GoodReads Summary:

“Hi, malady I’m the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . “


Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now- reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can’t help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . . ?

My Review:

I honestly am beginning to think that Rainbow Rowell can do no wrong. She amazed me with Eleanor and Park and absolutely blew my mind with Fangirl and she made me fall in love over and over and over again with Attachments.

I made a resolution this year (part of my ten bookish resolutions) that I would try to read more adult books. Well, here it goes world: an adult book. Okay, its a little bit cheating because its by an author whose YA books I adore but whatever, it totally counts.

I was really excited to read Attachments because it kind of reminded me of Meg Cabot’s Boy series (The Boy Next Door, Boy Meets Girl, Every Boy’s Got One) because those books are written all in email, instant messaging, journals, etc. I love those books so I was happy to dive into this book.

And I LOVE IT. I love this book so much. I love the balance of characters. Beth and Jennifer are only seen through their email interactions. We get nothing else from them except for their emails, and yet, we really get to know them. You get such a good view of their characters, their personalities and their lives just from their emails and I give mad props to Rainbow for accomplishing that. That is no easy feat.

Then we get Lincoln’s point of view, which is normal third person (past? I can’t remember), and, not only do we get his life and his story, but we get our impressions of Jennifer and Beth through him as well. It is a story of three characters told through emails and the narrative of one character and it works so beautifully. Lincoln is an incredible character, real and honest, and I can’t help falling in love with him, and falling in love with Beth with him.

What I really love, and what I’m probably missing out on by reading all YA all the time, is the very real adult issues going on in this book, the sort of issues that I’m starting to go through as an adult: the pressure to get married, the pressure to have kids, the pressure to find a ‘real’ job, the pressure to move out on your own, that sort of thing. I felt like I had something in common with all the characters, and it felt so real to me. I will continue to love YA as my baby but I must admit it felt so good to read about characters closer to my age, going through the sorts of things that I am going through now. It felt very real to me.

Attachments is a beautiful story of growing up, growing up as an adult, and finding love in the strangest of places. It made me laugh, it made me tear up, and it made my heart flutter with the cute love story. You’ll definitely enjoy this book and I so highly recommend it.

Rating:

5 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

8475505

   

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Author Website

GoodReads Summary:

Harper Price, and peerless Southern belle, order was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, information pills Harper’s destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.


Just when life can’t get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she’s charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper’s least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him–and discovers that David’s own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y’all beg for more.

My Review:

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this book except that I knew I really wanted to read it. Rachel Hawkins was both at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and WonderCon and I kept spotting the cover, and people kept reading it, and I knew I had to get my hands on it. I bought it just a few days ago, and ripped through it. I am still not sure what I expected from this book but I it wasn’t what I was handed. What I was given from this book was much more and I absolutely loved it.

Harper Price seems like one of those characters that you’re not sure you’re going to love or you’re going to hate. When I first started reading the book, I felt myself rolling my eyes and I thought, this is not going to happen. But as soon as Harper gains her Paladin powers and shoves her heel the neck of an adversary, I knew that I wanted to be her best friend.

The thing that really gets me about this novel is that it brings together the theme of a contemporary novel mixed in with the fantasy elements. Its not too heavy on each side, and its a perfect balance. We have Harper trying to balance out her boyfriend, her friends, her social life and her new life as Paladin, protecting David. It makes for an amazing, compelling and absolutely addicting story.

And its so funny! That, I think, was my favorite part of the entire novel. I love the fantasy of it, and the mythology that you learn as Harper delves into this Paladin thing but I love that Rachel Hawkins keeps the realness of the book. Its fantasy, but its approachable fantasy. Its fantasy lite, for those who want to read fantasy but get overwhelmed by the world building and that sort of thing. Harper is kicking butt and dealing with Mages and Oracles and such things like that, but she is doing it while trying to keep her boyfriend and dropping for dresses for Cotillion. Its hilarious. Harper is absolutely hilarious and she has little quips that would just make me burst out laughing. I loved that while she would be beating someone up, she would also having you smiling and laughing. It makes for a really fun book.

Plus, in the end, I ended up with a new fictional crush in David…he strangely reminds me of my boyfriend and you can never go wrong with that.

This book is a DEFINITE must-read.

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

Ontario Teen Book Fest-Author Spotlight on Jessica Brody

GraphicOne

I am so so so incredibly excited to be kicking off the official Ontario Teen Book Fest blog tour! The Ontario Teen Book Fest is SUCH an important event to me, buy and I’m happy to be putting this tour to bring as much attention to the event possible.

Last year’s event brought so many amazing authors into my life. I went to the event, side effects only having been familiar with Morgan Matson, Jessica Brody, Marie Lu, and Stephen Chbosky. I left the Fest with a gigantic bag stuffed full with books and friendships with authors like Ann Stampler and Leigh Bardugo and the duo of Lex Thomas and ANDREW SMITH and Gretchen McNeil and Carrie Arcos and Jennifer Bosworth. It was an incredible experience and I can’t wait to experience that again!

