Tag: Debut

Happy Release Day to Gabriella Lepore and OfTomes Publishing!

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I am so happy to be celebrating the release of Gabriella Lepore’s novel, adiposity Secrets in Phoenix! Not only is it SO good so far (I’m about halfway), but it is the first novel being published by the amazing Benjamin Alderson of OfTomes Publishing.

The second, of course, will be The Awakened by me! Eek!

Anyway, I’m SO excited that this book is finally out in the world and that all of you guys can read it! Its an awesome book so far, and Gabriella is my author sis at OfTomes and I’m so proud of Ben for putting this company together. I’d love to tell you a bit more about the book and Gabriella herself and I hope that you guys can check it out and get your hands on it!

About Gabriella Lepore

Gabriella is the author of the Witches of the Glass Castle series, How I Found You and Evanescent. Her book, Secrets in Phoenix, is the first novel published by OfTomes Publishing. Make sure to follow her at the links below!

Website / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / GoodReads

About Secrets in Phoenix 

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When Sophie Ballester and her twin brothers Sam and Todd are uprooted from their home and sent to a remote boarding school run by their Great Aunt Ness, they stumble upon a hidden room that holds a secret—a secret that will change everything.

The people of Phoenix Holt are not what they seem.

In fact, nothing is.

Add it on GoodReads now or purchase it in ebook and paperback format on Amazon!

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Congratulations to both Ben and to Gabriella on today’s awesome release! Its SUCH a big day and I’m so so excited :) And I can’t WAIT to be a part of this super amazing family this December!

Don’t forget, head to Amazon and get your hands on a copy of Gabriella’s book now!

Book Review: The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi

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Genre: 

Young Adult, visit web Contemporary, Romance

Pages: 

304 pages

Part of a Series?:

Standalone Novel

Release Date: 

June 16th, 2015

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

iBooks

Author Website

GoodReads Summary: 

Before Matt, Ella had a plan. Get over a no-good ex-boyfriend. Graduate from high school without any more distractions. Move away from Orlando, Florida, where she’s lived her entire life.

But Matt—the cute, shy, bespectacled bass player who just moved to town—was never part of that plan.

And neither was attending a party that was crashed by the cops just minutes after they arrived. Or spending an entire night saying “yes” to every crazy, fun thing they could think of.

Then Matt abruptly left town, and he broke not only Ella’s heart but those of their best friends, too. So when he shows up a year later with a plan of his own—to relive the night that brought them together—Ella isn’t sure whether Matt’s worth a second chance. Or if re-creating the past can help them create a different future.

My Review:

 

Dear Owl Crate,

Thank you SO SO SO much for putting this in your July box. Seriously. Thank you. I had never heard of it before I found it in my box, and it sounded so good and I knew that I had to dive into it. And I’m so glad I did.

This book was SO fabulous and awesome and so good and I’m so excited for it, and I just kind of want to shove it in everyone’s faces, like, guys, this is Lauren’s debut novel and its wonderful and you need to read it.

First off, her voice is just great. She writes in alternate voices between the Ella in the past and the Ella of the present, same character but she writes them so perfectly. Its the same person both times, but you can see the growth and the change and all of that between the two and I think that’s a really hard thing to figure out, and she does it just beautifully. I was hooked on both versions of Ella super fast.

Plus its a summer novel. It has the big summer feel to it, you know? When you get out of school and everything seems possible. Summer is this huge blank slate and all you can think about is how beautiful and open and blank it is and how its just going to be the best summer ever. And you get that in both of the summer nights we see in this book. I love that. I don’t get that feeling as much as I did when I was younger and didn’t have to work and all that so its nice to get that feeling in the form of a book.

And its just a great story. Matt and Ella, Jake and Mia, and everyone they encounter in their crazy adventure? Its just great. I love them all. They’re all flushed out, and you put them together and they just create this beautiful story. Its high school and its romance and its uncertainty and its mistakes and running around, doing stupid things, and I miss that sort of thing sometimes. Its just a great story. First love, adventures, I loved every single moment of it.

Thank you Owl Crate, you sold me as a fan of Lauren Gibaldi. This book was incredible and I can’t wait for more to come out. I’m anxiously awaiting.