But first, the blog tour!

GraphicTwo

When: May 17th, 9 am to 5 pm

Where: Colony High School
3850 E. Riverside Drive
Ontario, CA 91761

This event is a completely free and un-ticketed event! Priority seating WILL be given to teens, but come one, come all! There will also be giveaways and raffles at the Fest, also free!

You can visit the website, to see the full schedule of the day by visiting the official Ontario Teen Book Fest website.

Books WILL be available for purchase at the event, available from Mrs. Nelson’s Book Fair Company :) They are an amazing company so definitely bring your books from home, but try and support Mrs. Nelson’s by purchasing a book!

Its going to be an incredible event and I’m honestly counting down the days! I hope you can come along for the ride, in the days leading up to the event. I’ve got some great bloggers helping me out to profile these amazing authors. Check out the full blog tour here!

May 2nd: Spotlight on Jessica BrodyWhat A Nerd Girl Says
May 3rd: Spotlight on Elana K. ArnoldNite Lite Book Reviews
May 4th: Spotlight on Lauren MillerA Bookish Escape
May 5th: Spotlight on Livia Blackburne The Thousand Lives
May 6th: Spotlight on Lauren KateShe Reads She Blogs
May 7th: Spotlight on Katie AlenderMovies, Shows and Books
May 8th: Spotlight on Catherine LinkaFangirl Feeels
May 9th: Spotlight on Sarah SkiltonRead Now Sleep Later
May 10th: Spotlight on Lissa PriceRecently Acquired Obsessions 
May 11th: Spotlight on Jessi KirbyWhat A Nerd Girl Says
May 12th: Spotlight on Katherine EwelliFandoms Collide
May 13th: Spotlight on Mary PearsonThe Windy Pages
May 14th: Spotlight on John Corey WhaleyRead Now Sleep Later
May 15th: Spotlight on Robin BenwayAdventures of a Book Junkie
May 16th: Spotlight on Ava DellairaFangirl Feeels

So today’s kick off spotlight of the tour is on the one and only:

Jessica Brody! 

Jessica-Brody-Author-Photo-701941

Jessica Brody is the author of several adult and young adult novels including The Fidelity Files, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, My Life Undecided and her young adult science fiction trilogy, Unremembered, Unforgotten and the yet to be released, Unchanged. Unremembered has just recently been optioned for film by Reliance Entertainment and Kintop Pictures. Her books can be found not only here in the U.S. but also in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark, China, Russia, Brazil and more! She currently splits her time between Los Angeles and Colorado. You can find her at:

Her Website / Her Facebook / Her GoodReads / Her Twitter / Her Instagram / Her Tumblr / Her YouTube

Her Books

In all honestly, she has kind of a lot of books and you should definitely check her out at the many links above so that you can read them ALL. For this, I’m just going to profile two.

13575324

Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job…but someone’s gotta do it.

Lexington Larrabee has never had to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to workBut then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand-new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Boulevard either.

Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteenth birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.

In Jessica Brody’s hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have fifty-two reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him.

9791892

When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girl discovered floating among the wreckage—alive—is making headlines across the globe.

Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn’t on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.

Crippled by a world she doesn’t know, plagued by abilities she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them.

Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?

From popular young adult author Jessica Brody comes a compelling and suspenseful new sci-fi series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten.

Interview!

Nerd Girl: Okay, first off: tell us, how absolutely excited are you for the Unremembered movie, and what do you hope they capture from the book to the screen: 

Jessica: GAH! I’m SO super excited for this movie! My books always feel like movies when I’m writing them and when they’re developing in my head so this is a huge dream come true for me! I have full faith in these producers to adapt the book to the big screen. But one thing I really hope they’re able to capture is the waging war between nature and science that runs through all three books of the trilogy. What really makes us human? And when science starts messing with human nature (as it often does even today!), what are the consequences? Does it make us any less human? These are the questions I sought to answer in the book and I hope they translate to the screen as well.

Nerd Girl: Sera is an extraordinary main character and, because of that, sometimes it might be hard to remember that she is a teenager. However, she goes through very “teenage” things like first love and discovery. Was it important to you to make sure she experienced that to make her familiar to the reader?

Jessica: Well, thank you so much for saying so!

At first, I thought it would be difficult to make Seraphina relatable. Being that she’s a genetically modified super human with no memories (not your every day teen to say the least!) But as I started to write the book, it became apparent that Seraphina went through the same struggles as all my other teen contemporary characters. Like most young people, she’s trying to figure out who she is, how she fits into her world, who to trust, what she wants her legacy to be. These similarities surprised me as I wrote but now that I look back, it makes me so much sense. Being a teen is being a teen. Regardless of how beautiful you are, how fast you can run, how much you remember. It’s a transitional period in your life. A time of discovery. And it was a discovery process for me to realize this but in the end, I’m happy with the message that’s portrayed in the book.

Nerd Girl: Both Unremembered and Unforgotten have cliffhangers that make any reader want to throw their book across the room. What is the trick to creating a really good cliffhanger? 

Jessica: I think the trick to ending any book with a cliffhanger is making sure you wrap up all the BIG loose ends of the current story. There’s a difference between making the reader want to know what happens next and completely frustrating the reader because you, the author, didn’t do your job and finish the story. In both Unremembered and Unforgotten, I was very careful to make sure the major conflicts and storylines were resolved. THEN and only then, did I introduce the next major conflict to come in the form of a cliffhanger.

Nerd Girl: You can switch places with one person for a day: who would you pick and why?

Jessica: Taylor Swift. I’m such a nerd fan of hers! I just think she’s so dang adorable and talented. I would love to be in her shoes for a day. I’m sure it’s not all it’s cracked up to be (a theme I plan to explore in a future book one day), but it’s still something I’d love to experience.

Nerd Girl: In Unforgotten, the characters bounce back and forth between various time periods. What is the hardest part about writing a book in different time periods? 

Jessica: Probably the research. In Unforgotten, the book takes place in three time periods: 1609, 2032, and 2115. These are all very different settings. And two of them haven’t even happened yet. So after I finished researching life in the 17th century, I would then have to crack open a book about what we can expect in the future. It was like changing college majors in the middle of the semester, from a history major to some kind of speculative technology major!

Nerd Girl: Have you ever had a ‘fangirl moment’ and who was it with? 

Jessica: I had a  major fangirl moment the first time I read Rainbow Rowell. I had just read Eleanor and Park and I went to one of her signings in LA. I waited until her long line of fans had died down before getting my book signed and introducing myself. We spoke for a little while and she asked what I had written. Then she asked if they carried it in the store. They did. And she actually BOUGHT Unremembered while I stood there and watched. And she asked me to sign it. I was so speechless and beside myself. To this day, I can’t believe Rainbow bought my book! GAH!

Nerd Girl: Because this is for the Ontario Teen Book Fest, all about the teens, what is your favorite memories from when you were a teen? 

Jessica: Okay, this is super JUVENILE, but one of my favorite moments was when I was thirteen and the guy I’d been crushing on for weeks asked my best friend if she thought I would go out with him, if he asked me. I still remember the giddiness I felt when she passed on the message. The whole delivery was SO middle school but I don’t care. I was ecstatic!

Nerd Girl: Last question: who is your fictional crush?

Jessica: Gosh, it changes by the day. Today, I’ll go with Sky from LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD. I just read it and it was amazing! I’m excited to meet the author, Ava Dellaira, at the festival this month!

Giveaway!

Oh yes! There is a giveaway! With three prizes. It starts today, and ends May 20th, three days after the actual fest.

The prizes include: 

Grand Prize: Ontario Teen Book Fest Poster Signed by All Attending Authors and a Swag Pack!

Of course, its not signed yet but it will be!

Of course, its not signed yet but it will be!

First Prize: Ontario Teen Book Fest Signed by All Attending Authors!

Second Prize: Ontario Teen Book Fest Shirt Signed by All Attending Authors!

The shirt will also be signed at the Fest as well!

The shirt will also be signed at the Fest as well!

And its easy to enter, in the rafflecopter below! Sorry, no international this time around!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  *      *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

TMI Read-A-Thon: Favorite City of Bones Quotes!

Hello everyone! I am currently hosting a TMI Read-a-Thon, cure re-reading all the books of the Mortal Instruments series in anticipation of the release of City of Heavenly Fire. You can join in by clicking this link.

Every Friday, try for the next couple weeks, I’ll be posting my favorite quotes from each Mortal Instruments Book!

As this is my first week, of course, these are all my favorite quotes from City of Bones.

Enjoy! And make sure to share yours in the comments!

Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 4.57.17 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 4.58.11 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 4.58.49 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 4.59.52 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.00.27 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.01.07 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.01.52 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.02.16 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.03.08 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.03.46 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.04.06 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.04.44 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.06.08 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.06.37 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.07.00 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.07.40 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.08.09 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.08.30 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.08.51 PM Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 5.09.32 PM

Book of the Week-City of Bones-Special TMI Read-A-Thon Edition!

This week’s Book of the Week, and the next few, will be a bit different. I am currently hosting a TMI Read-a-Thon, re-reading all the books of the Mortal Instruments series in anticipation of the release of City of Heavenly Fire. You can join in by clicking this link.

But instead of just reviewing the book, I will talk about why I love each book so much, what I felt when I read it, my memories from reading the book the first time.

I hope that you can all join in! For now, enjoy!

Continue reading