Rating: 

4.5 out of 5 Stars

Happy Release Day: “Not After Everything” and Michelle Levy Spotlight, Review and Giveaway!

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So I’m sort of doing this on my own today, click but that’s because I’m so excited for the release of this book today and I’m so excited for Michelle and I want to implore all of you to grab this book and read it! We’re going to learn more about the super awesome Michelle Levy, her brand new, incredible book and you’ll even have a chance to get your hands on a copy too!

So let’s get started!

Meet Michelle Levy

Michelle Levy originally is from Denver, CO and is now a resident of our Los Angeles, CA. She has worked as a casting director for both movies and television in the past. She has a Great Dane named Magnus and a cat named Max and can sing and play piano but won’t do it so don’t ask ;) Not After Everything is her debut novel.

You Can Find Her At:

Her Website / Her Twitter / Her GoodReads / Her Facebook / Her Instagram

About Not After Everything

Tyler has a football scholarship to Stanford, a hot girlfriend, and a reliable army of friends to party with. Then his mom kills herself. And Tyler lets it all go. Now he needs to dodge what his dad is offering (verbal tirades and abuse) and earn what his dad isn’t (money). Tyler finds a job that crashes him into Jordyn, his former childhood friend turned angry-loner goth-girl. She brings Tyler an unexpected reprieve from the never-ending pity party his life has become. How could he not fall for her? But with his dad more brutally unpredictable than ever, Tyler knows he can’t risk bringing Jordyn too deeply into the chaos. So when violence rocks his world again, will it be Jordyn who shows him the way to a hopeful future? Or after everything, will Tyler have to find it in himself?

Find Her Book at Your Local Bookstore or the Following Links: 

GoodReads / Barnes and Noble / Book Depository / iBooks / Amazon

My Review

I am so so so in love with this book. So in love with this book. I met Michelle over a year ago at a book event for, I think, Jessica Brody. I’m pretty sure. And I just adore her. She’s a lover of books and she’s insanely encouraging and I was excited to learn about her debut novel. She was a moderator at the Ontario Teen Book Fest this past March and she slipped an ARC my way. Because she’s the most amazing person in the entire world. I knew immediately I had to go home and read it. And I did. And I devoured it.

I’ve seen comparisons to The Spectacular Now and to Eleanor and Park. I definitely agree with those. If you like either of those books, definitely read Michelle’s books. You’re going to love her book if you loved those books. But Michelle’s book stands on its own and I loved it from the first page to the very last. The two main characters are just incredible. Tyler and Jordyn are as different can be, or at least they seem so on the outside. Tyler is the football guy, the one who is supposed to have it all, until its revealed he really has nothing. Jordyn has the angry goth girl look going on but she has a loving family, she has direction, and she’s incredibly caring and loyal. When the two of them find their way to each other…its just beautiful. Its beautiful and heartbreaking and perfect.

Michelle has a way of creating her characters that just blows my mind. They’re both so real and familiar and yet different and out of reach at the same time, and its a great balance. You feel for both of them, you feel connected to both of them, but you’re frantically turning the pages in order to learn more, to find out what happens to them because she makes you care about them right away and I just love it. They’re memorable and I read this book MONTHS ago. I still remember how both of them made me feel and what I still feel for this book.

Then you get down to the story. Michelle is an incredibly beautiful writer and her prose is just fantastic but she also has a way of speaking to you as if you’re really that person, as if you’re a friend that Tyler is confiding in. I felt like I was right back in high school with him, and Jordyn, and all the feelings and struggles they both go through felt like my own high school romance all over again. She makes it feel real and genuine but its also unique as hell. There are some unexpected twists and turns and it doesn’t turn out at all the way I had expected it to. I had an idea of where things were heading and when they took a 180 and ended up in a completely different direction, I had to sort of pause for a moment. How on earth had that happened? But it was the exact perfect ending for this book and I applaud Michelle for writing an incredibly novel from the first to last pages.

The Giveaway!

Its SUPER easy. You have until August 8th to repost this image on Instagram with the hashtag #NerdGirlMichelleLevyGiveaway. The winner will win an ecopy (Kindle, Nook, etc) of Michelle’s Not After Everything! Make sure to tag me as well!

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Congratulations Michelle on your debut novel! I am so insanely excited for you and I wish you all the best for you and your beautiful beautiful book!